Displaying a phone number on your business website shows customers that you’re legitimate and makes it easy for them to reach you if they have questions that your website doesn’t answer. What do you do if you’re not comfortable putting your personal phone number out there for the world to see? Getting a business phone number is easier and more affordable than you may think. You can even hook it up to your existing mobile phone. Read on to learn more about your business phone number options and how to set one up.
Why Do You Need a Business Phone Line?
No matter how small your business is, a dedicated business phone line is always a better idea than using your personal phone number. A business phone number improves your professional image and separates your work from your personal life.
Improve Your Professional Image
In a survey of over 500 small business owners, 64% cited ‘answering calls professionally’ as one of the top ways to retain and find new customers. A separate business line, whether it’s connected to your personal phone or a different phone, lets you know whether an incoming call is a business call or a personal one, then you can answer it accordingly. When a call goes to voicemail, a business phone line lets you have a separate outgoing message specific to customers and other business contacts.
Separate Work from Your Personal Life
As a small business owner, you may feel like you have to be “always on,” but that’s not good for you or your business. By using a separate phone line for your business, you can disconnect from work calls without disconnecting from personal calls, or vice versa. Knowing right away whether a call is for business or personal reasons can help keep work time for work and personal time for everything else.
How to Get a Business Phone Number
1. Decide What Type of Number Your Business Needs
Not all business phone numbers are the same. Here are the different types of business phone numbers:
Local Phone Number
With a local business phone number, local customers will recognize the area code and see that you’re calling from a location near them. Like any typical phone number, it includes
- an area code
- telephone prefix
- line number
Companies can get a local business phone number from a local phone company, a VoIP, or virtual number provider.
Reason to Use
- Cheaper than other paid options
- Quick to connect
- A familiar area code helps you connect with the local community
Pricing
Free or starting at $4.99 to $9.99 per month
Pros
- Least expensive business phone number type
- VoIP calling plans for local numbers often include unlimited minutes
Cons
- Landline callers outside the local area code may incur fees
- May have a low pickup rate on the caller IDs of those outside of the area code
Toll-Free Phone Number
Toll-free numbers are great for
- small businesses that want to build a national brand presence
- companies with a customer service center
- hotlines for sales and support
You can make outbound calls from a toll-free business phone number and receive calls on
- Your business phone
- Your personal cell phone
- A web-based interface
- Other devices
Customers within the United States can call a toll-free number for free, but international callers may have to pay more to call them than other types of phone numbers.
Most people associate toll-free phone numbers with 800 numbers, but the prefix could also be:
- 888
- 877
- 866
- 855
- 844
- 833
Reason to Use
- Establish a national presence
- Set up a call center
- Set up a hotline for customer service or sales
- Make your business look bigger
Pricing
$0.99 to $15.99 per month
Pros
- Customers across the U.S. can call for free
- Versatility
Cons
- Toll-free numbers cost more per minute than local numbers
- International callers may not be able to call a toll-free number
Vanity Phone Number
Vanity phone numbers are customizable business phone numbers that can be local or toll-free. You choose the digits to spell out a word or create a combination that’s easy to remember. Think 1-800-FLOWERS or 309-GET-RUGS.
Vanity numbers can be great for reinforcing your brand or business type. A memorable number means your business will stick out in people’s minds and make it easier for them to call you.
Many businesses have one main vanity phone number for reaching the business then use an auto-attendant to forward calls to local numbers or to the extensions of appropriate staff or departments.
Reason to Use
Improve brand recognition
Pricing
$4.99 to more than $50 per month
Pros
- Can be a toll-free or local number
- Great marketing tool
Cons
- May take up to 10 days to set up
- Some providers charge activation fees
International Phone Number
Geography-specific direct inward dial (DID) numbers are a good choice if you want to establish a local presence in a foreign country. To set one up, you don’t need an office or physical presence in that region. When a customer calls the line, the provider routes the call to your domestic telephone number and phone extensions.
Reason to Use
Support customers in international locations.
Pricing
$4.99 to $15.99 per month
Pros
- Could be cheaper for international customers to call than a U.S.-based number
- Doesn’t require a physical presence in that region
Cons
- You may incur per-minute rates
- Not all VoIP providers offer them
2. Select a Provider
Since a free business number typically comes with paid and free VoIP phone system subscriptions, many people go this route and use the provider’s options to choose a number. However, if you want to buy a business number to transfer to your existing phone service, you can also purchase these for a one-time fee.
Here are the different provider options to consider:
VoIP providers
VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. VoIP phone systems are cloud-based phone services that transmit calls over the internet. The best VoIP phone systems have more features and flexibility than most other business communications options. These include allowing you to use the phone service for customer service centers and collaboration with team members. VoIP services typically support use on personal devices and existing desk phones.
Virtual business phone number providers
Virtual phone number services are similar to VoIPs, but there are some notable differences. These providers use the internet to send and receive calls and come with a phone number. However, they can only forward calls to an existing cell phone or landline.
Free business phone numbers
Free business phone numbers from services like Google and Skype lack advanced VoIP features such as a virtual receptionist and skills-based call routing. However, they’re a great choice for small businesses with tight budgets who don’t need anything fancy.
Standalone business numbers
Several phone providers sell toll-free and vanity phone numbers for a one-time fee. Once you’ve purchased one, you can forward the number to your cell phone or port it into your phone system. Check with your carrier first to make sure the new number is portable.
Business phone number apps
Some phone number apps use cellular data and others rely on the internet to make and receive calls. You can use the app to forward calls to mobile devices and access features.
Free Business Phone Number Services
If your small business or startup is on a budget and doesn’t need anything fancy, these free business phone service providers are great options to get started:
Google Voice
- Call and send text messages for free on Android, iPhone, and any computer via a web app
- Basic voicemail transcriptions
- Only offers free local area code numbers
TextFree
- App is available on the iOS and Google Play app stores
- Can be used through phones, tablets or computers
- Choose a U.S. phone number
- Talk and text with users who don’t have the app
Callcentric
- Use from any computer you want
- Phone calls are free to other Callcentric users, but there is a small charge for calling traditional phone numbers
- A better idea for businesses that don’t need to take daily customer service calls
LINE
- Available on Google Play and iOS app stores
- Offers video conferencing in addition to phone calls
- Can make international calls with up to 200 participants for free
Dingtone
- Only works with iOS devices
- Make conference calls and send faxes at no cost
Paid Business Phone Number Services
These paid providers are great options if you need more features than the free providers can provide:
Nextiva
- The top virtual business phone number service provider on the market
- App available for iOS and Android
- You can keep your local phone number and use it with Nextiva to get HD voice calling over VoIP
- Get virtual business phone numbers for different geographic locations
- Offers vanity phone numbers
- call forwarding/routing
- Auto attendant
- Receptionist
- Voicemail transcription
- Auto dialer
- Pricing: Starting from $18.95 per user each month
Ooma Office Phone
- A popular business VoIP phone
- Get 1-800 toll free phone numbers at affordable prices
- Virtual receptionist
- Extension dialing
- On-hold music
- Smart mobile phone apps
- Pricing: Their plan starts at $19.95 per month
Grasshopper
- Easy virtual phone number service for startups and small businesses
- Mobile app that allows you to manage your business phone system on any device and from any location.
- Offers virtual business numbers, vanity numbers, local numbers for different regions, 800 and 833 toll-free numbers
- Call forwarding
- Voicemail
- Business texting
- Business VoIP
- WiFi calling
- Pricing: Starting from $26 per month
Phone.com
- Cheaper call rates to some European countries and Canada
- Mobile apps
- Call forwarding and routing
- Virtual assistant
- IVR menus
- Text messaging
- Faxing
- Pricing: Pay per minute plans starting from $12.99 per month. Unlimited plans starting from $29.99 per month per extension
eVoice
- Virtual numbers
- Toll-free numbers
- Local numbers for different regions.
- Call management tools
- Virtual receptionist
- Outbound calling app
- Conference calling
- Custom phone numbers for UK, EU, Canada, USA, and many other countries
- Pricing: Starting from £7.50 per month for 1 user
Freshdesk (Formerly Freshcaller)
- Virtual business phone app provider
- Get international numbers, toll-free numbers, use the existing number, mask local number with a virtual number, or choose a vanity number
- Call management tools
- Business hours
- Mobile apps
- Shared lines
- Call waiting
- SIP connections
- Pricing: Pay Per Minute or $19 per agent per month
RingCentral
- Business phone or toll-free numbers
- Unlimited VoIP and conferencing
- Unlimited calls within the US/Canada
- Caller ID
- Video conferencing
- SMS,
- Faxing
- Voicemail-to-text
- Team messaging
- Easily configure and manage your phone system from an online dashboard
- Pricing: Plans start at $27.99 per user per month
3. Sign Up for a Business Phone Service
Some vendors ask users to choose a phone number before they pick a plan. Others ask you to select a plan and enter your contact details before you choose a number. Either way, choose the subscription plan that has the features your business needs and sign up for it. Once you’re all signed up, your new business phone number is typically ready to use. A vanity or toll-free number may take longer to set up, but the provider will usually give you a temporary number to use until the process is completed.
4. Choose One or More Business Phone Numbers
A standalone number provider will let you use a number picker tool to pick one or more phone numbers. You can add these numbers to your cart and check out. If you want an international number with a VoIP subscription, you’ll have to get a local or toll-free number first. Then log into your service using the administrator portal to view a list of your current phone numbers and add a new one. Some VoIP providers also use number picker tools.
Helpful Business Phone Features to Consider
Custom Greetings
Custom voicemail greetings add an extra level of professionalism
Call Forwarding
Call Forwarding makes it possible for you to receive your calls from your cell phone when you’re away from your office phone.
Auto Attendants
The auto attendant feature lets customers choose who they want to speak to with the press of a button.
Mobile App
A mobile app can help you manage your business phone line from any device.
Business Hours
Set hours to route incoming work calls directly to your business voicemail instead of ringing your phone. This allows you to disconnect from your business calls without disconnecting from your personal calls if you use the same phone for both lines.
How Sav Can Help
No matter what solution you choose for your business phone number, Sav can help you succeed with a beautiful, professional website. Start your free trial today to learn more!
