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.
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.
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.
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.
Not all business phone numbers are the same. Here are the different types of business phone numbers:
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
Companies can get a local business phone number from a local phone company, a VoIP, or virtual number provider.
Free or starting at $4.99 to $9.99 per month
Toll-free numbers are great for
You can make outbound calls from a toll-free business phone number and receive calls on
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:
$0.99 to $15.99 per month
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.
Improve brand recognition
$4.99 to more than $50 per month
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.
Support customers in international locations.
$4.99 to $15.99 per month
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 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 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 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.
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.
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.
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:
These paid providers are great options if you need more features than the free providers can provide:
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.
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.
Custom voicemail greetings add an extra level of professionalism
Call Forwarding makes it possible for you to receive your calls from your cell phone when you’re away from your office phone.
The auto attendant feature lets customers choose who they want to speak to with the press of a button.
A mobile app can help you manage your business phone line from any device.
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.
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!