Why You Should Use a Separate Number for Business Calls

Should I Use My Personal Phone Number For My Business?

When starting a business, it may make sense to cut costs wherever possible, but using a personal phone number for your business can have a negative impact on how your customers perceive you. Using a VoIP landline business phone number can give the illusion of owning a brick and mortar business, or an office space, when you may just be working from your bedroom.

6 Reasons Why You Should Use a Separate Business Number

1. A separate business number will improve work/life balance

Maintaining a healthy work/life balance can sometimes be a struggle in the digital world we live in. From having co-workers on social media, to having access to work emails on your personal devices, sometimes shutting work out can be difficult.

A recent study from the American Psychological Association found that individuals who check their phone, or digital devices, constantly appear to be more stressed than people who don't.

Some research from open.edu has also found that with the development of smartphones, the grey area between work life and home life has become even more blurry. With individuals having access to all of their work emails and apps in the palm of their hands, it's easy to see why.

The addition of a separate number for your business calls can give you the breathing space you need between you and your work life. Using Virtual Landline's services, you can set your own call hours with our 'time of day routing' setting

2. Automate Your Businesses' Calls

Setting up an automated service for your business number can be a great way to separate yourself from your customers. This may not sound like a positive at the start of your business' journey, but when customer demand starts to rise, the number of calls and timing of calls can become unpredictable.

It's important to set a precedent for yourself when it comes to working out-of-office hours. While it can be tempting to take calls out of business hours in order to gain more business, you'll find it to be less sustainable as your business grows.

Having a standard automated voicemail service or auto-attendant feature for your business number can ease stress and create detailed voicemail messages for you to come back to in the morning. If you're using your personal phone for business enquiries, this can easily become overwhelming.

3. Customise Your Business Number

Owning a custom number for business calls is a great way to build your brand and access a new customer base. There are many reasons to choose a custom number for your business. For instance, choosing a regional number can help you build customer trust in your chosen area. Here are a few scenarios where choosing your own number can help.

Do you want to target customers in a specific area?

Purchasing a local number can give the impression that your business has a brick & mortar store, or is located in that specific area. This can make your business instantly more trustworthy than your “out-of-town” competition.

Do you want to take your small business nationwide?

Cheaper than a 0800 number, a national number actually costs the same amount of money as a typical local landline number (01 or 02 area codes). Using a national number can increase your national reach when advertising your business online.

Do you want to encourage more leads and sales?

Using a free phone number is a great way to encourage sales and leads within your industry. With a free phone number, the customer does not get billed for ringing the number. These types of numbers are typically used for customer services or by small businesses that handle a few calls.

Here at Virtual Landline, we have a great collection of local numbers, national numbers and free phone numbers for you to choose from.

4. Avoid Spam Calls on your Personal Number

Frustratingly, spam calls are here to stay, and owning a small business will just give phishers and scammers another channel to find you on. Advertising your personal phone number on your website or businesses' social media accounts will just put your phone number at risk.

The issue with spam callers is that even if you remove your phone number away from your business website, your phone number may still remain on the number listings.

To avoid this issue, we would advise renting a basic business plan at Virtual Landline.

5. Avoid Identity Theft

Every online signup or new social media account seems to require more and more information, including your phone number. Other information you may have unintentionally released could be full names, date of births, family members, addresses.

Having a single phone number scattered around the internet could give identity thieves the information they need to conduct their criminal activities. Having a separate, rented phone number for your small business can be a great way to avoid further worries against identity thieves.

6. Brand Consistency

Ensuring that your business has a consistent brand identity is paramount for retaining customers. Using your personal phone number when answering both personal and business calls can smudge the professionalism of your initial introduction.

Acquiring a separate business number can remove this confusion and allow you to provide your customers with a service they deserve.

Get your perfect business number

Here at Virtual Landline, we provide a wide range of phone numbers available for purchase. We provide:

• Localised phone numbers (London, Manchester etc.)
• National phone numbers
• Memorable phone numbers

Choose a phone number with Virtual Landline today to find the perfect number to suit your business needs.