Cell Phone or Business Line: What Should You Use?

For a new business, your personal cell is fine for the first few weeks. Once customers start calling, a separate business line is worth it, and it does not have to mean a second phone: the business number can live in an app on the cell phone you already carry.

The cell phone vs business line question comes up for almost every owner, usually right after a customer calls at 9 p.m. or an employee leaves with the number half your clients have saved. Here is how to think it through.

Is It OK to Use My Personal Number for Business?

It works, but it gets harder the more you grow. A few things happen when the business runs on your personal number:

• Your number ends up everywhere. Websites, invoices, online listings and the side of your truck. Once it is out there, you cannot take it back.
• Work and home blur together. You cannot tell from the ring whether it is your sister or a new customer, so you answer everything, or nothing.
• Nobody else can help. If a call comes in while you are with a customer, there is no way for a coworker to pick it up.
• Voicemail sounds personal. A greeting that says "Hey, it's Mike, leave a message" is fine for friends. A customer expects your business name.

What Happens to the Number If an Employee Leaves?

This is the question that settles it for many owners. If a salesperson or technician uses their own cell for work, customers save that number. When the person leaves, the number leaves with them, and so do the customers who call it.

A business line belongs to the business. If someone leaves, you remove them from the phone system and send their number to whoever takes over. Customers keep calling the same number and reach someone who can help.

Can I Get Both on One Phone?

Yes. With a cloud phone system, your business number lives online instead of on a wire into the office. The Telonium app on iPhone or Android rings when someone calls the business, and calls you make from the app show your business number, not your personal one. Your personal number, texts and voicemail stay exactly as they are.

The same app runs on Mac and Windows, so you can take a call at your desk and pick up the next one in the parking lot. If you want a desk phone at the office, it can ring on the same line at the same time.

When the team grows, a call group rings several people at once, so the first person free answers the main number. You can choose a local, toll-free or easy-to-remember number on our business phone numbers page.

How Do I Stop Work Calls at Night?

A business line gives you an off switch that a personal number does not. Each business number has a schedule by day and time. During your hours, calls ring you. At all other times, they go to voicemail or a closed greeting, and your phone stays quiet.

You can also set holiday hours ahead of time, so the number switches to a holiday greeting on the days you are closed and back to normal by itself afterward.

Voicemail goes to email with the recording attached, so you can listen in the morning and decide what needs a call back first. For greeting wording, see our phone menu scripts and auto attendant examples.

What Does a Business Line Cost?

Telonium is $24.95 per user per month, plus taxes and fees, with unlimited calling in the lower 48 states and parts of Canada and the app included. One phone number comes with every two users, and extra numbers are $5 a month. If you already gave customers a number, you can usually bring it with you for $10 per number, one time.

The details are on our pricing page. Signing up online takes about ten minutes, and accounts are usually approved within one business day.

Which Should You Choose?

• Just you, a handful of calls a week: a personal cell can carry you for now, but pick a business number before you print cards or a sign.
• You plus one or more people: a business line, so calls can reach whoever is free.
• You want evenings back: a business line with a schedule, so calls stop ringing when you close.
• Employees call customers: a business line, so the number stays with the company.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I Need a Second Phone for a Business Line?

No. The Telonium app puts the business number on the cell phone you already have, separate from your personal calls and voicemail.

Will Customers See My Personal Number When I Call Them?

Not when you call from the app. Customers see your business number, and when they call back they reach the business line.

Can I Move My Business Calls Off My Cell Number Later?

Yes. Start giving out the business number on new cards, your website and your listings, and keep your cell for personal calls. Old customers can be told the new number when they call.