In today’s remote-first work culture, boundaries between personal and professional life can easily blur. For example, guess how many employees use their personal phones for business communications? According to a report from Zippia, 75% of US employees use their personal cell phones for work. It may not seem like a big deal, but it becomes a major issue if your team is using their cell phone numbers to interact with your company’s contacts.
In this article, we’ll show you how setting up an alternate phone number is a better approach for business phone calls. We’ll also share six phone providers to help you find the best fit for you.
What is an alternate phone number?
An alternate number is a secondary phone number used by businesses or individuals to separate personal and professional calls. These numbers are not linked to a SIM card but can be purchased from a virtual phone number provider like OpenPhone.
Rather than getting a second cell phone or landline, an alternate phone number allows you to have two numbers on one phone. That way, you can keep using your current mobile phone while separating your work and personal calls.
The 6 best alternate phone number providers to consider
Whether you need an alternate phone number for personal use or your business, you have plenty of options. The right alternate phone number solution depends on your needs.
Here are the six best alternate phone number providers to consider.
Alternate phone number provider cheat sheet
| Provider | Starting price | Unlimited calling to US & Canada | Unlimited SMS/MMS to US & Canada | Shared phone numbers | Additional phone numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenPhone | $15 per user per month | ️ | ️ | ️ | $5 per month |
| Google Voice | $10 per user per month (plus $6 per month for Google Workspace) | Unlimited calls to Canada from the US only | US customers only | Requires upgrade | |
| Burner | $4.99 per month | ️ | Varies | ||
| TextNow | Free | ️ | ️ | ||
| RingCentral | $20 per user per month | ️ | 25 messages per user per month | ️ | $4.99 per number per month |
| Sideline | $14.49 per month | Unlimited in the US only | ️ |
1. OpenPhone: The best alternate phone number for small businesses
Pros
- Unlimited calling and texting in the US and Canada
- Shared numbers to split responsibility for incoming calls and texts
- AI features for call transcriptions, summaries, and action items
- Single view inbox lets you catch up on conversations faster
- Integrations with 5,000+ third-party apps, including HubSpot and Salesforce
Cons
- No verification through two-factor authentication*
*Nearly all virtual phone numbers share this problem. For safety reasons, companies like Facebook, Uber, and Google rarely let you authenticate accounts through a virtual phone number.
OpenPhone is an ideal solution for small to mid-sized businesses. As a virtual phone service, we’ve designed our product for teams that need a reliable, collaborative, and easy-to-manage phone system. With OpenPhone, your team can save hours, shorten response times, and focus on building better relationships with customers.
With shared phone numbers, the responsibility for incoming calls and messages is split across your team. This ensures conversations never fall through the cracks and your team doesn’t get bogged down by high call volumes.
OpenPhone also makes it easier for your team to scale your customer communications.For example, text message auto-replies set expectations with customers when your team isn’t available. You can also schedule messages to reach customers in different time zones.
On our Business plans, you’ll get even more control over incoming calls with advanced call-handling features like group calling, warm transfer, and ring order. You can easily catch up on conversations or coach your team with automatic call recordings, AI-powered call summaries, and transcripts. Plus, you can set up an automated phone menu that lets clients route their own calls — no need for a receptionist to do all the work.
OpenPhone also integrates with tools like Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce, and Zapier, so all your business apps can work together.
OpenPhone pricing
OpenPhone has three affordable pricing options:
- Starter: $15 per user per month for shared phone numbers, internal threads, contact notes, voicemail transcriptions, scheduled messages, auto-replies, manual call recording, and more
- Business: $23 per user per month for automatic call recording, group calling, AI call summaries and transcripts, and phone integrations with HubSpot and Salesforce
- Scale: $35 per user per month for AI call tags, dedicated onboarding, and priority chat and email support
How to get an alternate phone number with OpenPhone
You can get an alternate phone number with OpenPhone in three simple steps. Here’s how to get started:
- Create an OpenPhone account with our free seven-day trial.
- Select a local US, Canadian, or North American toll-free number with your choice of area code.
- Import your contacts and invite your teammates.
That’s it! After that, you can start using your alternate phone number. You can also easily set up a phone menu, voicemail greeting, and other custom phone settings to deliver a professional presence.
Note: If you already have a second phone number and want to switch to OpenPhone, we can help you with business phone porting.
2. Google Voice: Best for Google Workspace users
Pros
- Free calls to phone numbers in the US
- Integrates with other Google Workspace apps
- Share responsibility for incoming calls (requires upgrade)
Cons
- Texting is available in the US only
- Costs more than other business phone system providers
- No toll-free numbers
- No desktop app is available
- No auto-replies
- No integrations outside Google Workspace
Google Voice is a VoIP service (Voice over Internet Protocol), meaning it uses your internet connection for calls and messages. It offers a free personal plan, but the service is limited to people with US phone numbers.
The Google Voice app does have paid plan options under Google Voice for Google Workspace, with additional features like Voice AI and voicemail transcription, but these features can be unreliable. All calls, text messages, and voicemail messages are also in separate folders using Google Voice, making following up with others more time-consuming.
Google Voice might work for solopreneurs on a tight budget. However, if you work with a team, this app has many limitations. For instance, you can’t easily message your teammates. You have to switch to another app like Google Chat for that. Calls, text messages, and voicemail messages live in separate sections in their app, making it tricky to catch up on conversations.
Google Voice for Google Workspace also has no advanced business features like call routing and group calling. Additionally, since Google Voice has no integrations outside of Google Workspace, it won’t work with any other tools your business may be using.
Google Voice pricing
Google Voice has three pricing plans:
- Starter: $10 per user per month*
- Standard: $20 per user per month* to unlock on-demand call recordings, ring groups, and phone menus
- Premier: $30 per user per month* to unlock automatic call recordings and advanced reporting
*Plus you’ll pay an additional minimum of $6 per user per month for Google Workspace, which is required to use Google Voice for business.
The Google Voice Starter plan is $10 per user per month and can have up to 10 users. If you have more than 10 team members on Google Voice, you will need to upgrade to their Standard ($20 per user per month) or Premier plan ($30 per user per month).
3. Burner: Best for multiple personal numbers
Pros
- Purchase up to 200 phone numbers at once
- Easy to delete phone numbers after use
Cons
- Not designed for business use
- No integrations
- No call recordings
- No auto-attendants
- Not always reliable or user-friendly
Burner allows users to create temporary phone numbers for various purposes. For example, users might use Burner to avoid spam calls or when they need a phone number to make an online purchase.
However, Burner falls far short of business use cases. It has no features that allow users to share responsibilities in answering calls or have a phone menu — let alone any more advanced business phone features.
Burner pricing
Burner has a single plan, but it charges different prices depending on whether you sign up on the web or through the mobile app.
- $4.99 per number per month if you sign up on the web
- $9.99 per number per month if you sign up through the mobile app
As you can see, the monthly price doubles if you sign up through the mobile app versus the web app. If you’re interested in checking out a number with Burner, you should sign up on the web to save on your monthly fees.
4. TextNow: Best for alternate numbers with high-speed data
Pros
- Free phone number
- International calling and texting
Cons
- Ad-free requires upgrade
- Voicemail transcripts require upgrade
- Not designed for businesses
- Only available in the US and Canada
TextNow offers multiple high-speed data plans, making it a great option for personal use. Users have access to free calling and unlimited texting over WiFi and can access essential data (like email) with the use of a SIM card. Unlike many traditional carriers, TextNow has no contracts.
Like Burner, TextNow is designed for personal use. You won’t be able to use it with a team to manage customer communications, share customer phone numbers, or integrate with a CRM. Incoming calls can’t simultaneously ring multiple team members. TextNow also doesn’t have any features like auto-replies, call summaries, or transcripts.
TextNow pricing
TextNow is free to use with ads. To make calls without WiFi, you first need to purchase a SIM card ($4.99).
For a data plan, you have three options:
- Hour Pass: $0.99 for 60 minutes of unlimited talk, text, and data
- Day Pass: $4.99 for 24 hours of unlimited talk, text, and data
- Month Pass: $39.99 for one full month of unlimited talk, text, and data
Additional plan options from TextNow include locking in your number and removing ads from their app:
- Lock in Number: $1.99 per week
- Ad Free+: $6.99 per week
5. RingCentral: Best for desk phone rentals
Pros
- Low-cost desk phone rentals
Cons
- Limits on SMS
- Limits on toll-free numbers
- No true unlimited storage option
For businesses that need physical phones for an office, RingCentral offers VoIP calling, texting, video communications, and desk phone rentals in a single platform. However, it limits texting, toll-free minutes, and storage, which can be problematic for some businesses.
On its base plan, RingCentral only offers 100 toll-free minutes, which means you’d have to upgrade if you want more. Businesses on the base plan only get access to 25 texts per user per month. Even on the most expensive plan, you’re still limited to 200 messages per user per month. After that, you have to purchase additional texting credits.
If you rely on call recordings, RingCentral stores recordings on its servers for 90 days. This can be challenging if you have longer sales cycles or need to review older support calls. Even if you upgrade to RingCentral’s Ultra pricing plan, you still won’t have unlimited storage. Time-based deletion policies take effect after 90 to 180 days. Even though RingCentral is a solid alternate phone number option, these limits keep it from being the best choice.
RingCentral pricing
RingCentral has three pricing plans:
- Core: $20 per user per month for unlimited domestic calling, SMS and MMS, visual voicemail, and more
- Advanced: $25 per user per month for unlimited internet fax, automatic call recording, and CRM integrations (like Salesforce and HubSpot)
- Ultra: $35 per user per month for unlimited storage, unlimited AI video meetings, and custom analytics and alerts
6. Sideline: Best if you only need one alternate number
Pros
- SMS and MMS messaging
- Auto-replies available
Cons
- No call recording
- Auto-attendant is available only on the Enterprise plan
- International calling is available only on the Enterprise plan
- No Slack, Zapier, or CRM integrations
For businesses just getting started that don’t need a lot of features, Sideline is a lean alternate phone number solution. Through its mobile apps for iOS and Android, Sideline provides a second number to users. It offers unlimited calling, SMS texting, and group messaging within the US, as well as standard business phone system options such as group messaging, voicemail, and auto-replies.
Sideline doesn’t work well for teams. It doesn’t have shared numbers, call recording, or third-party integrations, which are all essential to managing team communications. Features like auto attendant and international calling are also only available on its Enterprise plan, which makes it more expensive than other alternatives.
Sideline pricing
Sideline’s plans are buried in their support center. Here’s how much each plan costs:
- Standard: $14.49 per month, billed annually to access free calling and texting to the US, auto-replies, voicemail to text, group messaging, and number porting
- Enterprise: $14.49 per business line per month to access international calling and auto-attendant features
3 reasons you should get an alternate phone number
You might be wondering — do I really need a second phone number? Can’t I use my personal phone number for business purposes?
Here are a few key advantages to having an alternate number for your work communications:
- Keep your personal number private. Having a designated business number allows you to keep your personal phone number secure while providing potential customers with a simple and easy way to reach you.
- Set clear work-life boundaries. Alternate phone number apps allow you to set up business hours, auto-replies, and custom voicemail greetings to create clear expectations about when you’re available (and unavailable!).
- Share responsibility for incoming calls and texts: Shared numbers distribute responsibility for customer communications within a team. Overall, your business will have fewer missed calls and unanswered messages
How to choose an alternate phone number provider
In our list above, we talked about why different providers are good for different use cases. Those suggestions are based on our experience, but you’ll need to decide what’s best for you and your business.
As you evaluate your options for an alternate phone number provider, consider the following criteria:
- Features: Prioritize different features for your alternate number based on your use case. For personal use, prioritize call forwarding, unlimited calling and texting, and spam blocking. For business phone number apps,look for shared numbers, third-party integrations, call recordings, auto-replies, and custom voicemail options.
- Usability: Think about how many people will be using the second number. Not all providers allow multiple users to call and text from the same number.
- Pricing: Most providers charge a monthly fee for alternate numbers, and some charge additional fees for add-on features. Before signing up, make sure you understand which features are included with your preferred small business phone plan and which cost extra.
- Reviews: Check third-party review platforms like G2 and Capterra to see what real customers are saying about your preferred alternate number provider.
- Reliability: You don’t want to risk frequent dropped calls or other call quality issues. Check a provider’s performance and uptime by heading to their Status page. If the provider doesn’t have one, ask for a report to verify that the company is as reliable as it claims to be.
Get started with an alternate phone number
If the lines between work and personal phone numbers are getting too blurry for you — or your team! — an alternate phone number could be the solution you need. And if you’re going to make a change, you should consider a business phone number provider that can give your team collaboration tools and advanced calling features to support your customers better.
Want to check out OpenPhone’s business phone number features? You can sign up to try OpenPhone free for seven days.
FAQs
You can get an alternate number by signing up with an alternate phone number provider. Once you’ve signed up, you’ll choose a number and verify your identity. We follow this simple sign-up process at OpenPhone. Try it for yourself here.
You can’t make an alternate phone number on your own. However, you can choose an alternate number based on your preferred area code from an alternate number provider.
Burner offers multiple alternate numbers you can use simultaneously. It’s an ideal option for someone looking for a temporary phone number for personal use.
