Imagine this: You’re in the middle of a family dinner when your mobile phone rings. You check the caller ID, hoping it’s just a friend, but there’s no way to tell if it’s a personal or a work-related call. You decide to answer, only to find out it’s a prospective client who needs immediate help.
Suddenly, your personal life and work life collide.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. 75% of working adults in the US reported using their personal phones for work in 2023. This might seem convenient at first, but it can lead to your personal number being made public and open to spam calls. Plus, it’s tough to distinguish between incoming personal and business calls.
Fortunately, there’s a straightforward solution: a dedicated work phone number.
In this article, we’ll cover what a work phone number is, the types of business phone numbers available, and how you can easily set one up in minutes.
What is a work phone number?
A work phone number is a dedicated number used exclusively for your business communications, helping you keep personal calls and business calls separate.
With a work phone number, you can make and receive business phone calls without exposing your personal number. And when you get a work phone number from a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider, you can share your work numbers with your team. Some VoIP service providers offer features like unlimited calling, making it easy and cost-effective to stay connected with customers, and they offer standard phone features like call routing, business number to cell forwarding, and phone menus, alongside modern business communication features like free SMS and MMS messaging, call recording, CRM integrations, and AI call summaries.
This setup makes a big difference, especially if you’re scaling a business. Shared virtual phone numbers can help you reduce missed calls and keep your customers engaged. Imagine every customer call and text reaching the right person without cluttering your personal phone or calling an traditional landline phone number. Not only does it create a polished experience for customers, but it also frees up your time.
Types of work phone numbers
Not all work phone numbers are created equal. When choosing a work phone number, you have a few options, each tailored to different business needs. Here’s a quick breakdown of each business phone number to help you decide which might be best for you:
- Local phone numbers: A local business phone number comes with a local area code tied to a specific region, like 415 for San Francisco or 212 for New York City. This is ideal if your business serves a particular community or region and wants to establish a local presence. When customers see a familiar area code, they’re more likely to trust and engage with your business.
- Toll-free phone numbers: Toll-free numbers are often recognized by their 800 number prefixes. These numbers aren’t tied to any specific region, making them perfect for businesses that operate nationwide and want to create a professional image for themselves. Toll-free numbers are especially useful for customer service teams since they allow customers to call customer support and business phone numbers without racking up long-distance charges.
- Vanity phone numbers: A vanity phone number is a type of toll-free number that spells out a memorable word or phrase, like 1-800-FLOWERS or 1-888-CONTACT. Vanity numbers are a great way to stand out and make your business memorable, especially if you advertise on TV, radio, or billboards. If you’re managing a national customer support line, a toll-free or vanity number could give you the nationwide presence you need to make a strong impression.
If you’re curious, learn more about the differences between local and toll-free numbers.
How to get a work phone number
Getting a work phone number is simpler than you think. With VoIP providers like OpenPhone, you can set one up in just a few steps.
Here’s how you can get started:
- Sign up for a seven-day free trial of OpenPhone and create your account.
- Choose your preferred work phone number type. OpenPhone lets you choose from several options based on your needs:
- Local US or Canadian numbers
- North American toll-free numbers
- Custom vanity numbers
- Import your contacts and invite your team.
That’s it! With OpenPhone, you can start making and receiving business calls with your team right away.
After you’re satisfied that OpenPhone is a good fit, you can file for A2P 10DLC registration or toll-free number registration to start texting US customers. This additional verification is a requirement pushed for by the large US cell carriers.
By setting up a virtual business phone number with OpenPhone, you’ll have all the tools you need to manage business calls professionally, stay connected with your team, and communicate effectively with customers — all from one convenient platform.
7 reasons you should get a work phone number
As an entrepreneur, if you’re still on the fence, here are seven compelling reasons why a work phone number can make all the difference for your small business.
1. Share incoming calls and texts with your team
A work phone number allows you to assign incoming calls and messages to different team members, making it easier to distribute the workload. Shared numbers mean your team can answer customer inquiries without delay, even if one person is out of the office or busy with another task.
With OpenPhone, you can reduce your missed calls with custom ring groups. Choose which members of your team will get dialed first for incoming calls and set sequential ring batches. That way, you don’t have to ring every member of your team all at once.
2. Separate your personal and work communications
With a dedicated business phone number, you’ll know instantly whether an incoming call or message is for business or personal reasons. This allows you to adjust your phone etiquette based on who’s calling — no more guessing.
OpenPhone’s incoming caller ID makes it easy to differentiate between work and personal contacts, helping you maintain professionalism without the hassle of using two phones.
3. Create a better work-life balance
Using a personal number for business can mean taking work calls at all hours. With a work phone number, you can set clear business hours so customers know when they can reach you. Individual team members can also set their own work schedules; if your team works in shifts, this sets clear lines of accountability within your team.
Want to keep your customers engaged after hours? You can configurecustom voicemail greetings and auto-replies in your after-hours call flows. Let customers know when you can get back to them and share resources that may be helpful while they’re waiting for a callback.
4. Protect your personal number
Keeping your personal phone number private is important when trying to avoid spam and reduce the risk of online scams. By having an alternate phone number for work, you protect your personal information and keep unwanted calls from interrupting your day.
A work phone number acts as a shield, making sure that only business-related calls come through to you to a second number and preventing your personal number from becoming public.
Want to port your existing number to your virtual phone system? Check out our number porting guide.
5. Automatically sync work calls and texts with your CRM
For small businesses, you’re more likely to maintain strong customer relationships when you keep track of your customer conversations. With a VoIP number, you can integrate calls, texts, and voicemails with your CRM or other third-party tools.
OpenPhone supports native HubSpot and Salesforce integrations, and you can connect to whichever CRM you use with our Zapier integration. If you want even more control over your call and text tracking, you can go even further with the OpenPhone API..
6. Nurture prospects with automated texting
A work phone number doesn’t just help with calls — it opens up new ways to connect via text messaging. With features like auto-replies, message snippets, scheduled texts, and automated text flows, you can engage prospects without needing to manually type every response:
- Auto-replies give you the ability to automatically respond to customers when your team is unavailable.
- Scheduled texts help you schedule messages based on your customer’s time zones.
- Snippets help you respond to common questions quickly with pre-written text templates.
- Automated text flows give you the ability to nurture your contacts when they take high-intent actions in your customer journey.
7. Capture customer communications and track action items
When handling multiple customer requests, it’s easy for details to slip through the cracks. With features like call recording, call summaries, and transcription, a work phone number ensures you never lose track of what matters to your customers.
OpenPhone’s recording, call summary, and transcription features let you review past conversations and capture specific requests, making it easier to follow up on action items and keep everyone on the same page.
How to choose a work phone number provider
Getting the right work phone service provider is important for smooth communication and giving your customers a professional experience. Here are five key factors to consider as you evaluate different options:
- Features: Your work phone number provider should offer the features that matter most to your business, like shared numbers, ring groups, SMS and MMS messaging, and CRM integrations. These capabilities are perfect for seamless real-time team collaboration, efficient customer management, and a complete view of your communications.
- Pricing: Pricing can vary quite a bit across VoIP phone services. Some providers charge based on the number of calls or messages, or they may add on fees for essential features, making it hard to understand your estimated monthly costs. Opt for providers that offer flat monthly pricing in their plans. If you aren’t sure how many calls and messages you can make with a provider, you should look elsewhere.
- Ratings and reviews: Reviews from real users give valuable insights into a provider’s reliability and service quality. Take some time to read through user reviews on sites like G2 or Trustpilot to see if the platform lives up to its claims.
- Security and reliability: Even as a small business, data security and consistent uptime need to be top of mind when choosing a business phone provider. Check for any listed data certifications, such as SOC 2 compliance, and whether the provider has a status page to track uptime.
- Free trial: Look for providers that offer a free trial so you can explore their platform’s features, ease of use, and overall fit for your business before committing.
OpenPhone: The best work phone number provider for small businesses
If you’re looking for a dedicated work phone number for your business, look no further than OpenPhone.
OpenPhone is a collaborative business phone system for teams. With OpenPhone, you can bring your calls, texts, recordings, and voicemails into an intuitive app that works across all your devices.. Rated #1 in customer satisfaction on G2, OpenPhone is trusted by over 50,000 businesses, from fast-growing startups to Fortune 500 companies.
- Keep everyone aligned with shared work phone numbers, which let teammates work together to seamlessly support customers.
- Automatically record your calls and summarize them in seconds with AI call summaries.
- Share your call and text data where your team needs it with OpenPhone’s integrations, including the OpenPhone API.
- Simplify your call management with powerful call routing and call forwarding features, including auto attendant (IVR), custom greetings, and voicemail transcription functionality
- Build stronger relationships with a mini CRM for your team’s contacts, complete with custom properties and notes. Give every contact a personalized customer experience.
- Give your team the ability to work anywhere they have an Internet connection with OpenPhone’s desktop and mobile apps. Team members can use OpenPhone with their own smartphones — no custom hardware required.
Get started using OpenPhone today with our seven-day free trial.
