Cell Phone Only for My Business?

January 15, 2009 3:02 PM

Should I ditch my business land phone line?

I am self employed in a creative field and work out of my home. I have clients visit my studio around half a dozen times a year at most.

I do no mass market advertising, and the 10% of my business which doesn't originate via word of mouth or my online web site presence comes from referrals; almost without exception.

I've had a dedicated business phone line, phone number, and yellow pages directory listing for over 20 years. At this point, it seems like nearly all of the calls I receive on that line are either solicitations, or occasional calls from my regular clients. I'd have no problem giving clients who do not currently have my cell phone number that number.

I'd like to give up my business land line forever. But, when I've brought this topic up on a few professional forums, I've always been emphatically urged to maintain the 20+ year old business line and its print directory listing. The only calls I get as a result of my yellow pages listing are people looking for low ball estimates or for specific services which I do not perform.

Is it insane (or just bad business) to give up my land line?

Most importantly, if I list my cell phone number on my web site am I inviting all manner of cell spam? Are there other negative or deal breaking implications of doing so?>

As time passes I am increasingly inclined to dump my land line. For substantially less than the price of my current cell plan plus the land line cost, I can get a really sweet cell plan with plenty of data capability.

Are there other factors I should consider?

posted by imjustsaying to media & arts (18 comments total)

If you want to keep your business line separate from your personal cell line, which it sounds like you do, consider using Skype-In for your business line. It's about $35 per year for a phone number anyone can call, usually local. It rings your computer, and goes to voice mail if you're not around or have it turned off. Plus you can set it up to forward to your cell if you want to (while still keeping the two separate).

Check it out.
posted by nitsuj at 3:09 PM on January 15 [1 favorite]

It's about $35 per year for a phone number anyone can call, usually local.

Sorry, by "usually local," I meant you can usually get a phone number that is local to your business. Anyone anywhere with any type of phone can call the number.
posted by nitsuj at 3:11 PM on January 15

Depends on how much you move around (e.g. if you're in the office all the time) and how frequently you get called. Client visits half a dozen times a year imho isn't enough to warrant a landline.

Depends on the creative work and the types of clients you get as well.

I run sales for a wholesale company and freelance creative work on the side and we use a landline as well as a cell but most of my clients prefer calling my cell because they know they'll reach me directly. Of course, they call me at odd hours sometimes but the voicemail takes care of that.

It sounds like it's more cost-effective in the long run to just use your cell. My two cents. You can always drop it and then pick it back up if you feel you need to.
posted by HolyWood at 3:40 PM on January 15

Another vote for Skype.
Wheverever the free software is installed and you can get online to sign into your account, that's your phone.
PC-to-PC calling, IM, and videoconferencing is always free.
Most calls from PC to landline (SkypeOut), world wide, are about $.02/minute; a $3/mo subscription gets you unlimited calls to US+Canada.
$60 per year lets you pick any area code, and choose from available landline numbers in that area code - that number is your new "landline" (SkypeIn) - anyone from any phone dials it and your computer rings. They have no idea they're calling your computer.
Voicemail is great, and so are the call forwarding features - log in and check a few boxes and you can forward your cell to ring at skype or vice-versa. Works nicely with Outlook if you use that, giving you the option to dial anyone in your Outlook contacts with a click. Post your Skype number / ID on your website and people can call you right from your website.
Skype let me ditch my landline a long time ago.
Caveats: sound quality and connection is dependent on bandwith and PC processing; doesn't work on a crap PC using dialup, but pretty great everywhere else. Since your call is routed over the internet (encrypted), most people's land line callerIDs will show gibberish when you call them. Oh, and you probably have to blow $30 on a USB headset to hear and be heard well.
posted by bartleby at 3:48 PM on January 15

Speaking as a business owner you should never, never tie a local number (like a cell phone) to an Internet-based business. If you unexpectedly move or have to change your phone #, then you'll be forced to dump a whole bunch of business contacts and reprint your business cards. I would suggest getting a permanent 1-800 number and service through a company like Kall8, as you can easily re-route incoming calls to any phone you like.

I list my 1-800 number publically and interestingly have never had any spam calls. I think the shadier outfits (so-called "police associations", DirecTV installers, etc) avoid 1-800 altogether.

I admittedly don't know much about Skype, but as long as it's not yoked to VoIP (i.e. what if your business is temporarily somewhere where you can't get broadband) or a local number, it may be fine.
posted by crapmatic at 4:29 PM on January 15 [1 favorite]

Also FWIW I'm paying about $5-10 a month for service altogether, and I route calls to my cell phone, to my home office phone, or to voicemail with their web panel scheduler... it works great. GrandCentral might be possibility, also, BTW, but since there's not really a contract and it's free I don't put much faith in their "number for life" guarantee, and I've found it has very limited blocking and other options for business use.
posted by crapmatic at 4:32 PM on January 15 [1 favorite]

How much do you use the phone line to call out? Will the increased usage on the cell phone make the switch not cost beneficial? What happens if your cell phone quits on you?

I admit, I just can't give up my landline...
posted by gjc at 5:04 PM on January 15

I am self employed in a creative field and work out of my home.

This seals the deal. Given that you are not usually at home, I think using a cell phone as your main point of contact makes perfect sense, but I would use something like GrandCentral to help manage and filter your calls.
posted by kindall at 5:47 PM on January 15

One thing I learned when having a business is that business phones are not eligible for the do not call registry. We get so much telemarketing on our business line..

Also, grandcentral might be a good choice. It's free, and you can tell it to forward calls to the phone of your choice. It can also do phone screening for you. Run by google. Pretty sweet.
posted by tfinniga at 6:24 PM on January 15

Land line lacks latency, which makes for better, quicker conversations with more nuance. Really, the quality makes a difference, in my opinion. I have no opinion on Skype, but I've heard bad things about their customer service recently -- and you'd be at their mercy if they decided to do [X weird, expensive, or inconvenient thing].
posted by amtho at 6:31 PM on January 15 [2 favorites]

We're actually about to switch over to cell with a 30-yr-old business line, but we're going to use the same number. However, we have zero phone spam problems with that line, knock on wood, and the cost is just no longer justifiable.
posted by nax at 7:57 PM on January 15

You should research the laws about transferring your number, learning the right questions. I'm sure many VoIP providers let you transfer your number if they fail or you change, though probably not Skype. Maybe you can transfer your line to some inexpensive VoIPish service who'll forward the line to your mobile?

p.s. Skype will not consistently deliver professional quality while some SIP providers are professional. Sklype doesn't support the wonderful VoIP software like Asterisk.
posted by jeffburdges at 10:34 PM on January 15

I wonder if there are any tax implications? Without your land line can you deduct the cost of your cell?
posted by Bunglegirl at 11:44 PM on January 15

We just recently traded our landline business number to iPhones. Only thing you may miss is your fax machine, occasionally, but faxes are getting to be old school anyway.

And yes, Bunglegirl, if the cell number is a work listing you can write it off.

All's well for us so far.
posted by artdrectr at 2:43 AM on January 16

And yes, Bunglegirl, if the cell number is a work listing you can write it off.

Presumably, only the percentage of it you use for work.
posted by gjc at 4:22 AM on January 16

I'd be wary of GrandCentral. Google, who now own it, have been circling the wagons and culling some services. GrandCentral was apparently on the chopping block, but managed to avoid the chop, for now. I wouldn't trust it long term though.
posted by hungrysquirrels at 6:15 AM on January 16

I've posted a cell phone number on my site and other materials for several years now and have had no problems with spammy calls. I use Maxemail for faxes and have never regretted cutting the land line.

I've experimented with having SkypeIn forward calls to my cell, but I didn't like the lack of caller ID. I've also called clients through Skype, and one of them said she almost didn't answer the phone because the caller ID was so bizarre.
posted by PatoPata at 8:38 AM on January 16

I´ve had a cell number on the web in the past, have gotten a few ¨fundraising¨ type calls. All I have to say is ¨This is a cell phone´ and they hang up quick and never call back.

you should never, never tie a local number (like a cell phone) to an Internet-based business

It seems to be very common for people to keep their old cell number from their old state when they move. If that´s a possibility you might not have to worry about it, on the other hand you might prefer that clients not feel that you are linked to a particular area.
posted by yohko at 10:51 AM on January 18