No, dear lovely client, you can't have my cell phone number.

July 27, 2023 8:35 AM

I want to have the ability to call my clients from my cell phone occasionally, but I reallyreallyreally only want them to have my work phone number, which is a land line, through the phone company, routed to my physical office in an office building.

I usually only call my clients from my office, because any time I bend my rule and call them from my cell, they inevitably save the number and then only call me on my cell from that point forward, which I hate, for Reasons.

How can I call from my mobile and have the call come in to them from my work number so when they hit "redial" or "save", it uses that instead? Is there an app or add-on for this? I'm on an AT&T iphone. I don't need any other type of cross-connectivity - don't need work calls to ring through to my cell phone, don't need to text, etc. Just the outgoing number tweak.

posted by bluesky78987 to Technology (15 answers total)

According to this article you can hide caller ID in settings with these steps

1. Open Settings.
2. Scroll down to Phone and tap on it.
3. Navigate to Show My Caller ID.
4. Tap on the switch to show or hide your caller ID.

I'm not 100% certain it hides the actual number, so you might want to test.
posted by TimHare at 8:52 AM on July 27, 2023

You can't easily fake the number you're coming from, as TimHare notes, you can decline to show your cell number. In the menu TimHare describes you'll also see call forwarding, so another strategy to consider is getting a work burner and forwarding calls to it to your work number.
posted by mhoye at 8:55 AM on July 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

I do not use them at the moment, but historically the VOIP service Callcentric has supported the ability to use any number you control as your outgoing caller ID when making VOIP calls. [link goes to their FAQ about this]

So, hypothetically, you would set this up and then use Callcentric or another similar VOIP service for whenever making outgoing business calls from your cellphone. These days, I think you do this by installing a special app that you use instead of your phone's usual dialer app (there used to be VOIP integration in the Android dialer but this got progressively more hidden and I think is now just gone)

This is not free (you'll pay internet data to/from callcentric's server + per minute charges for callcentric to connect your phone call) but I think it's at least worth checking the cost to see if it makes sense to try.
posted by the antecedent of that pronoun at 8:56 AM on July 27, 2023 [2 favorites]

*67 followed by the phone number still works to block your caller ID.
posted by AlexiaSky at 9:27 AM on July 27, 2023 [5 favorites]

I use Google Voice for a similar scenario. I'm not sure you can hide the number, but you could leave it on do not disturb mode with a voicemail message that you don't check messages on this line, please call [office number].
posted by veery at 9:29 AM on July 27, 2023 [7 favorites]

I think you can do something like this with Google Voice: make the call with Google Voice from your cell phone, they see your Google Voice number (not your cell number), and set up Google Voice to ring your work number on incoming calls, not your cell.
posted by BungaDunga at 9:30 AM on July 27, 2023 [6 favorites]

It's been many years since I've made an outgoing call with Google Voice, but if memory serves, you do it by calling your Google Voice number from your cell phone, then dialing out through the system that picks up. The call is then "from" your Google Voice number. This is not quite as seamless as making calls directly from your cell, but it should have the desired result.

I would definitely avoid the half-measure solutions that merely block your number/caller ID, if you want anyone to pick up your calls.
posted by aws17576 at 10:50 AM on July 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

Bonus of using Google Voice is that you can also send/receive text messages from/to the Google Voice number from your personal phone.
posted by blue suede stockings at 11:10 AM on July 27, 2023

The app Doximity enables you to do this, but I think you have to be some type of medical/health provider to be able to use it.
posted by bearette at 11:11 AM on July 27, 2023

You can now easily call out from the Google Voice app and it's basically the same as making any other cell phone call.
posted by amaire at 12:44 PM on July 27, 2023 [2 favorites]

I'm able to do exactly this because it's offered through my work phone provider. I set it up through my provider's website or app and then use the same app on my cell to make calls.
posted by meemzi at 2:29 PM on July 27, 2023

One thing to keep in mind about blocking your number, people may not answer the phone. If you're calling at a pre-set time that may be less of an issue, but I've called some people at scheduled times from my work phone and they still don't answer and call back after they listen toy message.

If you do the Google voice routing back to your office, and then in turn can forward your work # to your cell (this is what I do), you'd then still get connected. But if you are calling a population wary of phone calls you could wind up in an eternal game of phone tag.

Or see if you can get a cheap work cell and make sure your message states you do not monitor the voicemail and provide the office phone number (which I've also done).
posted by ghost phoneme at 3:47 PM on July 27, 2023

Your office may be using a PBX, or have switched to an VOIP system. If so, they should have an app that allow you to "simulate" calling from the office. So if you are at a pretty large company, talk to your IT department, they *may* have something that helps. I know VOIP providers like RingCentral would definitely do this... if your office use them, this is built-in.
posted by kschang at 5:26 PM on July 27, 2023 [2 favorites]

I used to use *67 to mask my number and if a client screened their calls I would have to leave a message to let the client know it was me and that I would call again in a few minutes. They could leave voicemails for me in my office. It was not ideal.

Later I considered using Google Voice but it was also not ideal for reasons others have noted, and because as the version I considered was non-paid, it was also not confidential enough to satisfy my ethics requirements. Paid Google Voice might be better.

Recently, my office starting using Mitel Communicator, which has a remote office feature that allows me to make and receive calls to my office number on my cell phone. To dial out, I use the desktop or laptop app to call, then my cell rings, I answer it, and it connects me to the number I dialed. When a client calls, it rings on my cell if remote office is enabled.

I can turn this on or off so that my cell does not ring from calls to my office when I am not at work. It's been great.
posted by Handstand Devil at 10:23 AM on July 28, 2023

Does not answer your direction question, but if I feel I must somehow use my private cell phone to connect with a client, I tell them upfront that I normally don't give this # out but I know they won't abuse it. Not only does this seem to make them feel special, I haven't had a client that I told this to abuse it. They still call the office landline first. YMMV.
posted by Saucywench at 4:09 PM on July 28, 2023 [1 favorite]