The three things that have to work on day one
A number that is not your personal cell. This is the one people put off and regret. Your mobile number follows you forever, it goes on invoices and web forms, it cannot be handed to anyone else, and you cannot stop it ringing at ten on a Sunday. Separating it on day one costs a few dollars. Separating it in year three means telling every customer you have a new number.
A way for people to reach you when you cannot answer. A voicemail in your business's name, transcribed and sent to you, is the minimum. A greeting that says the company's name rather than "the person you are calling is unavailable" is the difference between looking like a business and looking like a phone.
A way to be found and booked. If people need to schedule with you, a booking link removes four emails from every appointment. If they need to text you, that needs to be a business number, not your personal one.
Everything else can wait.
What can wait a month
- Desk phones. Buy them when there is a desk and someone sitting at it. The app works from day one.
- An auto attendant. "Press 2 for billing" is for when there is a billing department.
- Extensions for staff. Add them as you hire.
- A toll-free number. It signals scale. It does nothing for a business whose customers are local.
- Call recording and transcription. Useful once there is enough volume to review.
What you do not need at all
A separate video subscription. If your phone platform includes meetings, you are paying twice.
A separate scheduling tool, for the same reason.
A second line on your personal mobile plan. It gives you a number and nothing else: no greeting, no routing, no way for anyone else to answer, and nothing that looks like a company.
A landline. It is not 2004, and a landline cannot follow you to a customer's site.
The honest version of the texting question
Texting customers from a business number is the thing most people are surprised by, so it is worth knowing before you start rather than after.
Business texting in the United States has to be registered with the carriers. Registered messages get delivered. Unregistered messages get filtered, throttled or silently dropped, and no bounce notice is generated, so the sender has no idea it happened. That is why a free consumer number is a poor foundation for a business that texts customers.
SoundLine handles the registration rather than handing you a form. On a new number there is a short carrier activation wait, usually about fifteen minutes, and we email you when it clears.
What this looks like with SoundLine
Under five minutes from signing up to placing your first call. That is measured, on video, not estimated. Email verification, a password, cell phone verification, government ID verification through Stripe, then you pick your number and dial.
Day one you get a local business number, calling in and out, a greeting in your business's name, voicemail transcription, video meetings, a booking page, and a support line answered by a person in the United States.
From $19.99 per user per month, or $14.99 on an annual plan. If you start a second business later, it lives in the same account with its own number and greeting.
When you should not bother yet
If you have no customers yet and no date when you will, your personal number is fine for another few weeks. The moment to do this is when you are about to put a number on something public: a website, a card, a listing, an invoice, a van. Changing it afterward is the expensive version.
Questions people ask
What do I actually need to start taking business calls?
A business number separate from your personal mobile, a greeting in your business's name, and voicemail that reaches you. Everything else is optional in week one.
How fast can I get a business phone number?
Under five minutes with SoundLine, from signup to placing a call. Texting on a new number usually takes about another fifteen minutes while the carriers activate it.
Should I use my personal number when starting out?
It works, and it is the decision most founders later wish they had made differently. A personal number cannot be delegated, cannot carry a business greeting, and cannot be separated from you if you sell or close.
Do I need a toll-free number?
Usually not. Toll-free signals national scale. For most new businesses a local number is the stronger signal, and it is cheaper.
Can I add staff later?
Yes, as users on the same account, each with their own extension.
Start this week
Seven days free, a real number, every Growth feature on. Card required for identity verification, not charged until the trial ends.