For small business owners starting out, it's common to want to use your personal mobile phone for work. It may seem convenient but the setbacks will become obvious in the future such as not being able to switch off, wondering whether every call is a personal or business and can damage your professional reputation.

Here are more reasons why using a personal mobile phone number isn't something you should be doing.

You are prone to threats.

When running your business, it's natural to give your number out to a large network such as suppliers, stakeholders and prospective customers. Your number is advertising your products and services to your target audience. Using your personal mobile phone for work and business can be putting your business at risk and when using it on advertising campaigns it will no longer be 'personal'.

A mobile number doesn’t have the same protections as a landline you are at constant risk of attacks from hackers and scammers. A personal mobile number is usually attached to bank accounts and other private information. With this, it’s a constant gamble using your personal mobile number for work and business purposes.

You will be easily distracted.

Running a small business requires your undivided attention and without unnecessary distractions. Using a personal mobile phone for work can distract you from your day-to-day tasks and meetings. Mobile phones carry out all sorts of communication that are not work-related such as social media accounts and friendly contacts. These distractions become harder to ignore as you use your personal mobile phone as a business phone.

You can’t avoid spam calls

The more public a phone number is, the more open it is to spam calls. If you are using your personal mobile number for work it wouldn't be able to screen calls first allowing you to see exactly who's calling and from where. These unnecessary distractions can take up a lot of your day which time should be spent growing and scaling your business. More importantly, these calls can clog your line up and block access to customers, severely dragging revenue down.

You can’t control customer-employee interaction.

A mobile phone number is a sole responsibility which can’t be shared with employees or teams. Heavy call periods or times where you’re unavailable could put a strain on the number of customers you can respond to. Your business may already have a team email inbox but your phone should support collaboration too.

You will be bound to that phone number.

Mobile numbers are stagnant and can only be stored on one device. Changing your mobile phone number will mean that customers will find it harder to contact your business. What's more, is that mobile numbers are also used for two-factor authentications on a range of services like banking. Making it more difficult to have a standard business line.

No work-life balance

When using a mobile number as a main point of contact you may be sending a message to clients/customers that your business is always available. There is nothing to stop customers calling at inconvenient times and no notification that operations might have closed for the day. This could largely affect work-life balance and not allow you to switch off from your business.

Receiving business phone calls automatically means that you’re always on the clock. Leading to inappropriate times to be answering phone calls such as at dinner, home or spending time with family and friends.

Why now is the time to switch to a virtual landline

Call screening and transfers

Virtual phone systems provide immediate call forwarding. An added benefit is also call screening which enables users to answer a call or redirect to voicemail. This is particularly useful when taking calls outside of the office and for remote work. Ensuring that important calls are not missed by routing them to your office, home or alternative numbers within your team. Helping you remain accessible to clients, colleagues and external suppliers.

Auto-attendant

Auto-attendant enables inbound calls to be greeted by a professional greeting no matter the time of the call. These messages can be customised for any occasion and give the customer clear instructions, for example directing to a number for a specific service. You can customise this to different departments, extensions or even a voicemail box eliminating the need for an operator or receptionist and providing overall savings.

Remote working

Utilising a virtual number also helps encourage remote working for you and your employees. There are various features that allow seamless communication and collaboration such as chat messaging, video meetings. What's more, is via your phone system dashboard you can set working hours helping employees stay accountable and still be able to take important lunch breaks

Mobile access

Virtual phone systems also allow you to take professional business calls on your mobile! Easily answer, review or redirect calls with an easy-to-use app even when out of the office ensuring that calls are never missed. Mobile access also allows you to easily work from anywhere and still maintain the level of professionalism your clients, customers and employees expect.

Final thoughts 

To avoid these problems, we recommend getting a virtual phone number for your work and business. Getting a virtual phone number not only lets you avoid all these problems but also adds massive value to your business values through its dozens of features.

Build a professional front and customer rapport with a cloud phone that's accessible anywhere with 40+ features to enhance customer journeys. To see how a bOnline phone can benefit your business speak to an expert on 0203 697 4166.