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Need a business phone number? Dialpad gives you a truly unified communications platform, starting at only $20/month.
- Includes a local business number
- Unlimited calling in Australia, the US, and Canada
- Real-time transcriptions
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Fun fact: Even though many consumers today are increasingly using live chat, text messaging, and other channels to interact with businesses...
People still call companies. Whether it’s to ask simple questions or complicated questions, or to complain, or to leave feedback, for some reason phone calls are still very much a thing.
Which is why you’ll most likely still need a business phone system—and a business phone number.
What’s the easiest way to get both? We’ll show you. First, let’s look at what exactly a business phone number is and how it’s different from your typical phone number.
What is a business phone number?
If you run a business and need a way for customers to reach you, the first thing you need to do is to get a business line. And it’s not just for customers either. (Think about if you ever have to reach out to vendors, investors, the post office…)
A business phone number is basically a dedicated line specifically for your business. Some folks (especially small business owners) can get away with using their personal number for business calls—but once your business grows to a certain point, that’s not ideal anymore. Imagine getting five or six customer calls every day, at all hours of the day, on your personal phone. It’s not good for work-life balance.
Easy setup
Whether you want a new business phone number or just want to port your current number over, it’s incredibly easy to do in Dialpad. In Dialpad, you can add new virtual phone numbers (or manage phone numbers for your team) any time with a click of a button.
Call forwarding
Heading out of the office, but don’t want to miss an important business call? Dialpad's call forwarding feature will send all your incoming calls to another mobile phone, a landline, or even your colleague. Worried about reception? Set a landline as one of your call forwarding numbers! You can set up call forwarding to five external call forwarding numbers.
Customisable caller ID
Dialpad is designed to let you work from anywhere, and that includes letting you make calls on your personal mobile phone while shielding your personal number. When you make a call from Dialpad’s desktop or mobile app, you can choose which business number you want to pop up on caller ID.
Keep your work-life balance
If work-life balance is important to you, then a “do not disturb” feature is essential, especially if you’re using your personal phone for work. With Dialpad, you can have incoming calls sent to your voicemail inbox (or someone else)—and keep using your phone for personal phone calls and messaging—without worrying about clients calling you after business hours.
Get started with a business phone number...
... Along with a unified communications platform. Sign up to try Dialpad for free, or take a self-guided interactive tour of the app first!
“
You just type in the area code and there’s always a list. I’ve never not been able to get one, and then it’s attached to a phone and done. It’s just super quick to provision a phone.
”Randy Tanenhaus
IT Manager at ClassPass
Any device, anytime
One of the best things about Dialpad is that you can use its softphone app on any device. Whether your personal mobile phone is an iPhone or Android—or even if you’re using PC or Mac—Dialpad works on all of them (yes, even iOS devices like iPads). Plus, Dialpad's call flip feature lets you flip a phone call from your computer seamlessly to your phone (and vice versa) without dropping the call!
Call recording
Some business phone providers charge exorbitant amounts of money for call recording. Dialpad doesn’t. Call recordings are useful in so many ways—they’re great for training because new hires can hear firsthand how to handle difficult calls, they can help your team adhere to compliance measures, and much more.
Excellent call quality
With Dialpad’s global voice network, which is designed to prioritise call quality, your phone calls will be crystal clear, no matter where in the world you’re calling. Hey, we have HD video—why not HD audio?
Auto attendant
An auto attendant or a virtual receptionist is a feature that greets callers when they call you and presents them with the different menu options. Once your caller makes a choice, the auto-attendant automatically transfers the call. If your business gets a lot of inbound calls or if you're spending too much time on manual call routing, you probably need this!
4 types of business phone numbers to be aware of
1. A local phone number
You can get a local phone number from your local phone company (or through a business phone system provider like Dialpad). Setting it up doesn’t take long, and when customers see their area code in your business phone number, they’ll think you’re a local business (even if you’re not). This is a big plus if you’re catering to a local community.
2. An international phone number
International phone numbers let you handle calls from other countries and build an international presence for your business. Each country comes with its own country codes. (For example, if someone from New Zealand wants to call a business in Australia, they’ll need to dial 00 61 followed by the area code and telephone number.)
3. A toll-free or 1800 number
Traditionally, toll-free numbers were provided by businesses to let their (domestic and international) customers call them without incurring charges. Today, companies still use toll-free or 1800 numbers for different reasons.
Some might use them as part of a specific marketing or infomercial campaign, while others might use them because they make your business look like a bigger organisation (because it used to be that only big businesses could afford toll-free numbers—which is no longer the case).
If you have a good business phone system, it can be really easy to set up a toll-free number. For example, here’s how it works in Dialpad. You just go into your online account and add a number yourself!
Need a business number?
Get one in minutes — along with a unified communications platform. Sign up for Dialpad’s 14-day free trial to take it for a test drive, or take a self-guided interactive tour of the app first!
FAQs about business phone numbers
How do I get a business phone number?
Getting a number through a traditional PBX provider can be cumbersome and time-consuming. Folks who want to avoid that will generally sign up for a virtual business phone number, which is much simpler. Usually, you’d sign up for a free trial. For example, you can sign up for Dialpad’s 14-day free trial, which takes just a few minutes and will set you up with a new working number immediately. From there, you can add users, set up voicemail, and decide if you want more local, toll-free, or international numbers (or all three).