Once your personal number is out on the internet, it’s very hard to take back.
You gave it out because it was the fastest way to get going, and it was. Now it’s on the website, the invoices, and the sign out front. It’s in old posts, and in the phones of people you stopped working with years ago. Customer texts land in the same list as your mom and the dentist. And you answer unknown numbers now, because it might be work.
How your personal number ended up on the sign.
There were only ever three ways to do it.
- Pay business-phone prices for a line of your own.
- Track down one of those free numbers people half remember.
- Or give out the one already in your pocket.
Most small businesses end up on the third. It was the number in your hand the day somebody first asked for one.
What comes with the business number.
-
A number that belongs to the business. It’s the one on the site, the card, and the listing.
-
People can text it, and you text back. Where those messages land
-
Calls come to it. Voicemail lands somewhere you can find it later.
-
Calls can be recorded, with a notice to the caller that they are.
-
If you can’t pick up, a text goes out right away, in your words. What else can happen when a call is missed
-
You can see the calls on the number. Who they were with, and how long they ran.
The business number rings on the phone you already carry.
There’s an app, and the business number lives in it. A call to the business number rings there. A text to it lands there, not in the same list as everyone else who texts you. Your own number keeps doing what it’s always done.
Before the business number can text, it has to be approved.
In the US, a business number has to be registered and approved before it can send a single text. That approval is where people get stuck.
— Christina, FableForge“I’ve been trying to get two of our business lines approved for texting, especially for Out on a Limb (my husband’s company), and have not been able to get it approved after months of trying and finally gave up. I was able to do it in minutes on FableForge.”
Registration is vetted, and the answer depends on the business asking. So that was our run at it, not a promise about yours. What’s worth knowing is that the wall is there at all, because nobody mentions it when they tell you to get a business line. What registering the number costs
What the business number costs.
The number is part of the software at $127 a month. Set it up yourself, or put it in your queue and the team does it.
Questions people ask about the business number.
Do I need a second phone?
No. It’s an app on the phone you already have. Calls and texts to the business number come to it, and your own number carries on as normal.
Can I send text messages from it?
Yes, once the number is registered for texting. In the US that registration is a vetted process, not a switch you flip, and it’s the same one that stops a lot of people elsewhere.
What happens if I miss a call?
A text goes out right away, so the person hears something back instead of nothing. You decide what it says.
Does this replace my personal number?
No. You keep your own number, and it stays yours. The business number is the one you give out from now on.
Other features that work with the business number.
One inbox
Where the texts and calls land, next to everything else people send you.
Automations
What else can happen the moment a call goes unanswered.
Booking
Reminders by text, so fewer people forget the appointment.
The CRM
Calls and texts attach to the person, not to your phone.