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Cell vs Landline business phone

signswi

New Member
Brick n' mortar should have a landline (any permutation, I favor VoIP). If you're a freelancer a cell is fine but I'd set up Google Voice or something so that you can separate out your personal from business calls.
 

The Vector Doctor

Chief Bezier Manipulator
I would also recommend testing out your cell line before committing. Have a friend or family member call and advise on call quality. I cannot tell you the number of times I talk to customers and miss half of what they said because of poor cell service. Or it sounds like they are inside of a trash can or are talking with marbles in their mouth.

Walk around your shop to see if the quality changes. Some metal buildings will make your call/voice skip as the signal drops.

Maybe ok for quick calls but is this really what your customers want to hear daily when placing orders?
 

Techman

New Member
Land line used as a snob line???.
It gets the same argument used for a FREE email account over a dedicated email service.

The old line as:
" I would never use a bizz that uses a free email account". "They just are not stable enough". Or whatever other diss can be used to fill in the line..

Now its .. "I would not call a cell phone or trust a cell phone business".

These old closed minded rules do not apply any more. Every one uses a cell phone. Some use two.


I have not used a land line in years. I cannot tell by a phone number if someone who calls me is a cell line or a land line. I really do not care either.
 

laserman70

New Member
verizon wireless has a new plan for in home/office wireless.
modem goes in your shop that you plug your landline into.
We did it and love it.
reduced bill from 159.00 a month to 29.00 a month.
unlimited calling in USA.
Our business does not depend on phone books.
We use phone books for the fireplace at home. Google is most peoples phone book today.
just my .02
 

401Graphics

New Member
I use vonage also. And i have it simultaneously ring my cell also, so i never miss a call. and if i dont answer the phone and they leave a voice mail i will get an email with the voice mail attached, and it transcribes it to text also (which usually screws up the words), and it will also send a text to my cell. Vonage also has a bunch of other features too.
You gotta be sure your internet speed is decent also, or else you will lose calls (unless you answer using your cell)
 

mark galoob

New Member
im gonna have to agree that it dont matter wheather you have a land line or a cell phone line now a days.

it does matter where your google placement is however.


mark galoob
 

TheSnowman

New Member
These old closed minded rules do not apply any more. Every one uses a cell phone. Some use two.

To each his own, but I don't agree with this statement at all. If I'm getting quotes from a legit store front company and one emails me a quote with a gmail account, and one has one ending in "mycompany.com" I'm going to feel way better about choosing the guy with the mycompany.com email because I feel like he's actually taken some time to start a business correctly instead of using his email from high school for his business.

When I deal with "company's" that only use cell phones, normally all they ever do is dodge my calls and it's a pain in the butt to get a hold of someone and then they always say "I didn't get a call" when I'd called them 5 times. Then half the time when they do pick up, it's like I'm an annoyance to them for calling their cell phone. Just as a general rule of thumb, I'd say 75% of of the "businesses" that enter my shop and order stuff with cell phones only for contact, I have to chase for my money, and I have zero desire to do business with them because of their attitudes. Maybe you have a different demographic with it in your area.

Like I say, to each his own.
 

midnightmadman

New Member
All I know is I think had had more business when I had my land line advertised on my vehicle, etc, (not even listed as a business line) then what I have since using my cell. Maybe this thread will help me decide what to do.. I do like the convenience of just using the cell though.
 
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ironchef

New Member
A little off topic here, im finally switching to comcast voice. Net. Tv. At&t sucks in my area. Today i went on speedtest.net my download speed was worse then the upload. It was like .28 lol.. comcast is saying they got 12 download and 2 upload
 

Techman

New Member
To each his own, but I don't agree with this statement at all. If I'm getting quotes from a legit store front company and one emails me a quote with a gmail account, and one has one ending in "mycompany.com" I'm going to feel way better about choosing the guy with the mycompany.com email because I feel like he's actually taken some time to start a business correctly instead of using his email from high school for his business.

That is good for some. The confidence gained is if a value..
But to many others it is some old detritus left over from the old days.. It falls into the same pile as where some demand a real name is used on a forum.
The old ways are going down in today's cyber world. First of all too many dedicated email addresses are spoofed and spammed to be of any real value over a non dedicated address.

I get very few emails from dedicated email servers any more. Google has gmail linked to every thing else. It is used by many to lift search engine ratings. And I get more than cell calls than ever. Personaly I cannot tell it is a cell phone from the phone number anyway.

I have no problems getting my money. Cell phone user or other wise. The only recent time I got ripped off was last summer when a shark finned lawyer on a dedicated land line hid behind his secretary and didn't pay me.. I failed to use my rules of getting paid in advance. That was my fault. But, he was a little annoyed when I repo'd (my) his panel. He was really miffed when he tried to get it back and I casually mentioned the ethics board might be interested in hearing about a non payment issue..

If paypal has no reservations for users of non dedicated email servers or cell phones then I will not either. Just send me the check. As the song says. "Go on take the money and run"..
 

chester215

Just call me Chester.
Been using Google voice at home for about 6-8 months with no complaints.
I could not port my old number over but was able to choose a number from their available list of new #s.
The newest obi , OBi202 will handle 2 lines.
You need a fast internet connection for these.
We have 5 lines here at the office and comcast voice over ip seems to be working ok for now.
The best part of GV is after the initial set up costs, the phone service is free through 2012 and maybe beyond.
 

Jillbeans

New Member
I've had the same landline since 1989.
It tells my customers that I have a brick and mortar local business.
I tend to put more trust in the regular landline and name/website people when I am looking for a company to do something for me, and I think many customers feel the same way as I do.
I do have a cell phone but it is for my own personal use.
Customers never get that number.
Love....jill
 

midnightmadman

New Member
I've had the same landline since 1989.
It tells my customers that I have a brick and mortar local business.
I tend to put more trust in the regular landline and name/website people when I am looking for a company to do something for me, and I think many customers feel the same way as I do.
I do have a cell phone but it is for my own personal use.
Customers never get that number.
Love....jill

Yeah I'm starting to lean this way. Do you forward your landline to your cell when your out of the office? I'm thinking thats what I may do. I really don't think I want to keep advertising my cell number..
 

TheSnowman

New Member
I can see both sides of "needing to answer calls at all times" and "keeping things separate". I have a customer who basically is probably 30%+ of my business. They got my cell phone long ago, and that's the only number they call, and they freak out when I don't answer. They aren't mad, but if I'm on vacation or something, I'm not answering their calls...PERIOD. I'm very protective of my cell phone...it's for MY convenience, not theirs.

That being said, I have my shop phone and my cell phone ring at the same time most of the time so I can grab whichever one I'm closest to and it helps when I am out of the shop and I do want to answer calls. I just have too many clients that are work-a-holics, and I'm not going to work on their crazy schedules.

I offer great customer service, and they know that, and when I leave town, they REALLY realize that, but for me, I've got to be able to separate business from personal. Ask any realtor that's got their cell number all over the place, they can't ever escape that phone...ever.
 
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