For small businesses, particularly SOHOs (small office/home office), a lot of time can be spent away from the office doing your job, meaning that your mobile phone is your most important means of communication. Advertising your mobile number to your customers does not present a professional façade and for credibility a landline number is needed.

However a landline, or fixed line, ties someone to the office, is answered by an answerphone message or, in the worst case scenario, rings unanswered. Could a landline number that rings on your mobile phone be the answer?

There are now many different solutions that give you a virtual landline number that rings on your mobile. The main difference is pricing and which one is best for you will depend largely upon your usage.

Vodafone One Net Express

Probably the most well known solution is Vodafone’s One Net Express. Originally a standalone product it is now possible to include it with a standard Vodafone tariff making it much more attractive and affordable to the average small business user.

Your virtual landline number is held by Vodafone and rings on your mobile without being diverted. This means that there are no call charges for transferring calls between landline and mobile. You also get a number of phone system features such as call waiting, music on hold, hunt groups etc. which are included within your package.

Basic tariffs start at £35 plus VAT which includes 300 mobile minutes, 3,000 landline minutes, 250 texts and 500MB of data. Higher tariffs are available for larger users.

Other networks offer similar products which work slightly differently but produce broadly the same end result.

Call management solutions

Other products exist which give you a virtual landline and then divert the calls to your mobile. This makes them non-network specific and means you can have your mobile contract with any provider and still receive calls. There is usually a charge for the diversion though so they only really work out cost effective for light users.

They do have the flexibility to be diverted to any number, so you can divert them to another landline at reduced costs, or change the diverted number at any time.

Compare available solutions

At Business Mobile World we offer a range of solutions for having a landline number on your mobile. We can provide you with a comparison between products and guide you to the best option for your usage.

It is not only SOHOs who take advantage of this new technology, many larger businesses look at similar arrangements to make their method of communication more flexible, ensuring more calls get answered by the right person first time. This increases productivity and customer satisfaction.