Start-up Chores: Getting a Phone Number

Whether you're online, off line or running a shady business in an undisclosed alley somewhere; all businesses need a phone number (or a beep-a). Even though I personally would prefer email communications or IM's for online customer service stuff, experience tells me most would still prefer to pick up a phone to give me a piece of their mind if something isn't working right.

Rightfully so...

So what are my options?

Buy a traditional phone number, hook it up at home and wait for someone to call? The problem with this is... I'm never at home during work hours; during these early days of the start-up, I'm at my day job. When the business becomes successful, I may be traveling a lot so I probably won't be at home. So... with this option it's money down the drain, bootstrap initiatives failed; and Verizon/at&t laughing their way to the bank.

Vonage? Well, besides for the legal problems that Vonage has been having recently, I actually like this service. I've used them for a few years but have recently canceled due to not needing a separate phone line for my home. The same problems above for the landline can be said for Vonage but Vonage does have the added bonus of letting you check your voicemail online as a sound file. Granted, if you use voicemail now-a-days, you can probably check it anywhere. But if I'm paying for a number, I'd rather have it be portable.

What about a cell phone? Ugh... I made the mistake of posting my only cell phone as my company's direct contact number before; I won't be doing that again. I now get a few calls here and there during the work day that isn't business (day job) related and it's just embarrassing. I mean, if I'm talking to my boss or if I'm in the middle of a meeting, I can't very well excuse myself every so often to take care of other bid-nez. Not to mention, if it's a customer service call and I'm not in front of a computer, I'm virtually (and physically) worthless as a person who can help the customer.

Well, what if I get a separate cell phone? As much as I love my iPhone, I think carrying two of them would make me the biggest tool on Earth. I'm not a hacker, I don't write for tuaw, I'm also not a project manager on a construction site so I really have no need for multiple cell phones. Not to mention if I were to pay $120 a month in cellphone bills, I'd be throwing money away that could otherwise be used for web hosting or bagels and expensive coffee.

Oh I know! What about Skype? Okay, so a popular recommendation I've been seeing across the board is Skype. With Skype, you can call the world. With Skype, you can sell easily on eBay. With Skype, you can hold online meetings and look like a customer service rep while doing so. With Skype, you can yada yada... Yes, Skype would be a pretty good alternative and it's a service I definitely recommend using if you are off-shoring your development. The world loves Skype and for the most part, you will get everything you need for calling others. However, it doesn't solve all my needs. I would like one number for the entire company and I need a place where people can reach me or my partners. I'm not quite sure that Skype offers that for free... or even at all.

Alright, so what DO you want? One service I found while chatting in the start-up forums is a company called Grand Central. The service is in beta but they were recently acquired by Google which could only mean a couple of things: 1. They're here to stay. 2. They will most likely be free to consumers/small businesses. Grand Central allows you to reserve a number and set a voice mail to it. You can also have it forward the call to multiple numbers at once. So in essence, I can get a number and have it forward to everyone in the company though at this point, I'm not quite sure what would happen if everyone picks up. The idea seems like a great one and best of all, it comes with a lot of cool features. (GC, if you're reading this; I'm still waiting to be activated! I can do a much better review if I can use it; *hint*)

So if you're stuck in the same situation as we are with regards to phones, I'd recommend you check them out and reserve a number. I'm sure there are probably other solutions out there and/or similar service providers; we would love to hear any other suggestions you guys have or solutions you are using for your start-up.