8 Best Reasons Why it’s Not Good to Use Your Personal Phone Number for Business

Are you thinking about using your personal phone number for your business? Ever wonder why that might not be the best choice?🫤

Communication channels are key to growing a business network, whether a startup or small- or mid-sized business.

A phone call is the best tool for quickly resolving issues without misunderstandings when dealing with suppliers, clients, or partners. However, many business owners use their mobile numbers for work, which, although convenient and inexpensive, is not always the best solution.❌

A survey showed that more than 80% of small business owners used their personal phone numbers for business purposes. If you own a small business, you probably belong to this group.

Even though it may seem fine when you’re just getting started, you’ll face pain and limitations as your business grows.

Perhaps you have already experienced some of these: getting late-night calls, receiving texts from strangers on your personal number, not knowing whether it is a business or personal call, and endless spam calls.😕

There are several reasons why mixing up your personal and business phone numbers is never a good idea. Moreover, today, you can easily add a business phone number to your existing mobile device in seconds.

Let’s get started.🚀

What is a Personal Phone Number?

A personal phone number is a unique series of digits assigned to an individual’s mobile phone or telephone line that allows others to contact that individual directly. 

In most cases, personal phone numbers are provided by telephone service providers and are used for private or personal communications rather than for business or professional purposes.

 Privacy laws and regulations in many countries protect these numbers. Individuals can keep their personal phone numbers private and decide with whom they share them.

An example of a personal phone number from the USA would follow this format: (XXX) YYY-ZZZZ. Here, “XXX” is the area code that identifies a specific geographic region (like a city or part of a state), and “YYY-ZZZZ” is the unique number assigned to an individual’s phone. So, an example could be: (212) 555-1234.

Who uses their own phone for work?

Lots of people use their personal phone numbers for work. This includes:

• Drivers who need to talk to clients, use maps, and make calls for vehicle upkeep.
• Support teams who help customers, sometimes all day and night.
• Couriers and delivery people who get instructions and call customers about orders, and use maps.
• Sales, account, and project managers who need to make deals, talk a lot, order things, and lead a team.
• Teachers and tutors who keep in touch with students and might teach online.

Many workers use their personal phones for job tasks. But it’s better to use a business phone instead of your personal number. This helps keep work and personal life separate, protects your privacy, and avoids confusion. It’s a good idea to have a special phone number just for work.

8 Strong Reasons to Keep Your Personal and Business Phone Numbers Separate

1. There is no distinction between personal and business calls

It is easy to mistake a call from your child’s school for a call from a customer visiting your website with a mobile number you use for business.

There is no way to know how to respond or if you should respond at all. Have you ever received a call while sitting in a noisy coffee shop and wondered if you should take the call outside?

You can eliminate this guesswork by having a separate business phone number. You can now answer the phone by mentioning the company name:

Thank you for contacting KrispCall. My name is Richard, how can I help you?

You’ll have more customers who are more likely to work with you if your business sounds great.

2. It’s difficult to monitor customer calls.

Over 70% of adults in the United States would switch brands if they offered better customer service.

If you use a personal phone, your messages will likely go to voicemail after hours, and your calls may go unanswered for several hours.

In addition, customers who have complaints or requests don’t have access to anyone to assist them after hours.

In spite of caller ID notifying call times, customers expect 24/7/365 assistance due to the “Amazon Effect.”

It may be a good idea to use a voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) service. This allows the business to keep call logs and records of all incoming and outgoing calls. You can also reach a live support agent through a call center or by live chat at any time, contributing to customer satisfaction.

3. Limitations on calling features that don’t scale with Business Growth

There are several features that individuals don’t need, but every business needs them, such as auto attendants, directories, and customer service queues.

As a business owner, you might not have the time to answer every call yourself. While it is nice for a customer to talk to a live person, it is not always possible.

Having automated features helps customers contact you without taking up your valuable time and can route calls to voicemail or other lines as required.

4. You’ll lack professionalism

Research suggests that the first impression you make on someone rarely lasts longer than seven seconds.

First impressions are often made through the phone when a customer contacts you, and this is why your greeting and voicemail are so important.

When you call a business, there’s nothing worse than having to deal with a full voicemail box or one that’s not configured at all. It would make much more sense if it said something like this instead:

“Hello, thank you for calling KrispCall. Let us know your message, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.”

It won’t give you the chance to appear more professional to your clients unless this also serves as your personal voicemail message.

A toll-free phone number will also make your business look larger and more easily accessible if you have customers all across the country. 

5. Robocalls are unavoidable

You will have to deal with continuous automated calls if you use your personal phone for work purposes. Normal users are not immune to this.

The report indicates that approximately three out of ten calls to consumers in the U.S are pre-recorded advertisements.

The FCC and the FTC continue to receive complaints about robotic telemarketing. Likewise, live phone marketing calls are quite annoying, and they can be detrimental to a person’s quality of life and serve as a tool for fraud and scams.

6. You cannot control customer-employee interaction.

When you give your employees permission to use their own personal special numbers to contact customers, you voluntarily give up control over that area of your business.

It’s important to keep track of all the business activities you do for your company: sales, logistics, customer service, etc.

When your company interacts with clients using employee personal numbers, you don’t know how often and when your employees speak to customers, how they handle conversations, or what results they fail to achieve.

No matter how trusting you are of your employees, giving them free rein will limit your ability to help and expose your employees to losing customers due to ineffectiveness and deceit.

7. Telemarketing scams are widespread.

According to estimates, telemarketing scams in the United States are worth approximately $350 million per year. Most scams appear to be genuine, but once you answer the phone, you become a focus and will be vulnerable to further abuse.

This can happen if you remove your name from any call list. Spam calls can negatively affect small businesses, as they lead to a decline in revenue. Automated calls will overcrowd your lines, preventing you from being available to your customers.

You will have to change your phone number if your number has been compromised. This might be a serious problem for your business if the phone number is on promotional materials.

In such a case, you can prevent this by employing an automated attendant. Once a robocall reaches a voice menu, it will stay there until its time runs out.

Business owners thus prefer cloud-based phone systems, as they allow you to customize every aspect of your business number.

Furthermore, you can create blacklists and drop certain calls automatically if you wish. Additionally, a cloud phone system allows multiple inbound lines to be used so customers can reach you even if one number is unavailable.

8. Limited Communication

If you are content with using just ‘any’ phone number for your business, you are in danger of losing it. When you need to increase call-processing capacity, it may be difficult to use a business phone number that is also your personal number.

If you suddenly change the number after the business has matured and you’ve been using it for campaigns, you’ll face grave consequences. When a customer calls your old number (which you used initially for advertisement), they find that it is down permanently.

That sounds off-putting. It is likely that you might not ever hear from the person again unless an emergency requires them to call you. The customer retention value is thus diminished greatly.

This is why you should get a phone number associated with a cloud-based phone system.

Choosing a memorable number should be a priority, as it makes it easier for customers to remember and contact your business.

Secure Your Privacy with KrispCall’s Virtual Business Number: No More Personal Phone Number Sharing

KrispCall provides a comprehensive cloud telephony solution that boosts business communications. It offers a wide range of features, including virtual business phone numbers from over 100 countries. By sharing personal phone numbers, businesses can establish a global local presence. 

lt meets various business needs with its feature-rich platform, including call forwarding, voicemail, call analytics, and integration with popular CRM tools. This platform is ideal for businesses looking to streamline their communication processes and expand their global footprint efficiently.

With KrispCall’s affordable plans and no hidden fees, you can acquire a virtual business phone number and make sure your personal mobile number remains private for business communications.

Wrapping Up

Personal numbers are an inconvenient, inefficient, and even dangerous tool for business.

Alternatively, you can use a virtual phone system or utilize your mobile carrier’s “business” features to combat this. In any case, you must choose one to avoid the many disadvantages that come with using a personal phone for work.

Each type of phone system has advantages and disadvantages, but virtual phone systems tend to be more affordable, convenient, and secure than others.

It will effectively protect your personal data from scammers, preserve your work/life balance, and improve your accessibility. More importantly, it will impress potential clients with your company’s professionalism.

In the past few years, KrispCall has allowed small and medium businesses to use virtual phone services. The solution boasts flexibility, power, and ease of use that are unmatched on the market.

You can easily get a special mobile number for your business communications with KrispCall.

KrispCall makes your business communication more efficient, professional, and transparent by offering affordable packages and a wide array of advanced features. 

FAQs

Is it wise to use your own mobile phone number for business tasks?

No, It is not wise to use your own phone number for business tasks. It can mix up your private and job life, which can cause privacy worries and make it hard to separate the two. It might also make your business look less professional, lead to too many calls, and make it tough to handle more work communications as your business grows. Getting a different number for business or using a virtual phone system can solve these problems.

Can I have a phone number from the United States and Canada staying at my location?

Yes, It’s possible to have a phone number from the United States or Canada, even if you’re located in a different country. Many telecommunications providers offer virtual phone numbers that can be assigned to users regardless of their physical location. It allows for calls to be made and received as if the user were located in the country associated with the phone number.

Is it dangerous to share my phone number?

Yes, it’s risky. Many companies and services use your phone number to check who you are. Your phone number can lead to important personal info and might even result in someone stealing your identity. So, you should be really careful about who you give your personal phone number.

Why should I get a business phone number instead of using my personal one for my business?

Using your personal number for your business at the start might seem easy and cheap, but it can cause a lot of problems later. Your number will be everywhere for your business—on websites, social media, and more. If you decide to change it, you’ll confuse customers and make it hard to get in touch. Plus, there are risks like getting too many unwanted calls or mixing personal and business calls. 

Does KrispCall provide UK mobile numbers for business use?

Yes, KrispCall provides a UK mobile number for business use at competitive prices. It also provides special UK mobile numbers and VIP mobile numbers virtually, ensuring seamless connectivity with the UK network provider.

Can I keep my personal phone number if I switch to a new carrier using a SIM card PAC code?

Yes, you can keep your personal phone number when switching to a new carrier by requesting a PAC (Porting Authorization Code) from your current provider and providing it to the new carrier.

What is a Special Mobile Number?

A special mobile number is a mobile number that is easy to remember, rare, or unique. It is also known as a memorable number, lucky number, VIP number, or gold number. These special numbers can be used for personal, business, and professional purposes. 

Arun Chaudhary

Arun is SEO Analyst at KrispCall. He has written in extensively in the field of cloud telephony and call center solutions.