Whether you're starting a new business, evolving your existing business or starting a new job, you're probably asking yourself whether you need a business phone. Here are the arguments for moving to a business phone.

1. You ^need the right answer

‘Personal' and ‘business' are very different fields, which require mutually exclusive approaches.

Any business start-up owner or colleague in a new role is eager to spread his/her contacts as widely as possible, ultimately giving their details out like sweets.

The result is that your personal number, which you have protected carefully and only given to people you trust, is now public property. A call from a number you don't recognise? Well, you can't ignore those anymore. What if they're a lead, or a customer? And how do you answer the call? With your personal greeting or your business one?

When you go home and are ready to unwind, the last thing you want is to receive an email that completely changes your mood. With two phones, you can put the job away by switching off the work phone, giving you a sense of control over what to do with YOUR time.

One of the core ideas behind a business mobile is preserving privacy without compromising accessibility.

2. You're going to grow (at some point)

Sometimes an aspiring entrepreneur thinks: “My personal number will do for now. I'll come up with something more professional later.”

When time comes to scale-up or step-up your business ― such as adding more lines, activating an answer machine or call-back service, or employing call forwarding ― an entrepreneur may find out that his/her consumer mobile carrier can't offer the desired additional functionality. And once a business is evolving, changing a fundamental line of communication such as a main contact number can create a number of challenges, anything from upset customers or suppliers to reprinting all of your stationery. It's far easier to make this decision before a business is established.

3. You need to take data security seriously

Protecting other people's data is now a fundamental responsibility for any business, and every employee at a business. Failing to do so can cause any number of problems, the least being a breakdown of trust between customers, suppliers and your business.

Business accounts aren't inherently more secure than personal ones but separating personal data and behaviours from business data and behaviours is essential when it comes to data protection.

4. You need to be on the same page as your people

By providing mobiles to your employees you have the choice of what network/carrier to use and the operating system that best fits your companies needs. You might want to decide to go with Apple iOS, Google or Android but whatever you choose if you keep the operating system's consistent you'll know that all your employees should have access to the same software and features.

5. You need to save money (and stay in control)

If you're reimbursing employees for business use of their personal phones, you could be covering the cost of multiple individual rate plans. You're more than likely to pay a significantly lower rate per phone if you have a business account for multiple lines with a single provider.

6. You need to know who's talking

If your employees rely on personal phone numbers for dealing with customers, you willingly give up control over a certain part of your business. To plan for the future, it's important to keep track of all business processes within your company, such as logistics, sales and customer service.

When clients interact with your company through employees' personal numbers, you don't know how often your employees speak to your customers, how they handle conversations and which questions they have trouble answering. Worst case scenario: when an employee who has been using their own phone leaves your company, your customers or suppliers could leave with them.

By giving your employees business mobiles you instantly gain more control as you'll be able to monitor the way those phones are used. With a business contract you can monitor the use of voice, texts and data, place limits on overspend, add bolt-ons.

In a nutshell

A business phone number is a must-have for every entrepreneur, start-up or career-climber. Not only are they essential for separating your personal and professional lines of communication, business phone numbers are a great way to protect sensitive information and project the appearance of a larger, established company or seasoned pro.

How we can help

Whatever your business needs, plan.com has what it takes. We specialise in mobile, mobile broadband and hosted voice – everything you need to keep your business connected.

Our mobile tariffs are specifically designed for businesses, so they are different to those you get on the High Street. That means you get more choice, tailored tariffs, business-focused service, wide range of advance features and a contract that can grow with your business.

Not only that, all plan.com customers get complimentary access to my.plan our industry-leading online portal designed to make business communication efficient, professional and transparent.

my.plan delivers instant online access to all your phones that are connected through us. This makes it easy for you to track and investigate all your business voice, data and text usage, before your bill has even landed.

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