Virtual Phone Numbers: Virtually Indispensable

When I started my small business in 2008, I knew I had to invest in its future. I hired an attorney to handle incorporating the firm. I bought myself a nice new MacBook Pro laptop. I got a cushy desk chair. I ordered business cards.

One thing I didn't pay for was a business phone number. Instead, I saved some dough by turning to an obscure-but-nifty free service called GrandCentral, which Google had acquired a year before. Months after I adopted a GrandCentral number as my "office line," Google relaunched a much-improved version as Google Voice, raising its profile considerably.

Singing the Praises of Google Voice

Three and a half years later, I'm still a happy user. The fact that Google Voice is free turns out to be only a secondary part of its appeal -- it's all the things it does to help me stay productive that make it a keeper.

Here are some of the service's scads of useful features:

It's a virtual number. When you sign up for Google Voice, you get to pick a phone number in the area code of your choice. (Over 300 are available, covering approximately 70 percent of the population.)

Ordinary phone numbers are hardwired to a particular landline or mobile phone. A Google Voice number isn't. Instead, it simply forwards incoming calls to any number you specify. You can set it up to ring any phone you've got -- or all of them, all at once.

When someone rings my Google Voice number, I can pick up the call on my landline if I happen to be near it. If I'm out and about, as I usually am, I can answer it on my mobile phone. I'm reachable anywhere, which I wouldn't be if my business number was tied to a desk phone somewhere.

Another plus: If the day comes when I choose to switch phone companies, I won't have to bother with porting my Google Voice business number. I'll just redirect the Google number to my new line.

It screens calls. When Google Voice isn't busy making sure I don't miss calls, it's helping me avoid them -- courtesy of a virtual-receptionist feature which makes folks identify themselves, then tells me who they are and lets me decide whether to talk to that person right then, or bounce him or her to voicemail.

You can turn this feature off, or leave it on for some people in your contact list but not for others. You can even listen in after you've sent a caller to voicemail, and pick up if you have second thoughts.

It does better voicemail. Speaking of voicemail, Google Voice's flavor is better than the one your phone company provides. As with Apple's iPhone, you get "visual voicemail" that lets you selectively play messages n your smartphone without having to dial a number and wrestle with voice menus. You can receive email or text-message alerts when someone leaves a message, and storage is unlimited, so you don't need to fret about filling up your mailbox.

Google Voice also uses speech-to-text technology to convert voicemail recordings into text, so you can read messages rather than listen to them. Sometimes this works great. More often, though, you get gibberish interleaved with snatches of coherency. (Sample transcription snippet: "Hi Harry, it's deported calling again from the same broke Housing Corporation, I've just tried to kill feel fine...") It's usually enough to help you figure out who called, at least.

It's got apps. If you've got an iPhone or an Android handset, you can make Google Voice calls and check messages using a mobile application. This is important in part because calls you make with an app show your Google Number on the recipient's Caller ID, not the number of the phone you happen to be using.

Not surprisingly, the app for Google's own Android integrates most smoothly with the operating system. But the version for Apple devices is okay, too.

It lets you call for free. If you use Gmail, you can make and take Google Voice calls over the Internet from within your inbox, using Voice over IP (VoIP). The audio quality is remarkably good -- no headphones or external microphone required. Calls with the U.S. and Canada are free; international ones are pennies per minute.

It has a bunch of other useful tools. You can record calls. You can block calls from known spammers. The list goes on.

Other Options for Business Users

I've found Google Voice to be indispensable, but it isn't without competition. And even if you're sold on the idea of a virtual number, another service might be a better fit for your business.

Google's closest counterpart is Toktumi's Line2. Unlike Google Voice, it's not free: Plans start at $9.95 a month or $99.50 a year. But it offers a lot for the price, and might even save you money in the long run.

Line2 matches most of Google Voice's major offerings, including the ability to route incoming calls to any phone number. In some cases, it has beefier versions of Google Voice features, such as the ability to put up to 20 people into a conference call. (With Google Voice, the maximum is four callers.) And unlike Google, Line2 offers tech support by telephone.

Line2's most striking advantage over Google Voice is that it has Internet calling built into its apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android, with unlimited calling within the United States and Canada. That means that you can make and take calls over 3G/4G and Wi-Fi on your phone -- calls that don't eat up the voice minutes you get from your wireless carrier.

If you currently pay for a pricey wireless plan in order to get lots of voice minutes, making Internet calls over Line2 might let you cut your need for minutes. Slash them enough, and you'll be able to make do with a cheaper wireless plan.

Google Voice is really aimed at single users, including free-agent entrepreneurs like me. Line2 mostly targets individuals, and has a multiple-user version called Toktumi Custom.

Then there are business-oriented VoIP companies such as RingCentral and ShoreTel. They're increasingly adding mobile features that incorporate some of the same benefits as Google Voice and Line2 into more conventional office-phone systems, and might be the best fit if you want a more centralized approach.

Me, I may need something beefier than Google Voice eventually, but I know I'll never outgrow the concept of a single number that floats between all my phones. I'm just happy that I was too stingy to spring for a real business line back in 2008 -- and no matter how much money you're willing to spend on telephone stuff, I recommend you investigate the benefits of going virtual.