Cell phone for business

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#1
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Hi,

There are many times I would prefer to use my iphone rather than my landline office phone. e.g. texting, conference calls, when I am not at my desk, etc.

Does anyone know of a good way to use your personal cell phone as your work phone? Also, I would want to keep the same office phone number which is separate from my personal cell number.

i.e. I would want both my personal and my work number to go to my iphone, but then somehow identify which number was being called when it rings...

There must be an app, or service for this right?
 

#2
CathysTaxes  
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Check with your phone provider. I use OOMA and they have an app for the cellphone. However, I avoid texting with clients.
Cathy
CathysTaxes
 

#3
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NC
telaxman wrote:Hi,

There are many times I would prefer to use my iphone rather than my landline office phone. e.g. texting, conference calls, when I am not at my desk, etc.

Does anyone know of a good way to use your personal cell phone as your work phone? Also, I would want to keep the same office phone number which is separate from my personal cell number.

i.e. I would want both my personal and my work number to go to my iphone, but then somehow identify which number was being called when it rings...

There must be an app, or service for this right?


We use ring central….. i can call from my cell and whomever i call gets my office number as where I’m calling from. It’s about $30 a month i believe but worth a look.
 

#4
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I pay like $80/mo for RingCentral but it is an excellent platform. I love the fact I can flip between my cell phone, desktop phone, and softphone (desktop app on computer). I can text. I can call from any device and no one knows that it may be my cell phone. Clients think they have my cell phone and it isn't at all--that's my favorite part!
 

#5
ATSMAN  
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I have a separate phone # for cell phone using Google Voice, that I use when I am on the road or I have to respond ASAP and I am not in my office. I get an e-mail alert for each call or voice mail so if I am not in the office I can tell who called. During tax season I try to have live phone coverage with my assistant.

I prefer not to deal with business issues when I am not in my office, except for emergencies. 95% of my business calls are clients or potential clients calling with a tax question and those can wait until I am at my desk, in front of my computer, with access to my reference and research materials etc. I hate to swing in the air to answer a tax question, let's say if I am at a bar or restaurant etc.
 

#6
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I also use Google voice for this purpose.

In the past I have considered RingCentral, and in the future may end up doing something like that.
 

#7
Beagle  
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southparkcpa wrote:We use ring central….. i can call from my cell and whomever i call gets my office number as where I’m calling from. It’s about $30 a month i believe but worth a look.


Voip / Ringcentral is awesome for working remotely. Clients don't have a clue where you are at because your calls appear to be coming from the office. Every fall we are now doing a month long working vacation where we work 1-3 hours per day maintaining things and clients never have a clue.
 

#8
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Beagle wrote:
southparkcpa wrote:We use ring central….. i can call from my cell and whomever i call gets my office number as where I’m calling from. It’s about $30 a month i believe but worth a look.


Voip / Ringcentral is awesome for working remotely. Clients don't have a clue where you are at because your calls appear to be coming from the office. Every fall we are now doing a month long working vacation where we work 1-3 hours per day maintaining things and clients never have a clue.



I like those hours!
 

#9
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VoIP is new to me, we have a really dated hardwired phone system, that doesn't work well. I googled VoIP after seeing it in the responses, and it sounds like an ideal solution.

Any tips for setting it up? e.g. I guess you can buy VoIP desk phones, do you recommend getting one? I was thinking, maybe I'll just use my Iphone.
 

#10
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Also, we currently have a full-time (ish) accountant who answers the phone and then literally walks over to the person who the call is for, and tells them they have a phone call. It sounds like with VoIP you can have an auto attendant that will say stuff like "to speak with this person, push 1" etc.

Does anyone use that feature, sounds pretty handy.
 

#11
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telaxman wrote:VoIP is new to me, we have a really dated hardwired phone system, that doesn't work well. I googled VoIP after seeing it in the responses, and it sounds like an ideal solution.

Any tips for setting it up? e.g. I guess you can buy VoIP desk phones, do you recommend getting one? I was thinking, maybe I'll just use my Iphone.


I used to use my softphone and iPhone RingCentral app exclusively, but I do find myself using my desktop phone quite a bit for answering calls or making quick calls. It's worth buying a desktop phone in certain cases; mine is directly from RingCentral and thus can utilize all available features. I bought a YeaLink that looked great with a fancy touchscreen but it could not handle basic functions of RingCentral since it was not officially supported. FYI, RingCentral updates the operating software of the physical phones they sell to work with their service, so they're very different vs. buying elsewhere and connecting it to the RingCentral service.
 

#12
ATSMAN  
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Also, we currently have a full-time (ish) accountant who answers the phone and then literally walks over to the person who the call is for, and tells them they have a phone call. I


I started in the early 80s and by that time push button phones with a hold feature was common. So I never had to "walk" to my coworker. I just put the call on hold, dialed the coworkers extension and told them to pick up the call on line 1 or 2 etc.

BUT I do remember my Dad's office with rotary dial phones in the late 60s - 70s and he literally had to ask the switchboard operator to transfer the call. Back then the boss man had more than one phone on his desk to handle more than one call!
 

#13
MWEA  
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telaxman wrote:Also, we currently have a full-time (ish) accountant who answers the phone and then literally walks over to the person who the call is for, and tells them they have a phone call. It sounds like with VoIP you can have an auto attendant that will say stuff like "to speak with this person, push 1" etc.

Does anyone use that feature, sounds pretty handy.


This is our setup with 8x8. In the office, we no longer have soft phones or headsets. Everyone uses their cell. I bought everyone a set of AirPods for the office and do a partial cell phone reimbursement each month as it’s required to do their job. Works well for us.
 

#14
CathysTaxes  
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Same client that I told awhile back that my landline doesn't accept texts left me a voice message that he texted me last week and I didn't reply.
Cathy
CathysTaxes
 

#15
Beagle  
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Ringcentral has a list of phones they will sell you but you aren't limited to that. We bought Cisco phones which I found on Amazon for about $75 less per phone. Reality is I use the computer app and a set of headphones more than the phone itself but that's just my preference. I route all calls to the cell phone app also so I can get voicemails and pick up calls if I want.
 


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