Work and business
How to get a work phone number without carrying a second phone
A work number on your own phone: customers call a business line, you answer in an app, and the line has its own hours, voicemail and call history. No second handset, no second contract.
The traditional answer to "I need a work number" was a second phone. Companies handed them out; freelancers bought them. The result was a device you had to remember, charge and carry, and that rang at the weekend anyway because switching it off felt like a risk.
A work number in an app does the useful part, the separate line, without the object.
What you actually need from a work line
Break it down and the requirements are simple:
- A number to put on your website, business cards and invoices that is not your personal mobile.
- To know, when the phone rings, whether it is work or life.
- Hours: a way for the line to stop ringing in the evening without you switching anything off.
- A professional voicemail, and a record of calls and texts for the business.
- Ideally, the ability to hand the line to someone else when you are away.
None of that requires hardware.
How it works in Second Phone
You get a local or mobile number in your country and it lives in the app alongside any other numbers you hold. The rest is configuration.
Name it. Rename the number "Work" or with the business name. The name shows on your Profile and in the number switcher, so you always know which line a call or a message belongs to.
Set business hours. Switch on voicemail for the number and turn on the days you work, with a time range for each. Calls inside the hours ring you; calls outside go to voicemail, with a greeting you type yourself. See Set up voicemail and business hours.
Separate everything else. Each number has its own conversations and call history. Switch to the work number at the top of the Keypad, Messages or Recents tab and you see only work. Work contacts can live in the app's private contacts list rather than your phone's address book.
Forward it when you are away. Turn on call forwarding and enter a colleague's number; all calls to the work line ring them. Turn it off when you are back. See Forward your calls to another phone.
Record when you need to. With call recording on for the number, you can record a client briefing and listen back later from Recents. Check the recording laws where you and your callers are.
The complete set-up is one guide: Set up a work line.
Costs, in plain terms
Your first number comes with a subscription that covers calling and messaging from it. If the work line is an extra number, it is bought with coins, for a week, a month, three months or a year, and its calls and outgoing texts are paid from the same balance at the rates the in-app Pricing calculator shows; receiving SMS is free. Every debit appears under Expenses, which makes the business line's cost easy to separate for your accounts.
When you outgrow it
A single work line suits sole traders, freelancers and small teams where one person answers. If you need several people answering the same number at once, with queues and transfers, you are looking for a business phone system. Until then, a second number on the phone you already carry is the simplest professional line there is.
Frequently asked questions
Can customers tell the difference from a "real" business line?
No. It is a local or mobile number that rings, texts and takes voicemail like any other. What they notice is that you answer during business hours and that they get a proper greeting outside them.
Can I have a work number in a different country from where I live?
Yes. Choose the country when you get the number. A local number in your customers' country is cheaper for them to call and looks like it belongs there.
What happens to the work number if I change my personal phone?
Nothing. The number belongs to your Second Phone account, not to a SIM or a device. Install the app on the new phone, sign in, and the line is there.