It’s only natural that many business owners want to cut costs on nearly every aspect of their business. Consequently, businesses try to cut corners in terms of their phone service, looking at such alternatives as Whatsapp and Google Voice. This may work as a stop-gap measure, particularly for bootstrapped small businesses and startups, however, not without some serious drawbacks. In this article, we’ll look at some important aspects of a free phone number vs a paid phone number.
Free Phone Number Vs Paid Phone Number: Consider the Limited Functionality
When it comes to using free phone services, you get what you pay for. This is typically fine for basic everyday calls. However, what happens when you want to use it for your business and need to scale its functionality? The truth is that a lot of these free phone services build their revenue model around roping in initial users. Once reliant on the service, it becomes harder and pricier to do what paid phone services do.
By contrast, using United World Telecom’s subscription services enables users to:
- Instantly adjust their telephone-based communications via United World Telecom’s easy-to-use dashboard interface.
- Augment their capabilities with add-ons and enhanced functionalities, such as PBX directories (Private Branch Exchange), white/blacklisting, simultaneous ringing, etc.
- The ability to record and store inbound and outbound conversations with the add-on ”call recording.” While Google Voice allows users to record incoming calls, it doesn’t allow you to record outgoing calls.
- Use more sophisticated features, such as setting up a directory system.
Porting and Transferring Your Phone Number
When it comes time to upgrade your service by selecting another service provider rather than the free options, you may hit a few snags. Porting and transferring your phone number to a new provider comes with costs and a bit of tech know-how.
By the time you’ve established your business/ personal contacts with a phone number, you will notice a few problems. First, you may need to endure porting/transferring fees from a service provider. (Note: United World Telecom offers relatively low porting fees) Second, customers familiar with your phone number now have to adjust, which can lead to lost revenue or frustration.
Wifi Dependency
Another common problem that free phone service like Google Voice has is reliance on Wi-Fi service. The issue is that it is easily interrupted. This presents a certain level of inconvenient for someone who has access, however, your phone will not work in areas with minimal/slow Wi-Fi access.
In fact, a lot of users of free phone service end up purchasing a hotspot or data plan to meet their communication needs. This ends up negating the savings they intended from the get-go.
Customer Support
Ever try getting in contact with Google or Whatsapp by phone to resolve a service issue? Chances are, you’ve ended up frustrated and had to browse online forums just to get an answer. You may find it troubling when you’ve got business deals to finalize or time-sensitive issues that need resolving ASAP.
Instead, the customer service representatives at United World Telecom are specially trained to handle any problem you may encounter. They offer 24/7/365 availability to assist you with anything from resolving a technical issue to recommending a service plan that fits your business usage.
In Conclusion
As you can see, a paid phone number is simply superior to a free phone option. To find out more about the paid phone service from United World Telecom, visit United World Telecom’s homepage or call us to begin learning about the advantages of subscribing today.