As a small business, you want to serve your customers. Having flexibility with your phone lines can be a great way for you to serve your customers. Virtual phone numbers, where you access your phone number via an app or program, can be great for small businesses.

Reason #1: Create a Separate Business Line

If you are just getting started, getting a virtual business number is an easy way for you to establish a separate business line for your business.

As you work to start your small business, you are going to need a dedicated business line, and the sooner you separate your business communication from your personal communication, the better. You want your new business contacts to have your business line.

Reason #2: Establish Your Business Name on Caller ID

When you set up a virtual business number and then call someone, instead of your name popping up on their caller identification, they will see your business name on their caller ID. Having your business name instead of your personal name show up on their caller identification will help establish you as a legitimate business and will help establish you as a business authority.

Reason #3: Apply Consistent Branding

When someone calls your business, you want to provide them with a consistent experience. You don't want to give someone your business number and for them to then get a personal voicemail message. That can throw people off, and most people will just assume that they called or dialed the wrong number.

You want your voicemail message to have the name of your business in it. That way, when people call your business number, even if they don't get you on the phone, they will get consistent communication that they called the right number.

With a business phone number, you can also change how you answer the phone. When a business call comes through, you can adopt a professional greeting, such as " Welcome to Serenity Massage. This is Kayla, what can I help you with?" instead of the informal "hey" or "whats up" that you may use when you are answering your personal phone number.

Reason #4: Access Advanced Features

With a virtual phone number, you will get access to advanced features, such as call forwarding, which will allow you to have an answering service take care of calls you can't answer yourself. Or you can set up the ability to hold conference calls, or you enjoy voicemail transcription, or easily add additional extensions or numbers as you add employees and your business grows.

As you work to start up your small business, invest in a virtual business number. With a virtual business number, you will be able to separate your business and personal communications, and you will be able to help establish yourself as a business owner, with a professional number, caller identification, voicemail message, and other features.