I am in a quandary that probably isn't a one but I can't make up my mind which to do.

The advantage of a landline is that I can advertise in the yellow pages of my local telephone book. I would have to add long distance service to my contract but I don't know that the cost would be beneficial. I would also have to purchase separate caller id and call waiting. When the kids were little I bought an answering machine that gave us all our own mailboxes so I could adjust them to allow the machine to be a business machine instead.

I can add an additional line to my personal cell plan which gives me unlimited minutes, unlimited roaming, voice mail, call waiting, caller id, etc. Plus the cost would be much less than what a landline will be.

Alcava,

First I would ask myself how much business I would actually get from the yellow pages. I have both a land and cell because I am in a rural area and sometime reception is spotty. I have a Google voice number to use for my business so that I can direct my business calls to either phone that I choose. I am the only person that answers the land line since my family members all have cell phones.

I guess you need to figure cost wise would it really be advantageous to have the land line.

__________________
Lee Drozak
My Office Assistant

I use a Skype number, you can easily forward it to your home or mobile (or whatever).

Mine was only AU$80 a year plus credit (you need the credit to pay for the call forwarding).

__________________
Bridie's Typing Services - specialising in transcription services
The professional's choice

I gave up my Verizon landline and Verizon cell phone two years ago, I wish I didn't wait so long to do that. Now my main phone is Skype and I have a prepaid cell phone. I save around $100 a month by making this switch.

__________________
JoCarole
http://www.shoreofficeservices.com

I have my landline bundled in with my cable/internet services. I like the call quality much better than using my cell. That being said, I don't publish my home number. I use Google Voice for a local business number and Kall8 for a toll-free number which also acts as a fax line. Both of these services forward to my home number during business hours and go directly to voicemail on off hours. If I'm going to be mobile, I can forward calls to my cell. This way my home phone never rings after hours and my clients don't have access to my home number.

I agree with Lee... I'm not sure how much benefit you get from Yellow Page advertising. With so many great options like Skype, RingCentral, Kall8, Google Voice, etc. many people are forgoing the expensive landlines.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

__________________
Jill Tirone
DanceFit Marketing LLC

I'm with everyone else. I have Ring Central number that I use for business, which rings through to my computer and then if I choose to my cell phone.

So many people are mobile that using a cell phone isn't really a concern today, and I haven't seen any benefit in advertising the yellow pages. An interesting side note - our local yellow pages use to be about 3 inches thick now it's down to about 1.5 inches and half of it's the white pages....so you can see the impact the yellow pages have now a days.

To me, it would be more beneficial to put the money you might towards the yellow pages into other marketing opportunities.

__________________
Renee Shupe, Become a Techie Virtual Assistant
eMail Marketing & Aweber Training Starts May 15! - Save 50% using VAFAweber

Alcava,

I recently was considering the land line vs. cell question too. Mine ? was answered due to a recent power & phone outage that lasted for over 2 hours. I use a business land line as back up and will continue to watch for Kall8 to become available in my area.

I'm glad I found this thread as I have been wondering how to handle my calls! My personal cell phone # is currently also my work # on another job, so was not wanting to get an additional line for my VA business. Now I have other options to pursue I didn't know about before.

So, thank you!!!

There's another thread that has more information to add to the discussion.

How Do You Feel About Getting Rid of Your Landline

Pam

Sorry if I overlooked this info in the thread, but if you added a second number to your cell phone, how did you do it? Through your cell provider, a third party, or...? I'm thinking seriously about doing that.