The way that businesses operate is rapidly changing. Technology is creating new opportunities and allows companies to manage their teams remotely.

There are many good reasons to run your business with a remote workforce. Studies reveal that a third of remote workers find that they are more productive when working from home.

In addition to this, there are definite cost savings in having your team work remotely.

The challenges that businesses will face often involve finding the right software and equipment. If your workers are taking calls at home, they’ll need an alternative phone number.

But how do you go about setting up two phone numbers on one phone?

In this article, we’ll discuss how you can find the right software to allow you to have two lines on one phone.

Why do You Need an Alternative Phone Number?

You may have a remote workforce, but your customers will still need to get in touch with them. Supplying your employees with second phone lines, or with a mobile phone for taking your customer’s phone calls can be quite an expense.

When you consider that your employees almost always already have the equipment needed to be able to take these phone calls, buying equipment is wasteful. Almost any modern employee will have a cell phone.

The problem is that your employee’s mobile phones are not ideal for receiving calls from customers. Not only will your customers not have the right phone number to contact your employees, but there are also security risks attached to using personal phone numbers for work purposes.

What are the Benefits of a Cloud-Based Phone System?

By using a cloud-based phone system, you can get the best of both worlds, with no drop in productivity. If you need your employees to work from home for any reason, simply get them set up with the right software, and you’ll enjoy a seamless phone service.

A cloud phone system will allow you to become completely flexible with your workforce. This allows for any eventuality, and it could be the difference between needing to close or being able to carry on trading in the event of a crisis prohibiting you from accessing your office space.

Even outside of the office, your customers will still have the same call quality, even though the call is routed to a mobile app via the cloud. All that your employee will need will be a reasonable quality data or wi-fi connection.

Alternatively, using one such service, iPlum, it is possible to configure your app to work through the voice network.

iPlum is an excellent example of this type of service as it is adaptable to the needs of your remote workforce.

When using iPlum, there is no need to change your existing phone number. Your current number can be ported onto the iPlum service.

This means that there is no need to worry about communicating new contact details to customers or having to deal with the cost of updating your contact details.

Of course, if you want to set up a new number, this is possible too.

You could opt to use a toll-free number which will be great for your customers all over the country.

Often, call charges can be prohibitive, and it could lose you a lot of customers. However, with the right toll-free phone number, there is no need to miss out on a single call.

Using Cloud Phone Systems Around Your Employee’s Schedule

Your employees will be able to set the times that they will have access to the app. That means that once their shift ends, they won’t need to continue receiving calls.

If someone is unable to take calls, they can set their phone to ‘do not disturb’, and the calls will either be routed to another user, or to voicemail.

How Do You Get Two Phone Numbers on One Cell Phone?

To get two phone numbers on one phone, you’ll need a cloud phone system.

Cloud phone systems come in the form of an easy-to-use app. iPlum is a great example of a cloud phone system that is both intuitive and effective.

Get the employees that require the service on their phones to download the app, and then follow the very straightforward process to set it up.

What are the Additional Benefits of an Alternative Phone Number?

In addition to the benefits associated with remote working, by using cloud-based phone systems, you’ll get several other uses from your alternative phone number.

These will include:

• The ability to send and receive texts
• A voicemail service
• A transcription service
• The ability to record calls
• International calls

Not only that, but you’ll get access to the auto attendant feature. This is an automated call handler that helps route your calls to the right place.

You may have several employees using the same number, and the auto-attendant will help route the call to the right person.

These workers could be in completely separate locations, yet, as long as they all have the app set up on their mobile phone, they will be able to have the calls routed through to them.

Ensuring Your Second Phone Number Apps Are Compliant

One of the major concerns you should have when selecting the right second phone number apps is to ensure that it meets the regulations set out for your industry.

For example, if you work within the healthcare sector, or your business handles medical records, then you’ll need to to be fully compliant with HIPAA and HITECH regulations. Part of these will relate to how secure your phone lines are.

The iPlum app meets all of the necessary regulations, meaning you can route calls from your customers or patients to your remote workforce without worry.

Setting Up Your Cloud-Based Phone System

Cloud-based phone systems are the perfect way for your employees to keep in touch with your customers. By installing the iPlum alternative phone number app, you’ll enjoy seamless communication.

Not only that, but with a simple set-up process, you can expect a stress-free implementation. All of this comes at a very low cost starting at less than $10.

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