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I've been remote since March. Given how rushed we were in being sent home, we were told to just forward our desk phones to our cell number.
That went fine for a few months, but now my personal cell number has apparently been passed around to numerous people. I'll get work related calls at 6:30 AM from people who have early shifts. West Coast vendors will often call until 8-9 PM EST to my work #. Generally, I'd simply send all unknown numbers to voicemail, but we were told explicitly to not do this and allow everything to pass through.
I'm thinking of getting some sort of dedicated line to forward the work desk number to. I'm thinking along the lines of an Ooma. I'd rather have a traditional office phone and not a standard home wireless phone.
It doesn't need to be anything flashy, but three-way calling is a must.
I really hate carrying two phones, so what I would do is just forward the office number to a Google Voice number. Configure it to go straight to voicemail outside working hours.
I've been remote since March. Given how rushed we were in being sent home, we were told to just forward our desk phones to our cell number.
That went fine for a few months, but now my personal cell number has apparently been passed around to numerous people. I'll get work related calls at 6:30 AM from people who have early shifts. West Coast vendors will often call until 8-9 PM EST to my work #. Generally, I'd simply send all unknown numbers to voicemail, but we were told explicitly to not do this and allow everything to pass through.
I'm thinking of getting some sort of dedicated line to forward the work desk number to. I'm thinking along the lines of an Ooma. I'd rather have a traditional office phone and not a standard home wireless phone.
It doesn't need to be anything flashy, but three-way calling is a must.
Any thoughts?
Will your company not provide a company cell phone?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Malloric
I really hate carrying two phones, so what I would do is just forward the office number to a Google Voice number. Configure it to go straight to voicemail outside working hours.
I also hate carrying two cell phones, and for that reason resisted the offer of a company cell phone when we were working in the office. There is no way, however, that I want to give out my personal cell or VOIP numbers to customers or contractors that I work with. So, I carry around two cell phones. If my employer hadn't provided it, I would have paid for a separate phone and number for work use.
Will your company not provide a company cell phone?
No. Using the personal cell was just a quick and dirty thing to get us over that initial hump. Most people respected not to call outside of normal work hours. No one expected to be remote this long, but my personal cell being passed around is irritating.
It is to the point I'm thinking of getting the other number for work and changing my personal cell number. It's one thing for people on my team to have it. It's another for end users, customers, and vendors to be calling it directly.
Get a Google Voice number with ObiTALK. Other than the box, the service is 100% free. You can get all calls forwarded to your cell phone and you have the option to turn that on/off when you're offline. Plus, with Google Voice (free) you'll get a website that will save all your voicemails and will turn them into text for you.
I use this with a standard landline phone and turn the volume off on the phone when I log out so any work calls go to my Google Voice voicemail inbox. Problem solved!
A good solution is a VOIP phone (Internet) which is becoming the business world standard.
Best one is at OOMA.COM, which offers 2 lines, with lots of extras at $16 per month. Free long distance in USA. It is often used as one line for home, and one line for business by work at home people. It is also one system that will handle a Fax Machine on one of the lines. It has a ton of free extras that often cost extra on regular phone systems. Things like call waiting, call forwarding, etc., etc. are included FREE. Can send to your cell phone when away from home, takes messages, etc., etc. Actual sound is superior to most regular land lines. They are big players in the small business world.
As you already know, 3 way calling works great on OOMA.
I am retired, and we have it. I have one cell phone, but my wife has dementia and I need a line at home when I have to go out, so whoever is watching her can reach me. Have limited number of minutes on cell phone so it is cheap, and I do most of my calling on OOMA. Costs $100 one time for special box that works off of the modem as your Internet connection. If you only want one line and free long distance it is free, only paying the $6 or so government fees and taxes. We have an older 4 phone wireless phone system, which we use as the phones, with phones around the house. Total phone cost for both cell and OOMA is less than one unlimited cell phone by far.
OP for your needs, the OOMA system is the best I can find, and recommend it. One number can be for people you will talk to any time, and one line for business purposes only, only available during business hours, and take messages other hours and ring tone shut off. Can use different ring tones for the two different numbers so you know if it is business or.
My office desk line is over the network, so if I get a phone call on my office phone, it "rings" on my computer as well. So when I work from home, people just call my regular office line.
I have a cell, but had to discontinue using it for work reasons. I work a lot with asia and sometimes I would get calls at 1-2AM because someone wanted to leave a voicemail for me to hear in the AM. Got annoying for a while. Ended up just switching to my office line so all calls go through my laptop, which is usually up and open except when I go to bed. Solves the problem perfectly.
Working at home is the one thing good about the lockdown. I'm one of those guys that will only squat on my own personal toilet. At home all day? A dream come true!
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