FREELANCER’S LUNCH
If you are a freelancer or small business owner and want to keep your personal and business numbers separate but don’t want the hassle or cost of installing a physical landline, an online business number might be the answer.
If you could have a business landline that diverts to your mobile without the hassle of actually having a landline installed, would you purchase it? And would having a business landline actually help you grow your freelance or small business? These are two questions Ashkan Miri, the solopreneur and founder of Air Landline is hoping to answer.
According to Miri, the majority of callers look for a local landline number for any business they are calling. It gives them the confidence that the business is local, established and trusted, according to Air Landline, Miri’s business landline and mobile call diversion service.
“If you’re running a small business, an Air Landline is a great way to give yourself a more professional image, rather than using a mobile or home phone,” the company claims.
Air Landline allows you to have a landline number for any UK region without the hassle of having a physically wired landline. All calls are automatically diverted to your mobile phone number for free so you answer it on your mobile.
According to customer reviews, you can have the Air Landline business landline number set up to the WhatsApp Business App to send messages through your business number instead of your personal number.
“This has been a game-changer for me,” said business owner Chris Colton, “as it means I get to keep my personal WhatsApp separate. I run the two apps on my phone and can see if it’s a business message or a personal message. It helps keep everything in one place and means I don’t have to go looking for everything in amongst private conversations.”
From the customer reviews, many users have noticed a major increase in calls to their business just from having a ‘landline’.
👇 Here’s how it works:
STEP 1. Select your local area code here: https://lnkd.in/gP_4C_t
STEP 2. They divert all calls to your mobile
STEP 3. Display your new landline number as your business number
The company is offering a free trial, which you can access by visiting their website using the link in Step 1 above.
Will I own my landline number?
Once you have ordered, your new local or national number will be emailed to you. This number is 100% yours and you can take it with you if you change providers. For example, you can move your number to a physical landline provider in the future should you ever decide to get a wired landline.
How much does Air Landline cost?
£9.99+VAT a month after the free trial. You’ll get your own professional landline number diverted to your mobile. You’ll also get a Control Panel with free business features, such as hold music, business caller ID, out-of-hours automation so calls go straight to voice mail, call recording and more. The company does not charge for diverting calls, it’s free and unlimited.
Are there any additional fees?
While the company says all there is to pay is the set monthly fee, any business can change their fees at their discretion with 30 days written notice to the customer. As it stands, Air Landline does reserve the right to make the following charges, which are not cheap if you happen to miss a payment:
- Cheques and Direct Debits returned unpaid £30.00 per item.
- Credit/Debit card chargeback’s £30.00 per chargeback.
- Reconnection fee following non-payment £30.00 per number.
- Porting away where porting requested by customer £30.00 per number.
- Directory enquiry submission/alteration/removal where available £30.00 per number.
- Transfer of a Service between accounts where change in legal entity of customer £30.00 per number
All monthly invoices are payable by PayPal. Customers may pay if preferred by bank transfer standing
order.
The service is being promoted on Facebook and LinkedIn, which highlights how solopreneurs are bringing their services to the masses. But how do you get potential customers to bite or take notice? Miri has chosen the power of humour to spur up product awareness on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Watch more of Air Landline’s very cheeky how-to videos thanks to freelance video producer Hayden Brown and his co-founders over at startup company Dirty Jack. The business makes “punk video content” for creative e-commerce and info product business’ to build “unignorable” brand awareness.
“Every now and then a client comes along that really lets us get weird with it. Last month, exactly that happened in the form of Air Landline ™ 📞,” Dirty Jack posted on LinkedIn.
The video producers said they had “an absolute blast” creating the videos series.