If you run or work at a small business: cell phones, landline, VoIP, or something else?
What sucks about your current setup?
What would you like to see instead?
Ask HN: How do small businesses handle phone calls?
1–8 of 8 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do small businesses handle phone calls?
#2Google Voice for local, VOIP. ms for toll-free text and call in US and Canada. No live calls. Everything goes to voicemail and we call back.
Re: Ask HN: How do small businesses handle phone calls?
#3I use https://www.quo.com/ (previously OpenPhone).
(no affiliation besides being a customer)
Re: Ask HN: How do small businesses handle phone calls?
#4At Matasano --- and this is back to like 2005 --- we just used an online telephony provider that routed calls to our mobile phones. I'd probably still just do that today.
Re: Ask HN: How do small businesses handle phone calls?
#5Landline for incoming customer calls. Technically it's a package deal with the cable internet company.
My cell for real business, like my distributors. Mostly we text.
Nothing sucks about it. People call, we answer.
Re: Ask HN: How do small businesses handle phone calls?
#6If you’re building something in this space I’d be open to have a call to share my experience owning a couple of companies.
Re: Ask HN: How do small businesses handle phone calls?
#7If you’re building something in this space I’d be open to have a call to share my experience owning a couple of companies.
Let's do it, how do I reach you?
Re: Ask HN: How do small businesses handle phone calls?
#8I work for a business phone provider, so obvious bias there…but we always encourage a dedicated business number, and have found that it’s less about VoIP vs landline and more about the ease of separation and routing. That said, features like calls routed to mobile phones, auto-attendants, and voicemail or callbacks instead of constant live answering tend to function a lot more cleanly on VoIP systems.
Setups that hold up best usually prioritize flexibility over hardware. Ringing multiple devices, limiting interruptions during focus time, and having visibility into missed calls matters more than the specific underlying tech.
If it helps, here’s a neutral comparison of common small business phone setups and their tradeoffs: https://www.virtualpbx.com/blog/general-telephony/top-10-sma...