More and more, Google is becoming a one-stop shop for your business needs. Whether you wish to advertise, track your web page statistics, send an email, conduct a search, obtain directions, or even produce a document, spreadsheet, or file of any type, Google has resources to help you streamline the process and make it better and faster for your business. It only stands to reason that Google will keep coming up with products to aid in your business productivity. That is why Google has introduced Google Voice, the voice over IP system managed by Google that can help you make your mobile phone into a business phone and protect your privacy, while providing a viable option for your customers to contact you and speak with you live.

How It Works

Google Voice is a great way for small businesses to obtain a business telephone number without purchasing a new phone. In order to obtain this number, you simply need to be a US-based business with a US-based mobile phone number and have a computer operating on either a Windows or Mac platform. As long as you maintain these requirements, you are free to sign up for your new service. Once you register on the website, you are given the option to create a new number.  This number will now forward calls to your existing mobile phone. You may then add other lines to forward the number to, as long as those lines are connected to touch-tone telephones.

The Benefits

With every new avenue of business technology, you need to understand the true benefit to you and your business. Many small business owners work from a home office and attempt to find any way to protect their home and family from the outside world, while still providing contact information to allow their business to grow. The problem is that our mobile phone numbers are now part of the public record and can be traced back to our homes with a little bit of knowledge and patience. Google Voice allows us to avoid that problem by creating a business phone number that can only be traced back to the business and its existing business address (which would likely be a P.O. box).

Another benefit to this type of system through Google Voice is the ability to add other phone lines to the system without providing more than one phone number to your client base. That means your partners and employees can field business calls, all from one number.

Finally, you have the ability to shut off your business phone number while keeping your personal phone still active, allowing you time off from work. If your mobile phone is the only contact number for clients, you may field telephone calls all hours of the day and night and never get a break. If you utilize Google Voice, you can actually turn off access to your business calls and allow them to go to a business voicemail box, keeping your personal life separate from your business life.

To learn more about using Google Voice for your small business, contact the experts at SKOL Marketing at (612) 787-7565.