How to get a business phone number

Get local, toll-free, and international business numbers that come with the best cloud-hosted communications solution.

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A list of a company's international business phone numbers with the RingCentral app open in a laptop and a deskphone
Written by Eric Kenney
Director, Product Marketing
Reviewed by Esther Yoon
VP, Product Management
Updated: 13 August 2024

What is a business phone number?

A business phone number is your official and direct link for clients, partners, and others to reach and identify your business. 

More than that, business phone numbers help solidify your company brand, establish your identity, and enhance your network, whether you're a small business or an enterprise.

When you have an official business number, you don't need to give out your personal phone number. Your business phone number becomes your direct inward dialing (DID) number, and it’s easier to maintain a work/life balance.

If you choose a virtual business phone number—as part of a VoIP-based telephone system—,you can even use it on several devices and in different locations— even while on the go.

How to get a business phone number

Getting a business phone number is easy when you choose a trusted service provider like RingCentral. Depending on the provider, the exact process may be slightly different. However, the principal steps are likely to stay the same:

1. Choose a business phone number provider

Chances are, you’re not only looking for a business phone number. What you really want is a phone system that will also give you access to all the numbers you need (and plenty of features, too). That means your first step is choosing between the many available providers. 
As well as considering the range of different types of numbers they can offer (more on those in a moment), consider the following when comparing providers:
  • Available features and how they align with your business needs
  • Global availability and reliability
  • Cybersecurity standards and certifications
  • User support and customer service reputation.      
 
 

2. Select the best plan for you

VoIP service providers typically offer a range of different  pricing plans at varied price points. Each will include a different set of features—and different limitations—with the cheapest having lesser functionality and the most expensive generally being more comprehensive. 
Make sure to study the available plans carefully, choose the one best suited to what you need, and commit to paying (generally every month).

3. Get and set up your business phone number (or numbers)

Once you’ve signed up for your Voice over Internet Protocol system, you can start choosing and setting up your required numbers. 
With most providers, you get a main number as part of your subscription and then also have the option of adding additional numbers as desired. Thanks to the intuitive nature of modern VoIP systems, getting your business numbers is often as simple as telling your provider what you need, and leaving it to them.
Once you’ve got your numbers, you should then be able to assign them to the right user or department, set call routing rules, and more—with just a few clicks.

Get a business phone number with RingCentral

When you sign up for any RingCentral plan, you need to indicate the type of number you need (toll-free number or local phone number), so you can choose from those available. It’s just a matter of choosing what most appeals to you and finishing the sign-up process.
Once you have an account with RingCentral, you can add more business phone numbers by simply going to your dashboard. You can then go to Phone Numbers, and choose the Add Number option.
From there, you can choose from the available business phone numbers and assign them as a company number or to an individual through their extension.
But which type of phone numbers for businesses should you choose to maximize their benefits? Your main business phone number allows your clients to reach you faster and helps you maintain a professional image. 
However, as your company scales, you may find you need some additional business phone numbers to cater to your client's needs. 
Learning how to choose a phone number for your business starts with understanding the types available:

Types of business phone numbers

One of the great things about getting business numbers from a VoIP provider is that you get a choice of different types to suit your business requirements. To best serve your customers, and earn new ones, you may want one or more of the following:
A female agent using a US business phone number on a phone call
A man looking at a laptop with an insert of a toll-free number provided by RingCentral
RingCentral vanity numbers used by a female working on a flowershop to accept calls
A female supervisor and a male agent looking at a monitor screen with an insert of a list of international business phone numbers provided by RingCentral

Local numbers

If you want to boost your local presence in a specific area, RingCentral offers local phone numbers from over 200 area codes across the US. 

You don't even need an office in that state to purchase a business phone number with its specific area code. You can take business calls in New York and have a Los Angeles virtual phone line, it’s totally up to you.

Toll-free numbers

Want to establish a national presence across multiple states or even the whole country? Then RingCentral toll-free numbers are the right option to handle all outgoing and incoming calls for your business. 

RingCentral plans include generous toll-free minutes, and if you need more, you can get low-cost toll-free minute bundles.

Vanity phone numbers

What about a phone number for small business that’s sure to stick in the minds of clients and prospects alike? Vanity phone numbers are a great way to build your brand. 

With RingCentral, you can customize your phone number to make it more memorable. For an extra fee, you can create a vanity phone number to represent your organization.

International business phone numbers

RingCentral can also give you international business phone numbers if you want to establish a virtual presence and open your doors to international calling from different countries. 

It will serve as a caller ID for the company's business communications in that country, even if you have no physical office there. You can choose numbers from over 75 countries.

Benefits of having a business number

If you’re a solopreneur, startup, or small business making your way, you might be wondering if you really need a dedicated business number. 
It’s an understandable question, especially as it may seem cheaper and easier to simply conduct business using your personal number. However, there are a couple of fundamental benefits to having a business number:

Maintain professionalism

While you may be a very small business right now, you don’t necessarily want your customers (or prospective customers) to know it. Encouraging them to contact you on a personal cell or landline number is a surefire way to give the game away. A dedicated business number helps you project a more professional brand image.
What’s more, by separating personal and business phone numbers, you can also ensure every business call is handled professionally. Whether that means how you answer it or what voicemail message the caller hears.

Achieve greater privacy and work-life balance

In order to generate leads and be as accessible as possible to customers, you may need to share your business phone number far and wide. That can be an issue if it’s also your personal number. 
By putting the number into the public domain, you can be essentially saying goodbye to your privacy. If you have a dedicated business number, you can keep your personal number, well, personal. 
What’s more, keeping personal and business numbers separate can also help with work-life balance. With a solution like RingCentral RingEX, you can set working hours rules for your business numbers. 
Meaning, after certain times, callers may be forwarded to voicemail or elsewhere. No more fielding those crucial client calls on your personal cell phone at all hours.

Why get a free business phone number
from RingCentral?

Your company telephone number is the number one point of contact customers have with your company.
While there’s been an increase in the use of other point-of-contact channels like email, videoconferencing, and chat, there is nothing more reassuring than having an actual person answering your call. 
Having business phone numbers, such as dedicated toll-free phone numbers, for your company and its branches also adds to your credibility as an organization.
Conventional landlines, however, have limitations. You’d need to spend more on features like SMS text messaging, MMS, fax, voicemail-to-email, and call forwarding options to get the most out of them. Having an on-premises PBX could help, but it would require you to set up on-site hardware that will cost you thousands upfront. You’ll also have to handle time-consuming and costly maintenance and upgrades.
That’s where virtual phone services—and their many advantages over regular landlines come in:
Play Video: the RingCentral Desktop app open on a monitor screen

Regular landlines

  • Expensive on-site hardware paid up-front
  • Complex implementations mean additional fees
  • Early termination fees for required contracts
  • Service and hardware upgrades come at a price
  • Premium technical support calls for additional fees
  • Maintenance requires specialized manpower
  • Service changes require lengthy processes

Virtual phone service

  • Does not require on-site hardware
  • Quick and easy implementations
  • No long term contracts that tie down your business
  • Upgrades and updates are rolled out for free
  • Free 24/7 technical support
  • Configure and manage the system from anywhere
  • Easily add or re-assign digital lines and extensions

RingCentral, a trusted cloud business phone provider, offers affordable business phone numbers supported by one of the best virtual phone systems in the industry. Instead of conventional landlines, your company gets a virtual phone number not tied to physical lines.

RingCentral business phone numbers can be accessed from anywhere and on any mobile device, so employees won’t need to use their personal cell phone plans to make calls. They can simply use the RingCentral mobile app and their free phone number for business use.

RingCentral: Far more than just
a business phone number app

It’s true that RingCentral makes it quick and easy to set up business phone numbers. Far more than that, though, you also get a wide range of advanced phone system features, including:

Auto attendant and call routing

Handle all incoming phone calls with an automatic answering service and route them to the right person or department. When you customize this feature, you can even hire professional voice artists to give your callers the best first impression.
Learn more about auto-attendant
The auto-attendant and call routing features of the RingCentral mobile app
A woman using the Ring your devices and If outside busienss hours settings of the RingCentral mobile app

Business phone system’s answering rules

Change how your company answers incoming phone calls. If you want, you can set your business hours so all calls during your 9-5 shift will be answered and routed, while calls outside those hours can go straight to voicemail.
Learn more about answering rules

Hold music or messages

Reduce the stress of waiting for a response when a client calls your business phone number. Play music or broadcast business communications like new promos or new policies while the caller is on hold. You can modify your on-hold music or messages in cloud telephony.
Learn more about on-hold music
Three agents on individual client calls
A female agent activating the call forwarding option of the RingCentral app

Call forwarding

Let your employees take their calls from wherever they are. With RingCentral, you can forward business calls to their personal cell phone, home phone, or any other telephony device. 
Employees can even customize how they forward calls to different phone numbers for business departments, colleagues, and more. Calls forwarded can be sent to different numbers chronologically, simultaneously, or a mix of both.
Learn more about call forwarding

Call screening

The best app for business phone number management gives you complete control over who can reach you. Accept calls, ask callers to identify themselves, or block specific numbers or unwanted callers. 
Users can even send calls directly to voicemail and use the voicemail-to-email feature from RingCentral.
Learn more about call screening
An insert of the call screening optin of the RingCentral mobile app and a woman on a phone call
The Caller ID feature of the RingCentral app displayed on a mobile phone

Caller ID

RingCentral gives your employees control over caller ID for both inbound and outbound calls. Inbound caller ID lets them see who’s trying to reach them and set up answering rules to prioritize VIP contacts. For outbound calls, meanwhile, they can customize the caller ID for different recipients and circumstances—to boost pick up rates.
Learn more about caller ID

Why customers choose RingCentral for their business number

A wide array of business phone numbers and an equally broad feature set aren’t the only reasons customers trust RingCentral for their business communications:

Specially made for business

Access features and functionalities designed to help your business and your workforce communicate better. Get unlimited VoIP and conferencing with features like SMS, faxing, and team messaging, straight from your mobile phone.

Mobile and flexible cloud-based system

The modern business phone system not only provides a reliable telephony solution but also includes VoIP features like caller ID, video conferencing, SMS, and faxing to help businesses communicate better.

Quick and convenient installation

No need for complicated business phone system installations for your local business. Have your internet phone service up and running in minutes . Easily configure and manage your phone system with an online dashboard, accessible from both your desktop or mobile apps

Secure and reliable cloud phone system

RingCentral provides you peace of mind knowing that all your business communications are protected during the entire transmission journey. Data travels through encrypted networks with layers of authentication for additional security.

Premium technical support

From day one, RingCentral will assist you in setting up and configuring your business phone system. Our award-winning customer support team will provide you with expert technical business phone service support, consultations, and best-practice recommendations.

Great value with no hidden costs

Get a single, all-inclusive bill with no hidden costs. RingCentral even provides both small business owners and local business enterprises with a powerful cloud communications system for one affordable price.

How to choose a phone number for your business

By now you know why you may want a dedicated business number, what types are available, and what RingCentral can offer. What’s left is to work out which type of number (or numbers) you should choose. 
If you’re choosing a brand new number—rather than porting an existing one—here are some considerations and questions that will help you on your way:

1. What are your business needs right now?

Start by really drilling down on what you need from a business phone number. 
Are you looking for a number that will mostly be used by customers reaching out to you for help? If so, perhaps a toll-free number that ensures they can do so free of charge is your best option. 
Is your business a primarily local one, with a customer base in one geographic region? In that case, a single local number may be a better option, as it will help you to solidify your presence in that region. 
Perhaps, however, you’ll mostly be using numbers for outreach to prospective customers in different countries and areas. In that scenario, international business numbers or multiple local numbers with different area codes could help boost pickup rates. People tend to trust numbers they recognize, after all.

2. Do you need to consider marketing implications?

As well as how you’ll use your phone numbers in day-to-day operations, you should also consider any marketing implications and how they impact your choice. 
Will you be using your numbers in adverts or marketing campaigns, for example? If you will, then you need to consider how memorable those numbers are, as a higher level of memorability will likely mean more inbound leads.
In this scenario, a vanity number—or different vanity numbers for different campaigns—could be the most sensible alternatives. These numbers, after all, are designed to stick in peoples’ minds and encourage them to use them.

3. Will your business needs change in the future?

As well as considering your current circumstances, you should also look to the future when choosing a business phone number. You don’t want the choice you make today to limit you somewhere down the road.
For example, if you’re a small business today, a number with your local area code may seem ideal. However, if in future, you expand to different regions it may put off prospective customers. You can mitigate such risks, of course, by getting your business phone number from a provider like RingCentral, which makes it easy to add new numbers as and when required.

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Frequently asked questions
(FAQs) about business phone numbers

You can use your personal phone number for business, but it’s typically not advisable. For one thing, it doesn’t project a particularly professional image to customers or leads. For another, it means your personal number doesn’t stay private, and you may find yourself fielding calls—both genuine and otherwise—at all hours of the day and night.

Yes. All businesses, even small businesses, need dedicated business phone numbers. It’s the only way to project an appropriately professional image and build your brand.

However, each organization is unique, so the business phone numbers you need will vary.

With RingCentral, you have many different options for your company’s number. You may need a toll-free number, international business phone numbers, or even vanity numbers. With RingCentral, you can get what you need.

You absolutely can have more than one business phone number. In fact, many businesses do. For example, you might want one per department or even per team member. On the other hand, you may want multiple local numbers to build a trusted presence in various geographic regions. 

 

If you invest in a virtual phone system from a provider like RingCentral, getting additional numbers is quick and easy.

There are, broadly speaking, four main types of business phone numbers. Local numbers, toll-free numbers, vanity numbers, and international business numbers.


Local numbers are those with an area code prefix which denotes a specific geographic region. Toll-free numbers are those which can be called by your customers free of charge. Vanity numbers use numbers and letters to create memorable combinations. International business numbers are used to establish a presence in countries other than your own.

Unlike a traditional landline number or even a number from consumer-based services like Google Voice, with a business phone number from RingCentral you can text as well as make and take calls. What’s more, you can manage your SMS messages—and handle calls—from virtually any device (desk phone, laptop, Android or iOS mobile device, and more) with an internet connection.

With a business phone number from RingCentral, you can also make and receive secure faxes if desired. All without a clunky, outdated fax machine in sight. Online fax is just one of multiple channels you can manage all in one place thanks to the unified nature of RingCentral RingEX.

Yes.  You can transfer or port your existing toll-free number or local phone numbers to RingCentral.  

Once you have requested a port transfer through your online account, you can check the status of your number transfer request. Transferring business phone numbers typically takes 5-14 days, but can take up to four (4) weeks.

When you sign up for a RingCentral RingEX plan, you get one business number per user as part of your subscription. All you need to do is to let RingCentral know what type of number you want, and it can be up and running in a matter of moments. Unlike traditional, landline-based telephone systems which often require time-consuming hardware installation.

Once you’ve signed up for a virtual phone system from a provider like RingCentral, you have lots of options when it comes to setting it up and customizing it. Quite aside from having unlimited calls in the USA and Canada.

For example, you can set your business hours, choose call routing rules, arrange call management, record unique voicemail greetings, set up voicemail transcription, and more. RingCentral RingEX is designed to be intuitive, too, meaning that making these tweaks is quick, easy, and accessible to anyone.

RingCentral offers a selection of pricing plans as stated above, and each comes with a free business phone number. 
Additional phone numbers cost $4.99 per month, plus the following charges depending on if it’s a local, toll-free, or vanity number:
  • Local Numbers - A local number would cost $4.99 plus state and local taxes.
  • Toll-Free Numbers - A toll-free number would cost $4.99 plus state and local taxes.
  • True Toll-Free Number (1-800) - A true 1800 toll-free number would cost $4.99 plus a one-time $30.00 setup fee and state and local taxes.
  • Vanity Number - A vanity number would cost $4.99 plus a one-time $30.00 setup fee and state and local taxes.
NOTE:  Vanity phone numbers may take up to five (5) days to be activated completely.

If you’re conducting business across national borders, you’re going to want a phone number that doesn’t exclude any of your potential customers or partners. International toll-free numbers can be a good choice, while domestic local numbers are almost certainly not.

Yes, there are some legal considerations to take into account when choosing a business number. For example, you should be aware of which organizations regulate telephone numbers in your country.

In the USA, it’s the FCC which regulates phone numbers. They have oversight on things like which organizations are allowed to provide toll-free numbers and which numbers must be portable.

If you get business phone numbers from RingCentral, you’ll have a choice of over 200 area codes within the USA. These cover cities and areas as diverse as Los Angeles, New York, Delaware, Miami, New Jersey, and more. Just a few examples include the 323 area code in Los Angeles, area code 646 in New York, and the 786 area code in Florida.

Yes, it’s easy to get custom phone numbers with RingCentral. What’s more, our pricing plans are designed to be accessible and not to exclude smaller businesses. Personalized or vanity numbers, therefore, are no longer only for large enterprises.

For new customers, plans start at $15.99 and have a quick and easy business phone system setup, and require no hardware. You can even start out with a free trial. 

For existing RingCentral customers, you can add a vanity phone number for a small $30 setup fee (plus taxes) and a small monthly subscription fee. From there, your business phone number will be activated within five business days.

You can make business calls to any U.S. and Canada local phone numbers included in the list of supported area codes. 

Yes, you can get a professional voice recording to go with your business phone number. RingCentral, in partnership with Snap Recordings, offers various packages for custom greetings, messages on hold, IVR prompts, and announcements. 

It’s easy to create your messages and go live with a professional voice recording in 3-4 business days, with 1-2 business days rush service available.

Important details and disclaimers