There’s been a lot of talk about number porting the past two weeks with Google’s announcement that they will begin doing so for Google Voice users. This is exciting news for individuals using Google Voice and it’s great for us because it brings headlines to a feature that we often forget to talk about!

Most people know that Grasshopper has toll free and local numbers available to buy but they might not know we also have the ability to transfer numbers, also called number porting.

Why port your number?

For businesses that already have a phone number, it can be much easier to transfer it than to get a new one. You don’t have to change your contact info, create new marketing materials, print new business cards, modify your website, etc. Porting your number can save you time and money (two extremely valuable things).

Can I port toll free numbers?

You sure can. Port toll free numbers and the majority of local numbers (check here to see if you can port your local number). Plus, you have all rights to the number. Your phone number will always be yours, even if you decide to change providers.

How much does it cost?

Grasshopper charges a $30 one-time fee to port in your number. However, for those signed up on the Grow or Max plans, number porting is included.

Be sure to check out our FAQ page or Support section for more info on number porting.

Learn more about the differences between Grasshopper & Google Voice.

In today’s economy, it’s important to make your business seem like number one. That means as a small 1-5 person business, you need to look and sound as professional as the big guys. An 800 number can not only help you sound bigger but can also make life easier for everyone. Here are seven reasons your small business should have an 800 number:

1. An 800 number centralizes your business. Even if your employees are located in five different states, you still only need one number.

2. It’s easier for customers to remember your number, especially when you use vanity numbers (think 1-800-Flowers).

3. Customers are more likely to call an 800 number simply because it’s free!

4. You own your 800 number. Change businesses, locations, etc…the number is still yours.

5. They are easily transferable. Your business has grown tenfold and you need a bigger phone system but you don’t want to have to change your number. Good news, you don’t have to! Take it with you.

6. Every number comes with a flexible plan based on your need for minutes and features. Just want to reserve a number? For $9.95 a month you can get the number you want and hold onto it.

7. 800 numbers provide you with a variety of helpful features like call forwarding, voicemail, and unlimited extensions. As your business grows, so does your phone system.

An 800 number is a valuable asset and can give your small business the professional look and feel it needs. Have more questions? Check out our FAQ or call customer support 24/7at 1-800-820-8210.

One of the things we talk a lot about is using Grasshopper to help your business sound more professional. Yes, it’s true, a virtual number with custom greetings, on-hold music and voice mail can help your business sound bigger and certainly more professional, but it can also be fun.

Having your own 800 number with unlimited extensions, voicemail greetings, custom music…imagine the possibilities!

Here are three fun ways you can use your virtual phone number:

• Joke of the Day

  What if you were put on hold, only to be told a joke? Being on hold wouldn’t be so bad would it? Knock knock jokes, kids jokes, puns, jokes about your industry or profession, etc. Just be sure to keep it tasteful.

• Dating Extension

  Single? What if you could know it was a personal call before you even picked up? Just like you can create dedicated extensions for specific clients, you can create dedicated extensions for love interests. No more awkwardness, no more wondering who is calling or what you are going to say. When the caller ID shows your dedicated extension, you can be ready.

  Can’t pick up the phone? Create a voice mail message just for that person (I don’t recommend this before date three as it might seem creepy).

• Meeting Planner

  Who needs a secretary when you have Question and Answer extensions? Set up a dedicated extension for meetings and stay efficient. Who is calling? What is the meeting about? What time and date?

  An MP3 of the call will be emailed to you (or with voice mail transcription, a script of the call) and all you have to do is call back and confirm the meeting. You can save time and never have to worry about being out of the office or missing a call.

There are many different ways to use your virtual phone number and there are probably people out there doing things we don’t even know about. How are you using your virtual number?

As the tournament kicks off today, productivity all over the U.S decreases dramatically. For those of us in the office, we can check the scores online and for some brave souls, watch the games at CBS.com with the “Boss Button“.

But what about those who are in meetings or on sales calls and can’t check the score? What if your favorite team is on?

With Grasshopper, this tragedy can be averted.

While you may not be able to break out your phone to check the score, you can take an important call right?

• Using your Grasshopper 800 or local number, set up a March Madness extension.

• Tell your friends who are not working to call this extension to provide updates (lets just stick with half-time, 12 minutes and final).

• When the call is forwarded to your cell phone, you will see the extension and immediately know it’s a score update.

• Politely excuse yourself, stating you have to take this call, and immediately get the latest news.

Colleagues and associates will be none the wiser and you won’t have to worry about missing any news about your team.

*We don’t actually recommend doing this but hey, do what you have to do.

You are in the zone, ideas are flowing, work is getting done and the phone rings. You don’t want to miss an important call but you also don’t want to interrupt your work flow. With the Grasshopper virtual phone system you can see who is calling and send the caller to voice mail without worrying you are going to miss important information.

Why? Because with Grasshopper you will immediately be emailed the MP3 and the voice mail transcription (if you subscribe to the “Read Your Voicemail” feature). Voice mail is a great asset for your business and we have included some of the best ways to get the most out of it below.

Voice mail when you need it:

• Out of the office?

  The great thing about having Grasshopper is that you can choose when you want calls to be forwarded or when you want them to be sent to voice mail. When you are out of the office, you can have calls forwarded to your cell or home phone. Don’t want to get calls after 8 pm? Set up an after-hours greeting and send calls directly to voice mail.

  The other great thing is that even if you are out of the office, your voice mail will be emailed to you (in MP3 form), giving you the ability to listen to it on your Smartphone. You will know right away if it is an urgent call.

• Don’t want to talk?

  We have all been there. The phone rings and you really don’t want to talk to anyone. With Call Screening & Announce, you can simply listen to the number and decide if you want to talk or send them to voice mail.

• Don’t want to listen?

  To summarize, there is a Facebook group called “I Only Check My Voicemail To Get Rid Of The Little Icon On The Screen”. Yes, we can all be lazy and sometimes we just don’t feel like listening to our voice mail. The great thing about Grasshopper is that you don’t have to!

  With the “Read Your Voicemail” feature, your voice mail will be transcribed and emailed to you. You can get the contents of your voice mail without having to listen to it.

• Want to go above and beyond?

  In a recent post here on the Grasshopper blog, we show-cased how the unlimited extensions feature can help you go above and beyond for clients. By creating personalized greetings & voicemail messages for individual clients using separate extensions, you can create strong relationships and make your business stand out.

Grasshopper voice mail makes life easier for small businesses, is there when you need it and can help keep you and your business organized. Find out more about all the great features of the Grasshopper virtual phone system.

Here are a few common facts about 800 numbers that you may not know.

• A “true” 800 number is simply a toll free number with an “800″ prefix.

• You own your 800 number.

• 800 numbers are portable. If you change service providers, you can take your 800 number with you.

• 800 numbers that spell out a company name, product, etc are called “vanity numbers”.

• 800 numbers have been around for over 35 years.

• 800 numbers are regulated by the FCC.

• 800, 888, 866 & 877 are all toll free numbers. The only difference is the numbers themselves.

• 800 numbers can be used for home numbers as well as business numbers.

• 855, 844, 833, and 822 numbers have been reserved to be used as toll free numbers in the future.

• AT&T paid over $1.32 million to acquire the vanity number 1-800-YELLOWPAGES (* wiki)

An 800 number is a great way to make your small business sound professional for a low cost. Get an 800 number along with all the great features of the Grasshopper virtual phone system.

Aside from a website, your phone greeting could be the first impression customers or potential customers have of your business. While it doesn’t have to be as clever as George’s, it’s important that it sounds professional and helps the caller with what they are looking for.

Here are a few tips for creating a main greeting:

• Make sure there is no distracting background noise i.e. ambulances racing by, phones ringing, tv commercials.

• When using background music, make sure you choose music that fits your business. Pop music for a spa probably isn’t the best strategy.

• Enunciate your words clearly to ensure the caller can understand your greeting. Avoid strong accents.

• Keep it succinct. No one wants to listen to three minutes of talking before even hearing their options.

• Make sure callers feel welcome. Thank them for calling and let them know how you are going to help them.

• Your extensions should be easy to follow and cover the most common topics. Sales, Support, Speak with Customer Representative, etc.

• For customers who don’t want to worry about creating their greeting, the Grasshopper voice studio features professional voice talents who can create it for you.

Remember, a poor phone greeting could turn away customers, potential customers, clients, and leads. Take all the necessary steps to create a professional image for your small business.

As a small business it is often hard to track exactly where your customers are coming from; Television, radio, web, partners, etc, etc. While analytics have certainly made it easier to track web traffic, offline efforts aren’t as clear cut.

A great way to track offline marketing efforts and determine ROI is to use multiple phone numbers. Using separate phone numbers for separate campaigns can help you track where your visitor came from and give you insight into which campaign is working the best.

Using Multiple Phone Numbers to Track ROI:

• Place a phone number on your website that is found no where else. This will allow you to track conversions from people visiting the site and then picking up the phone and buying. You can even create use separate numbers for your pay-per-click ads.
• Use a specific phone number in your television or print ad. This can be as easy as creating a new extension for your toll free number or using a completely separate phone number. Perhaps you want a local number for your television ad but an 800 number for your print ad since it will be less geo-targeted.

The more accurately a business is able to track marketing efforts, the more efficient they will be and the more money they will save.

Remember, with Grasshopper, additional phone numbers are only $5 each and additional extensions are FREE! Start tracking your marketing efforts now!

Setting up call forwarding for your 800 (or local) number is easy through your online account manager.

We have broken it down into 3 simple steps:

1. Login to your Grasshopper account, choose “Settings“

2. Under Settings, choose “Call Forwarding“

3. Choose “Add Number” & Put in the desired forwarding number (click image to see full size)

That’s it!

Those simple steps are all it takes to forward your 800 number with our virtual phone system. Easy huh?

Once you put in the number, or numbers (yes, you can forward calls to more than one number), you can choose your call forwarding settings:

• Forwarding Schedule (Set specific times)

• Call Announce

• Direct Connect

• Call Screening

• PBX Connect

• Caller ID (Show your callers # or your Grasshopper #)

Along with 800 number forwarding there are a ton of other great features with the Grasshopper virtual phone system including unlimited extensions, custom greetings and voice mail transcription. Check it out and be sure to contact our 24/7 support with any questions you may have.

With the launch of Google Voice this past year, awareness surrounding the virtual phone, virtual pbx, hosted pbx industry has skyrocketed, and here at Grasshopper we have been fortunate enough to enjoy the benefits. More awareness means more people wanting to know what a virtual number is, what a virtual phone system is, how it works, who does this, how it can benefit them and how they can get it?

It also means more people asking, “What is the difference between Grasshopper and Google Voice?”.

The first thing we say is, Grasshopper is designed for small businesses and entrepreneurs versus the general consumer. We are dedicated to helping our customers sound professional, stay connected and ultimately grow their business.

That being said, our feature set has been built as a focused set of tools for entrepreneurs and their businesses – that is really the key difference.

Below we have highlighted just a few of the core features of the Grasshopper virtual phone system – all items not available with Google Voice:

Toll Free 800 Numbers

• A primary difference and business essential – A toll free number is a great way to help a business grow, look bigger and more professional, and provide customers with a means to reach you. With Grasshopper you can get general 800 numbers (800,888,877 & 866 numbers) along with custom vanity numbers (i.e. 1-800-AWESOME) and have them forwarded to any number on any phone in the world.

Phone Number Ownership

• As a Grasshopper customer you own the rights to your toll free or local number. If you decide to change service providers you can take the phone number with you. For businesses this is extremely important as the majority of marketing materials (business cards, website, etc) contain a business phone number. When you own the phone number, you don’t have to worry about adjusting all of your current materials just because you change providers.

Multiple Extensions

• As a business you probably want to add extensions for your employees. This is not only possible with Grasshopper, but also extremely easy and you are never charged for adding extensions. We offer unlimited extensions! That’s right we said an UNLIMITED amount at no extra charge ever. Each extension includes voice mail, call forwarding, custom greetings and more.

Multiple Numbers in ONE Account

• With Grasshopper you have multiple numbers within the same account. These numbers can all forward to any number you wish without limitations. This is important when you have several local numbers and a toll free number for your business. You need the ability to forward all numbers to one phone (whether this is home, office or cell). With Google Voice, you currently have the ability to forward two numbers to landline but only one to a mobile phone.

Human Voice mail Transcription

• One great feature with Google Voice is the voice mail transcription. As a general consumer, using my phone just for personal use, it is an awesome feature. The problem is, sometimes what you read, isn’t what was said. We know this can be the case with transcription which is why we offer a human transcription option included with our Read Your Voicemail feature.

• Example: Say you’re in a business meeting, can’t take a call, see the voice mail is from an important person but the transcription just doesn’t read correctly…choose human transcription and someone will actually listen to the voice mail, type it up for you and send it back. You never have to listen to your voice mail and perhaps miss an important message.

24/7 Live Support

• This is probably the biggest difference when it comes to our service and Google Voice. With our users being business men and women, we know how important it is to make sure service is always available and reliable. Just as we wouldn’t want to miss a call, we don’t want our customers to either. Our 24/7 dedicated support team offers help with set up, online account management and any issues or questions you may be having.

• That means if you live in California and decide to improve your business at 3am PST a real live Grasshopper support team member (yes we understand it is a rare occasion to get a real person on the phone nowadays) is just a phone call away at 800-820-8210 to help you out.

Away Greetings (After Hours, Vacations, Holidays etc.)

• You are a 1-2 person operation who has business calls forwarded to your cell phone using Grasshopper. Do you want to be receiving calls at 9 o’clock at night when you have settled down with your family? Probably not. With Away Greetings you have the option of creating a specific greeting for designated hours each day. Phone calls will not be sent to your phone and callers will hear the message you want them to.

On Hold Music

• You are on your cell phone, you put someone on hold, what do they hear? Silence. With Grasshopper you are able to upload your own on hold music or commercial. Choose music, commercials, jokes, whatever it is you want your customers to hear. Again, it helps your business sound professional and maybe even promote your lasted product to your customer, which is our goal.

We hope that answers any questions you have but if not, please feel free to contact our previously mentioned “live 24 hour/7 days a week” support team at 800-820-8210.

Interested in more information on Grasshopper vs. Google Voice?

• Grasshopper vs Google Voice – Live Crunch
• Your Hidden Potential Interviews David Hauser
• Grasshopper vs. Google Voice for Small Business – Longer Days

With that in mind, we have prepared a few quick tips to make sure you stay connected on those days you aren’t simply traveling to the office.

Going Abroad

With Grasshopper and your cell phone, you can be reached just about anywhere you go. But what happens when you’re abroad? Many cell phones don’t work out of the country, or they are just too expensive. Renting a phone or buying a SIM card could mean you’d have to give everyone your new number and hope for the best.

Make it easy. Even if you do get a different number, simply update the call forwarding number in your account and have calls forwarded to the number you will be accessible at. Callers will dial the same toll free or local number they always do and you are reached on whatever phone number you’re using while traveling.

Switching Time Zones

If your travels take you to a different time zone, it may be worthwhile to change the call forwarding hours on your phone extension. Calls will only be forwarded to you during the hours that make sense for your area. You can even change the time zone for your phone extension to adjust the call history and voice mail timestamps for your location.

If you won’t be able to take calls while traveling, you can easily turn call forwarding off completely. Calls will go directly to voice mail.

Hitting the Beaches

Ok, this doesn’t involve call forwarding but it is another easy way to let your clients know that you will be unavailable. When you are heading out on vacation, changing your voice mail greeting is probably the last thing on your mind.

However, you’ll be able to enjoy yourself much more knowing that callers are not expecting a call back right away. It is a small thing that can make a big difference. Your account even offers a vacation setting in which you can choose when the greeting will play.

With these simple changes you can head on your way without worrying you might miss that next sales opportunity or important call.

1. Only Give Out One Number

Giving out just one phone number instead of an office, fax and cell phone makes things simple for you and even simpler for those trying to reach you. Clients, colleagues and friends will know they can always reach you when they dial your Grasshopper number.

One phone number can ring up to six numbers including your home, office and cell phone.  And if you can’t take the call (or simply don’t want to), our advanced voicemail and fax handling options allow you to easily check and manage messages.

2. Throw Out Your Fax Machine

While we don’t advise actually throwing away your old fax machine, our virtual fax feature will ensure you use it a lot less. With our virtual phone system you can use your toll free or local number to receive faxes.  Each fax can then be viewed from any computer or compatible mobile device.

If you have an advanced number then you are already capable of receiving faxes. Callers can simply send faxes to your number just like any other fax number.

To set up forwarding faxes via email:

• Click Settings
• Click on Notification
• Enter the email addresses where you would like to receive your faxes

3.  Save Voicemails and Faxes to Your Computer

Have you ever had to listen to saved message after saved message to find the one you were looking for?  Grasshopper’s virtual phone system allows you to save all of your messages and faxes and then download them to your computer.  Keep your messages organized and your inbox clean.

To save voicemail messages:

• Click to play the message
• Click the download icon (arrow under type)
• Click Save
• In this next window choose file name and location to save

4. Give Clients 24/7 Access to Frequently Requested Documents

Fax-on-Demand allows your callers to instantly access important forms and printed information without needing your help. This is a great way to get menus, order forms and other documents into the hands of your customers faster.

• Call in to your Grasshopper account from a fax machine
• From your Main Greeting press *
• Enter 6 followed by #
• Enter the PIN for the Fax-on-Demand extension
• Continue to follow the voice prompts to store or delete documents

If you want more information about any of our features, take a look at our How It Works page.