If you’ve ever run your own business, or kept a personal line open for business inquiries, you’ll know how tough it can be to switch off from business matters when your personal phone is so tied into your business. That’s what OpenPhone, Y Combinator participant and startup, wants to eliminate with an app that simulates a business line.
OpenPhone is aimed at small business owners rather than larger companies, and aims to offer users a simple way to differentiate their business calls from personal. Once downloaded, users will be given a business phone number, or can use an existing one, if available. They will then receive texts and calls through the VoIP, running them through your device’s internet connection. This allows for an unlimited amount of texts and calls, without setting up a costly new plan.
Since business calls and texts come through the OpenPhone app, it makes it easy to see when a call is business related. OpenPhone’s aim is to give smaller business owners the ability to shut off from their business life, and OpenPhone’s app comes with various features that can help make that happen. Do Not Disturb, voicemail, and business hours are among the features currently available. OpenPhone plans to add more features, such as the ability to share business numbers with your team.
“Both my co-founder and I grew up in families where all of our income was dependent on the businesses our parents were running. Later, I joined a software company building back-office tools for home improvement contractors,” said co-founder and CEO Mahyar Raissi to TechCrunch.
“There I noticed two important things. First, most of our users were using their personal phone numbers for business and they absolutely hated that. They’d have to put their numbers online or give it out to strangers. This meant getting constant calls when they were spending time with their families or when they were busy doing work. Second, contractors who communicated more professionally and were more responsive had more successful businesses and earned more money.”
The app costs $10 a month for a single business line, and is available for iPhone, iPad, and Android. Even though it’s based on an internet service, at the moment OpenPhone’s functionality is only usable within the U.S. and Canada, though you’ll still be able to use it to call numbers in the U.S. and Canada if you venture abroad. If you’re looking for more great apps that might benefit your business, check out our list of the best iPhone apps, and the best Android apps currently available.
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