Cell phones and landlines have their own pros and cons, making it hard to pick the best phone solution for your business. For instance, cell phones are portable and more flexible. Whereas, landlines are more professional, feature-rich, and provide higher quality communications. So, really, which one should you pick? That we’ll find out today.
This guide will dive deep into landline and cell phone comparisons regarding features, cost, and sustainability to help you choose a suitable one. Let’s dive in.
Landline or Cell for Small Businesses
Here we’ll compare landlines and cells for small businesses in different aspects.
1. Cost
Cell phones are pretty expensive. When it comes to buying a cell phone for all your workforce members or even selective members, it will cost a lot. On the other hand, a landline will have a single subscription cost to go easy on your pocket. We, at Community Phone, offer affordable business landline plans to small businesses to provide a cost-effective communication solution.
2. Features
Landlines have been a standard for business communications and come with various advanced business-friendly features. These particularly include call forwarding, call routing, and caller ID. Though some of these features are accessible on cell phones too, calls are not as effective for privacy and security as landlines are. Community Phone pays close attention to providing advanced landline features with all its business landline plans.
3. Sustainability
Modern-day landline providers, like Community Phone, require less maintenance than cell phones. Also, landline subscriptions are cheaper than monthly cellular packages to make landlines sustainable for your business. Furthermore, landlines at Community Phone come with 24/7 customer support to help you with issues. Plus, Community Phone’s innovative landline is FCC compliant and will remain functional even though traditional copper landlines are being shut down.
Why Landline is the Popular Choice of Business Owners
Landlines have been a popular choice for small and large-scale business owners due to numerous reasons. Here we’ll quickly discuss the primary reasons why landlines are still and will always be a vital communication source for businesses.
1. Ease of Use
Cell phones are not preferred by senior citizens. As a mid-sized organization has employees from all age groups, it's important to consider the most senior ones. Landlines are much easier to use as telephone systems are straightforward. This way, landlines fit users of all ages.
2. Budget Friendly
Cell phones are quite expensive and it can cost a lot to arrange a cell phone for all your staff members. Moreover, it may be ideal for personal use, but your average cellular phone charges may skyrocket in place of work. Whereas, landlines only require a telephone system which can be extended by using handsets. Plus, they pack a single subscription cost to provide for affordable communications.
3. Scalability
As your staff grows, so will your communication needs. If you rely on cells, you’ll need to buy expensive cells and packages for all your workforce members as your team grows. On the other hand, you can always get more handsets or telephone systems as needed, when using a landline – making landlines a more scalable option.
4. Long Distance and International Calling
International calls from landlines are underrated! Generally speaking, landlines provide affordable long-distance and international calling. Whereas, cell phones tend to charge a lot for international calling. Unless you get subscribed to international calling cards, landlines are a better option for international and long-distance calls.
Read More here: What is Considered Long Distance Calling?
5. Works During Power Outages
Traditional landlines work during power outages, unlike VoIP-based landlines that are internet dependent. Assuming your cell phone is charged, you can make business calls and send messages. Community Phones, a cellular-oriented landline service, provides 12-hour battery backup during power outages. It remains completely operational during blackouts to ensure smooth business proceedings.
Get Community Phone for Your Business
Community Phone is a standout landline service that uses a cellular network to enable calling on a landline phone without internet. It offers specialized landline plans for businesses, allowing them to class up their internal as well as customer communications.
Advanced Features
- Unlimited nationwide calling
- 30-second setup
- Works during power outages
- Doesn’t require internet or copper connection
- Call forwarding, call waiting, and simultaneous ring
- Custom voicemail greetings for business
Suitable for Small Businesses
As mentioned, Community Phone’s landline plans are optimized for small businesses. That’s why our business landline plans pack extra calling features like caller ID, call forwarding, and voicemail. Moreover, our higher business plans also throw in more advanced features like live call transfer.
How It Works
Community Phone is different from traditional landline providers and uses an FCC-complaint landline protocol. Our landline service runs off cell phone towers to eliminate the need for internet as well as copper wire connections.
Our customers get a landline base device that automatically connects to a nearby phone tower as it boots up. Once your base device connects to a phone tower, you can enjoy high-quality yet wireless communications via a landline.
If you’re interested in trying Community Phone, CLICK HERE to register yourself at CommunityPhone today!
Landline vs Cell: 3 Key Differences
Here are three key differences between a landline and a cell.
1. Connection Type
The main difference between landline and cell phone connections is their transmission protocol. While landlines are generally based on a physical wire protocol, cell phones use a wireless protocol. But CommunityPhone’s landline service is based on a wireless cellular network to ensure you get as much flexibility as you get with a cell connection.
2. Physical Features
Cell and landline systems pack different physical structures. Cell phones are computer-based information systems and include components like a processor, motherboard, display, keyboard, microphone, and speaker. Whereas, landline systems consist of a power source, a dialer, a ringer, a transmitter, a receiver, and more.
When it comes to Community Phone’s landline, we provide a base landline device that’s compatible with any telephone system available. Though it eliminates the need for a physical wire interface by getting signals from cellular networks, it consists of the physical features a telephone system does.
Read More here: What is a Landline Phone?
3. Call Quality
The calls made via cells are not that clear or high-quality, especially if your internet speed is inconsistent. On the other hand, a landline provides unaffected voice quality even if your internet speed is dropped. As CommunityPhone’s landline is based on cell phone towers, you won’t need a traditional copper wire connection or internet to make high-quality calls.
How to Tell If a Number is a Landline or Mobile
There are numerous ways to identify if a number is a landline or mobile. Here are a few techniques to distinguish properly.
1. Use a Phone Number Validator
The phone number validators routinely check if a phone number is legit. But besides validation of a number, they also provide extra details regarding whether the number is for a cell phone or landline. So, they’re an easy and quick way to determine if a number is a landline or mobile. TextMagic and PhoneValidator are two decent number validator apps you can try.
2. Caller ID Apps
Like phone validator apps, the caller ID programs also show the type of phone number (whether mobile or landline) as additional details. TrueCaller is a widely used caller ID app that includes this feature.
3. Reverse Lookup Service
Last but not the least, various reverse lookup services are available, allowing you to find a caller’s details. These services are designed to give users information about a caller who may have been harassing them. Alongside other information, they may also clarify if it’s a landline number or a cell phone number. NumLookup and BackGround checks are two of the significant reverse lookup services you can try.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a small business phone system cost?
Community Phone’s business landline service starts from $39/month and fits small businesses well. You can get a custom deal based on your business needs. Contact Community Phones now at (866)-937-3108 and discuss your requirements with a landline specialist.
Should I have a separate phone for my LLC?
Having a separate phone system for your LLC company is worth it. It’ll help you keep your personal and business contacts separate, so you can establish a decent work-life balance. Moreover, you can still use a phone answering service so whenever you get a call on your business phone, your personal phone rings too.
Do I need a business phone line?
Every small business nowadays requires a business phone line. It’s needed for your team to communicate well internally, as well as with customers. Having a business phone line comes with many extra features, like call forwarding, caller ID, and simultaneous ring. These help manage and maintain your customer calls.
The Bottom Line
Cells are convenient and flexible but they come with certain downsides. Like, providing all your staff members with cell phone access can be quite expensive. The cellular packages are quite costly too and can take up a lot of your budget every month. Also, they come with compromised privacy as hundreds of users are connected to a cellular network at any given time. With that at hand, landlines are a much better option for businesses.
If you’re looking for a trustable, reliable, and affordable landline service for your small business, look no further as Community Phone is your best bet. CLICK HERE to get started at Community Phone today!