Re:Ask HN: Phone Support Number for Startups
by JangoSteve on Saturday January 02, 2010 @03:02PM
(#1027574)
I have one company that uses Google Voice and one that uses Grasshopper. Grasshopper allows you to easily set up a local number and/or an 800 number (you can also import your own number, for instance you GV number). It allows you to setup "lines" (press 1 for support, 2 for sales, etc), which can forward to other numbers, record messages, have on-hold music and a hunt group, etc.
So, to really answer your qustion, I think it depends on what your startup is. If it's a B2C company that really only needs its own number for support issues and whatnot, you're probably good with just a GV account that forwards to your cell phone. If it is a B2B company though that needs to sound established and professional, I'd consider setting up an 800 number with a multiple-line answering service like Grasshopper, even if every line only forwards to your cell phone for now. This also makes it very easy to scale once you start hiring people.
So, to really answer your qustion, I think it depends on what your startup is. If it's a B2C company that really only needs its own number for support issues and whatnot, you're probably good with just a GV account that forwards to your cell phone. If it is a B2B company though that needs to sound established and professional, I'd consider setting up an 800 number with a multiple-line answering service like Grasshopper, even if every line only forwards to your cell phone for now. This also makes it very easy to scale once you start hiring people.