How to get a business phone number without a landline in South Africa

A business needs a number that is not the owner's private cell. Customers trust it more, staff can answer it, and it does not walk out of the door when one person is on leave. For years that meant a landline: an installation, a monthly rental and a number fixed to a building.

Today you can have a business number with no line at all.

A cloud number is a South African number that lives in an account. You answer it in an app on a cellphone or a computer. Nothing is installed, and if the business moves, the number moves with it, because it was never attached to an address.

What a small business gains:

• One number, several people. With Ukutel the same number rings on two to six devices, depending on the package. Whoever is free answers.
• Private numbers stay private. Staff make and take business calls in the app, so customers see the business number, not someone's personal one.
• A bill you can read. Calls are charged per second from a prepaid balance. There is no line rental and no contract.
• Lower call costs. Calls are 40 to 70% less than normal mobile calls, depending on the destination, and that includes suppliers and customers in other countries.

What to think about first. The calls run over the internet, so the place where you answer needs reliable Wi-Fi or mobile data. Decide who signs in on which device. And put the new number everywhere on the same day: Google listing, invoices, signage, WhatsApp profile.

A cloud number will not suit a call centre with fifty seats and call queues. It suits the salon, the workshop, the guesthouse, the consultant and the online shop: businesses that need to be reachable, look established and keep costs down.

Packages start at R80 (about $4.86) a month, including R50 (about $3.04) of airtime. You can try it for five days for R25 (about $1.52).