Can you have multiple phone numbers on one phone

An old joke holds that anyone with two mobile phones is either dealing drugs or having an affair – but in fact, there are plenty of legitimate reasons why you’d want to maintain two separate numbers.

Some need to be contactable for work at unsociable hours, but would prefer to turn off the phone that mates would call; others would wish to prevent work contacts from spoiling quality family time.

(If you’re reading this article because you just want to block some people from calling you while allowing others through, incidentally, remember that you can activate Do Not Disturb mode – which can be done via the Control Centre – then go to Settings > Do Not Disturb > Allow Calls From, and select either your favourites or a group of contacts.)

Whatever your reasons for maintaining two phone numbers, the good news is that it’s possible to do this without lugging around two handsets. You can use two SIMs with the same phone; or you can use one of the various apps and carrier services that manage two numbers from a single SIM.

In this article we explain how to use two numbers on an iPhone.

Update: Apple has stated in a document shared with phone networks that if the iPhone 12 is used with dual SIMs 5G will not work. More here: If you use dual SIM cards in iPhone 12 you won’t get 5G.

The two-SIM solution

The most obvious way of running two phone numbers from a single handset is to use two SIMs – but if you’re an iPhone owner, this is easier said than done. Nobody likes the idea of physically swapping SIM each time you want to make a call from the other number, and Apple has never released an iPhone with slots for dual SIMs.

(Some Android handset makers have done this, even if it seems to be getting rarer – you can read more in our colleagues roundup of the best dual-SIM phones.)

Fortunately, some canny accessory makers have come up with adapters that let you plug two SIMs into your iPhone. And even though there’s no room in the phone’s chassis to hide two SIM cards, using a case can solve this problem too.

NeeCoo Magic Card

One Bluetooth dual-SIM card adapter compatible with iPhone is the NeeCoo Magic Card. It syncs a second Micro SIM card to your iPhone. You can call, message and take photos from the second Micro SIM. It connects to your iPhone Bluetooth up to 10 metres away.

To do this you need to download the MoreCard app free from the App Store first.

The NeeCoo Magic Card can be bought from GearBest for £24.67, with free shipping to the UK.

Read more about this solution here: How to add a second SIM to an iPhone

Simore

We’ve also heard positive things about Simore, although this isn’t a solution we’ve tried ourselves.

The company sells dual-SIM adapters for every model of iPhone from the iPhone 4 through to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus – and some triple-SIM adapters, too. Prices start at 34 euros for iPhone 7 adapters.

Swytch

Instead of buying a dual-SIM adaptor, you could just install this free app. You get 50p credit to start you off, but you’ll quickly rack up a bill: a phone call to a landline costs 5p a minute, calls to mobiles are 6p a minute and texts cost 6p a time.

Echoing the bad joke that started this article, launch press around Swytch suggested the app was primarily aimed at people cheating on their partners, but the company’s CEO half-heartedly tried to deny this.

“Swytch makes it possible for people to have multiple numbers on their existing mobile phone,” said Chris Michael, “and while this may assist people who have already decided to have affairs, I cannot believe that would be a factor in their decision to start one.”

Skype

Here’s a big-name solution to the two-number problem: use Skype and pay for a number. This is a feature called, simply, Skype Number.

The number you select can be set up with a variety of area and country codes, and you can pick up calls to that number on any device set up with your Skype account – including your iPhone, of course. You can pay for the number via a three-month or yearly subscription.

Don’t forget the Skype app.

It’s always good practice to separate your business from your personal life as much as possible. Getting a second phone line is an easy and effective way to accomplish this. In this post, I’ll show you the benefits of using a Google Voice phone number for your business and how to set it up. It’s easy, free, and well worth the effort.

Google Voice is a service that allows you to have two phone numbers that call the same phone. Anytime somebody calls your business number, it goes directly to your personal phone or whatever phone you have it forward calls to.

The obvious benefit of using Google Voice is you only need to carry one phone. With the price of smartphones, who wants to deal with two? As a handyman, you already have enough tools and equipment to worry about. By using this free service, you get most of the benefits of having two completely separate phones without your pockets bulging with electronics.

Filtering incoming calls

For me, the ability to filter incoming calls is an absolute must. Depending on who is calling me, I answer the phone differently, or maybe not at all. With Google Voice, you can set it up so that your caller ID displays your Google Voice number anytime somebody is calling your business line. This will allow you to immediately recognize that it’s a business call before you even answer the phone. You can then prepare your professional voice for a phone call.

Without this ability, I’d tend to answer every phone call as if it were a business call. If my friends called from a number I didn’t recognize, they’d get my handyman phone greeting. Not ideal.

Separate voicemail greetings

Google Voice also allows you to set up a separate voicemail greeting for your Google Voice number. This is an awesome feature for obvious reasons. This will allow you to make your business greeting as cheesy as you want without having your friends make fun of you every time they leave a voicemail on your personal line.

Separate voicemail greetings also keep customers from hearing a personal voicemail greeting. Allowing your customers to hear your personal voicemail greeting is about as unprofessional as it gets. This will turn a lot of customers off or diminish your value as a service provider. Essentially it will make it more difficult for you to charge a premium for your services.

You choose your phone number

One of the coolest features of Google Voice is the ability to choose your own number so you can get a memorable one. However, many good numbers have already been taken, so it may take some time to choose the one you want.

It’s free!

As a new business owner, it’s hard to find anything business-related that doesn’t come at a premium.  At the moment, Google Voice is completely free. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Disadvantages

Nothing’s perfect, and Google Voice is no exception.  Here are a couple of the service’s limitations:

• Outgoing calls to your customers will show your primary cell phone number on the customer’s caller ID. If you call a customer to follow up, they will tend to call you back on your personal number. However, this isn’t all that bad because they will usually only call you on that number once. The next time they call, they’ll reference your card or website for your phone number.
• It’s harder to leave your business behind you when you go on vacation. I personally don’t like to think about business while on vacation, but when a customer calls, I can’t help but answer. After all, who wants to lose business? The only problem is that business calls can spoil a good time.

How to get it

It’s pretty simple to set up. If you already have a Gmail account, simply click here and follow the instructions. If you don’t use Gmail, you’ll need to create an account first. I recommend getting a Gmail account anyway for all of the amazing features and capabilities it offers for free.

Once you have signed up for a number, you’re going to want to mess with the settings a bit. Tweak the settings and ask your friends to call until you get the desired result.

I currently have mine set up so that when somebody calls my google voice number, it displays their phone number on the caller ID, but I have a voice prompt telling me that somebody is calling my google number. I can then either press “1” to answer or “2” to send to voicemail once I’ve answered. I always press “1”, but this just gives me a heads up that it is a business call.

Calls to my primary or personal phone number are handled as usual.

Questions?

When I first set up Google Voice, I had a couple of issues that I had to work through, and it was a little frustrating. I’d like to save you the agony. If you have any questions regarding how to set up a Google Voice number for your handyman business, please ask in the comment section below.

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