Virtual Phone Numbers for Startups, Freelancers & Sole Traders

Feature by feature: why SwitchboardFREE works for startups, freelancers and sole traders

Every SwitchboardFREE account comes with over 40 features. These are the ones that make the biggest difference to startups, freelancers and sole traders, and why.

Calls from your business number

Your personal mobile number on a website or invoice stays with you for years, and clients ring it at 10pm. Calls made from the SwitchboardFREE app show your business number instead, so clients only ever have the business number and your personal one stays private.

Divert calls to your mobile

Freelancers and founders work from home, coworking spaces, client sites and trains. Your business number rings the app on your mobile or diverts to any UK phone, so you answer wherever you are without carrying a second handset.

Local, 0800 and 03 numbers

A local number makes a new business look established in the town it serves, a free-to-call 0800 number suits businesses selling nationally, and an 03 number costs callers the same as a landline wherever they are.

Open and close times

When you work for yourself, the phone never stops unless you stop it. Open and close times send business calls to voicemail outside your working hours, with a greeting giving your hours, while friends and family still reach your personal number.

Voicemail to email

On a client call, in a workshop or deep in a deadline, you cannot always answer. Voicemail to email sends the message to your inbox as audio with a written transcript, so you can read who called and what they want between tasks.

Missed call alerts

A new business cannot afford to lose an enquiry because nobody answered. Missed call alerts email you the caller's number the moment you miss them, even if they leave no message, so you can ring back first.

DepartmentsStandard & Unlimited plans

A short menu, such as "press 1 for sales, press 2 for support", makes a one-person business sound like a company, and the options can all ring you to begin with. When you hire, point each option at the right person without changing the number.

A professional greeting

A clear greeting with your business name is the first thing a new customer hears. Record your own for free on the app, or have a professional voice artist record it for a fee.

Add users as you grow

When you take on a co-founder, an employee or a virtual assistant, add them as a user on the same account. Calls can ring everyone at once or in order, and nobody needs a new phone line or a contract change.

Telephone Answering ServicePaid add-on

When you are with a client or on holiday, trained receptionists can answer in your business name and email you the caller's name, number and reason for calling. The Telephone Answering Service has no monthly fee: you pay only for the calls it answers.

CRM integrations and webhooks

Log every call in HubSpot, Pipedrive, Capsule or Google Sheets automatically, or use webhooks to send call details into the tools you already use. A small team gets a record of every enquiry without typing it up.

No contract

A new business needs room to change. Plans are rolling monthly with no setup fee, so you can move between plans as you grow and cancel if your plans change.