In an earlier post, I recommended getting a virtual phone number for your business, instead of using a cell or home number. I've just found out a much better way of doing this, and it's through the phone company.

The phone company calls this a "TeleBranch" number, and it's usually used to forward branch office calls to a main corporate switchboard. But you can use it to forward your business calls to a cell phone, an answering service, or even your home phone.

In doing so, you keep the flexibility of routing your calls where you choose when your business increases. I've learned the hard way by giving out my cell number. With a TeleBranch number, have it go straight to your mobile phone when you're just starting out. When you open an office, you can convert the phone number to a real phone line.

Also, the number qualifies you for a white and yellow pages listing, which gets picked up by the other non-AT&T phone books. This is all well worth the price of about $15/month + usage fees (range from $.03-$.06 per minute in Kansas City).