I am in the process of moving my business out to Front Royal, VA, where we moved over a year ago. Supporting the local business community has become very important to me, so I decided that moving my business presence was essential. I got a new mailing address and a new phone number. The mailing address was a no-brainer as was the phone number…so I thought. Boy, was I wrong.
I’ve used RingCentral as a virtual PBX for years and its always worked out really well. It enables me to have a business number at a nominal fee that I can forward to any phone. It includes voice mail, call forwarding, professional voice prompts and extensions. When I decided to set-up a local number for my business, I went to RingCentral and simply added a new number. I tried to pick a number that was easy remember. I was limited to a selection of numbers provided by RingCentral, so I picked the best one. Bad choice.
The number used to belong to a custom builder that apparently has several pending lawsuits and collections against them. Now I get numerous calls daily from lawyers, collection agencies and irate customers looking for this company. Unfortunately, I’ve found that if I don’t call them back and advise them that the number is no longer valid, they continue to call. So, I spend part of my day returning calls (to people who really aren’t that pleasant), convincing them that I am not with these builders and asking them to please stop calling me.
I’ve already printed this number, used it on my website, sent it to customers, etc., so I’m stuck with it.
What can you learn from me? If you add or change your phone number, especially if you are using a service like RingCentral, Google the number just to see if there is anything fishy going on. I wish I had. It may save you a lot of time and aggravation.
