Last year it was reported that Americans received over 26 million unsolicited phone calls. While you don’t always have to give your phone number out to someone for you to end up on a robocall list, sometimes you can receive unwanted phone calls from an old flame or somebody who you’d simply rather not speak to.
The solution? A temporary phone number can work wonders in a variety of situations. Whether you need a Burner phone number for a one-time event such as contacting a buyer to sell an item online or choose to turn it into a long-term second phone number for work, here are seven times it makes sense to use a temporary phone number.
When Does it Make Sense to Use a Temporary Phone Number?
1. When Meeting Up with Someone You Met Online
Is using a fake number for online dating smart? Always! 60% of female users polled said that someone on a dating app or website continued to harass and contact them after they said they weren’t interested. Online dating apps create a safety buffer between you and a potential match, but when it’s time to move off the platform, it’s best to use a temporary phone number.
This ensures not only that they won’t be able to use your real number to search for personal information online, but that if it doesn’t work out, you can “burn” the number and move on without fear of future harassment.
2. When You Know You Want to Keep Things Casual
There’s nothing wrong with being a casual dater! And, even if you try to explain that clearly to your dates, sometimes people just don’t get it. Using a temporary phone number gives you control over communication and if you decide that it’s time to end things, you can simply get rid of the number.
While ghosting is never nice, it’s sometimes necessary. And, a temporary phone number allows you to retain a sense of privacy. Keeping things discrete is important as a casual dater regardless of your motives, making temporary or Burner phone numbers pretty useful.
3. When Buying or Selling Items via an Online Platform
Buying and selling items online is a pretty cost-effective way to make money. However, it can sometimes prove to be a bit dangerous. You know the rules: always meet in a public place and take a friend along with you if you can. But, even if you take your bestie with you to meet up to hand over a nice handbag you listed on Craigslist, that doesn’t solve the issue of privacy.
Always use a temporary or fake phone number when contacting someone off of a digital selling platform such as Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, or even Etsy. This ensures that your identity remains private while also preventing any future contact from occurring.
4. When Working on a New Freelance Project
As a freelancer, you’ll likely take on hundreds of new clients over the course of a year. And, depending on what your freelance gig is, this might mean that you encounter lots of one-off clients. If that’s the case, you’ll want to use a temporary phone number to avoid cluttering your phone’s contacts and receiving follow-up calls after the project is over.
Another great reason to use a temporary phone number as a freelancer? If you use it long-term, it provides you with the ability to engage in seamless communication while connecting to various other apps that make freelance life a lot easier to organize.
5. When Signing Up for New Websites
How does your phone number end up on robocall lists? There are a few ways in which telemarketers capture your phone number and using it to sign up for websites, services, or even apps is one of them. Think about how many times a month you enter your phone number online. Whether it’s to purchase a product from an online store or when agreeing to the terms and conditions of a fun new app, it’s probably quite often.
Never use your real phone number for these purposes. We’d suggest signing up for a subscription Burner phone number. Use this temporary phone number specifically for these kinds of situations to avoid receiving robocalls to your real phone number.
6. When Contacting Business Leads
If you use your phone for work, it’s easy to mix work and play, right? Right (and we’ll get to that next), and as a business owner or salesperson, it can get confusing as to which contacts are still relevant and which ones you’d like to get rid of.
As a salesperson specifically, using a temporary phone number is a great way to manage the amount of business leads you’re contacting. Try using a temporary phone number for a specific job or a specific project and then get rid of it when those leads no longer serve you.
7. When You Need to Separate Work & Play
It doesn’t matter what industry you work in, a temporary phone number is a great way to keep your work separate from your personal life. Not only does it allow you to screen incoming calls and respond accordingly, but it makes it easy to switch on the Do Not Disturb feature and totally tune out of work at the end of the day.
Sign up for a temporary phone number then change your work email signature to include only this secondary phone number. It’ll help you keep your work contacts and messaging threads separate. And, it’ll be way easier to ease out of work mode at the end of a long day.
Sign Up for Your Temporary Phone Number
Need a temporary phone number? We’ve got you covered. Getting a Burner number allows you to maintain the integrity of your identity while enjoying lots of other perks.
And, while it sometimes makes sense to have a temporary phone number for a one-off situation, it makes even more sense to sign up for a Subscription Burner so that you can reap the benefits of a Burner phone app while keeping the same number long-term.
Create your second number today to enjoy unlimited calling, texting, and picture messaging plus spam blocking.
