Cheap phone number for my business?

Prepaid mobile?

[emodo]

I don't have a landline provider.

I am looking for a way to get a dedicated phone number for people interested in advertising on my site. Ideally I'd get a prepaid cell phone and just use that, however all the companies state that you need to buy $20 worth of minutes minutes every 90 days or so, which is not worth it for the maybe 6-7 calls I'd get at that time.

Does anyone know of a cheap way to get a phone number for the occasional sales call?

[rogerd]

$20 every four months or so IS pretty cheap... If your ads won't pay for that, it's not worth your time messing with them - have them email you, or complete a site form. There's always Skype...

[emodo]

Hmmm.. skypein might be good.

Its not the money, but rather that I am prone to forget little things like buying a new prepaid card... but i guess that is another problem all in itself.

[txbakers]

if you don't have a phone, you don't have a real business.

[emodo]

My point exactly. I am actually registering a LLC to provide a blanket liability protection to all my sites soon, and I after realized one of my sites was recommended by some well known organizations I realized I need a press and advertising contact.

[Tapolyai]

You might want to look into an automated answering service.

It used to be quite expensive for something with an "unprofessional" feel.

Today you can get a complex Interactive Voice Response system, with menus, options, even fax capabilities, "toll-free" number, etc. for a fraction as before. Sometimes they are referred to as Virtual Office.

Pricing is also structured in various ways now. Some will take a flat monthly fee, some will do it by the number of calls, some will do it hybrid.

[moishe]

Vonage works very well, same as Skype and others i guess.