The Pros and Cons of Ditching Your Business Landline for Business Cellphones Only

If you are like most Americans, you gave up your landline phone at home a long time ago. And, as so many people, even kids, spend so much time on their cellphone – to the point where it never leaves their hand – doing so really only makes sense. It eliminates a monthly expense from the household budget, and who doesn’t love that?

But can a small business do the same? If you are only a small (but growing) concern and you and your employees spend much of your time on a cellphone anyway why not ditch the landline altogether? Indeed, some businesses have already done it. But before you make such a drastic change in the way you communicate with clients and customers it’s important to weigh up the pros and cons:

Money, Will You Really Be Saving It?

If you already pay for a cellphone and a landline for your business every month then yes, by dropping your wired service you’ll be eliminating a bill. But will you really be saving money? With the landlines gone you may be making a lot more calls via cellphone and, depending upon your plan, that could push that bill up.

Then there are employees. Are you going to pay for them to have company cell phones or reimburse them for the work related calls they have to make via their personal cell? Ethically you have to so one or the other and once again this could significantly eat into the savings made by ‘cutting the cord’ and maybe even end up costing you more.

The Reliability Factor

Even in an age where it seems that everyone over the age of eight or so has a cellphone, there are still plenty of areas that can only boast very spotty cell service and some that don’t support it at all. A dropped personal call in these low coverage situations is annoying, but a dropped business call can be a disaster.

Before you kill the landline off altogether check your service coverage areas carefully and don’t forget that if you are located in an area prone to heavy winter snow and ice or severe summer storms if the power’s out for a week and your cellphone is dead, land lines may very well still function.

The Tax Time Loss

Right now, if you have a business landline you can deduct 100% of the cost on your taxes every year. If you use a cellphone for work Uncle Sam will only allow you to deduct a percentage based on the number of work related calls you make versus personal ones. And while you – or your accountant – can guesstimate what that is that’s not a great idea, as should you face an audit you’d need to show proof – in the form of phone records – and many cell service providers don’t even offer such things easily anymore.

Explore the Other Alternative

If you are considering cutting the cord on your landline phone system to save money then there is another option you should consider before becoming a cellphone only company; VOIP. VOIP – Voice Over Internet Protocol – makes use of your Internet service and is cheaper than a landline and may even be cheaper than your mobile as well. A professionally designed VOIP business system can offer all of the features – and more – as your traditional landline set up for a fraction of the cost.

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