Which Phone Number Do You Give Out To Students/adverts? Options

[MusicSong]

On my adverts I have been putting my home number till somone pointed out a few pitfalls with this idea- prank calls, lack of privacy, cold calling for selling... I hate mobiles because I dont want to get brain cancer and I dont want to be chained to it! I have relented though and have one which I am going to start giving out although it will cost me a fortune to pick up the messages.

Do you give out for home number or mobile when Advertising (say in local paper/internet)?

what about students?

Thanks

[maggiemay]

I don't give out my mobile number easily. My home number has been on my information for a number of years. But for the purposes of local phone directories it is ex-directory, so it's not so easily available to Joe Double-Glazing and his ilk. You get the odd call from a computer generated number but these are not so many.

I don't seem to get prank calls: I was initially a bit cautious about putting a number on the internet but most calls from this source seem to be genuine.

Has anyone found that the scam 'my son is coming to your country and I don't want him to be less busy etc etc ' type of e-mail has filtered through into phone calls?

[MusicSong]

Thanks Maggiemay.

I think what also plays on my mind is that im not the only one who uses the phone- and the dreaded student (or parent) who decides to phone at 7:30am sat morning, or right in the middle of the 'who done it' film!! (Not that they are as important in the long run)!! Prank calls are the worry.

I hate those computer cold calls. Telephone preference service seemed to sort them out at my last house. They used to phone at 7:30 sunday morning. They were doubly unpopular in our house!

[Jane S]

I was worried too about publishing my home number, particularly since I've worked in a local comprehensive and thought I could be an easy target. So far, no trouble, and the latest anyone has rung has been 8-9pm in the evening. If you are really worried, having caller ID can be reassuring. Make sure you have voicemail or equivalent so if you are teaching you can ignore it until ready. This is also useful if the prank calls do materialise, because you don't have to run to the phone just in case it is a potential pupil. Also don't forget, land phones have switches to turn off the ring as well, just remember to switch it on again in the morning! But again we haven't even had to do that.

Maggie - no one has tried to scam me over the phone re my son/daughter is coming to your country etc, possibly because they know they would be easily tripped up over the phone and fairly quickly. Unless some poor unfortunate soul has had an expert con them. We are all smart about that until really taken in.

[MusicSong]

Hi dcmbarton,

I dont think im earning enough to have a seperate landline yet. I think the attraction with a pay as you go mobile is the 'off' button for use in lessons or out of hours, but I dont want to be chained to a voicemail service.

I understnad the seperation from home and work- at the moment if someone else picks the landline they will just say 'I'm in' and come and get me! (I could never be a doctor on call!)

I'm just very aware that once your information is in the public domain then you cant retract it.


I think I am going to start giving out a mobile number (with an answer message from me) and then if i have to call back then use the landline (with no caller info). I guess I can get a 'no brain cancer' hands free?

Would it put people off only giving out a mobile number, and not a local landline number?

Thanks JaneS, you replied while I was typing!

I dont want to loose business, but I want to be able to relax at the right time too! Turning the phone ringer off would not go down well with the other members of the family!!


It is strange, pre mobiles this would not have been a thought at all.

[pianodub]

I only give out my mobile number. The reason for this was originally that I lived somewhere with no landline. However now it means I can turn the phone off if I don't want to be contacted or indeed screen calls.

Like David I don't appreciate people phoning about work at 8am or around 9pm. I have had people calling around 8pm on Saturday evenings when I have been in the pub or on Sundays, which I think is not really on! My rule is not to answer unrecognised numbers after my self-imposed business hours. If I spot it is a pupil calling and think it might be important I will answer it if it suits. Otherwise they can leave a message and I can get back to them at a more suitable time, usually the next day.

The other plus-side to the mobile is that I have lived in five different places since I started teaching eight or nine years ago and will be moving again sometime in the next year or so. Everyone has my mobile number and therefore I haven't needed to run around updating their information or losing business because I have changed my number.

The jury seems to be out on the whole mobile phone/cancer link so to be honest I think you're being a little paranoid! I doubt you would stay on the phone for long enough to have any ill-effects and you might find that you often communicate with existing pupils via text. I do!

[Cat Lover]

I bought a pay as you go mobile just for work purposes as I wanted to keep my worklife separate and I can decide if I want to answer my phone now. It's also quite handy if I need to change lessons or just give a quick message by text and parents find this easier as they can reply when they want. Working out and monitering how much calls cost is also easier for tax. I had to stop using home phone for work as I'm at home with the parents and it was starting to annoy them as it was CONSTANTLY ringing at all sorts of times!

[Dulciana]

I encourage people to contact me on my mobile rather than my landline. First of all, if I'm teaching I don't answer the phone and my own kids don't always pass on messages. Fine if nobody answers, because then they'll leave a message, but if the phone is actually answered I may never get to hear that it was for me!

Text messages are very handy as well. I agree with David that it's not really acceptable to ring too early or too late, but a quick text is different, and a mobile can be on silent if the time has passed by which I'm happy to communicate. (And the same for the other party.) But the message is there and can't be missed. Older pupils communicate with me by text, as well as parents, with all sorts of queries, and it's a good way to remind them of things that I don't want them to forget! Even things like, "Don't forget you promised x you'd lend him that book tonight." Or from pupil - "Sorry, I might be ten minutes late, so you've time to put the kettle on."

I've never had anyone abuse the fact that they have my mobile number, and have never had any scam.

[MusicSong]

The jury seems to be out on the whole mobile phone/cancer link so to be honest I think you're being a little paranoid! I doubt you would stay on the phone for long enough to have any ill-effects and you might find that you often communicate with existing pupils via text. I do!

People thought smoking was safe for centuries and look where that got them!!! Plus the general public have only been using mobiles for 10-15 years. No-one knows how 30, 40 or 50 years of use will affect the body as only a few people have had the device for over 15 years. If you think about the amount of radiation the body absorbs from wireless interent, powerlines, mobiles- it cant be good!! I have come to this assumption based scientific research that I was personally involved with working on and I know a lot of scientist who feel the same, so my paranoia is scientific theory based- I'm not a headless chicken jumping on a bandwagon honest!!! I have specific concerns.


That said I do think text is a good communication, and I think a hands free set will help for any calls I have. (Still dubious about blue tooth technology).



Anyway, thanks for all the replies. It is good to know that I am not the only one who is worried about phone number abuse! Keep the advice coming!

[Czerny]

I tend to give out my landline as I object to paying a mobile phone company in order to pick up messages and I don't want to take out a contract. I've never had any problems so far, apart from the odd person calling at anti-social hours which presumably they would have done anyway if they'd had my mobile number.

[Cadence]

I give out my mobile number as I teach at a studio and I am rarely at home except in the evenings, so no one would ever be able to get hold of me!

Also, I have moved flats quite a lot recently and until this month, I didn't have a landline at all. Now that I have one, when I get a phone I won'y be giving the number out to students and parents - i will be my private line.

As has been said - you can put a cell phone out of the way and on silent when you don't want to hear from people, but you will still get the message when you want. It is easier to control who you communicate with and when on a cell than it is on a landline.

Im not sure what you mean about being tied to a vaicemail service - most phone companies now offer free voicemail and just just have to press a button to receive the message that has been left for you. The last time I remember thinking about the cost of retrieving voicemails was in about 2005.

[MusicSong]

Tied to a voicemail- if anyone knows of a pay as you go service which wont charge me to pick up messages then please type it here. I won't go on contract so it is PAYG or nothing. I have yet to find a service that will let me listen to messages for free, text a bit, pick up the odd call, make emergency calls.

The only one I have found with 'free' voicemail is a service that you have to top up £10-20 each month.

[pianodub]

Im not sure what you mean about being tied to a vaicemail service - most phone companies now offer free voicemail and just just have to press a button to receive the message that has been left for you. The last time I remember thinking about the cost of retrieving voicemails was in about 2005.

Me too, although I am not in the UK. I have a pay-as-you-go account and it costs me the princely sum of €20 every six weeks or so, depending on how often I use it. I also get 300 free webtexts a month and if I am at home I text everyone from that.

Music Song, I respect that you are obviously a scientist, I was simply going on information I have gleaned from the web etc.

[river]

if you don't want a mobile, have you considered Internet telephony (VoIP)? i assume you already have an internet connection at home, so there's no connection fee (unlike a second BT line, which would set you back around £160, i believe), and you can easily add more "lines", so the same phone has multiple incoming numbers, making it easy to see if it's a "home" or "work" call. you could even divert your work number to voicemail out of hours. plus, call costs tend to be either the same or cheaper--especially for international calls, which are usually much cheaper.

a search for 'uk voip' should turn up quite a few providers--i've had recommendations for Gradwell, AAISP and voiptalk, all of which seem reasonable.

[MusicSong]

Pianodub- no worries (wouldnt say scientist exactly but I am (and probably always will be) sceptical about mobile phones). Thanks for the advice though.



Does calling and having an aswerphone put you off leaving a message?


Thanks for the info about VoIP, I'll look it up! It is good to know what the options are before making an informed descision.