Nine Reasons to Get a Temporary Phone Number

Whether you’ve just heard about the option of getting a temporary phone number or it’s something you’ve been considering for a while now, this might be the time to take action.

Secondary phone lines are easy to install on your existing phone, and you’ll still have access to your regular phone line. They come with unlimited calling and texting (and essentials like voicemail), you can keep them as long as you want, and they’re a lot more common than you think.

So why do you need one? Well, from professional benefits and promotional advantages to personal life perks and everyday conveniences, here are nine reasons to think about setting up a second phone number …

1. An online dating adventure

Trust us — once you use a secondary phone number for online dating, you’ll shudder when you remember ever giving your real number out to a total stranger. 

Using a temporary phone number means you can freely give it out to people you’re interested in texting or calling, and it’s easy to delete the whole thing if the relationship fizzles out — or crashes and burns. 

This is also much safer because it limits the amount of information a stranger knows about you. (Here at Hushed, we collect the absolute minimum of info to protect your anonymity.)

2. An annoying form

There are certain people who need to know your real phone number, sure. (Your child’s school is going to want to reach you, most definitely, and so is the person calling you as an emergency contact.) 

But the reality is that most of the time you fill out a form with your phone number, it’s going to end up on a spam calling list. Not cool at all! 

It’s much easier to use a temporary phone number in these cases, and preserve your real number for real calls.

3. A vacation

Heading to a new city for a few weeks? It’s much easier to call and text from a local number. Here at Hushed, we can hook you up with a local phone number in more than 3,000 cities across the U.S. and Canada. 

Use our phone number generator to choose the area code you want, grab a number that speaks to you, and then it’s yours — for as long as you want it.

4. A side hustle

Looking for extra cash? Whether you want to resell products on Amazon, tutor kids in math, walk dogs, or become a virtual assistant, it’s nice to have your side hustle separate from your regular life. 

That way, if someone Googles your number to see who just called them, it’ll pull up your very respectable ad or website advertising your services — not that buzzed Instagram post from a few years back where you accidentally posted your cell phone digits for the world to see. #ithappens

Set up a dedicated phone number for your new side hustle, and watch the business roll in!

5. A temporary promotion

Work somewhere that’s offering a temporary service, like free curbside pick-up, trunk drop, or take-out? Wow your boss by suggesting you set up a temporary number to go along with it. 

Picture this: customers pull up, dial the special dedicated number to let you know they’ve arrived, and their order is whisked straight to them. Once the promo’s over and the number’s no longer needed, it’s easy to cancel it — and no one will even miss it.

6. A fresh start

Some people like to keep the same phone number for decades, just to make sure people always know how to reach them. But others? They can’t wait to get a new phone number just so people can’t reach them.

Nothing wrong with a fresh start, and a secondary phone number is a great way to do that. You can even keep your original number, just in case, but rely on the new phone number for all the calls you really do want to answer.

7. A business line

If you make most (or all) of your business calls from your cell phone, it makes sense to keep work separate from your personal life. Your professional line can have its own dedicated voicemail, and you’ll always know to answer the phone politely when that line rings because it’s going to be a customer. 

Sometimes it’s about more than just the functions of a separate phone line, too — it’s about the competitive advantage. By handing potential clients a business card that shows separate numbers for New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto offices, you’re subtly telling them that you’re running a major enterprise.

8. A sales ad

Selling something on Kijiji or Craigslist? While there’s no pressure to put any phone number — just an email address will do — you’ll find lots of potential buyers will prefer to deal with you via call or text. 

If you list your real phone number, hundreds of people could suddenly have access to it. But if you use a temporary phone number while you find a new home for your old treadmill, sofa, or collection of Pogs (the Pokémon cards of the ’90s).

9. A more private life

When you think of all the people (and places) who have your current number, it’s a little unnerving. Not only can you be reached by all of these people, but they can see quite a bit of your personal information — that’s just the way it is, with traditional phone lines.

With a second line from Hushed, people will only see your Hushed number — no other info, ever. Hushed phone numbers also can’t be traced like regular cell numbers. If people try tricks like *67, it simply won’t work. In this global age of uber-connectedness, privacy is pretty special.

Once you have your new digits, they’re yours to use as you please. Wondering how long you should keep your temporary phone number? Totally up to you, but we’ve got a few suggestions here.