by Ian Moraes
3. June 2010 12:17
Over the last couple of weeks, my wife has been shopping for home and auto insurance. She used a temporary email address as she was concerned about subsequently receiving spam or unwanted email from insurance sales agents after she reached a decision. However, she had to provide a phone number to discuss and clarify quotes and so she provided her mobile phone number. She received numerous calls late in the evenings and she lamented at the lack of a second number availability on her existing mobile that would allow her to share this second number with the insurance sales agents.
One obvious way to address this need is to maintain two phones. In fact, a Skydeck survey reported that a quarter of cell phone users in the 30-65 age group in the US carry more than one handset. In another study, USA Today (2006) reported that 16% of customers had two phones for business and personal use.
A more convenient and cost-effective option for subscribers is the ability to have two numbers using one phone. This type of service would be even more valuable if it allowed the subscriber to control the service and send calls to the second number directly to voice mail when enabled. For example, it could be used for sending personal calls directly to voice mail during the work day. Mintel (2009) reported that the average Briton wants two mobile numbers to separate business and personal concerns. Other uses of a second line on your existing mobile might be to share a second number when participating in on-line auctions, dating services, or in situations where there is some level of skepticism in sharing one’s primary mobile number.
Movius offers a second line solution called Side-Line Service. What do you think of an add-on service that enables subscribers to have two mobile numbers on the same phone?