Blog · Trust and etiquette
Keep your mobile number private: give out your assistant's instead
Your mobile number ends up on forms, listings and the side of a van, and once it's out you can't call it back in. A second number with an assistant on it gives you somewhere else to send people.
By the CosVoice team · · 5 minute read
The couch problem
You list a couch online on a Sunday afternoon. By Tuesday it's sold. For the next three weeks your phone keeps buzzing: people asking if it's still available, one man who wants to swap it for a motorcycle, and a couple of messages that are plainly scams. They all have your mobile number now, and they'll have it for as long as you do.
The way to keep a private phone number private is to stop handing it to strangers. The way to do that without becoming unreachable is to have a second number to hand out. Put an assistant on that second number and strangers get a polite conversation, you get a written note, and your own mobile stays with the people you chose.
Where your number leaks from
Hardly ever from one big mistake. It's the small, reasonable moments. Nobody in the list below is a villain. But each one is a place your number now lives, and you don't control where it goes next.
- Forms. Quote requests, delivery slots, loyalty cards, the gym, the raffle at the school fair.
- Marketplaces and listings. Selling furniture, renting out a room, advertising a car. Every reply comes from somebody you've never met.
- Contractors. You ring three roofers for a quote and all three save your number. So does the supplier one of them passes it to.
- Your own business. The number on the van, the invoice and the website is often the one in your pocket.
What happens when you give out the line's number
A CosVoice line is a real phone number in your area code. It goes on a form or a listing exactly as your own would.
When someone rings it, the line answers as your assistant. It asks who's calling and what they need, takes down the amounts, the dates and the next step, and sends you a written summary. It never shares your details with a stranger, so the caller hangs up knowing no more about you than when they dialed.
So the roofer's quote still reaches you, in writing, with the price and the start date. The man with the motorcycle reaches a polite assistant, and you read about it later. Or you don't. We've described that conversation in what happens when a stranger calls your line. Plans start from $29 a month, and the rest is on the pricing page.
People you know get a warmer welcome
Privacy isn't the same as hiding. Contacts on the line can be marked approved or VIP, and people you've approved get a warm welcome from the assistant. It's still the assistant they talk to, because the line doesn't put callers through to your mobile. You can block a number too, which is handy for the caller who won't take a hint.
Say you hire one of the three roofers. Add him as an approved contact while the job's on, and leave the other two as they were. The steps are in approved, VIP and blocked callers.
The email address does the same job
Forms want an email as well, and the same logic holds. The line has its own address. Mail sent there is stored on the line and can be forwarded to whichever inbox you like, so quotes and confirmations arrive without your personal address going on another list. One number and one address to give out, and both of them can take a little abuse.
Three limits, so you're not caught out
Texting first. Texts sent to the line always arrive and are saved, so a buyer who texts isn't lost. But texts from the line to other people are limited for now, which means it won't carry on a text conversation with them. If a reply has to arrive, it goes as a call or an email.
Second, security codes. Keep your bank and your main email account tied to a phone that only you hold. This isn't the number for those.
Third, the number lasts as long as the line does. Cancel, and the line stays on until the end of the paid period, then the number is released. That's fine for a couch listing. If the number is going on a van, plan on keeping the line.
Who should have your real number anyway
Some people should. Family, close friends, your child's school, your doctor, anybody who might need you at three in the morning. In those moments a person who can ring you directly and hear your voice beats any assistant, and no amount of privacy is worth a missed call from the school nurse.
The rule of thumb we use: if you'd be glad to see their name light up your screen, they get the mobile. Everyone else gets the line.
Start with one listing
You don't have to change everything at once. Pick the place where your number is most exposed, the marketplace profile or the contact page of your website, and swap the number there. Then watch what arrives over the next couple of weeks. If you like having the notes in writing and your evenings quieter, move the next one.
Common questions
Is the assistant's number a real phone number?
Yes. It's a normal number in your area code that anyone can ring from any phone. You pick it from a short list when you set up the line.
Will callers know they've reached an assistant?
Yes. It answers as your assistant, and says it's an AI whenever anyone asks. It never pretends to be you.
What happens to texts people send to the line?
They arrive and they're saved in your history. The line doesn't hold text conversations with other people for now, so when something needs a reply, a call or an email is the way.
Can I keep the number if I cancel?
No. A canceled line stays on until the end of the paid period, and then the number is released.
Read next: Four ways to get a second number · Should a freelancer have a business number? · What to do instead of voicemail
Hear it for yourself.
Call our own AI agent and ask her anything, or get a number in your area code in about a minute.