This site has step by step setup guides for Quo, for Dialpad and for Aircall, and until today it had none for Phone.com. That is a strange gap, because Phone.com is the provider most often right for a one person or two person store: it is the cheapest of the group at the entry tier, the IVR is included on the base plan rather than sold as an upgrade, and it does not charge to port your existing number in. So here is the whole setup, from signup to the first test call, with every figure and every menu path read off Phone.com’s own site on 9 September 2026.
This is a task walkthrough, not a comparison. If you have not chosen a provider yet, read the small business phone systems buying guide first and come back here once you have decided. If you already know you want Phone.com, start at the top of this page and work down. Budget about ninety minutes for a clean setup, plus waiting time if you are porting a number.
Disclosure, before the first link. The Phone.com links on this page are monetised affiliate links and pay Ecommerce Paradise a commission if you sign up through them. The competitor setup guides linked further down are internal articles on this site, not affiliate links, though the providers they cover do also pay us through separate programmes. Phone.com pays us whether or not it suits you, which is why the section on when to pick something else is in this article rather than left out of it. The Shopify, Bizee and Hiscox links in the closing section are affiliate links too and they pay us.
Start With the Basic Plan and the 30 Day Guarantee
Basic is $18 per user per month billed monthly, or $15 per user per month billed annually at $180 a year, and it already includes unlimited minutes, one number and the IVR. Phone.com states a 30 day money back guarantee. Prices are subject to taxes and fees, which the plan page says plainly and which will show up on your first bill.
Before You Touch Anything, Gather Four Things
Most failed setups fail at the porting stage, and they fail for reasons you can eliminate in ten minutes at the kitchen table. If you are bringing an existing number with you, collect these before you sign up for anything.
A recent bill from your current carrier, because the porting form has to match the carrier’s records exactly. The account number on that bill, and for a wireless number the account PIN as well. The exact account holder name and service address as your current carrier has it recorded, which is often not how you would write it today. And confirmation that the number is still active with no pending orders on the account.
Phone.com’s own porting article is blunt about why requests get rejected, and the four reasons it lists are all avoidable. The number must be active with the previous provider. The name and address must match the previous provider’s records. Wireless numbers require the account number and PIN. Some providers require the account number and a password. Every one of those is a paperwork problem, not a technical one.
One more thing to check before you start: if the number you want to move has DSL or broadband riding on the same line, or has telephony features such as hunt groups, Centrex or call forwarding attached to it, Phone.com warns that those can cause the transfer to be rejected. Strip them off first.
Step 1: Pick the Plan, and Do Not Overbuy
Phone.com publishes three plans, priced per user per month. Here is what phone.com/pricing/ showed on 9 September 2026, on both billing toggles.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually | Annual total | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $18/mo/user | $15/mo/user | $180 | Unlimited minutes, one number, mobile and web apps, 50 standard voice features including IVR, video conferencing |
| Plus | $27/mo/user | $22.50/mo/user | $269 | Everything in Basic plus IP desk phone support, voicemail transcription, conversational text messaging |
| Pro | $40/mo/user | $33.33/mo/user | $399 | Everything in Plus plus call recording, call analytics, CRM integration, ten year data retention |
Annual billing is advertised as saving 17%, and every price on that page carries the note that prices are subject to taxes and fees. There is a 30 day money back guarantee stated on the same page.
For a solo store owner the honest answer is Basic. The auto attendant, business hours routing and voicemail to email that this whole guide is about are all included at $18 a month. The two reasons to go up are text messaging, which sits on Plus, and call recording, which is included on Pro but is also sold as an $8 per month add on if you are on Basic or Plus. There is also a ProSIM mobility add on listed at $10 per month on all three plans.
Work out which of those you actually need before you pick. Buying Pro for call recording you will never listen to is the same mistake as buying a webinar tier you never use. Our Phone.com pricing breakdown goes deeper on the tier by tier feature map. The Phone.com review covers what the platform is like to live with day to day.
One small inconsistency worth knowing about: the plans page lists voicemail transcription as a Plus feature, while the features page describes it as something Pro users can enjoy. If transcription is the reason you are upgrading, confirm it with support before you commit rather than taking either page at face value.
Step 2: Decide Whether You Are Getting a New Number or Moving One
One local or toll free number is included with every account. Phone.com offers local numbers tied to a geographic region, toll free numbers, and custom or vanity numbers.
For a store, the choice matters more than people think. A local number tells a customer you are a real business somewhere specific, which helps if your suppliers or your customers are regional. A toll free number reads as larger and more established, which is the right signal if you are selling a $3,000 item to somebody in another state who is nervous about whether you exist. If you are selling high ticket products to strangers, toll free is usually the better trust signal.
If you are starting fresh, pick a number during signup and skip to step three. If you already give out a number on invoices, in your email signature and on your Google Business Profile, port it. Do not run two numbers in parallel and hope customers pick the right one.
Step 3: Port Your Existing Number Properly
Phone.com states plainly on its features page that it does not charge port in fees, and calls out that some companies use vendors that do. That is a genuine saving and it removes the main reason people put this off.
Where you start the transfer depends on which admin tool your account uses. In My.Phone.com, open the Administration drop down in the left navigation bar, select Numbers, then click the Transfer Numbers tab at the top. In Control.Phone.com, choose Configure from the main menu and select Transfer a Number.
Now the timeline, which is the part nobody tells you before you start. Phone.com’s own documentation says porting is generally completed within 15 business days, and that some requests can take up to 60 business days. Read that again if you were planning to port on a Friday and expect it live on Monday. Three weeks is normal. Three months is possible.
The practical consequence is that you must not cancel your old service. Your number has to stay active with the previous carrier for the port to complete, and cancelling early is one of the listed causes of rejection. Keep paying the old bill until the number has actually moved and you have made a successful test call to it.
There is one failure mode you cannot fix. If the rate center for that number is not supported, Phone.com’s documentation says there is nothing you or Phone.com can do to secure a successful transfer. That is rare, but it is worth knowing before you build your whole plan around keeping a specific number.
While you wait, set everything else up on the temporary number that comes with the account. The menu, the greetings, the schedules and the voicemail routing all carry over. When the port lands you are pointing a finished system at a new number rather than starting from scratch.
No Port In Fee, but Budget 15 Business Days
Phone.com’s features page states it does not charge port in fees, unlike providers that use vendors who do. Its support documentation says transfers are generally completed within 15 business days and some can take up to 60. Keep your old service active and paid until the number has actually moved.
Step 4: Record the Greetings Before You Build the Menu
The menu will not work until it has a greeting attached, so do this first. Phone.com gives you three ways to create one, and they are the same three whichever admin tool you use.
You can type the text and let the system read it, which Phone.com notes is sensitive to punctuation, so write it with proper full stops and commas or it will run words together. You can record from your machine’s microphone or a colleague’s voice, with a start and stop button and a playback preview. Or you can upload your own audio file, subject to the file type and size limits shown at upload.
Write three greetings before you record anything. A main greeting that names the business and lists the options. An after hours greeting that says when you reopen and invites a voicemail. And an invalid entry greeting for callers who press a key that is not on the menu, which Control.Phone.com lets you attach as a second greeting on the menu itself.
Keep the main greeting under about fifteen seconds. Name the business in the first three words, because a caller who is not sure they dialled the right number hangs up before you finish. In Control.Phone.com you add a greeting by mousing over Configure, clicking Add a Greeting, entering a nickname so you can find it later, recording it with Text To Greeting, Record From Phone or Upload New File, and clicking Save Greeting.
Step 5: Build the Menu, Which Phone.com Calls a Menu and Everyone Else Calls an IVR
In My.Phone.com, log in with administrator credentials, select Numbers from the Administration dropdown and click the pencil icon next to the number you want to configure. Choose Use a Menu from the call handling options, pick how you want to supply the greeting, then set up your options with Add menu options, assigning the user or users to ring for each one and where the voice message goes if the call is missed.
Then set the no option dialed behaviour, which is what happens when a caller says nothing. You can ring a user or group of users, send the call to a user’s voicemail box or the company mailbox, or disconnect the call. Do not choose disconnect. A caller who is holding a phone in one hand and a credit card in the other, and who does not press anything because they are reading your product page, should reach a human or a mailbox, not a dial tone.
In Control.Phone.com the sequence is three separate steps: add the greeting, add the menu, then activate the menu. To add the menu, mouse over Configure, click Add a Menu, name it, select your greeting as the outgoing message, optionally add the invalid entry greeting, and set Allow extension dial to Yes if you want callers to be able to bypass the menu by dialling an extension. Then click Continue and the call handling settings appear for each number selection.
For a store, two options is usually the right number and three is the maximum. Press 1 for orders and sales. Press 2 for an existing order. That is it. Every additional branch you add is another chance for a customer to press the wrong key and give up.
Phone.com lets you chain actions for each selection, which is the feature worth using. For selection 1, click Edit, change Select Operation to Forward Call, enter the extension, set how many seconds the line should ring and whether hold music plays, click Add Next Action, change the second operation to Leave Voicemail and enter the voicemail extension, then click Save Rule Settings. That gives you a phone that rings for a set time and then takes a message, rather than either ringing forever or going straight to voicemail.
To activate the menu, mouse over Configure, click Manage Numbers, click Edit on the number, click Edit for Number Action, change Select Operation to Go to Menu, select your menu and save.
Step 6: Set Business Hours So the Phone Stops at Night
This is the step that makes the difference between a business phone and a mobile that rings at eleven at night. Phone.com calls these Schedules, and they route calls to different destinations based on the day and time.
Set the company time zone first, or everything else will be wrong. In My.Phone.com, open Account settings from the Administration dropdown, find the Time Zone field in the General Settings tab under Company Info, and save.
Then go to the Business Hours tab under the Administration dropdown. It defaults to Open 24 hours. Select Custom business hours and you get a work week block pre filled with Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Uncheck any days you are closed and adjust the start and end times from the drop downs.
Lunch hours are checked on by default with a time window already set. If you do not close for lunch, uncheck that box. A store that silently sends calls to voicemail for an hour every day because nobody unchecked a default is losing sales it will never know about.
The US Holiday section is worth two minutes. Toggle Holiday to ON and every listed holiday is checked and set to Closed. Change any of them to Custom Hours if you work irregular hours that day, or uncheck the box to have it follow your normal hours. There is also an other days toggle for custom one off or annually recurring dates, where you name the event, pick the date, choose once or yearly, and set closed or custom hours.
Step 7: Configure the Four Time Buckets on Your Main Number
Once the hours exist you have to tell the number what to do in each of them. Open the Numbers app from the left navigation bar, click the pencil edit icon, and on the configure number page select Main company number from the drop down at the top. Four subsections appear: Open hours, After hours, Holidays and Lunch break.
Configure Open hours first, which is where your menu goes. Then configure After hours, which for a solo store is normally the after hours greeting followed by voicemail. Holidays and Lunch break both default to following your after hours settings, and you only need to touch them if you want something different, in which case toggle off the Same as after hours switch and set them individually.
To apply the same company hours to another number later, open that number’s configuration and toggle Use company business hours to ON. Toggling it back OFF makes that number follow one rule regardless of day or time.
Step 8: Send Voicemail to Your Email
A voicemail nobody checks is worse than no voicemail, because the caller believes they have reached you. Phone.com’s voicemail notifications include the time, date, number and the audio message itself.
In Control.Phone.com, go to the Configure tab, select Manage users and extensions, click edit next to your extension, scroll to Voicemail Notification Settings, enable the notification option, enter an email address and a phone number for text alerts, then scroll to the bottom and save.
Two details worth knowing. Text notifications can only go to one phone number. Email notifications can go to several addresses if you separate them with a comma. If you have a virtual assistant handling first response, put both addresses in the email field so nothing waits on one person being awake.
Step 9: Test It Like a Customer, Not Like an Admin
Do not skip this. Call your own number from a phone that is not on the account, ideally somebody else’s, and walk the whole tree.
Call during business hours and confirm the main greeting plays and names the business. Press 1 and confirm the right phone rings for the length of time you set, then confirm it rolls to voicemail rather than ringing out. Press 2 and confirm it lands where you intended. Press a key that is not on the menu and confirm the invalid entry greeting plays instead of silence. Press nothing at all and confirm the no option dialed behaviour is a person or a mailbox.
Then call again outside your business hours, confirm the after hours greeting plays, leave a voicemail, and check that the email arrives with the audio attached. If you set a holiday, temporarily change the date on a custom day entry and test that path too.
Ten minutes of testing catches the mistakes that would otherwise be found by a customer who was about to spend two thousand dollars.
What to Skip on Day One
You do not need call queues. You do not need round robin routing. You do not need CRM integration, and you certainly do not need to move up to Pro to get it before you have a CRM. You do not need an IP desk phone, which is a Plus feature and a purchase on top of it, because the mobile and web apps are on Basic and work fine.
Add those when a real bottleneck appears. A store with one owner answering the phone does not have a routing problem, it has a coverage problem, and the answer to that is business hours and voicemail to email, both of which are on the cheapest plan.
When Phone.com Is Not the Right Answer
If you already run a shared team inbox and want calls and texts in the same threaded conversation view as everything else, a collaboration first tool fits better, and the walkthrough for setting up Quo as your store’s phone system covers that path. If you want AI transcription and coaching built into the call itself, the Dialpad setup guide is the one to read.
If you want the phone line on the same account as your mobile data and you are already a Verizon customer, that is a different decision entirely, and Verizon Business pricing is the place to start. Be aware that the carrier route costs meaningfully more per line than any of the VoIP options here.
For the wider field, the complete guide to business phone plans for small businesses compares the carriers and the VoIP providers side by side. If you have decided against Phone.com after reading this, Phone.com alternatives covers the direct substitutes.
Running the Business Behind the Store
A phone system is a trust signal, and trust signals only pay off if the business behind them is worth calling. If you are still deciding what to sell, the high ticket niches list is a better use of the next hour than any software setup.
If the model is still unclear, what high ticket dropshipping actually is explains why a phone number matters far more when the average order is thousands of dollars rather than tens.
Suppliers are the real constraint, and the complete step by step guide to finding high ticket suppliers covers the outreach, including the fact that most dealer applications ask for a business phone number.
They will also ask for a legal entity, which is what business formation for high ticket dropshipping walks through.
On tooling, the storefront itself usually runs on Shopify. The entity paperwork most operators here use goes through Bizee.
Liability cover is the third piece suppliers ask to see, and Hiscox issues the certificate. On the marketing side, the guide to choosing an email platform by the limit that sent you looking covers the other half of the customer contact stack.
If you would rather have all of it assembled for you, the done for you high ticket dropshipping build and launch service handles the whole setup.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Phone.com cost to set up?
There is no separate setup fee published on the plans page. You pay the plan itself, which is $18 per user per month on Basic billed monthly or $15 billed annually at $180 a year, plus taxes and fees. Phone.com also states it does not charge port in fees for moving an existing number across.
How long does it take to port a number to Phone.com?
Phone.com’s support documentation says porting is generally completed within 15 business days, and that some requests can take up to 60 business days. Plan for three weeks and keep your old service active and paid until the number has moved.
Why do porting requests get rejected?
The four avoidable reasons Phone.com lists are the number not being active with the previous provider, the name and address not matching the previous provider’s records, a missing account number or PIN on wireless numbers, and a missing account number or password with some providers. Services such as DSL or features such as hunt groups, Centrex and call forwarding on the line can also cause a rejection.
Is the auto attendant included on the cheapest plan?
Yes. The Basic plan lists 50 standard voice features including IVR, so the menu, greetings and business hours routing described in this guide are all available at the entry price. You do not need to upgrade to build a professional call flow.
Can I get call recording on Basic?
Not included, but it is available. The plan comparison shows call recording as an $8 per month add on for Basic and Plus users, and as an included feature on Pro. There is also a ProSIM mobility add on listed at $10 per month on all three plans.
What happens to calls at night?
Whatever you configure in the After hours subsection of your main company number. Set your business hours first, then configure Open hours, After hours, Holidays and Lunch break separately. Holidays and Lunch break follow your after hours settings by default.
Do I have to buy a desk phone?
No. IP desk phone compatibility is a Plus feature, but the mobile and web apps are included on Basic, and for a one person store the mobile app is the whole hardware requirement.
The Short Version
Sign up on Basic at $18 a month billed monthly or $15 billed annually. Gather your current carrier’s bill, account number and PIN before you start the port, and expect 15 business days rather than 15 hours. Record three greetings, build a two option menu, set the company time zone before you set the hours, configure all four time buckets on the main number, turn on voicemail to email, and then test the whole tree from somebody else’s phone.
That is a professional phone presence for less than the cost of a single returned order, and the only part of it that takes real patience is the porting queue.
Everything in This Guide Runs on the $18 Plan
The menu, the greetings, the business hours routing and the voicemail to email in this walkthrough are all on Basic at $18 per user per month billed monthly, or $15 billed annually. Text messaging needs Plus and call recording is an $8 monthly add on. Prices are subject to taxes and fees.
Related Articles
Phone.com Pricing 2026: Every Plan Broken Down
Best Small Business Phone Systems in 2026: Complete Buying Guide
Best Business Phone Plans for Small Businesses in 2026
Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.
Still deciding what to sell?
Grab the free list of 1,000+ niches that work for high-ticket dropshipping, sorted by category.
Free. Unsubscribe any time.
