Non Geographic Numbers
There are many things to consider when starting up your own business like funding, supplies & stationary, stock, ordering, rates, advertising, website and so on... It's often the simple things, like telephone numbers, that get forgotten.
Many companies don't realise how effective a marketing tool telephone numbers can be in terms of generating revenues and increasing their customer base. By using a marketing telephone number, your company could gain more than extra custom.
What are Non Geographic Numbers?
Originally devised in the US, marketing numbers are special phone numbers that don't pin you to a geographical area but can help gain customers and or extra revenue, and make marketing your company easier.
BT introduced the freephone number into the UK in 1985 and since telecom's deregulation, other operators are also able to offer marketing numbers to businesses.
Most of us recognise and understand the concept of an 0800 number, but the extent of its use, and that of other market numbers, is still nothing like in the US.
However, the UK is largest freephone market in Europe, so if you haven't considered getting a marketing number for your business, it's time to start now.
Marketing numbers are split into seven different categories, and each has its own specific benefits:
0800 - Free Phone
Freephone numbers have an 0800 prefix and are free of charge to the caller. This means that your business pays the cost of all the calls.
An 0800 number gives your company a national image and can increase incoming calls by up to three times more than a standard number. Research shows that roughly two out of three UK consumers are more likely to call a company with a freephone number in preference to a comparable competitor without one.
If paying for your customers to call you means that you can develop a substantial number of sales leads and drive up your profits, then a freephone number is definitely worth the investment. Offering a free call also inspire trust in your customers and offers an incentive to call more often, meaning that you can build a lasting relationship. It can also work well to establish your company as having caring after-sales services and can even save you money by replacing personal sales visits.
0845 - Local Rate (Lo-Call)
If you would like to reduce the costs further, we offer 0845, which costs the caller the same as a local rate telephone call. We can divert this number to your ordinary business telephone number for less than the cost of a local call.
Like 0800 numbers, Lo-Call numbers also increase customer calls by about 300 per cent.
0870 - National Call
National rate numbers (0870) can generate income for your company. Each minute can earn you extra income that can be off-set against other telephone costs.
Customers that call you are billed at a national rate, regardless of their location within the UK. With our 0870 numbers your business will receive 0870 rebate payment of up to 3.5p for every daytime call minute.
National rate numbers convey a professional, national image. They are useful for a number of different purposes, but most useful for customer services/support (e.g. technical helplines, informational services, etc).
0871 and 0844 - Fixed rate, national and local
0871 numbers are very similar to 0870 numbers in that they are charged at national rate, but being fixed-rate it means that unlike with 0870 the charges are the same outside of office hours. This increases potential revenue for your company. 0871 calls cost the customer between 6 to 10p per minute.
0844 are again fixed-rate but are more simlar to local-rate. These numbers cost the customer between 1 and 5p per minute at all times.
09XX - Premium Rate
Premium rate numbers enable you to make additional revenue from calls made to your organisation or service. You decide how much you wish to charge your caller and we will allocate you a number or number range to use with your service.
Premium rate numbers do, however, have strict guidelines, so make sure you enquire about these, when considering your options. The guidelines can be viewed at the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS) website which regulates the content and promotion of premium rate telephone services.
Alphanumeric Numbers
An alphanumeric number is where a word is dialed in place of a number. For example, ‘0845 121 FREE’ would be 0845 121 3733 (local=0845 121 and then F=3, R=7, E=3, E=3).
Alphanumeric numbers can be freephone, local rate or national rate numbers and, the more memorable they are, the more expensive they are to purchase.
The problem with this system is where there are handsets that do not show the alphabetic characters.
Personal Numbers - 0700 Numbers
Also known as "Personal Number", "One Number", "Follow Me Numbers" or "Call Shield Numbers". Personal Numbering services start with 070 and can route incoming calls to a selection of numbers specified by you.
The service gives you the ability to forward all incoming calls to a phone of your choice such as your office, mobile, home or another temporary number all free of call charges.
Call Recording (without the Capital Outlay)
Our Voice Recording solution is a network based solution that allows businesses to record telephone conversations without the need of having to purchase expensive in-house recording equipment.
We provide a web-based user interface that allows users to select, retrieve, play and download their recordings.
TeleConneXions: ahead in voice and data communications
