Many businesses, especially smaller, less established businesses, may wonder if getting an 0800 number would be a useful investment.
While there may be some instances where having an 0800 number isn’t advantageous, there are many reasons why Freephone 0800 numbers are significantly better for business than traditional landline numbers.
In this article, we’ll explain a few of the advantages that having an 0800 number could offer your business.
The most important reason to get a Freephone 0800 number is, of course, to increase the volume of calls your company receives. From the caller’s perspective, the primary advantage an 0800 number offers over a conventional landline or mobile phone number is that the cost of dialling an 0800 number is paid for entirely by those on the receiving end of the call. While this will, of course, cost more for your company, it gives customers a greater incentive to call. In fact, according to startups.co.uk, “Research suggests that providing an 0800 number to your customers can increase enquiries by as much as 175% so that it can be well worth the small investment.”
For a long time, it was unclear whether this benefit would eventually extend to those calling from mobile phones.
Many articles and blog posts which argue for the advantages of other kinds of phone numbers rely on the belief that Freephone 0800 numbers would not eventually be free for those calling from mobile phones.
However, it was announced by Ofcom on 1st July 2015 that mobile callers would indeed be able to call Freephone 0800 numbers cost-free; this service was implemented in 2015, and, as the BBC reports, “Various groups have also suggested that the number of calls to 0800 numbers could rise, as people might be more likely to make spontaneous calls to truly freephone numbers.”
While it’s too soon to determine the longer-term scope of such trends, given that less than a year has passed since Freephone 0800 numbers became “truly freephone numbers,” it seems highly likely that the documented marketing benefits of Freephone 0800 numbers will extend into the future.
As we’ve written about previously, another benefit to setting up your business with a Freephone 0800 number is that an 0800 number can help your business appear more national. 0800 numbers replace local dialling codes, meaning that the location of your company’s calling services no longer needs to be advertised. Given how much of our current economy is conducted remotely over the Internet, getting a Freephone 0800 number might help promote the idea that your company has a national (or even global) presence.
Also, given the proliferation of mobile phones, even local calls now often require entering a regional dialling code. This means that, in addition to helping your company appear wide-reaching, it can be more convenient even for those calling from nearby.
Freephone 0800 numbers may also be simpler than other alternatives insofar as they allow you to redirect calls to already existing phone numbers. When acquiring an 0800 number, most services which provide Freephone 0800 numbers to businesses can set your 0800 number up to send calls directly through to a pre-existing line. You can acquire and implement a Freephone 0800 number without extensively disrupting your company’s workflow.
