Business Phone Choices 020 or 0800??

[MarkPearson]

I am about to launch my new personalised rose business which will eliver to the UK and EU, most of our orders will be online.

What do you think our best option to start is an 020 number or a 0800 or 0845?

[mustang]

I am about to launch my new personalised rose business which will eliver to the UK and EU, most of our orders will be online.

What do you think our best option to start is an 020 number or a 0800 or 0845?

It could be a mixture of both. 020 for international customers and 0800 or 0845 for UK customers. The reason being that certain countries in the EU have difficulty connecting to UK Non geographic numbers, unless you were to go for an 0870 which is becoming just as widely recognised as an 0207 number. They do get some bad publicity though.(something to think about as an up and coming business)

Feel free to drop me a PM to discuss your best options.

[billcutter]

0870 numbers generate a lot of bad publicity see
www.saynoto0870.com to get a feel for the matter.

I would use 020 for oversea customers and either 0845 or 0800 for UK, or even both.Although Joe Public doesnt like ringing 0845 numbers either.

The dislike of them is because of the cost, and that no Uk Landline Provider includes them in their inclusive call packages.

If you are shopping around for NGN numbers www.olympicnumbers.co.uk are also worth considering,together with www.call08.com

[JoyDivision]

In my dads experience an 0800 number projected a cowboy image as cowboy's love 0800/0845 numbers as it hides their true location.

For example with a landline its much easier to trace.

If I was phoning London and I knew the companies true address I would probably prefer an 0845/0800 number.

I just see past the 0800 catch of the business, an 0800 number does not mean the company is huge.

[gary]

I think it depends on the business and what you're trying to achieve with the number. If you're trying to encourage people to call, then giving them a free number to call is probably going to help. If it's just a general support line then it's probably not necessary to have an 0800 number.

[Astaroth]

In my personal opinion a non-geographic telephone number does support the "idea" that your business provides its services to a wide geographical location than that immediately arround it. If I did a search for flowers on yell.com and (given I live in London) a Worcester and a National number came up I would most likely call the national number first as it seems more likely to have national and not just local coverage.

Non-geographic numbers did used to be a problem for international callers but as far as I was aware this has been resolved. It isnt something I am involved in but I know that my employers now give a non-geographic number to overseas customers when 5 years ago they gave a geographic number to overseas and a non-geographic for UK customers

[mustang]

Non-geographic numbers did used to be a problem for international callers but as far as I was aware this has been resolved. It isnt something I am involved in but I know that my employers now give a non-geographic number to overseas customers when 5 years ago they gave a geographic number to overseas and a non-geographic for UK customers

That is the case with 0870 numbers but not with 0800 and 0845.

[Astaroth]

Hmm... we give an 0800 number to our international customers (though our cards do have a geographical number in very small print at the back) and it is a different 0800 number than we give our UK customers. As I say, I dont work in this area of the business but havent heard of any complaints (and given it is an emergency number I suspect I would hear about it if customers were trying to call us in an emergency and not getting through)

[billcutter]

Hmm... we give an 0800 number to our international customers (though our cards do have a geographical number in very small print at the back) and it is a different 0800 number than we give our UK customers. As I say, I dont work in this area of the business but havent heard of any complaints (and given it is an emergency number I suspect I would hear about it if customers were trying to call us in an emergency and not getting through)

Is it possible that you are giving an International Freephone Number to your overseas customers?