- Original Poster
- #1
Telephone numbers are designed for different purposes. Telephone companies talk of them as 'products' - they are not all equal.
Consumers also perceive telephone numbers differently. How they feel about a number and what they think it costs them to dial it, can radically affect what they think about your company and whether they will call you or not.
In short, telephone numbers are part of your brand and image. Once the number is on your stationery, your shop signage & the side of your van, it's not easily changed so it's important that you consider the type of number to use carefully.
Ofcom research tells us:
If you read no further than this; normally, it's best to choose an 01 or 02 number for your business.
There are really only two other types of numbers you would normally consider:
Unless you have a specialised reason for choosing any other type - don't.
01 & 02 Geographic or 'local' number - the normal, general purpose, everyday telephone number. Geographic numbers show your location; 020 is London, 01273 Brighton, 0151 Liverpool etc. Calls to these numbers from BT landlines used to be charged at either local or national rates depending on distance to the caller but now it's one charge regardless.
These numbers are universally understood and should be your first choice for a normal businesses number. Their sole disadvantage used to be that they could not be taken with you if you moved outside the area of the telephone exchange they were connected to. However, this is no longer a restriction as VoIP technology allows them to be taken anywhere in world.
Importantly, 01 & 02 numbers are included as 'free' to dial in mobile contract packages.
These are the only type of number that can be reliably dialled from anywhere in the world.
0800 - Freephone numbers are used for marketing or for sales lines where the strategy is to attract customers to call you. Most people (64%) know they are free to call - so they're a good marketing tool. They are often used for short term marketing campaigns; different numbers can be used per advert to help tracking and calculating the relative success of different campaigns.
As the call is free to the caller, the number owner gets charged for the incoming call so they can be relatively expensive to use. But this extra cost should be regarded as a marketing investment.
0800 is a fairly well understood number by the public so it is quite useful but a major downside is that they are NOT free to call from mobiles and may not be called from outside the UK.
0800 is a non-geographic number ie not tied to your local telephone exchange, so you can take it anywhere in the UK when you move. For this reason it is sometimes marketed to you as a number for life. VoIP though makes this distinction rather irrelevant these days.
If you use this number on your marketing material make a point of saying "call us for free on xxxx" so that the 36% of people that don't know they are free, still call you. It's also wise to display your 01 or 02 number alongside it so that mobile phone users aren't put off.
0808 numbers are the same as 0800 and introduced because the 0800 range is running out - these are less useful as people don't necessarily know they are free to call.
03 numbers. These are new and intended to replace 0870 as non-geographic numbers.
They cost the same to dial as a normal call to geographic numbers and, importantly, also cost the same from a mobile and payphone as from a landline and are included in mobile call packages.
The likelihood is that consumers will be suspicious of these numbers for some time but they're a damn good idea by Ofcom - one of very few.
There are two forms of 03 number:
We recommend these numbers as a good alternative to almost all 08 numbers (except 0800).
0845 was introduced as a Lo-Call number as callers are charged at local rates (when called from landlines) no matter where they are. Unfortunately, there is no longer a different charge for local and national calls to ordinary geographic numbers so the marketing distinction has been lost.
They are however slightly cheaper to call than geographic numbers.
Ofcom research tells us that they are generally thought to cost the same as dialling 0870.
BT no longer promote these numbers and they have been undermined by the growth of mobile as they are not included in mobiles inclusive calling minutes and charged for at various rates, always more than a national call.
Being non-geographic they have the advantage of moving with you if you move but with VoIP all numbers can move with you anyway.
They are often not dial-able from abroad.
0844/0843 are revenue sharing numbers ie the owner of the number - usually the Telco or service provider but sometimes the business who uses the number too - gets a small proportion of the income generated from the call. These numbers have taken the place of 0870 numbers now that Ofcom has removed their revenue share.
They are a confusing number group as it is necessary to know the 5th 6th and 7th digit to know what the call charge to the dialler actually is - though it is usually 5p per minute because this is the maximum that can be charged before the service turns into a Premium Rate regulated number (see later).
Unless you have a specialised service, don't use them.
0870 numbers were introduced as low cost premium rate numbers for companies providing a service to their callers such as a help line. The owner of the number was paid a proportion of the call charge as a contribution to these services.
Unfortunately, were abused by many companies and as a result have been more-or-less killed off by Ofcom. In January 2008 the revenue share element was removed and the call charge to the customer reduced to the cost of a standard national call rate.
As a result, 0870, which was often offered as a free number to small businesses has been abandoned by the industry.
Consumers dislike these numbers, they can't be called from outside the UK and they should normally be avoided as a normal business number. If a national number is required, an 03 is a better choice.
0871 is similar to 0870 but with higher call charges. Unlike 0870 they do pay the owner of the number a revenue share and are now regulated as Premium Rate Numbers by PhonePayPlus. If you use them you are obliged to notify the customer of the cost of the call - which rules them out for normal use.
As true value added services though, they have their place - but please do not even consider them as a normal 'contact me' number.
They are non-geographic so can move with you but often can't be called from abroad. Calls from mobiles can be charged at any rate at all.
09xxx are real premium numbers with rates that can be £1+ per minute and are designed for valuable information services like pornography and rip-off TV quizes. To get one you need to apply the PhonePayPlus, the premium call regulator.
056 New Voice Services. These are new non-geographical numbers specifically for Internet Telephony, ie VoIP. VoIP companies can, and do, use any and every telephone number available so it's not clear why Ofcom designed these for them. We give one away for free with every account.
Calls are charged at national call rates.
Their disadvantages are that few people have heard of them.
Use them to play around with VoIP but don't put them on your stationary.
(There's a bit more to it than this though. In the new telephone world a telephone call is just a mode of data transfer - like web and email. So a registry of 056 number is possible where calls between all 056 numbers become free automatically. If you want to know more, google e164)
070 Personal Numbers. Sometimes called Follow-Me numbers. Or just plain Theft. These were introduced originally so that individuals could have their own personal number that find them whatever telephone they are using as the number can be diverted to any other number.
They failed because they are very expensive to call (50ppm or so).
These days if you get a call from one; be very careful, they are often used by fraudsters diverted to pay-go mobiles, often overseas. They are free for the person owning the number so they are essentially disposable. They also look like UK mobile numbers. Very popular on ebay and used extensively for Nigerian lottery scams. We block them.
Get one of these numbers, combine it with a free email address and free personalised webpage and you are nicely set up for a life of crime.
01632 If you see or hear this area code; you're watching TV / listening to radio - it's a fictional numbers range used for drama.
Useful web sites for Telephony Information
The Premium Number Regulator
Cost of calls to specialised numbers:
Area code look up table
International Telephone number wiki
How to get a telephone number for your business
Consumers also perceive telephone numbers differently. How they feel about a number and what they think it costs them to dial it, can radically affect what they think about your company and whether they will call you or not.
In short, telephone numbers are part of your brand and image. Once the number is on your stationery, your shop signage & the side of your van, it's not easily changed so it's important that you consider the type of number to use carefully.
Ofcom research tells us:
- Consumers know what 01 & 02, local or geographic numbers, are and believe them to be the cheapest number to call
- 64% of consumers know that 0800 are free to call
- Consumers think there is little difference in cost of calling 0844, 0845, 0870, 0871
- Consumers always overestimate how much all types of calls cost.
- Consumers are less likely to call numbers that they perceive to be more expensive to call and/or are unfamiliar to them.
- Crucially, 65%-78% of consumers either won't call, or are unlikely to call, telephone numbers used in adverts if they use these types of numbers: 0845 (65%), mobile (70%), 0870 (73%), 0844 (76%), 0871 (78%).
If you read no further than this; normally, it's best to choose an 01 or 02 number for your business.
There are really only two other types of numbers you would normally consider:
- 0800 can be useful if you actively need customers to call you or are running advertising campaigns. (But note reservations below.)
- 03, if you really want to look as though you have a 'national' presence.
Unless you have a specialised reason for choosing any other type - don't.
01 & 02 Geographic or 'local' number - the normal, general purpose, everyday telephone number. Geographic numbers show your location; 020 is London, 01273 Brighton, 0151 Liverpool etc. Calls to these numbers from BT landlines used to be charged at either local or national rates depending on distance to the caller but now it's one charge regardless.
These numbers are universally understood and should be your first choice for a normal businesses number. Their sole disadvantage used to be that they could not be taken with you if you moved outside the area of the telephone exchange they were connected to. However, this is no longer a restriction as VoIP technology allows them to be taken anywhere in world.
Importantly, 01 & 02 numbers are included as 'free' to dial in mobile contract packages.
These are the only type of number that can be reliably dialled from anywhere in the world.
0800 - Freephone numbers are used for marketing or for sales lines where the strategy is to attract customers to call you. Most people (64%) know they are free to call - so they're a good marketing tool. They are often used for short term marketing campaigns; different numbers can be used per advert to help tracking and calculating the relative success of different campaigns.
As the call is free to the caller, the number owner gets charged for the incoming call so they can be relatively expensive to use. But this extra cost should be regarded as a marketing investment.
0800 is a fairly well understood number by the public so it is quite useful but a major downside is that they are NOT free to call from mobiles and may not be called from outside the UK.
0800 is a non-geographic number ie not tied to your local telephone exchange, so you can take it anywhere in the UK when you move. For this reason it is sometimes marketed to you as a number for life. VoIP though makes this distinction rather irrelevant these days.
If you use this number on your marketing material make a point of saying "call us for free on xxxx" so that the 36% of people that don't know they are free, still call you. It's also wise to display your 01 or 02 number alongside it so that mobile phone users aren't put off.
0808 numbers are the same as 0800 and introduced because the 0800 range is running out - these are less useful as people don't necessarily know they are free to call.
03 numbers. These are new and intended to replace 0870 as non-geographic numbers.
They cost the same to dial as a normal call to geographic numbers and, importantly, also cost the same from a mobile and payphone as from a landline and are included in mobile call packages.
The likelihood is that consumers will be suspicious of these numbers for some time but they're a damn good idea by Ofcom - one of very few.
There are two forms of 03 number:
- 030 - for use by charities & other not for profit organisations like the BBC & doctor's surgeries
- 033 - all other purposes.
We recommend these numbers as a good alternative to almost all 08 numbers (except 0800).
0845 was introduced as a Lo-Call number as callers are charged at local rates (when called from landlines) no matter where they are. Unfortunately, there is no longer a different charge for local and national calls to ordinary geographic numbers so the marketing distinction has been lost.
They are however slightly cheaper to call than geographic numbers.
Ofcom research tells us that they are generally thought to cost the same as dialling 0870.
BT no longer promote these numbers and they have been undermined by the growth of mobile as they are not included in mobiles inclusive calling minutes and charged for at various rates, always more than a national call.
Being non-geographic they have the advantage of moving with you if you move but with VoIP all numbers can move with you anyway.
They are often not dial-able from abroad.
0844/0843 are revenue sharing numbers ie the owner of the number - usually the Telco or service provider but sometimes the business who uses the number too - gets a small proportion of the income generated from the call. These numbers have taken the place of 0870 numbers now that Ofcom has removed their revenue share.
They are a confusing number group as it is necessary to know the 5th 6th and 7th digit to know what the call charge to the dialler actually is - though it is usually 5p per minute because this is the maximum that can be charged before the service turns into a Premium Rate regulated number (see later).
Unless you have a specialised service, don't use them.
0870 numbers were introduced as low cost premium rate numbers for companies providing a service to their callers such as a help line. The owner of the number was paid a proportion of the call charge as a contribution to these services.
Unfortunately, were abused by many companies and as a result have been more-or-less killed off by Ofcom. In January 2008 the revenue share element was removed and the call charge to the customer reduced to the cost of a standard national call rate.
As a result, 0870, which was often offered as a free number to small businesses has been abandoned by the industry.
Consumers dislike these numbers, they can't be called from outside the UK and they should normally be avoided as a normal business number. If a national number is required, an 03 is a better choice.
0871 is similar to 0870 but with higher call charges. Unlike 0870 they do pay the owner of the number a revenue share and are now regulated as Premium Rate Numbers by PhonePayPlus. If you use them you are obliged to notify the customer of the cost of the call - which rules them out for normal use.
As true value added services though, they have their place - but please do not even consider them as a normal 'contact me' number.
They are non-geographic so can move with you but often can't be called from abroad. Calls from mobiles can be charged at any rate at all.
09xxx are real premium numbers with rates that can be £1+ per minute and are designed for valuable information services like pornography and rip-off TV quizes. To get one you need to apply the PhonePayPlus, the premium call regulator.
056 New Voice Services. These are new non-geographical numbers specifically for Internet Telephony, ie VoIP. VoIP companies can, and do, use any and every telephone number available so it's not clear why Ofcom designed these for them. We give one away for free with every account.
Calls are charged at national call rates.
Their disadvantages are that few people have heard of them.
Use them to play around with VoIP but don't put them on your stationary.
(There's a bit more to it than this though. In the new telephone world a telephone call is just a mode of data transfer - like web and email. So a registry of 056 number is possible where calls between all 056 numbers become free automatically. If you want to know more, google e164)
070 Personal Numbers. Sometimes called Follow-Me numbers. Or just plain Theft. These were introduced originally so that individuals could have their own personal number that find them whatever telephone they are using as the number can be diverted to any other number.
They failed because they are very expensive to call (50ppm or so).
These days if you get a call from one; be very careful, they are often used by fraudsters diverted to pay-go mobiles, often overseas. They are free for the person owning the number so they are essentially disposable. They also look like UK mobile numbers. Very popular on ebay and used extensively for Nigerian lottery scams. We block them.
Get one of these numbers, combine it with a free email address and free personalised webpage and you are nicely set up for a life of crime.
01632 If you see or hear this area code; you're watching TV / listening to radio - it's a fictional numbers range used for drama.
Useful web sites for Telephony Information
The Premium Number Regulator
Cost of calls to specialised numbers:
Area code look up table
International Telephone number wiki
How to get a telephone number for your business
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