Is a Landline Number Still Important?

[paulears]

yes - that is what I do, and it works fine and my historic clients use the old number - despite no copper to the premises any longer.

 

[Florac]

A lot of my clients are outside the UK which means a mobile number is more useful as they all seem to use WhatsApp for comms.

Hi. I live outside the Uk and like many others have free calls to landlines so I actually use landline businesses a lot (not everyone gives you a WhatsApp number). Without the landline a few local florists, patisseries and wine shops in the UK wouldn’t have got my business.

 

[debbidoo]

But to be frank, I think spending £3 per month on landline for incoming calls is still a bit of a no brainer. But then I suppose I would wouldn't I?

I've had voip numbers through you for about 15 years and as long as I have businesses, I'll have those numbers I love the ability to bar calls from specific countries, and I love having a geographical number that forwards to my mobile, keeping my mobile number private (I don't tend to make many outgoing calls, so I don't mind using my mobile for those).

I hate seeing mobile phone numbers on business websites. Maybe I'm old fashioned but I still see them as unprofessional, same as I see gmail/hotmail email addresses as unprofessional on a business website.

So yeah, there's still a few of us out there who prefer to deal with companies that have geographical numbers instead of mobiles, even if one is forwarding to the other I guess it's a psychological trick and honestly for that few quid a month it's really worth it!

 

[fantheflames]

Hmm, interesting thread! I don't use landlines, but I did previously. Honestly, whether or not you have a landline doesn't matter as much as people think IMHO. Most people are fine with mobile numbers, but it might be more important to have one if your audience is 55 and over or you're B2B.

 

[DontAsk]

it might be more important to have one if your audience is 55 and over or you're B2B.

Some of mine are well past retirement age, even in their 90s!

 

[cjd]

Nasty telecoms joke

Q. What does it mean if you no longer get calls from landlines?
A. Your parents are dead

I think people still expect most businesses with employees to have landline numbers though. And if they only see an 07 number on a website they will assume it's not a 'real' company - individual tradespeople excepted.

 

[MarketingQuote]

Also known as building trust!

Agreed, there is a credibility with a landline number over a freelancer using a mobile number while out on a job.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

You can get a landline number from a £1 or so a month, so, for the presentation and credibility, it is really cheap marketing.

Just reminded me I need a new number for a business of mine.....

 

[14Steve14]

A few years ago after an increase in our broadband costs we decided to cancel all together with BT and as I work from home, to upgrade the home broadband. I used voipfone services and transferred my old landline number across to their services. Its the same local number that I had on all paperwork, business cards and all sorts of other places, so meant no having to change any numbers. Its also far cheaper than the old BT landline costs and esy to upgrade should I need more calls.