It was not that long ago that business telephone numbers all worked in pretty much the same way. To be clear, this meant purchasing a business telephone line from one of the approved suppliers and having a telephone number assigned to it at the local exchange. The introduction of digital telephone lines, known as ISDN, changed this somewhat because companies could then get banks of numbers in blocks of ten to a hundred.
That said, very little changed for some time with the traditional model of a fixed-line business connection and an associated telephone number being tied to one another. For years, you could only obtain 0800 – or freephone – numbers with this model, for example. However, this is no longer the case and modern business phone numbers now work very differently.
Business Phone Numbers Connect Anywhere
In the mobile telephony age, the connection between business telephone numbers and fixed lines has been broken. This is a very good thing for all sorts of businesses, especially those which rely on mobile phones to answer inbound calls. Put simply, companies no longer need to publish a mobile phone number or two for customers to get in contact. Instead, they can buy a business telephone number and have calls to it redirect to their mobile phone(s) automatically.
Crucially, callers have no idea they are being transferred in this way. Calls are not delayed and callers will hear no click or other tell-tale sign that their call is being rerouted. According to Cleartone Communications, a leading business telephone number provider, up to four different phones can be connected to such a service. This means that even if you cannot answer an inbound call to your firm immediately, one of your colleagues or employees will get the chance to do so.
Geographical and Non-Geographical Business Phone Numbers
There are two main types of business phone numbers in use today. The first is the traditional geographical type. These have area codes just like fixed-line numbers. So, for example, you can obtain an 0207, an 0161 or an 02381 number for your business even if you are not located in London, Manchester or Southampton respectively. Edinburgh-based businesses can make it appear as though they’re based in Aberdeen and vice versa. Calls to a Birmingham number can be answered in Belfast and so on.
As such, geographical numbers are no longer tied to geography. There again, businesses can also opt for non-geographical numbers. These include codes like 0800 and 0333. Many nationwide businesses have them. Therefore, even very small enterprises can make it seem as though they are a much larger company if they opt for these types of non-geographical numbers.
Feature-Rich Business Telephone Numbers
As well as an automated message that welcomes callers, modern business telephone number service providers offer a wealth of other features. Just some to look out for included voicemail services that separate work greetings from personal ones. There again, you might want to take advantage of business WhatsApp integration, music on hold or missed call alerts sent to your email, among many others.
