The world of phone numbers can get very confusing with the amount of options out there. So we answer the question: What business phone number do I get?

What is Your Business?

The easiest part of the process is working out what your business is and its need. This helps identify what phone number is best suited to your business.

No-one knows your business better than you. So are you a new start-up or a small business? Do you work around several different areas or even deal with International customers/locations?

Do you know which one leads you on the right track?

For example.. You are a window cleaner with jobs across several close towns in the UK. People will more likely look for a local window cleaner for the job instead of a big, national firm.

So instead of advertising one phone number for a central location, you want to look at several local areas in close proximity to you, obtain phone numbers for those locations (UK local numbers), have them all divert back to your mobile phone and advertise them out. This makes your business seem local to that area, broadening your advertising easily whilst having these calls diverted to your mobile when you’re on the move.

Let’s look at another example. You’re an electrician and expanding. Local areas are handy, but you might want to make the business look bigger, as being local isn’t such a necessity, but you also want to entice callers. You could look at the likes of 0800 phone numbers.

0800 allows you to be non-geographic, so you’re not looking like the small local firm. It also allows people to call you for free, meaning you’re encouraging calls.

Larger Business? What Business Phone Number Do I Get?

While the above examples still apply to larger businesses, you obviously have more areas or a bigger customer base, so what business phone number do I get?

Perhaps you’re an internet business with trade all over the world. The hardest thing can be supporting or even advertising your business in international locations. There can be costs, staff, laws and many other implications. Instead you should look at International Toll Free numbers to help you out.

International Toll Free numbers work like the UK 0800 number by allowing free calls within the purchased country and as they are local looking numbers, people know what they are calling.

Universal Toll Free also works in a similar way, but it’s only one number for multiple countries. You possibly only want to use this if you have a specific need, like small packaging where you can only fit a certain amount of characters and need that universal appeal.

Then there are local international numbers which could be used to advertise locally in that country, or be a cheap method for your overseas employees to call you on, instead of paying international calling rates.

As you’ve read, there are many options out there, having their own business benefits. Whether your business is large or small, the phone number you get can make a big impact.

It’s likely that this main point of contact could be the factor that leads to your businesses success or failure.