BT Mobile Finally Makes Calls to 0800 numbers Free
Less than 1 month after BT announced that it would be making calls to 0870/0845 numbers free for its 14 million residential customers, the firm’s has recently announced that 0800 numbers will soon be free to call for its mobile customers. BT Mobile is the first mobile company in the UK to make mobile calls to 0800 free to dial. The other major network providers (Orange, O2, Vodafone, T-Mobile etc.) charge up to 25 pence per minute for these calls. 0800 numbers have always been totally free to call from a UK landline and they are a popular choice of telephone number for many organisations - specifically for attracting more calls. Research by the Institute of Direct Marketing has found that companies that use an 0800 number can increase their response rates by up to 185%.
Here are 7 more reasons why 0800 numbers are so widely used:
1. 0800 numbers, like all non-geographic telephone numbers, enable organisations to instantly smarten up their telephone systems with online call management features - such as welcome messages and call divert.
2. Businesses can control where they want to receive their calls (e.g. out of hours and in an emergency). Their 0800 number can be rerouted to any UK landline or mobile with Call divert features
3. 0800 numbers are non-geographic - meaning they are not location specific like regular landline numbers. Thus, companies can attract more business outside of their physical area as they won’t be judged on their location.
4. Given the choice, 63% of the public say that they would always call a freephone number first (Teleculture 2000).
5. The Henley Research Centre concluded that 68% of people feel that organisations which offer 0800 numbers care more about their callers.
6. Online call statistics systems allow business owners/managers/marketers to see the location of callers to their 0800 number, amount of missed calls and busy periods in order to help with marketing/customer services and planning staffing more effectively.
7. All calls to 0800 numbers can be queued when combined with online call queuing systems. This enables companies to answer more calls and not miss out on potential business.
BT Mobile’s recent announcement ensures that 0800 numbers will remain the number 1 choice for businesses that want to attract more calls - specifically from a landline. For companies wanting to offer ALL mobile callers a better deal, the new 03 number range reigns supreme. 03 numbers are included in the free minutes offered by every UK landline and mobile provider. After a mobile user has exhausted their free minutes - it will still only cost them the same price to call a regular landline number (e.g. numbers beginning 01 and 02).