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Do 0845 numbers work

kmbookkeeping

New Member
I've been using an 0845 number for the last year, and yesterday switched to a local (01563) number.

This is something I've thought about for a while, and after speaking to a few clients, friends and some others decided that most people would rather call a local number than 0845 for a number of reasons.

Just curious what everyones view here is.

Kris
 
Mike Lewis

Mike Lewis

New Member
Personally, I'd be more favoroubly inclined towards a geographic (local) number, as it suggest a relatively small firm, with a real person at the end of the line. Numbers beginning with 08 seem to suggest an impersonal, national company or call centre.

That said, I doubt if most folk would give it a thought either way. I suspect most people don't understand the difference between geographic numbers and the special ones beginning with 08. But I might be wrong.

Mike
 
Scottish Business Owner

Scottish Business Owner

New Member
Hi Chris,

I think local works better as well. It's as easy to get a geographic number as it is an 08 number anyway. In the past when i've wanted to widen my reach i've then got a second geographic number specific to that area. It's really good for marketing as well as you can track stuff.

I guess if your market is local then I would also go local with the number. Checking your competitors as well would maybe also give you some indication.
 

kmbookkeeping

New Member
Thanks , as I said I have now ditched the 0845 in favour of a local. I think the opinions I'm getting from everyone is that 0845 are very out of favour with the great British public.

Kris
 
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profitxchange

New Member
I prefer local number cos I can dial for free. I use the not 0870 website to look up geo numbers from the o8 numbers
 
bsfweb

bsfweb

New Member
I am a fan of the Premium number 090....at £1.50

I use these to help consumers, and I handle five to ten a day. In truth, I have almost never had a negative call, and 95% actually thank me enthusiastically. This is as much down to the 'way' the call is handled/served.

An 0845 phone number was a good move 15 years ago, when calls were expensive, and where there was a saving for the consumer of just the cost of a local call. Today / these days it is the reverse. Many 'all/anytime' packages mean calls to normal phone numbers starting 01 or 02 r 03 numbers are included within the prepaid calls package, but many 08 numbers are not.
BT has introduced 0845 and 0870 numbers for free, but that is because most businesses have migrated to 0844/0871 number and beyond.
 
N

neilgw77

New Member
084 numbers work really well in my experience. unlike some people rather than 0845 numbers i use 0843. The call costs are constant and during the day work out cheaper for my customers to call than outside of their own area. The company i use is switchboardfree. The call manager they have is incredibly powerful and they have recently added google analytics integration to their package. The best thing i found about them is that they offer these services for free. This has proved invaluable to me in setting up my new business as i needed to keep overheads down. Give them a look
Regards
Neil
 
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