How to get a business phone number
You need a telephone number for your business. It's vital to conduct business properly. But, how do you get a local phone number for your business... and why you might need more than one?
Local Phone Numbers
Are you starting a new business and need a local telephone number for customers to call? Or perhaps you just want to separate business calls from personal calls? Having a dedicated local phone number for your business calls is really important. It used to be the case that you had to get a new telephone number from BT - which was both an expensive and lengthy process.
Now, thanks to advances in telecoms tech, not only do you get a telephone number, you can get a whole host of different services - e.g. built in answer machines, call recording, custom greetings, time-based routing, missed call notifications, call forwarding and lots more. This is done using VoIP technology - voice over internet protocol.
As a business owner, having these new telecoms services and options is great! It makes your business more professional, saves you time and is much more convenient.
How to Get a New Telephone Number
To get a new telephone number you need to sign up with a virtual phone number platform.
You don't need to have a landline installed or buy a new mobile phone/sim. You can often choose the number you want from a selection of available numbers. That number can then be "ported" or directed to a phone of your choice. I recommend you get your new number from this company.
Why You Need a Dedicated Business Phone Number
You need to know when you're getting a business call rather than a personal call.
With a dedicated local phone number for your business you don't have to worry about getting business calls outside of your business hours when you're trying to relax.
As a business owner you want to appear professional and often the first impression a potential customer has of your business is when they make that initial call.
If, like me, you're a sole trader then you can't be available to answer calls 24/7, it's just not possible. So it's really important that the initial call is dealt with properly. If you're out of the office, you want the call to come to your mobile. It's really easy to set this up nowadays. You can also have calls diverted based on dates and times.
Recommended Telephone Number Service
I recommend a service called Air Landline. I had an existing BT landline number that I wanted to keep. Transferring the number was very easy and quick. I can manage my account via an online dashboard and this enables me to divert calls, set up greetings, listen to voicemails, set up alerts and a whole host of other options.
I particularly like how I get an email when someone leaves me a voice message and the recording is transcribed into the actual email. This is really useful if I'm somewhere that I can't listen to the actual voicemail audio. You can sign up for a 7 day free trial here.
What is a local telephone number?
A local number is one that has the area code for that local geographical area. A local number will contain the the correct format/numbers for a specific locality.
Local Phone Numbers for Kent
For example the local telephone numbers in Herne Bay, Kent are in the format:
- 01227 28XXXX
- 01227 36XXXX
- 01227 37XXXX
- 01227 74XXXX
The Importance of a Local Number
If you're doing business in a specific geographical area (e.g. Kent) and your target market is within a certain area then a local number is really important.
- Trust and credibility: Consumers often prefer to support local businesses, and having a local telephone number can make a business seem more trustworthy and credible to potential customers in the area.
- Local presence: Having a local telephone number can help a business establish a stronger presence in the local community and foster relationships with customers, partners, and other businesses in the area.
- Marketing and advertising: A local telephone number can make it easier for businesses to target local customers in marketing and advertising campaigns, as customers are more likely to respond to a familiar area code.
Call Tracking
If you're spending money on advertising it's important to know if it's working. Are customers actually picking up the phone and calling you after they've seen your ad?
One way you can do this is by monitoring how many calls you receive. However if you use the same telephone number for everything, then you won't know if a specific ad campaign generated the call.
Grab yourself a new telephone number that you then use for your ad campaign. If you run Google Ads or Facebook Ads, getting a dedicated number and call tracking will help you determine if your ads are working.
Having a local telephone number can make customers feel more comfortable in calling a business for inquiries, complaints or support, as they often prefer calling a local number rather than a long-distance one.
Get your local landline number now
There will be times, especially as a sole trader, that you can't be in your office to receive telephone calls. By using a service like Air Landline you can get calls to your landline number redirected to your mobile phone. Never miss a new business lead again!
How to divert a landline call to your mobile
Just log into your Air Landline control panel via your computer and click the "Routing" option. You can then configure how incoming calls are handled. e.g. Have all calls diverted to your mobile or have calls diverted after so many rings. You can even configure it so that you divert calls to multiple mobile numbers. All the numbers you specify will ring at the same time and the first one to pick up answers the call.
Watch this funny video about the service Air Landline offer...
How many numbers are in a Kent local number?
The majority of the UK local numbers have 11 digits, including the dialling codes. The combination of nearly all UK numbers is: 3 digit area code plus 8 digit phone number. So a Kent local number has 11 digits and follows the format: 01xxx xxxxxx
