Tag: business numbers

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Direct Numbers

Are Consumers STILL paying more to speak to customer service?

Most people are now aware that in June 2014, The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) enforced a change to stop companies charging consumers to call customer service lines beginning with 084/087.  Most companies have done this already, and some are still in the process of the switch over, but have the changes been misinterpreted?  Sales lines are still permitted to carry an 084/087 prefix, as are technical support lines and even business to business calls.  So why do some companies still have these numbers for post sales enquiries?

Let’s use British Airways as an example.  They are continuing to use 084 numbers for their customer relations department, for changing details on already paid for tickets and even for help with your delayed luggage.  In fairness, there is still some discrepancy as to how the BIS rule changes completely effect certain industries; travel being one of them along with the financial sector that don’t have to fully adhere to these  conversions.  However, you would think in a corporate world of global brand recognition and a huge consumer client base that companies such as these would use the eradication of these lavish numbers as a selling point.  One thing we do know is that with the power of social media and the internet, it will not be long before the collective voice of the consumer tests the moral fibre of the big businesses.

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Direct Numbers

Still Advertising Your Business With a Mobile Number?

As a telephone number provider, we come across a lot of small businesses that use a mobile phone number as their main point of contact.  Usually this pertains to the trade industries such as plumbers, electricians and aerial engineers, but can be as diverse as mobile hair or nail salons and even children’s entertainers!  ! Whatever your business may be, advertising your business with either a local  geographical number, or a non-geographical business number (03/08) can be very advantageous in comparison to your mobile phone.Mobile Phone For Business Here are a few reasons why:

The Look

If you are a small business and all of your customers are local, then most people when flicking through a search engine for your services will generally call a local land line number.  It’s the same if you are appealing to a national audience; mobile phone numbers just don’t look national.  The look of your number can really affect how many calls you receive.  Some older generation customers who call from landlines will be more willing to call a business number to save on cost; just look at BT’s rates.  It also gives the image of a company who have been in business for a while, which is great for new businesses and important during these times of economic instability.

Bringing a touch of 21st Century 

Maybe the biggest benefit of routing your calls through a business number are the cloud based services you have access to.  It’s not just the look and feel of a large business, or the local appeal to your customers (depending on your demographic), but did you know these numbers come with free services such as call queuing that lets your customers know when you are already on a call or you are busy?  Pretty handy when you are up a ladder or in the middle of blow drying somebodies hair!  You can choose to use your own voice, a friends, or even let us do it for you.  All of these options are stored online in “the cloud” where you have full control and access to them.  All the calls still come to your mobile phone, and the call whisper feature will even tell you that it’s a business call before you connect to your client.

All in all, making a simple change from advertising your mobile number can bring additional calls, revenue and efficiency to your small business.  Using innovative cloud based services with dedicated account managers and customer service could help revolutionise the way your company is perceived by your customers.

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Direct Numbers

Five services to make communicating with your customers smoother

Businessman sat at desk with two telephones.If you have customers calling you on your phone then here is a list of some handy tools out there that are available for your company. It doesn’t matter if you are a one man band or a large corporation, these are affordable services that do not require any kit and will make your life a lot easier.

 

1)      IVR (Interactive Voice Response) – The recorded auto attendant doesn’t have to be dreaded. Let the IVR do all the hard work and send callers to the correct department which will free up your customers and your time. Just don’t make your menu choices too long and convoluted.

2)      Call queuing – Don’t miss those all important customer calls. The worst thing a caller can get is an engaged tone. Queue your customer calls and keep them on the line. Just make sure you have enough staff to answer as people don’t want to queue for too long. That’s bad!

3)      Fax to email – Be greener and cleaner. Don’t waste paper. It’s far more secure way of sending a fax and you can save the files electronically.

4)      Time of day routing – If you’re open Mon to Fri 9am to 5pm then route all out of hours calls to another call centre, voicemail or even to your mobile. Stay in touch with your customer calls.

5)      Call whisper – we love this service. Record an audio prompt that only you hear which alerts you that it’s a call through your business number. Great if you use your personal mobile for business calls.

 

These are just a few virtual tools you can employ on your customer phone calls which are easy to set up and control with our great online management portal. Be in touch with your calls, your customers and your staff. To demo any of these services and see how you can get your business connected speak to Direct Numbers today.

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Direct Numbers

Things to consider when buying a number

If you have made the decision and decided to buy a number for your business then there are a number of factors you should consider before you commit yourself. Here at Direct Numbers we’ve put a few points down that we think all customers should consider before they hit the ‘buy now’ button.

So where do you start when you want to buy a number? Most businesses either have existing relationships with current telecommunication providers or will start by looking online. Searching online can be quite a daunting process as you will be faced with pages and pages of suppliers trying to sell you their wares. Type in the term ‘buy 0845 numbers’ into Google and you’ll see what we mean, you’ll be bombarded with terms like ‘free’, ‘memorable’, ‘no contract’. So how do you choose the right provider?

If you take into consideration these main points then this should help steer you in the right direction.

1) What do you get for your buck? Check the small print and ask the company to clarify what you get when you purchase a number. Is it just the number translation to your landline or mobile or do you get extra services included in the price? Extra services can range from advanced IVR set up, time of day routing, call queuing, fax to email and call whisper. Many companies will offer these services but they’ll add on extra cost for them so always check what’s included in the price.

2) Competitive pricing – there are a lot of resellers out there that will be offering numbers for ‘free’. I would always be a little more wary of these as you should always ask yourself ‘why is it free?’, ‘what’s the after sales service like?’ etc. We’re not saying that there is anything wrong with free numbers it’s just you should always check behind the scenes a little before jumping in.

3) What’s the network like? What kind of UK presence do they have? Can they handle high call volumes? What is their disaster recovery like? Many people seem to forget about these points until the number they bought goes down and their customers can’t get through to them.

4) I’m not happy with my current provider so can I take my number elsewhere? This again is often overlooked at the start with customers being blinded by ‘free numbers’ and ‘inclusive minutes’. Before you buy your number make sure that you ask the provider if they have porting agreements in place with all the major networks because sometimes things do go wrong and the last thing you want to happen is to be told you can’t port your number away because your provider doesn’t have any porting agreements in place. Personally, I would always make sure I had a contract in place for my number for added security and peace of mind. Make sure you can terminate your contract with a notice period – normally around the 30 day mark.

5) How much control do I have over my number and services? Most providers should provide you with your own secure online portal to manage your number and services. You can monitor your call stats and set up your services. Again, you want to make sure that this is included in the package price and that you are not expected to pay more for it.

6) Why not try before you buy! Have a play around with the service and see if it’s right for you and your business. If they’re not willing to set you up with a demo in the first place then is this someone you want to do business with long term?

Hope this helps in your quest to getting your business connected with a number and call handling services. If you have any other questions with regard to any of the above or business numbers in general that please feel free to call us on 08000 755 755.