Non-geographic telephone numbers are independent of areas within the UK, and point to a UK landline or hosted service number. Usually, the non-geographic numbers we get in the UK begin with 08, and these numbers act just like any other, with potential services such as call routing, handling, voicemail, and so on.
Types of non-geographic number might include:
- 0800: Freephone numbers that include no charge for the caller. (You pay the cost of the calls)
- 0844: Numbers where the customer pays a fixed rate regardless of where they’re calling from. (You don’t pay to receive calls)
- 0845: Local call numbers that are charged at a local rate, regardless of where the caller is in the country. (Often used by public sector organisations and customer service departments)
- 0870: Internationally accessible national UK rate number
- 0871: Revenue-generating premium number where the tariff will include a margin for revenue sharing.
- 09: Premium rate numbers that are used for competitions, information lines, voting systems, and entertainment services.
- 03: Numbers that charge the same as calls made to geographic numbers. (No revenue sharing available)
The Benefits of Non-Geographic Numbers:
Larger Presence and Professional Image
One of the primary benefits of a non-geographic number is that your telephone number won’t be associated with a geographic area, providing you with a larger, national presence within your niche. Even small companies with an NGN can give the impression of being national organisations, allowing them to compete with larger businesses across the country.
Greater Business Opportunities
Freephone numbers like “0800” allow for an increase in business, as people will often prefer to call you over competitors that charge for calls. A Freephone number also indicates that you’re a well-established and confident company, as you’re willing to take the costs of sales enquiries. With greater call volumes, you will be able to obtain more information from your customers and enhance your information database. Callers are also likely to contact you more often, which is ideal for building a long-standing customer relationship.
Flexibility and Portability
If your business needs to move into a new premise, it’s not always easy to keep your existing number. This can lead to issues in terms of business continuity, and ensuring that everyone knows the details of your new number, not to mention the costs of printing new brochures and stationary. With non-geographical numbers, you won’t need to change your contact details, you’ll just change the number that your NGN points to. This can be very helpful when your company starts to grow too, or if you want to set up offices around the country.
Efficient Call Routing
Calls that are taken via non-geographical numbers can be distributed among any departments or agents across various sites, including home workers. You can point your NGN to various other telephone numbers, including NGNs or mobiles at any time, offering greater flexibility and the chance to be responsive to your customers wherever you are.
Generating Revenue
As we mentioned above, numbers like 09, 0844, and 0871 can be used to generate revenue as their tariff can include a margin for revenue sharing. This means that these numbers can be used as a revenue stream for your business, which makes them perfect for customer or social advice lines, as well as technical support lines.
Monitoring Campaign Effectiveness
You can have various NGNs pointed at a single telephone number. This means that you can use a different number for each media or publication that your promotion will be featured in. This way you can monitor and track the effectiveness of your campaigns.
Continuity in Business
Finally, with a non-geographical number, you can divert your NGN to a new voicemail service or number if the existing in-house system or landline develops some manner of fault. That way you’re never likely to miss a call.
