These days getting a telephone number for your business is simple, cheap and immediate - you no longer have to get BT to install a second telephone line to make and receive telephone calls.

 

And you can have any kind of number you like and have as many as you like – it doesn’t matter if you live in Basingstoke or Barcelona you can still have a number from any UK area code, from London to Lerwick.

 

Voipfone numbers are real Ofcom allocated telephone numbers; they can be called by anyone in the world and form any telephone network. You can do all sorts of clever things with our numbers, like divert incoming calls anywhere, call other Voipfone users for free no matter where they are, use Voicemail and have your messages sent to you by email, receive a fax, add telephone extensions – it’s a long, long, list…….and most of this is either free or very low cost.

 

Our geographic numbers can even make you look like you live or work anywhere in the UK so that if you live in Basildon or Bang Kok you can still have a London number. (This service was featured in The Guardian)

 

Not only that, you can do all sorts of clever things with them like divert incoming calls anywhere, call other Voipfone users for free no matter where they are, use Voicemail and have it sent to your email, receive a fax, add extensions – it’s a long, long, list…….and most of it is either free or very low cost.

 

 

 

 

However, telephone numbers are designed for different purposes so please read this carefully before choosing.

 

If you are a business, telephone numbers form part of your brand and image and once the number is on your stationery, your shop signage and the side of your van, it’s not easily changed so it’s important that you consider the type of number to use carefully.

 

It’s normally best to choose an 01 or 02 number but there are two other types you could consider:

 

0800 can be useful if you actively need customers to call you or are running advertising campaigns.

03, if you need to have a ‘national’ presence.

 

01 & 02 Geographic or ‘local’ numbers (£2 per month)

 

These are the normal, general purpose, everyday telephone number.

 

Geographic numbers traditionally show your location; 020 is London, 01273 Brighton, 0151 Liverpool etc. But with VoIP, they can be anywhere – you no longer need to be located in the area code of the number to use them – you can be anywhere in the world.

 

These numbers are universally understood and should be your first choice for a normal businesses number.

 

Importantly, 01 and 02 numbers are included as ‘free’ to dial in mobile contract packages.

 

These are the only type of number that can be reliably dialled from anywhere in the world.

 

Calls to these numbers from BT landlines used to be charged at either local or national rates depending on distance to the caller but now it’s one charge regardless.

 

0800 Freephone numbers (£5 per month)

 

Freephone numbers are used for marketing or for sales lines where the strategy is to attract customers to call you. Most people know they are free to call - so they’re a good marketing tool. They are often used for short term marketing campaigns; different numbers can be used per advert to help tracking and calculating the relative success of different campaigns.

 

As the call is free to the caller, you are charged for the incoming call at 3p per minute.

 

They’re not free to call from mobiles though, so it’s wise to display your 01 or 02 number alongside it so that mobile phone users aren’t put off.

 

03 numbers (£2 per month)

 

These are new and replace 0870 as non-geographic (ie national) numbers.

 

They cost the same to dial as a call to a geographic (local) number and, importantly, they also cost the same to call from a mobile and payphone as from a landline and are included in mobile call packages.

 

There are two forms of 03 number:

 

030 - for use by charities and other not for profit organisations like the BBC and doctor’s surgeries.

033 - all other purposes.

 

With the exception of 0800, we recommend these numbers as a good alternative to other 08xx numbers.

 

0845 numbers (£2 per month)

 

0845 was introduced as a Lo-Call number as callers were charged at local rates (when called from landlines) no matter where they are.

 

However, there is no longer a different charge for local and national calls to ordinary geographic numbers so the marketing distinction has been lost. They are, however, still slightly cheaper to call than geographic numbers (from landlines).

 

They are often not dial-able from abroad and they can be charged at a high rate from mobiles.

 

056 New Voice Service numbers (£2 per month)

 

These are new non-geographical numbers specifically for Internet Telephony, ie VoIP. VoIP companies can, and do, use any and every telephone number available so it’s not clear why Ofcom designed these for them. We give you one for free with every account.

 

Their disadvantages are that the numbers are new and some networks don’t route to them yet. At the time of writing, Orange is one major culprit but so are some overseas Telecoms operators.

 

Use them to experiment with VoIP but don’t put them on your stationary.

 

Calls to them are charged at national call rates.

 

0844/0843 (£2 per month)

 

0844 and 0843 numbers are revenue sharing numbers ie. the owner of the number - usually the Telco or service provider - gets a proportion of the income generated from the call.

 

We will be using these numbers to offer value added services in the future.

 

All our 0843 numbers are charged at 5p per minute to the caller from a BT landline but will cost more from mobiles. They are often not callable from overseas.

 

0870 numbers (£2 per month)

 

0870 numbers were originally introduced as premium rate numbers for companies providing a service to their callers such as a help line. However, they suffered widespread abuse and Ofcom reduced their cost to call to national rates and removed the revenue sharing element.

 

Consumers generally dislike these numbers so they should now be avoided as a normal business number. If a national number is required, an 03 is a better choice.

 

Protecting your Voipfone number

 

Your number is safe with us; we’re an established and highly regarded UK company and a member of ITSPA carrying their Quality Mark. Because we are ITSPA members, you can port (transfer) you number to many other members if you need to – including BT.