How to get a business phone number for your company

Level: Beginner

If you’re starting a new business or looking to expand, you’ve come to the right place. The day you open the doors (figuratively or otherwise) to your business, you’ll need a new phone number.

Why do you need a business phone number?

It may come as a surprise in the face of email, SMS, WhatsApp and web chat, but the telephone is still the most common method of contact for businesses. So, it’s vital that you have one!

As well as being the most widely used contact channel, advanced phone systems allow you to:

• Enhance your brand image. When people dial your number, what do you want them to hear first? Probably not a ring tone. With advanced telephony, you can set up music and welcome messages to greet people at the other end of the line.
• Enhance your user experience. Among all the advanced features, you’ll probably love automatic call forwarding and integration with external programs such as CRMs to automatically update your database.
• Improve the customer or supplier experience. They’ll notice too, because one of the features of advanced systems is the ability to program automated assistants to handle calls outside of office hours.

Now that you know why you need a business phone, let’s get on with it! While getting a business phone number is relatively straightforward, there are a few things to consider.

How do I get a business phone number?

To get a business phone number, you need a telecommunications provider. We recommend that you look for providers who specialise in serving businesses. They will be best placed to guide you through the process.

As there are many providers, one way to narrow down the options is to focus on call quality and the features associated with the phone line.

Most businesses will need at least the following features: scheduling of out-of-office messages when the office is closed, welcome messages (as mentioned above) and voicemail to email, which allows you to receive transcribed voice messages to your email address.

In addition to these and many other features, we offer our phone lines with a basic virtual switchboard service, allowing you to efficiently manage calls, configure menu options, redirect calls to different departments and maintain total control over your company’s telephone communications.

If you need a phone number for customer service, we also have customer service software that allows you to manage calls, emails, SMS, WhatsApps and web chats from a single programme.

Once you’ve chosen your business telecoms provider, it’s important to understand the different types of numbers available to help you choose the one that’s right for you.

Types of business numbers

Broadly speaking, there are four main families of business numbers: geographical or local numbers, 900 or toll free numbers, 901 or shared costs numbers, and 902 numbers, which have no cost for you.

Here’s more information about each of them:

1) Geographical numbers

What they are: Geographical numbers are local numbers, both national and international.

Features: They allow you to have a local number from anywhere in the world without the need for a physical office in that country.

Advantages: They give callers a sense of proximity and trust as they recognise the area code of their region.

Disadvantages: They are an additional cost to your business.

2) 900 lines

What they are: 900 numbers are known as toll-free numbers for customers.

Features: They are mandatory for all basic service companies (water, electricity, gas, etc.) and most companies with customer service departments almost always use them.

Advantages: They give callers confidence that the call won’t cost them anything.

Disadvantages: We’re not aware of any disadvantages.

3) 901 Lines

What they are: These are national shared cost numbers, meaning that the caller and receiver share the cost of the call.

Features: They are accessible from all over Spain, which can be useful if your company has customers or branches in different regions.

Advantages: As they are cost shared, you can generate revenue from calls made by your customers or suppliers.

Disadvantages: Customers may find them expensive and avoid using them.

4) 902 lines

What they are: These are national numbers where the caller pays the full cost of the call.

Features: Like 901, they are accessible from all over Spain. However, the caller’s charges are much higher.

Advantages: You don’t pay a penny for the calls you make or receive.

Disadvantages: You can’t use them for customer service, and if you do, you have to provide another free alternative number, such as a 900.

How to choose the best phone number for your business

The following questions will help you choose from the many types of business phone numbers available:

What image do you want to project?

• Local and accessible company. If you want to convey an image of closeness and familiarity, geographical or local numbers are your allies.
• Large and accessible company. If you want to position yourself as a large but accessible company, 900 numbers are perfect.
• Large company with limited reachability. If you want to position yourself as a large company and limit the number of incoming calls, both 901 and 902 will do the trick.

It’s also possible to use a combination of numbers. For example, if you’re running a specific advertising campaign in a particular city, it’s worth having a geographical business number to get more calls.

What’s your budget?

Price is usually the deciding factor. Aim to invest in numbers that are useful to you and don’t spend a fortune on something you don’t need.

If you’re unsure about the business numbers you need, our team of experts are always on hand to help you choose the best option for your business. Contact them on 900 670 750 or use the chat below.