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Ofcom’s range of non-geographic telephone numbers have been embraced by UK businesses – particularly the freephone 0800 prefix. As well as being attractive to customers 0800 numbers come with several powerful added value features including the sophisticated auto attendant feature. In recent years the Telecoms industry has seen a vast growth in the use of 0800 freephone numbers. They have emerged to be the phone number of choice for many businesses due to the vast advantages and added features available. The biggest selling point of 0800 numbers derives from promotion of customer service. If you are running a business an 0800 number can work as a positive solution for both yourself and your customer. 0800 freephone numbers enable a customer to contact a company without charge meaning they do not need to incur high call charges if they have any questions or are faced with any issues. This can be an enormous reassurance to the customer in the reliability of a company. The numbers are known as non-geographical telephone numbers which can be directed to both landlines numbers and mobile phones depending on your particular requirements. An 0800 number provider can re-direct your freephone number when necessary to fit in with your individual circumstances. Depending on provider the charges can vary to change the destination number either by paying a fee for each change to free unlimited redirection of your 0800 number. An additional exceptional advantage to 0800 numbers is that they can make your business seem larger and more successful giving the impression of stability and consistency, conveying a higher level of trust to your customers. One of the most advanced added features available to give this impression is known as an auto attendant feature which can be added onto your 0800 number by your freephone provider. What is an Auto Attendant Feature? The Auto Attendant feature allows a call to be routed through to a menu system listing various options for the customer. This systems works when a customer calls the 0800 number which is answered by the auto attendant system. An optional welcome message can then be played followed by a choice of options, for example, Press 1 for Sales, Press 2 for Accounts, Press 3 for Customer Services etc. This ensures that customer's calls are routed through to the most relevant department by pressing the appropriate keys on their telephone. When a customer identifies which department they wish to speak to calls can be routed to various numbers, or if the idea of the feature is to make you look like a larger company, calls can be put through to one number. The routing system can be extremely beneficial by enabling you to answer important calls when you are out of the office by simply transferring the call to a mobile phone or home telephone number. This can eliminate the chance of missing calls even out of business hours. Any calls that cannot be answered can be automatically routed to a voicemail system which can be customized for each department with specialised voicemail recordings added on to each extension giving the opportunity for a customer to leave messages relating to their specific queries. This voicemail can then be emailed to you as an audio file to ensure that the query is dealt with promptly. In summary the main advantages to an Auto Attendant are that they can; 1. Make a small business seem larger; 2. More professional 3. Reduce the levels of missed or unanswered calls; 4. Personalise your relationship with the customers 5. Save money on additional telephone lines 6. Lower a customer's call queuing time. 7. Offer more flexibility to employees of the business by enabling calls to be answered even when out of the office. Freephone 0800 numbers have emerged to be the most memorable and identifiable number to use to endorse a business. The auto attendant feature acts as an innovative partner to the 0800 number which can work as a powerful tool to develop the business by creating a higher standard of customer care. The author of this article is Jemma Fox of The 0800 Number Company. Jemma is a leading authority on the subject of UK 0800 numbers. Jemma's website also covers other product lines including 0844 and 0845 numbers.
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0800 numbers, freephone numbers, phone numbers, auto attendant, press 1 for sales,
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