What are 0808 numbers?

If you have gone to our site wanting to purchase 0800 numbers, and instead have found 0808 numbers – don’t panic!

There is no difference between the two numbers.

An 0808 number is exactly the same as an 0800 number.

So, both 0808 and 0800 numbers are freephone numbers when called from a landline phone.

This means that 0808 and 0800 numbers are great for showing customers that you value them, and therefore that customer service is high on your priority as a business.

Because 0808 and 0800 numbers are free to call from a landline, and the recipient of the call instead pays for the call, it encourages more people to pick up the phone and make that initial inquiry.

Both 0808 and 0800 numbers also give your company a national presence because they are non-geographic numbers. This means that they are not associated with any geographic area of the UK in the way that, for example, an 020 number is a London number. Therefore, your business is not portrayed as only serving one geographic area, but instead as providing a service across the UK.

So why are there both 0808 and 0800 numbers when they’re both the same? Quite simply, because freephone 0800 numbers are so popular, OFCOM introduced 0808 numbers several years ago as, in time, the 0800 number range may run out of numbers. Using 0808 numbers means that people have a much greater range of freephone numbers to choose from than just the dwindling number of 0800 numbers.

To see our current range of 0808 numbers, please visit our website.

What are Non-Geographic Numbers?

A Non-Geographic number is a telephone number with a prefix that does not link it to any geographical location – other than the United Kingdom.

So, for example, an 020 number means that it is a London number, an 0121 number means that is a Birmingham number, an 0131 number means that it is an Edinburgh number etc.

With non-geographic numbers, there is no such association with an actual place – the number could be for a business or an individual anywhere in the UK.

Many larger businesses find these ideal if they want to operate across the country rather than in one specific geographical area – people don’t think that a business only operates in the south east or the north west if they have a non-geographic number.

Many smaller businesses also use non-geographic numbers because it makes them appear to be larger than they actually are.

Different types of non-geographic numbers can bring different benefits to your business, depending on your requirements.

Examples of non-geographic numbers include freephone 0800 and 0808 numbers, lo-call 0845 numbers and revenue sharing 0844 numbers.

Non-geographic numbers are “pointed” to your existing landline or mobile phone number, can usually be set up within an hour, don’t require any equipment or machinery to install, and are available to anyone – not just businesses. 

For more information on non-geographic numbers, please visit the DBS website.

How could DOBNA help your business?

Reading the question above, you would be forgiven for thinking to yourself “what is DOBNA?”

DOBNA is one of the Extra Features available on our 0800, 0845, 0844 and local numbers.

It stands for Divert Calls on Busy or No Answer.

It allows us to route calls through to alternative numbers if you are unable to answer calls.

All you do is supply us with a list of alternative numbers, and we take it from there.

So, if someone calls your 0800, 0845, virtual or 0844 number and you are on another call, then the call with be diverted to the next number on your plan, which might be a mobile, another colleagues phone, a home phone etc.

Or if you are out of the office, the call can be diverted to your mobile, so that you receive the call wherever you are.

The feature means that if you are away from the office, you can still take calls, which makes your customers feel valued as they know that you are always available to help them.

For more information, watch our video about this feature, visit our website, or call us on 0800 046 1688.

How fax to email can save time, money and the environment

We offer a wide variety of 0800, 0845, 0844 and local numbers as telephone numbers, but we also offer these numbers as fax to email numbers.

So, if you have an 0800, 0845, 0844 or local telephone number with us, you can also get a fax number with the same prefix so that your type of numbers match.

So, if you have a London phone number, you can get a London fax number to match, or an 0844 fax number to match your 0844 telephone number.

Having your fax number as fax to email can save your business time and money, and also helps the environment.

The fax gets sent straight to your email inbox, so you don’t have to leave a fax machine on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you don’t have to print out every fax that you receive, and you don’t have to keep checking the fax machine to see if you have received a fax. You can store the fax on your computer or in your emails with other relevant documents, or you can delete it if you don’t need it.

Thus, you save paper, toner, electricity, ink, time, money and the environment – and you free up some space in the office where the fax machine and files of paper that came out of it used to be!

What are 0845 numbers?

What are 0845 numbers? To many people, numbers that start with 08 are all the same, but nothing could be further from the truth.

0800 numbers, for example, are freephone numbers when called from a landline – the caller doesn’t pay anything to make the call, and the cost is instead paid by the recipient.

0844 numbers are revenue sharing numbers – the caller pays slightly more to make the call, and the recipient doesn’t pay anything to receive the call, but instead receives a rebate.

0845 numbers are somewhere between the two.

They are “lo-call” or “low call” phone numbers – a play on words, as they cost the same to call from a landline as a local number, and the cost is low.

Callers pay between 3p and 5p per minute to call an 0845 phone number from a landline, and customers don’t pay anything to receive the call.

Like both 0800 numbers and 0844 numbers, 0845 numbers are non-geographic numbers. This means that the 0845 part of the number is not associated with any geographic area other than the UK. For this reason, they are often referred to as national numbers. 

Also like our other non-geographic numbers, 0845 numbers are pointed at your existing landline or mobile phone.

For more details about our 0845 numbers, click here to read about 0845 numbers to landlines, and here to read about 0845 numbers to mobiles.

Make sure you customers get the greeting you want them to have

When your customers or potential customers call your business, unless you are answering the phone yourself then you have very little control over exactly what the customer hears. If one of your employees is feeling grumpy or tired, then the first words the customer hears might not be the cheerful, friendly, helpful greeting that you would like them to hear.

However, if you add the Greeting Message feature to whichever number you have with us – whether it’s an 0800 number, 0845 number, 0844 number or virtual number, then you know that the first words your customer hears when they call you will be the words of your choice, said in exactly the right tone.

The Greeting Message is added to your number, so that when someone calls your number, they hear a recording such as “Thank you for calling the XYZ Company, your call is important to us and will be answered shortly”. The message can say exactly what you would like it to say, and makes your business appear professional, friendly and efficient.

The call is then answered after the message has been played. For more information on the feature, watch the video or call us on 0800 046 1688.

How do I get an 0800 number?

An 0800 number is a freephone number if called from a mobile.

Often, people think that you have to be a large company to have an 0800 number, or have a nationwide presence. They think there is some sort of criteria you have to conform to in order to have an 0800 number. And then they think you have to have some sort of extra phone line or expensive equipment involved in order to use it.

However, this is not the case, and getting an 0800 number is far easier than you probably think.

To get an 0800 number, all you have to do is visit the 0800 number page of our website, and choose either 0800 numbers to landline or 0800 numbers to mobile – depending on what type of phone you would like your 0800 number pointing to.

Then, you choose which number you would like to buy from the list of available 0800 or 0808 numbers on the page.

This gets added to your shopping basket, and when you are ready to make your purchase, you simply fill out your details, including the existing phone number that the 0800 number will point to.

Your 0800 number will be pointed to your existing landline or mobile number – you can change this number whenever you want to.

If you order an 0800 number during the week between 9am and 5pm, your number will usually be connected for you within the hour.

Visit our website for more information, or call us on 0800 046 1688.