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Non-Geographic Telephone Numbers



Non-geographic telephone numbers are numbers that do not relate to a standard area code such as 0845 Numbers, 0800 Freephone, 0844 Numbers, 0871 Numbers, 0700 Numbers and 090 Premium Rate Numbers. Not only do they add a professional look to your business but they are also very affordable and in some cases free.

Another advantage of using a non-geographic number is that they are not tied to a telephone exchange and can be moved wherever your business moves.

How much does it cost?


Let's start with 0800 numbers. These are freephone numbers in the UK so when you call them you do not pay anything on your telephone bill instead the company you are calling is responsible for the cost which is usually calculated at around 2p to 5p per minute.

0845 Numbers are charged at a local call rate to the caller and can usually be registered by your business for a small one-off fee (anything of £20 and up). There is typically no revenue stream for these numbers with any revenue shared amongst the telephone service providers.

Finally 0870 numbers are charged at a national call rate to the caller and the company will usually receive a percentage of the revenue generated by the calls, this is usually paid quarterly to the company. Depending on the desirability of the number registering a new 0870 number can be completely free or cost anything up to a few hundred pounds.

How does it work?


The way it works is simple. When you register your new number you allocate a physical telephone number that all calls will be routed to, once this is in place any calls to the new non-geographic number will be seamlessly diverted to your nominated line without the customer hearing any automated messages.

Other useful features


Here are three other useful features that can also be bolted on to these types of numbers.
  • Call centre style automation. You be familiar with this if you phone any large company? press 1 for sales, press 2 for service etc, etc. This allows you to record specific messages and enable your customers to route themselves to the most appropriate department.
  • Call rerouting. If you run your business from more than one location then you can program which physical telephone number you want the calls to be routed to. These can be changed whenever you wish by using an automated call routing function.
  • Divert when busy. If you are on the phone and unable to take another call then this feature will either redirect the caller to another number or to a voice mail service where they can leave a message.


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