My friend and I have been having a debate about how important it is to have a vanity telephone number in the modern world.
He says it is crucial, but I am not so sure.
I think it is more important to have a good business name, and ideally, a corresponding domain name.
I’m sure things like 1-800-FLOWERS have paid off immensely, but for your average small to medium business, is it that big of a deal?
Based on some research of my own, I think it is much harder to get a good telephone number versus a domain name - probably because there are less combinations for a telephone number.
What would your advice be to someone who is starting a business and needs to get a business telephone number and a toll-free telephone number in the U.S.
Hey @mikey_w I think you are right at the point that getting a good telephone number is not as easy as taking a good domain name, However taking a tool free number will somewhere show that you are big enough.
May be it’s not require at initial stage but as your business grow and you can easily afford a toll free, In that case i think you should take it, because it somewhere add a plus point to your business.
I agree that getting a toll-free tele # is also a good idea for an aspiring small business.
Related to my OP, how important is it to have an easy to remember toll-free no?
For instance, my voip provider has lots of toll-free numbers, but they tend to be of this format: 855-935-1742 instead of a more business-based toll-free number like this: 800-975-3000
I think if a toll free number starts with 800, in that case we don’t even need to told to the customers that it’s toll free. It’s batter to have a toll free number like 800-something-something. Lets suppose you right a number 800-975-3000 somewhere in that case the visitor understand it that it’s toll free, So as i believe that you should go for a number which starts with 800.
Correct. But unless you have $50,000 burning a hole in your pocket, or you sell something really obscure, I doubt you would ever get anything of use (e.g. 1-800-FLOWERS)
Sort of like all of the obvious domain names were gone after the late 1990s.
And how important is that in 2016?
I have been told by younger people, “Nobody knows anyone’s phone numbers anymore, because everyone stores them in their cellphone, and nobody remembers phone numbers the way you old-timers used to!”
What do you think about that comment?
Back in the day, that is what distinguished a “business” telephone number from a “residential” phone number.
Residential: (206) 754-1394
Business: (206) 754-5000
Since, I don’t think you can get a long-distance or a toll-free number that is mnemonic, what I am probably more curious about is whether it would subconsciously turn people off if your “business” telephone number was (206) 739-6108
That is absolutely true.
Back in the day, every time you made a phone call you would physically dial in the number. Usually any number you dialled frequently enough would become memorised by the repetition and you would no longer need to look in your phone book or wherever you had it written down. So it was very common to have numbers memorised for friends, family and businesses you dealt with.
With mobiles, you may only ever tap in a number once, when you save it to your contact list. There is no repetition to help you memorise it and no need to memorise it, therefore you do not memorise it.
This doesn’t answer your question at all, but from a user standpoint I hate vanity #'s. It definitely looks great on a business card or website, but at least for me keying in the number takes me significantly longer than if you just gave me the numbers straight.
Even so, don’t you think the second number looks more professional than the first one?
Residential: (206) 754-1394
Business: (206) 754-5000
In my case, I use VOIP for my phone service and it is through a smaller company (i.e. not a major US telecom). They have an endless number of long-distance and toll-free telephone numbers, but from what I can gather, the phone numbers they offer are sort of “bargain basement” leftovers!
If I went to AT&T or Verizon and spent lots of money getting business service with them, I am sure that they could get me something that looks like this b 754-5000[/b] but I’d prefer never have to deal with major US telecom providers again!
I guess I am old-fashioned, but when I call a “real” business, I sort of expect to see a phone number like b 754-5000[/b] or at least maybe b 754-8800[/b] for the main phone number.
They simply look better, are easier to remember, and easier to dial - for those of use who still do that.
I could get a business long-distance and business toll-free number in a matter of minutes from my current VOIP provider if I wasn’t so hung up on this.
From those of you above, it sounds like maybe my concerns are not as valid as maybe they were 20 years ago, huh?
I’ve spent a good amount of time this afternoon on hold with these professional customer support telephone numbers.
National Medicare - 1-800-633-4227
National Social Security - 1-800-772-1213
MassHealth - 1-800-841-2900
Massachusetts Social Security - 1-866-964-5061
