Non-geographic numbers are increasingly becoming popular with businesses of all different sizes, mainly because of the great value for money they offer. Another reason it can benefit businesses of all sizes is that it offers an identity that isn’t tied down to one location and works on a ore national scale. Rather than having a local area code, you have an easy to remember number which can begin with 0800, 0845, 0844 and similar non-geographic codes. It’s hard to believe, but another thing that this can help for your business is a growth in incoming call volume, which obviously directly equates to a growth in your business. As more and more companies are recognising the benefit of having a non-geographical number, there are also companies that provide these, with a multitude of different services that can make managing them easier, like managing inbound calls at the click of a mouse.
Service providers that provide companies with NGNs will tend to offer extra services to make the management of them more smooth, and there are loads of call management functions that you can add to your package to increase efficiency. One of the most common ways that people interact with NGN numbers are through 0808 numbers purchased for business. These can include ways to monitor inbound call statistics, call whisper, hunt groups, time of day routing and fax to email, as well as others. All of these services are now usually tied in with your NGN package so you get so much more than just the number to get you started off with. the main benefit to all of these functions, is that they are software driven.
This means you do not need to mess around with loads of difficult pieces of hardware, and you will be able to control the whole system through one central piece of software. This can also help you to improve call waiting time. One of the main things that puts customers off of calling through to a customer services department is the lengthy wait, and this is another part of the process that can be managed efficiently with all of the added extras you can get from some providers of NGNs.
What are the benefits of controlling your inbound telephone calls?
This can also significantly lower costs. Aside from having the need to purchase and set up costly hardware, and paying someone for their time doing it, you can monitor your calling patterns and find out where the greatest need is for your staff. This means you can streamline your workforce more and only have as many people as you actually need. Another great reason this can be beneficial to your company, is that it can boost staff morale. Staff will feel undervalued and stressed if they have too many calls or calls that do not relate to their department, so ensuring this process is correct is a great way to keep staff on board and reduce turnover.
Suffering interruptions is something that many businesses suffer and lose money from, but the added extra’s most NGN companies will provide will help you to set up a disaster recovery plan so that you do not suffer too much as a business when the worst happens – or lose too much money. This can help with reputation also, as the last thing a business needs is to not be available when they say they are.
Having complete, independent control of your telephony system is a great add on for having an NGN number. NO matter how small or large your business is, ensuring the efficiency or your inbound calls can save you time, money and hassle. When choosing an NGN provider, the first thing a business should do is to look at what ways they can be helped to maximise their efficiency.