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Out of all the things, finding the right kind of business phone number is most overlooked. Business leaders don’t pay much attention to it. And this is where they go wrong.
A business phone number is what bears the onus of streamlined and growth-driven communication. And we all know what important business communication holds. When it comes to picking the right business phone system, businesses often get confused between the toll-free number and a local phone number.
They face a tough time to pick one from these two. The dilemma is real and genuine as both these virtual phone numbers have proved their vitality at multiple fronts. If you are also stuck between these two then this post is going to help you a lot.
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But before moving any further, let’s find out what are they.
Toll-Free Phone Number: Toll-free numbers come with special three-digit codes attached to it and don’t exert any calling charge on the caller. Here, the business pays for the calls made by the customers.
Local Phone Numbers: Local phone numbers are the type of VoIP phone number that is attached to a specific location. Each local number contains the area code of that particular location.
Toll-free or local phone number- Which is the right choice for you?
To find out the answer to this question, let’s ponder over their modus operandi.
The toll-free number comes with universal three-digit codes such as 800, 877,888, and so on. Though these codes help a caller to learn that calling on these number is free of cost, they fail to let the customer knows the exact location of the business.
They are widely used by businesses that want to set-up a call-center that is easily accessible from anywhere. For instance, if you’re a US-based business then you can use a toll-free number to set-up a call center in Asia. Your customers won’t be able to find out the agent with whom they are speaking is sitting in Asia.
On the other hand, the code of the local phone number is associated with a particular location. Though it can also be accessed/use from any part of the world, it attached a business to a particle location.
For instance, if you are using a local phone number of San Francisco it will come with area codes like 415 or 628. Hence, your customers, in no time, will know that you are located in San Francisco.
Local phone numbers are widely used by businesses that want to have a local presence and reach-out the audiences of a particular region.
Why your business needs a local phone number?
Upon weighing down the customers’ perception of these two VoIP number types, we have concluded that local numbers seem more legit and reliable. Here are the few reasons that compel us to say so.
They look legit – Toll-free number often seems like spam or robocall. People admit that they don’t answer an incoming call whose number doesn’t look familiar. They think that it’s a promotion or advertisement call. Hence, don’t bother much to answer it.
This is not the case with the local phone number. As they are attached to local vicinity, they are more likely to get answered and give customers the impression that they are talking with a real person.
They help you win customers’ trust easily – Having a local phone number gives business confidence to approach the prospects. As they give customers an impression of ‘being related to home’, customers will trust you easily.
How to get a VoIP local phone number?
Now that you’re aware that a VoIP local phone is going to help a small/local business to win the hearts of local customers easily, you must find out how to get a local phone number.
As there are many market players at this front, a business must pay attention to the below-mentioned facts before making the final choice:
- Subscription package – Try to ponder over different kinds of subscriptions that the service provider is offering. The more choices you have in the subscriptions, the better are the chances that you will get the ideal fit for your business.
- Cloud-based deployment – With the cloud-based deployment, a local number can be at your service in no time. It’s like a plug-and-play tool that can be at your service without any hardware/software deployment.
- Feature suite – Features like auto call answer, IVR, on-hold music, voicemail transcription, call transfer, call recording are the basics one and should be offered by any regular local number. Apart from them, some specific business features can also be availed at an additional cost. Make sure you’re getting all features that are required for easy and streamlined work-flow.
Endnotes
Both toll-free and local numbers are designed to help a business to establish a highly advanced communication structure. However, the local number is more reliable when it comes to winning the hearts of customers and gaining their trust. So, get it today from a trusted service provider and enjoy a better local presence.
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