Category: Business phone

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What Is a Toll-Free Number and How Does It Work

What Is a Toll-Free Number and How Does It Work?

What Is a Toll-Free Number and How Does It Work?

Are you a business owner who’s bombarded with daily messages asking how to reach you by phone? If this sounds familiar, it might be time to consider getting a toll-free 0800 number. Having a 0800 number may sound a bit retro, but toll-free numbers offer you some sincere advantages over your competition.

Customer service is more important than ever. Due to the ongoing pandemic, customers are exploring new ways to engage and communicate. They need the ability to contact businesses online, by social media, and by phone.

We specialise in offering 0508 and 0800 numbers for New Zealand businesses and know a thing or two about communicating with our customers. When you introduce a toll-free number to your means of contact, you remove a barrier from potential and returning customers contacting you. Below we’ll discuss what a toll-free number is, how it works, and most importantly— why you need one.

What Is a Toll-Free Number?

A toll-free telephone number starts with a four-digit code that is free for people to call from landlines and mobiles within New Zealand. Simply put, if someone from Canterbury needs to call a business over in Auckland, they can do so without incurring long-distance charges on their phone bill. However, wireless customers will have to “pay” for the call using their minutes if their voice service is not unlimited.

Having a business number is expected for customer-service centers, because it gives people a convenient and free way to reach you. New Zealand business numbers start with the prefix 0800 or 0508. 

Signing up for an NZ Business Number

When you sign up for a toll-free number, the provider gives you an unassigned number on a first-come-first-served basis. This number is unique to your company. You also have the option of buying a vanity number, which spells out a word if that particular number is available. Once active, customers can call you on your toll-free number at any time, day or night.

Signing Up for a Toll-Free Number Is Easy

  • Find an available number using our convenient search tool
  • Fill out the accompanying form
  • Within three business days, your selected 0800 number is live

How Our Monthly Pricing Works

Toll-free calls are free for your customers, but you pay for the service by incoming and outgoing calls. We charge a $30 monthly fee that includes $30 worth of charges for incoming or outgoing calls. Our regular calling rates are just 10c per minute, which means you can use 300 minutes of call time for the minimum fee.

If your company doesn’t have an official office, your NZ business number can forward to your cell phone or another landline. The fee for this service starts at the low $30 per month line charge (including $30 in calls). If you are forwarding to a mobile phone, call time is 18c per minute from a landline or 22c per minute from a mobile phone. Forwarding to another landline is 10c per minute from a landline and 14c per minute from a mobile line. 

Our fees are affordable and transparent. For example, if your 0800 number forwards to your mobile phone for the whole month and you use 120 minutes of call time coming from mobile phones, your bill is $30, the minimum fee. It’s a convenient way to keep in touch with your customers and be available to them wherever your travels take you. 

Why Should I Get a Toll-Free Number for My Business?

For many customers, a toll-free phone number means that your business is legitimate. It also makes your listing look professional, whether online, on your business card, or in your marketing materials. When customers perceive your company as trustworthy, they are more likely to use your services or shop with you again. 

Increase Your Customer Base With a Toll-Free Phone Number

A New Zealand business number is an efficient way for your customers to reach you. Customers trust businesses that they can get in touch with in their preferred way. If that means by phone, having a dedicated toll-free number helps them keep in touch with you.

We offer toll-free 0508 and 0800 numbers for businesses, along with business broadband and IT services. If you need a business number that’s available 24/7 for your customers, please contact us at Dynamite IT Solutions.

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Why Should I Have a Toll-Free Number For My Business?

Why Should I Have a Toll-Free Number For My Business?

The past year caused many businesses to change how they communicated with customers and forced them to adapt to more digital means of communication. Customers also expected a fast turnaround for service issues and the ability to connect 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at a time when the workforce was shifting to remote assistance as the norm. Having a dedicated phone line for customer calls is an effective means for communication and offers an opportunity for your business to connect to customers professionally, no matter the time of day.

The ability to connect to your customers at all times is paramount for success. Having a New Zealand business number available for them to call day or nite helps you connect and build rapport with the community you serve.

Here we discuss why having a toll-free number set up for your business is so important in 2021. We’ll also walk you through some of the options and add-ons available for toll-free NZ business numbers.

What Is a Toll-Free Number?

A toll-free telephone number starts with either 0508 or 0800 in New Zealand. It is a business number that allows customers to call the number free from any landline within the country without incurring long-distance charges through their phone company. Instead, the business that owns the toll-free number incurs the cost for customers to call in, usually at a per-minute rate.

Reason #1: Professional Look

The most important reason you should consider signing up for an NZ business number is to increase your legitimacy. Having an officially dedicated toll-free number for customers to call you at gives customers the impression that your company is well-established in the community and dedicated to serving them. Having that open point of contact makes you seem trustworthy.

Word Numbers

You have the option of choosing a toll-free number that spells out a word or phrase, called a word number or vanity number. Word numbers may include the name of your business or a catchphrase, as long as the number is available for use. For example, a popular trash removal service has the number 0800-GOT-JUNK. The wording of the number defines what they do and makes it easy for consumers to remember their phone number easily.

Reason #2: Convenience

A dedicated business phone number is an easy way for customers to contact you, especially when the number is free for them to call. Display your 0800 number on social media profiles, business listings, and your business cards. Your goal is to communicate with customers on their preferred service, whether by phone, text, social media, or email. Having these choices available allows you to have omnichannel communication, where all of your ways to communicate are connected. All the consumer needs to do is choose which way they would like to contact you.

An 0800 Number Moves with You

Don’t dread moving offices or locations. Your business number comes with you wherever your office or business goes. Even if your new location is not ready for service, 0800 numbers offer the option of call forwarding so that you never miss a call.

Reason #3: Accessibility

Your 0800 business number is accessible to your customers 24/7. They can call you any time and either speak to an employee or leave a message for you to respond to during business hours. Always having that line of communication open helps you build rapport and trust.

Reason #4: Call Forwarding

Call forwarding is one of the most popular services that toll-free numbers offer. When you have your business number set to forward calls, it connects your incoming calls to a different phone number. You can set call forwarding incoming calls to your mobile number, another business line, or a voice-over-IP (VOIP) system.

As we touched on previously, call forwarding offers a lot of flexibility. If your company is large enough to hire a call centre or contract with a company for customer service, your business number will forward incoming calls to the call centre. If your company is small, you could have incoming calls forwarded to your cell phone when you are not in the office so that customers can always reach you.

Reason #5: Affordability

New Zealand business numbers are affordable. Expect to pay per minute for your 0800 number, so short and sweet calls are best. Call termination rates vary depending on whether your customers call from a landline or cell phone and also whether you have call forwarding set up. When you sign up for services, look over your rate plan to understand the different charges to budget usage.

Get Your 0800 Number Set Up Today

A 0800 number is an affordable way for your customers to keep in touch with you. At Dynamite IT Solutions, we offer business 0508 and 0800 numbers. Contact us today to find out how we can help you stay in touch with your clientele.

We offer some of the best priced free phone number plans in New Zealand. With a minimum monthly charge of $30 and incoming calls from only 10c a minute, getting the best 0800 number for your business has never been so cost-effective and easy.

With a New Zealand free phone number, making it free to call your 0800 number from a mobile could be the difference between a potential client calling you or a competitor. As competition levels increase for businesses around New Zealand, make the decision today to remove this barrier from clients contacting your business.