Call forwarding is a phone feature relied upon by hundreds of thousands of businesses all over the world, and if you’ve not yet heard of it you might be surprised to hear about its capabilities.
Landline Anywhere enables all businesses to offer customers a landline number, which can be answered via any mobile device, without the customer ever knowing they are calling a mobile number! It’s possible thanks to call forwarding.
Call forwarding is invaluable, as it makes it possible for a person (usually a business owner or member of staff) to take phone calls that had initially been directed at one number, and answer them on a different phone. With Landline Anywhere, calls that had initially been directed at a virtual landline number can be answered whilst on the move. This mobile landline service is incredibly efficient, and provides great credibility to small businesses and sole traders. It’s also far more cost-effective than a traditional landline.
Read on to find out more about how Landline Anywhere works, and we’ll let you in on all the little secrets that help to make this magic happen! If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team.
What is call forwarding?
Landline Anywhere uses call forwarding to make the impossible - possible! Call forwarding is a feature which enables phone calls to be redirected from your existing landline number to your mobile, or any other number of your choice. The Landline Anywhere team can also provide you with a landline number of your choice, either local or national, which redirects straight through to your mobile phone. Calls can be sent to a phone with a completely different number, and answered there without the caller ever knowing that their call has been redirected.
Call forwarding may seem complicated at first, but with our team on hand to help, you can have a virtual landline number up and running in just a few minutes. The landline number can then be used for all business calls, so you can use any phone number you choose - from wherever you happen to be. This service is offered with no hidden fees, and no minimum term contracts, all for only £9.95 a month!
Why do I need call forwarding?
Call forwarding is a feature with many uses. In the past, call forwarding was used primarily for businesses who wanted staff to be able to take office calls at home. They might also have used the feature when important members of the team were out and about at meetings, or travelling the country for work. Many companies still use it in this way.
There’s another big use for call forwarding that’s now making waves, though. And with the growing prevalence of remote working, and a boom in self-employed workers, this handy use will soon become an essential feature for many small businesses. Of course, we’re talking about forwarding landline phone numbers to mobile devices.
Having a landline phone number to advertise your business makes it look professional. Compare a business website displaying a landline to one with a mobile number, and you’ll immediately notice the difference. There’s just something about landlines!
Of course, many sole traders, remote workers and small businesses would love to proudly display a landline number on their site. But often it’s just not possible. If a company is run by a single person, they may well not have an office space where calls can be answered. They might spend all of their time out taking on work, visiting customers and spreading the word about their new business. Added to this is the cost and hassle of setting up a landline phone number. Such numbers often command considerable set up fees and monthly price tags, and can be a real headache to set up.
In cases like these, businesses often end up giving customers a mobile number to call. But it just doesn’t look right, does it? Thankfully there’s a solution to this troublesome problem, and it all lies in the magic of call forwarding.
Using Landline Anywhere, businesses can now choose a landline phone number that suits them, and put it up for all to see on their website, business vehicles, business cards, advertisements and anywhere else they choose. Businesses can opt for a virtual number from anywhere in the UK, using 01/02 local or 0330 national numbers.
The chosen number can then be set to redirect automatically to a mobile number. It could go to a business mobile number, or it could even redirect straight through to an existing personal mobile device. You can even use the out-of-hours automation feature to change what happens to incoming calls based on the time of day, so you can respond to your customers when you’re free. Sounds good, right? And it’s available for as little as £9.95 a month.
Will a virtual landline really make a difference to my business?
It really will. A virtual landline number doesn’t just look professional and sound far more credible than a mobile number. It also enables SMEs to run in a more customer-friendly, efficient way. By eliminating huge numbers of unanswered calls, and making sure your team are easily contactable throughout the day, you can significantly improve the experience for all your customers.
A Landline Anywhere phone number helps to ensure that customers can always be connected to the person they need to speak to. In terms of customer satisfaction, this is vital. Research undertaken by American Express found that “40% of customers prefer talking to a real person over the phone” when dealing with complex issues. Nothing builds trust and customer loyalty like the ability to get through to a human on the phone, whenever you have a problem.
Without a phone number that can be answered from anywhere, your business could be missing out on valuable enquiries and sales. CBS News reported that a whopping 80% of customers won’t leave a voicemail if their call isn’t answered, because they do not believe that anyone will listen to the messages. According to Telux, every single one of those missed calls is worth £1,200 to SMEs. In total, SMEs are losing up to £90bn through missed calls every year. That’s an incredible amount of lost opportunities, and the problem is entirely solvable just by setting up a virtual landline number.
How does call forwarding work?
Call forwarding works in several ways. If you already have a landline number, our team can redirect that number to a mobile of your choice. If you’d prefer to set up a virtual landline number, that’s also an option. Simply choose from our selection of available numbers and we’ll get straight to work redirecting it to your phone of choice. In just a few minutes you’ll be able to answer those all-important calls on the go.
The effect of Landline Anywhere is seamless, and your customers won’t even notice a difference. The user will dial the landline number in question, which will then immediately be redirected to your chosen mobile phone. The mobile will then start ringing straight away, and before you know it you’ll be chatting to the customer via your mobile phone.
For larger businesses with more team members, there are other options to decide upon when setting up the optimum call forwarding system. For example, you might choose to have a redirected call cause every office phone or work mobile to ring simultaneously, with the first to answer being connected to the customer. Alternatively, you might prefer for the calls to ring team members’ phones sequentially.
If you’re looking for a cost-effective way to provide your customers with a professional landline number, whilst still taking calls via your mobile, Landline Anywhere holds the answer. We’re on hand to help throughout the call forwarding process, and can assist you in setting up a brand new virtual landline number for customers to use straight away. If you’d like to learn more, make sure you contact our team today. We’re only a phone call away!
— Last updated on April 6, 2023.