O2 has recently announced its Fixed Number Anywhere service that aims to provide small businesses to take incoming landline calls directly on a mobile phone. This service is apparently the first service to be offered in the UK by a mobile operator.
The service would be launched in August and is especially designed for small businesses. These businesses retain a landline number to show customers that their business is local and established, but they are away from their desk for a long time. Fixed Number Anywhere assists these businesses to reduce the number of missed calls while eliminating pricey call diverts.
Simon Devonshire, Head of SME Marketing, O2, mentions, “Desk phones were great when business was done from a desk but for the vast majority of small businesses the fixed nature of a landline is at odds with how they operate day to day. By converging a fixed landline number with a mobile service, small businesses can continue to maintain an image of being a local business, which is valued by customers, whilst maintaining the flexibility and mobility that has enabled them to adapt to and thrive in the current climate.”
Businesses using this service can maintain their existing BT telephone number or select a new number with a local geographical or Free Phone code. Around five landline numbers can be linked to the same mobile phone facilitating small businesses to exihibit a local image, while expanding their geographical reach.
Further, each landline number can also be linked to up to ten different employee mobile phones which helps reduce missed calls. Users can also benefit from the call group facility wherein calls ring simultaneously to all ten employees within the group or can be prioritized to individual numbers.
O2 does not charge when calls are made to a mobile via the Fixed Number Anywhere service, and the caller would be charged at their standard rate for the fixed number dialed. Free service would be provided to those businesses that bring an existing BT 01 or 02 landline number to O2 and take a new mobile connection. The service is offered at a fixed price of £10 per month for 01 or 02 landline numbers and £15 per month for 0808 free phone numbers.