A local number for local people
Mobile phone operator O2 has launched a new service for small businesses that automatically redirects incoming landline calls to mobile phones for a flat monthly fee.
The reason for the move, apparently, is that customers derive reassurance from the existence of a landline, as it creates a greater impression of localness and permanence in the business than a mobile number.
Fixed Number Anywhere is claimed by O2 to be "the first service of its kind to be offered in the UK by a major mobile operator." It offers to redirect five existing numbers or new ones to up to ten mobile handsets at a fixed fee of £10 per month for normal landlines and £15 per month for 0808 freephone ones.
"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," said Simon Devonshire, head of SME marketing at O2
"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."
