10 reasons why the British Broadcasting Centre has selected 03 numbers
The BBC announced this year (2008) that it would be swapping all of its 0870 telephone numbers for the new 03 number equivalent: 0370.Certain areas have already swapped and you can hear the new 03 numbers being used on Radio 1 and Radio 2 and across its regional television network, for example.The flagship fundraising event, Children in Need also used an 03 number as its main donation line. This is some great telecom news. Here are several reasons why the BBC has opted for 03 numbers:
1. Different to 0845 numbers, 03 numbers cost the same to ring as standard 01/02 phone numbers even from a mobile phone (40% of telephone calls are now dialled from mobiles).
2. People believe in 03 numbers because of their transparent call costs. This is particularly relavent for the BBC which relies on funding from license-fee payers. 03 numbers are caller friendly and therefore not subject to bad publicity.
3. 03 equivalent numbers are to be had that let organisations swap their 08 numbers for 03. Alternatively, some highly memorable 03 numbers (0333 or 0300 etc.) can be bought as the number range is still fairly new.
4. Like all non-geographic numbers, 03 numbers provide the BBC a national presence. This meant it can produce one specific memorable number all through the United Kingdom – which is not location specific. This is specifically essential for its national TV and radio services.
5. The BBC can deal with enquirers more readily by using call management systems to their 03 numbers.
6. Its numerous departments can manage where they want to get their calls (particularly out of hours and in an emergency) easily via the web/phone.
7. They can see the location of callers, times of high caller usage and the time taken to answer all calls with online call statistics packages.
8. You are able to save calls to 03 numbers without bringing in costly physical hardware.
9. Callers can be queued, which ensures that all essential calls will be dealt with.
10. They can often be extremely reasonable to use if you look for the provider with the most competitive offering in the market. It’s obvious that 03 numbers are quickly becoming the telephone number of choice for many United Kingdom businesses and organisations. Hopefully, the points above provide a starting point to the reasons why the 03 number is so popular.