7+ digits on a cell phone
Every couple months I hear someone say they couldn’t get through on our number. That usually means theyre calling from a cell phone. Anything after the first 7 digits is usually ignored. The last R is basically only there to make it easier to remember and it doesn’t matter if you dial it or not. But some cell phones think you must have hit the small buttons wrong and don’t put it through. It’s not network specific, it’s related to the hardware.
Some of the newer phones are even smarter and will put toll free numbers with extra digits through but they’ll block local numbers with additional digits. In any case, most people look at the screen and then drop the last digit. You lose far fewer calls for that than you would for people that don’t remember your phone number, although the people who don’t remember your phone number usually don’t contact you.
Some people don’t want a number that stands out. I usually point out to them that your goal isn’t really to make the most important part of your advertising, the call to action, blend in. Your goal is to really get them to notice it and think about it long enough to get it to stick with them. Some people do really funky things to make their commercials stand out. You don’t have to go crazy but you shouldn’t worry so much about trying to make it blend in or take less thought, if that makes sense. Part of the job of your advertising is to get the visitor to notice you or think about you.
Here’s a real life example of more than 7 digits on a Budget Truck
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CL says:
March 25, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Ok, so it all looks good….but I called my cell provider T-Mobile and found they can’t transfer a toll free number. So then I called ATT, Verizon and Vonage, same story! I then looked all through your site and couldn’t find where people actually transfer their service to in order to use the number. Do you have a list of carriers that will accept a 800 number transfer?
Thanks for the help!
CL
Bill Quimby (610 comments.) says:
March 25, 2008 at 10:31 pm
CL,
We are making a list, not of companies that allow you to transfer toll free numbers, but of all phone companies because all phone companies that provide toll free service allow you to transfer existing numbers.
Most cell phone companies and some voip companies are pretty dumb about toll free numbers. They really could but most people there just don’t have a clue and representatives that don’t know how to do something or if the company won’t do it they usually tell you it’s impossible. That’s really dumb but they don’t want to look or sound bad.
There are plenty of phone companies (regular phone companies) that can send the calls of your cell phone. We give you the PNG form because they are one of the best to use if you’re sending the calls to either a cell phone or a voip service. It’s the last page of the toll free manual. Just fill that out and fax it in and that’ll set up everything. We have simplified the paperwork and got people that do it faster (in two days instead of two weeks if you go through anyone else at PNG or another agent).
We’re working on a new directory that will help people with a lot more options too in the near future.
Bill Quimby