Essential guide to business telephone and mobile numbers UK

The traditional desk phone might be seen as a relic of a bygone era, as companies are now relying much more heavily on a diverse range of communications such as video calling, CRM systems and smartphones. But a business telephone system can still be a critical tool for modern businesses.

Having a single, dedicated business phone number that your clients or customers can reach on you represents a level of professionalism people still expect from a modern enterprise.

With the landline phone network being “switched off” by January 2027, we recommend that small businesses invest in a VoIP system to get a dedicated business phone number. We’ve been advising small businesses for over two decades, and we can take you through all you need to know about VoIP and getting a phone number for your business.

All businesses will need to make the jump from landline phones, and so we recommend finding the best VoIP system for your small business as soon as possible.

Do I need a business phone number?

Our dedicated insights team conducted a communication survey, in order to better understand the needs of our readers. The results told us that email, team messaging and team conferencing have all pulled ahead of phone calls as the three most dominant methods of communication among small business teams. However, many customers still choose to pick up the phone when they want to speak to a company.

A phone number is a dedicated line for your business, giving your customers a clear way to contact you, and so should be shared on all company materials including business listings, your website, and email footers. Your employees can also use the system to contact leads via a professional, secure channel.

Having a dedicated business phone number will make your operation seem more professional, building trust with your customer base. With some companies setting strict boundaries for when their staff can be contacted out of house on their mobiles, it can be critical for many businesses to be able to communicate 24/7. With a dedicated business phone number you can get access to features like ring groups, call forwarding and virtual receptionist functions, to make sure your clients are being handled no matter the time of day or night.

Key reasons to get a business phone number

• Scalability: you can start out with a local number, but you’ll also have the option to switch to a UK-wide number to gain an instant national presence.
• Privacy: giving out your personal number to your customers and clients can be a dangerous game! Having a business number gives you control over when you get contacted.
• Flexibility: thanks to call routing, employees can work anywhere they choose as calls to your business number can be directed to the telephone of your choosing.
• Customer satisfaction: according to Salesforce, 88% of customers now say a company’s customer experience is as important as its product or services. By getting a business number through a VoIP provider you’ll also gain access to a suite of call management tools that will enhance your customers experience.

Business mobile phone numbers

Now that it’s theoretically possible to run all your company communications through smartphone apps, getting a business mobile contract is a popular solution for many small businesses. Less than half of the respondents we surveyed said they use desk phones in their day jobs.

In fact, a lot of organisations have started to implement a bring your own device (BYOD) policy, asking their staff to use personal mobiles that remove the need to invest in company mobile contracts completely.

However, for the reasons we outlined above, we still recommend setting up a shared business phone number that can be routed to the entire teams’ mobiles. Finding a VoIP brand that permits call routing, such as Dialpad, means you can do this for a small monthly fee. Another way to do this is by setting up a follow me number (we’ll explain how these work in the section below).

What are the different types of business phone number?

Here’s a simple breakdown of the top five most common types of business phone number in the UK.

Number type	Prefix	Description	Benefits	Drawbacks
Freephone numbers	0800 and 0808	Freephone numbers are completely free to call from a landline or mobile	Customers are more likely to get in touch because they won’t be charged	You must foot the bill for all received phone calls (around 1.5p per minute, per call)
Local rate numbers	0845	The caller always pays their set local charge (up to around 7p per minute)	Customers won’t have to pay over and above what they’re used to	You will need to pay the difference
Service rate numbers	0843 and 0844	The caller pays their set local charge (up to around 7p per min) no matter where they are based	You receive a share of the customer call charge (around 1p to 4p per minute)	You will need to pay the difference, so you could end up making a loss
National rate numbers	0870 and 0871	The caller pays a national, not local, rate	Some of the customer call charge is rebated to your company, generating revenue	Customers can pay up to 16p a minute (plus an access charge), which could frustrate them or deter them from contacting you
UK-wide numbers	03 and 0345	You can be based anywhere, but the customer still pays the local rate	You can advertise a single phone number, regardless of relocation or expansion	Mobile calls can cost from 3p to 65p per minute, which could annoy customers

Specialist phone numbers

The above are the most popular business phone number options, but there are a couple of specialist ones to be aware of as well:

1. Premium rate numbers (09)
   Callers pay for the call at a premium rate, costing up to £3.60 per minute plus an additional 5p to 6p per phone call. Because some of this revenue comes to you, these numbers are generally reserved for calls you’d want to make money from such as chatlines and phone-in competitions. Not recommended for customer care, as it might alienate your customers and make them less likely to get in contact. 🚨 Premium rate numbers also have strict user guidelines set out by PhonepayPlus, so make sure you enquire about these when considering your options.
2. Personal numbering (070)
   Known as follow me numbers, these are virtual numbers that can be routed across the world, with calls being automatically forwarded to the line that’s most likely to be active. You can choose which phone lines each call is forwarded to by setting up a series of priorities determining which staff are most likely to be at their phones at certain times.
3. Vanity or customer phone number
   These use recognizable patterns of numbers or letters, generally to add novelty value and memorability. They can be freephone, local rate, or national rate numbers. These have generally fallen out of favour, as the majority of people use smartphones that can save numbers, making memorability unnecessary, and not all handsets have letters printed on the keys, meaning numbers based on words or a sequence of letters aren’t always helpful.

How do I get a business phone number?

Once you’ve decided on the type of phone number you need, you can get yourself a VoIP phone number. Don’t worry, it’s quick and easy! You can do it in three steps.

Step 1. Choose your VoIP provider

Different providers will have different plans and features suited to different businesses. You can jump over to our roundup of the best VoIP providers to help you choose the best one for you.

Once you’ve chosen your provider, you’ll need to sign up for the service.

Step 2. Choose your number

Many VoIP providers let you choose your own number. But don’t get overwhelmed by choice, as they can assign one randomly to you if you’d prefer.

Step 3. Set up your system

This will primarily involve setting up an auto-attendant (a feature your VoIP software should come with) to route your incoming calls so callers can be taken to the right team member. That way, when your customers call, they will be given options for what they need: “Press one for sales,” and so on.

You’ll also need to set up extensions for your employees. This can help customers and clients reach specific people faster, and helps your employees route calls to each other much more efficiently.

Always be sure to test your phone system first to make sure it’s working properly, and the call quality is up to par.

Now you should be good to go!

How to get a FREE business phone number

With inflation rates rising and the cost of living crisis ongoing, the overheads of running a business are sky-high — so finding a free business phone number definitely sounds like an attractive idea.

At the moment, there are only a handful of providers on the market that offer a business phone number for zero charge. Number People is one of the best known options for this.

Just keep in mind that these options can be extremely limited. Many ‘free’ providers make up for their low cost by charging extra rates, such as for forwarding your calls to either a mobile or a landline.

For most small businesses, we’d recommend going with a paid plan. There are some extremely affordable low cost options, such as bOnline, whose prices start from just £7 per user, per month.

We’d recommend jumping over to our dedicated article on VoIP system costs to find out how much you should be paying.