Fun Mobile Phone Facts

Many businesses these days are run primarily on mobile phones. Naturally, this doesn't present a problem from a call answering perspective as we can just as easily transfer calls to a mobile device as to a landline. We can even send any messages to your mobile phone as a text message.

Here are a few fun facts about mobile phones:

• The first mobile phone call in the United Kingdom was made in 1985. Comedian Ernie Wise of Morecambe and Wise fame, called Vodafone's Newbury, Berkshire offices from London.
• There are more than 4 billion mobile phones in the world, and over 1 billion of those are smartphones.
• The most commonly number which is dialled accidentally by your mobile phone is in your pocket or bumping around your handbag, is 999. Not really surprising when you consider that most of us lock our phones so that's the only number they can call...but a bit annoying for the emergency services!
• Mobile phone internet use is expected to overtake desktop internet use by 2014. Already the majority of local internet searches are from a mobile phone.
• Need to bling up your iPhone? A British jeweller created the iPhone 4 'Diamond Rose' which features 500 diamonds with over 100 carats between them, including a 7.4 carat rose diamond on the home key. Not a phone you'd casually stick in your pocket, with a price tag of £5 million!
• New phobias have risen since mobile phones have appeared. Have you ever felt horribly uncomfortable just because you haven't got your mobile phone with you, it has run out of charge, or has no signal? There's a name for that - 'nomophobia'.

Problems On The Line

As telephone lines have become more and more hi-tec, the issue of problems on the line is one that has faded, but when problems do occur, they can be as debilitating as ever if you are unprepared. If you have already diverted your calls to a telephone answering service (such as Zoom, naturally!), then the only problem you will face is calling us from your mobile phone to tell us your line is down so we need to put calls through to an alternative number (such as that mobile phone, which is less susceptible to problems such as manual workers having accidentally drilled through the line!).

Of course, the modern version of a faulty telephone line is bad signal. Losing mobile phone signal half way through a telephone conversation is bad enough, but at least the client has spoken to you, and can probably tell it was a problem with signal rather than you simply not bothering to answer the phone. Sure, we know you don't always answer as you are busy, but it is worth remembering that an impatient client is likely to jump to the worst conclusion! Once the call has failed half way through, you can quickly find somewhere with a better signal (we have all stood by windows desperately trying to find the perfect angle!), and call them back, or at least send them an email to let them know you are having technical difficulties. More concerning is when you are in a bad signal area, and are perhaps unaware of it. The client tries to call, but it goes straight to voicemail every time. Again, making sure your calls are always diverted to a call answering service when the line is busy or the call unanswered, makes sure that your clients always get to speak to a real person, and they feel much more confident that their message will reach you.