Phoneword

Phonewords (also known as "phonenames" and as vanity numbers in the USA) [http://www.phonespell.org/] are the alphanumeric equivalent of a numeric telephone number. Phonewords are made up from the various letters of the alphabet that correspond to particular numbers on a telephone keypad. These letters can form a word, a partial word, an acronym, abbreviation, or an alphanumeric combination. [http://www.phonepeople.com/spell/]

The main advantages of phonewords over standard phone numbers include: 1) increased memorability 2) Increased response rates to advertising.

Regular side by side testing of phonewords vs. phone numbers in TV and radio advertising in Australia has shown that phonewords generate up to twice as many calls as standard phone numbers Fact|date=February 2007.

A study conducted by Roy Morgan Research in February 2006 indicated that 92% of Australians are aware of alphanumeric dialling. [cite paper
author = Roy Morgan Research
title = Phone Word Awareness, Usage and Dial-ability Omnibus Telephone Survey Results
version = 1.0
publisher = [http://www.roymorgan.com.au/ Roy Morgan Research]
date = March 2006
url =
format = PDF
accessdate = ]

Examples of phonewords

Well known examples in Australia include: 1300 REAL ESTATE, 1800 REVERSE, 1300 GO HARVEY, 1300 GREYHOUND, 1300 UNICEF, 1300 OFFICE, 1300 HARD ROCK, 1300 HILTON, 1300 FOXTEL, 1300 CAR LOAN, 1300 FLOWERS, 13 RAMS, 13 FLOWERS, 1300 FLORIST, 1300 WESTPAC, 1300 TELSTRA, 1300 MUM-DAD (reverse charge service)

Well-known North American examples include 1-800-ABC-DEFG, 1-800-MY APPLE, 1-800-CALL ATT, 1-800-THE CARD, 1-800-COLLECT, 1-800-CONTACTS, 1-800-GO FEDEX, 1-800-FLOWERS, 1-800-MATTRESS, 1-800-METLIFE, 1-800-PICK-UPS, and 1-800-WESTERN.

Vanity numbers in the United States

Vanity 800 numbers are phone numbers that spell something, like 800-4-MOBILE, 800-WASTE-REMOVAL, 800-4-EQUITY, 800-NEW-RIDE, 800-INJURED, 800-NEW-CARS or 800-MY LEXUS. They are easier to remember than numeric phone numbers, therefore when businesses use them as a direct response tool in their advertising (radio, television, print, outdoor, etc.) they are proven to increase response rates by 30-60%. Vanity 800 phone numbers are rare, however. 800 is the most recognizable toll-free exchange - more so than 866, 877 or 888. There are companies in the U.S. who lease these memorable 800 phone numbers to businesses and then route the calls based on the area code that the caller is dialing from.

Vanity 800 numbers are also available with call tracking. The tracking of these direct-response tools allows businesses to determine where their incoming call traffic is coming from. call tracking reports enable businesses owners and manager to build a database of leads, access demographic information on callers, examine a wide range of call data, better allocate personnel based on calling patterns, analyze ad campaign results, and export data into other programs. The reports also help to fine-tune advertising plans and media budgets by providing detailed information on specific media buys, such as radio, television, outdoor media, etc.

With the popularity of these numbers (vanity in the USA or phone words in Australia) companies see the massive value in linking the number to a web site of the same text, as in the case with THRIFTY who have the Vanity number 1800 thrifty and the web site www.1800thrifty.com . This enables them to target phone and web users together. So like in Australia, companies paying many thousands of dollars and in some cases paying a million dollars or more for the Phone word numbers, they will be left with no choice but to pay the same kinds of amounts for the domains as well. Or we could see a market develop where the Domain names owners point the domain on a monthly fee or a CPC method.

Phonewords in Australia

Phonewords are officially introduced into Australia following the release of the appropriate number ranges by the ACMA Australian Communications Authority in August 2004 although they have been widely used in the United States for more than thirty years. The ACMA markets the rights of use to the phonewords (also referred to as smartnumbers) via an online auction which is found at www.smartnumbers.com.au

Some phonewords have sold for as much as AUD $1 million with 13TAXI raising AUD $1,005,000; 1300 TICKETS AUD $300,000; 1300 FLOWERS AUD $152,500; 1800 TICKETS AUD $100,000; 13ROSE $92,500.

The types of numbers that are most commonly used include those beginning with the prefixes '1300', and '1800', which are 10 digits in length, and numbers beginning with '13', which are six digits in length.

The differences between the prefixes are the length of the number (6 or 10 digits), the license cost to use them each year (approximately AUD$1 for 1800 and 1300, AUD$10,000 for 13 numbers) and the call cost model. 1300 and 13 numbers share call costs between the caller and call recipient, whereas the 1800 model offers a national free call to the caller, with total costs of the call borne by the recipient.

Phonewords in Japan

Phones can also be used to spell out words in the Japanese writing system. Most services are used by commercial establishments as an attempt to make their numbers easier to remember. Toll free numbers in Japan are prefixed with 0120. An examples is 0120-363963, the numbers after 0120 can also be read as サンキューローソン (thank you Lawson) [http://www.1000miles.com/presentation.pps] . Another example would be 0120-026-999 which can be read as オフロでキュッキュッキュッ in the Japanese language. [ [http://s-aki.hp.infoseek.co.jp/com/999.html 何だかんだ言いつつ、覚えてしまっているということは、東京新聞の戦略勝ちか･･･] ]

ee also

*Vanity plates
*Toll-free telephone numbers
*Telephone numbering plan
*Telephone numbers
*Telephone exchange names

References