Name bubbles
Name dialing allows you to make calls to a so-called name number. Instead of entering or remembering a number sequence, the portion of the phone number after the prefix is converted to a word.
Name dialing is used in practice mainly by companies. For service numbers beginning with 0800, 0900, 088 or 085, it is possible to dial a name number for a fee, provided the combination is available.
Converting numbers to letters
How the digits of the phone number are converted to letters corresponds to the letters depicted on the numeric buttons on most telephone dialers. In the early days of mobile telephony, this format was also used to format texts for such things as text messages or the names in the internal phone book.
In this system, the letters of the alphabet are divided into numbers as follows:
- (not in use or space)
- ABC
- DEF
- GHI
- JKL
- MNO
- PQRS
- TUV
- WXYZ
Because the number 1 does not correspond to a letter, phone numbers with a 1 are not suitable and are rarely used for name calling.
Benefits of a name number
The advantage of name calling is that the caller does not have to remember a complicated series of numbers, but only a word. Example: Instead of dialing 0900-6275384 or 0800-4277256, you can simply dial or remember 0900-MARKETING TERMS or 0800-HAPSALONS.
The fact that name numbers are easier to remember and enter means that advertisements within which a name number is mentioned or referred to have a higher conversion rate. This is particularly true of commercials on radio and television and outdoor advertising. Because name numbers are approachable, there is less friction to pick up the phone and call.
Name numbers are not bound to the fixed length of service numbers. When a name number has more characters than the phone number, the extra numbers typed in are simply ignored by the telephone network.
