New Etisalat service allows customers to reserve generic names
March 21, 2005
Emirates Telecommunications Corporation- Etisalat- has announced a development to the recently introduced Toll Free Service. Until now businesses could use their company name or brand name for numeric dialing, but starting April 2nd, Etisalat will allow companies to reserve and use common (generic) industry terms as well. This change will give companies a prime marketing advantage in terms of having their name or their product line recognized by consumers looking for a particular product or service.
Mohammed Al Fahim, Etisalat’s Executive Vice President of Marketing, said: “Following the successful introduction of the service, this new facility will allow even more companies to have their company, brand name and even their industry keyword as a part of their toll-free number. The competitive advantage to those businesses that sign on to this service early will be tremendous. There is also a benefit for their potential customers, who will not have to remember a complex phone number, but will be able to conveniently pick up a phone and dial 800-BOOKS (800-26657) or 800-PIZZA (800-74992), for instance.”
The Toll Free Service, which allows companies to have key words as part of their toll free number, has been a huge success since its launch late last year, and many prominent companies in the UAE already have their own number. It is expected that even more companies will move to take advantage of this facility.
The common names are available to the relevant industry customers under Etisalat’s Flat Rate plan (Plan 2). Existing customers can change their Toll Free name dialing through payment of a one-time fee of AED 300.
While this dialing feature has been in use in the telecoms sector of other countries for some time, it is a novel move in this region. Many companies are reporting a high level of satisfaction with the new marketing features and services being introduced by Etisalat.