Vanity Number Chronicles

Hello, and welcome to the world of phone numbers. And the fact that there a millions, billions and gazillions of them makes it an interesting one. With the world having moved on from talking face-to-face to calling each other up all the time, maybe “just to say hi”, phone numbers have perhaps become an identity tag for each person that uses them. Kinda like those sci-fi movies, don’t you think?

But no matter what, it’s just easier to remember somebody’s name, rather than memorize their numbers. And so the cell phone has become a blessing, since you only need to look up a name to make a call. But for those of us who still enjoy remembering number, though they get on our nerves, the concept of vanity numbers was introduced. With vanity numbers, people are allowed to choose numbers in a way that they can fit their names or a short acronym in their phone numbers. It’s not only individuals who do that, but many companies have their sales and marketing based on them, because they choose phone numbers with the company or product name in them. Now, ain’t that cute?

Apart from numbers which actually spell something, there’s another kind of vanity numbers – the kind that make it easy for someone to remember it really fast, and make forgetting it look stupid. These are numbers with repetitive digits, or perhaps a certain set of digits that may mean something to the individual (for example, 444-1234). The largest group to use vanity number are companies and businesses, since they require a lot of advertising and promotion, and as long as people can easily access their number, they’re happy. And if you think they may not be as necessary as they’re thought to be, think again. And to help you save a little time on the thinking, here are a few advantages that vanity numbers bring along.

Marketing and Promotion

Most companies today are moving on from just normal phone numbers to vanity numbers. And the reason is very simple. As a company advertises itself on TV, and moves on to the last part of giving out its phone number, it needs to make sure that potential customers don’t have to go through the yellow pages again and again just to try and find it. And since the ad doesn’t last for more than perhaps 30 seconds, it becomes difficult for these potential customers to grab the number. So, these companies have vanity numbers, that once shown can be easily remembered and nobody has to make a dash for the nearest piece of paper and a pen.

No Burning Holes in Your Pocket

No matter what their name might suggest, vanity numbers aren’t so vain after all. They’re cost effective, and depending on where you live, you may not have to spend as much as you think you have to.

Sense of Humor

If you’re someone with a good sense of humor, you may just about choose the best possible vanity number out there. So, like that dark haired waitress at the grill? Try slipping her your number, and if she gets it, you’ve just scored!

Uniqueness

The one major advantage with vanity numbers is that they’re all one of a kind. You just cannot confuse one guy’s number with another because they happened to choose their own numbers. And unless they have the same name, with the same spelling and they both chose that to be in their number, you can’t possibly mix them.