Arkansas business phone guide

Arkansas by the numbers

Arkansas had 3.1 million residents in the Census Bureau's July 2024 estimate, up 2.6% from April 2020. The U.S. population grew 2.6% over the same period. County Business Patterns counted 70,452 business establishments in the state in 2023 with 1,120,356 mid-March employees and $60.9 billion in annual payroll. The average establishment has 15.9 employees. 52.2% of establishments with employees had fewer than five people. The three largest sectors by establishments are retail trade (10,566), health care and social assistance (9,072), and other services (except public administration) (7,041).

Arkansas compared with the U.S.

Arkansas has 22.8 business establishments per 1,000 residents, 7.2% below the U.S. figure of 24.6. Establishments average 15.9 employees against 16.7 nationally, and payroll per employee is $54,370 (20.4% below the U.S. $68,342). 52.2% of establishments with employees have fewer than five people (U.S.: 55.5%), while 5.2% have 50 or more. Because a handful of large employers lift the average, the share of very small establishments says more about who buys a small-business phone system.

Area codes in Arkansas

NANPA lists 4 geographic area codes in service in Arkansas, with 2,025 central office codes assigned across 380 rate centers and held by 79 carriers. 870 has the most assigned codes (785). 2 of them are part of overlays. The newest in service is 327, since February 20, 2024.

Small-business industries in Arkansas

Among the 141 phone-heavy small-business industries these guides cover, the largest in Arkansas by establishment count are limited-service restaurants (2,382), full-service restaurants (2,015), and physician practices (1,889). Each links to a page with metro breakdowns, team sizes and phone costs for that industry in Arkansas.

Metro and micropolitan areas

21 Census metro or micropolitan areas include part of Arkansas. The largest is Memphis, TN-MS-AR with 1.3 million residents.

Choosing an area code in Arkansas

3 of Arkansas's 4 area codes require ten-digit dialing for local calls; in the others NANPA still lists seven-digit local dialing. In overlays (327/870), the codes share one territory, so a new number may come from any code in the overlay. A business that serves one city usually takes a number in that city's dominant code; one that covers a region can hold up to 3 local numbers on Callata's plan.

Largest Arkansas cities for local numbers

142 Arkansas cities and towns have their own local-number page. The most populous are Little Rock (501), Fayetteville (479), Fort Smith (479), and Springdale (479).

What phone service costs a Arkansas business

A 16-person team is the benchmark here, the rounded average establishment size in Arkansas. Billed per seat at month-to-month list prices (checked September 28, 2026), RingCentral RingEX Core costs $480.00 a month and Ooma Office Pro $399.20. On Callata the same 16 people cost $319.00 a month, less than either per-seat plan.

Callata in Arkansas

For $99 a month, Callata puts a team of up to 5 on one plan ($20 for each person after that): up to 3 local numbers, unlimited inbound calls, a pooled allowance of 1,500 outbound US and Canada minutes per user, browser and cell calling, voicemail transcription with urgency triage, recorded calls with AI summaries and business-hours routing, with E911 on every number.

If you already have a number in Arkansas, porting it to Callata is free. Texting from a local number requires a one-time carrier registration (10DLC, $49), and the numbers available in any area code depend on carrier inventory when you choose them.

Optional AI agents (receptionist, sales, support or scheduler) can answer calls after hours or when nobody picks up, take messages, text, email and transfer to your team. They are billed from prepaid AI minutes at $0.25 per minute, identify themselves as AI, and may only place outbound calls to people who consented, between 8am and 9pm.