0870 może kosztować drogo małych firm

0870 przepisów może kosztować małych przedsiębiorstw w recesji

Ostatnio zostało Szacuje się, że małe przedsiębiorstwa mogą zobaczyć wzrostu cen w wysokości do 200% na 0870 prawodawstwo Ofcom, który wszedł w życie 1 sierpnia 2009 i niektóre z nich nie udało się zmienić do 0844 / 03 numerów. Ponadto szacuje się, że mogłaby ona wpłynąć do trzeciej firm brytyjskich.

Firmy zostały automatycznie zmieniły się do nowej taryfy telekomunikacyjnych ze skutkiem od dnia 1 sierpnia, w których będą opłaty za wszystkie połączenia do numerów 0870 po raz pierwszy. Niektóre firmy przeniosła się z powrotem do swoich starych 01/02 numer i nie będzie ponosić konsekwencje rachunków telefonicznych, ale dla niektórych to nie może być przypadek.

Koszty związane ze zmianą różnych mediów reklamowych oraz papier firmowy, itp., będą naturalnie uciążliwe dla niektórych przedsiębiorstw i może kosztować około aż 5.000,00 zł

W szczególności poprzez nie z własnej winy przedsiębiorstwa może spotkać się ze znacznym wzrostem kosztów, jeżeli mają dużo ruchu przychodzącego połączenia w 0870. Oczywiście, to będziemy mieli duży wpływ na spółki w obecnej recesji.

Pomimo firm telekomunikacyjnych intensywnie inwestuje w najem firm wiedzą na temat zmian, większość z nich albo zignorować tego czy nie widział, jaki wpływ ta zmiana może mieć swoją działalność w zakresie kosztów.

Zmiana jest niesamowita łatwe do wykonania i wiele firm telekomunikacyjnych przygotowały opcje, które pozwalają firmom zrozumieć ich możliwości, takie jak przeniesienie na numer 0844 lub 0845 Liczba które są oszczędne neutralne.

Oczywiście często jest dużo dobrej woli, opakowane w istniejącej 0870 numery, dlatego klienci mogą czuć, że zmiany miałyby również kosztów ich działalności drogo.
Zmiany w pamiętnym 0844 liczba ta oczywiście pozwolić spółce na kontynuowanie akcji dochody, jeśli to otrzymało przed ostateczną datę na 1 sierpnia 2009. Jeśli wielkość pozwalają 0845 zakres Liczba pozwoliłaby przedsiębiorstwom uzyskanie małych rabatu na 0845 numerów.

Kilka innych opcji Virtual numerów geograficznych, które można wykorzystać w Yellow Pages prowadzenia dodatkowej działalności w obecnie obszar regionach geograficznych lub 03 Numberswhich mogą wybierać z inclusive minut stacjonarnego komórkowego pakietów.
Wszystkie z wyżej wymienionych zakresów liczby pochodzą z inteligentnych funkcji sieciowych, takich jak nagrywanie rozmów wolny / wolna szeptem rozmowy i inne wspaniałe funkcje, takie jak Wirtualny recepcjonista, pracownik wirtualny Dom i połowy transfer połączeń, opcja dla klientów, którzy mogą chcieć przenieść połączenia na prowadzących sygnał z jednego do innego agenta.

Oczywiste jest, że żadne zmiany nie są dokonywane co może mieć efekt domina na mocno już problemów z płynnością, przed jakimi stoją przedsiębiorstwa Wielkiej Brytanii i małych przedsiębiorstw, w szczególności wzywa się do przeniesienia swoich zakresów numeracji do ponoszenia przychodów 0844 i 0845 opcji jak najszybciej.

Obecnie możliwe jest, aby przenieść istniejące geograficzne Numery telefonu tak, aby stały się obszarem pomocą szerokopasmowych i technologii IP, ale ma to wpływ na inne dziedziny techniki, i tak byłoby mądre, aby porozmawiać ze specjalistą w tej dziedzinie .

0870 could cost small businesses dearly

0870 legislation could cost small businesses in recession

It has recently been estimated that small businesses could see price hikes of up to 200% on their 0870 as Ofcom’s legislation came into force on August 1st, 2009 and some have not managed to change towards 0844 / 03 numbers. Furthermore, it is estimated that it could affect up to a third of UK businesses.

Businesses have now been automatically changed over to the new telecoms tariff with effect from August 1st where they will be charged for all calls to their 0870 Numbers for the very first time. Some companies have moved back to their old 01/02 number and will not suffer the consequences of telephone bills, but for some this may not be the case.
The costs of changing various advertising medias and letterheads, etc. will naturally be prohibitive for some businesses and it could cost some as much as £5,000.00

Through no particularly faul of their own businesses could be faced with significantly rising costs if they have a lot of inbound call traffic on 0870. Clearly, this is going to have a big impact on companies in the current recession.

Despite telecoms companies investing heavily in letting companies know about the changes, most have either ignored this or have not seen the impact that this change is likely to have on its business in cost terms.

The change is incredible easy to make and many telecoms companies have drawn up options that allow companies to understand their options such as moving to an 0844 Numberor an 0845 Numberwhich are cost neutral.

Of course there is often a lot of goodwill wrapped up in existing 0870 Numbersand therefore customers may feel that to change would equally cost their businesses dearly.

A change to a memorable 0844 Number would obviously allow a company to continue with its revenue share if it was receiving one before the cut over date of August 1st, 2009. If volumes permit the 0845 Numberrange would also allow companies to receive a small rebate on their 0845 Numbers.

A couple of other options are Virtual Geographic numbers that can be used in yellow pages for driving additional business in out of area geographic regions or 03 Numberswhich are free to dial from inclusive land line minutes mobile packages.

All of the abovementioned number ranges come with intelligent network features such as free call recording/ free call whisper , and other great features such as Virtual Receptionist, virtual Home worker and mid call transfer, an option for clients who may wish to transfer the call on engaged tone from one agent to another.

Clearly, if no changes are effected this could have a knock on effect to the already tight liquidity problems facing UK businesses and small businesses in particular are urged to move their numbering ranges to the revenue bearing 0844 and 0845 options as soon as possible.
It is now possible to move your existing geographic based telephone numbers so that they become out-of-area using broadband and IP technology, but this has implications for other areas of technology and so it would be wise to speak to a specialist in this area.

03 Numbers to overtake 0845 for new business connections

03 Numbers exhibit the benefit that they have to be charged at the same rate as the 01/02 rate that a caller is due to pay on its tariff. Therefore, as most businesses have free landline minutes within their mobile phone tariff packages, this means that calling back to the office on the main number will also be free.

Some companies who front their businesses with 0870/0844 will now find that they will have extraordinary large phone bills. Funny when you think this is most telephone companies.
The reason this occurs is that when organisations use BT’s Presentation Number Service and transmit their 0844/0870 from the office as a CLI to the mobile handset, users will naturally just dial back and therefore will be charged at the going rate which is typically between 10p-£1.50/minute; if this was an 03 Number, then there is the option to have this call free of charge as you can also specify the 03 number as being part of your free minutes package.

According to recent news articles, 03 Numbers are likely to overtake 0845 numbers as the popular type of business phone number. Some of the reasons for this lie in the following:-

1. They offer a national presence. Therefore businesses who are based in Northumbria can have the feel of a company that is based in London or indeed anywhere throughout the U.K.

2. They offer smart call handling features in much the same way as 0845 numbers such as call whisper, call recording, and auto-attendant features, so there is no loss in the quality of the service being offered.

3. For instance, callers into the service can be presented with Press 1 for sales, 2 for service and 3 for accounts, etc.

4. 03 Numbers are great if a company is likely to relocate – often new start businesses may move two or three times in the short history.

5. 03 numbers, unlike 0845/0870 will be future proofed in terms of their charge band as they are tagged to 01/02 and not a semantic ‘local’/’national’ definition which really does not exist in today’s telecoms market place in the UK as generally speaking it is all one rate, irrespective of geography.

6. It is possible for businesses who get in early to select their numbers from niche players in the market rather than be randomly allocated the numbers by the carriers such as BT and C&W.

7. It is easy to set up and can be provided across all types of numbers such your local business number and also to mobiles and international numbers.

8. 03 Numbers can be offered with free call recording on all inbound calls, unlike some other number ranges where it is not possible to do so.

9. The 03 number range is likely to overtake 0845 as the fastest growing number as the caller is not charged at the same rate as an 0845 i.e. up to 4p/min. as with client who take their 0845 from BT.

0300 numbers are exclusively for public service bodies so it is likely that over time people will become far more familiar with the concept of these numbers and start to use them for businesses purposes.

UK Wide 03 numbers

There is some confusion over whether 03 numbers are chargeable and here we set out to explain what they are charged at.

UK-wide 03 numbers

03 numbers can be introduced as a viable alternative to chargeable 08 numbers like 0870. Telephone calls to 03 numbers will cost the same as calls to geographic numbers (starting 01 or 02), and be included as part of any landline or mobile inclusive minutes or discount schemes in the same way as geographic calls.

Revenue sharing – where the dialled party can receive a share of what the consumer pays to make a call – will not be permitted on calls to 03 numbers.

Organisations using 03 numbers will offer consumers a single national point of contact without involving additional charges for the service, over and above the cost of calls to geographic numbers.

Numbers starting 030 will be designated for use only by public bodies and not-for-profit services;

Some 03 numbers are reserved so that service providers on existing 08 numbers can transfer to 03 by simply changing the '8' digit in the number to a '3';

Memorable numbers such as those starting with '0300' and '0333' will be made available.

0845 Numbers from one of UK's leading Providers

0845-numbers are very inexpensive for the business and other than this some benefits of 0845 Numberfor your business are discussed below:

Map your number any where:
These 0845numbers can be mapped to any telephone or mobile number and that it works with all types of phone line, modems, fax machines etc. So the location of your business can be changed to any where any time and your number will remain the same. And since the 0845 Number is a non-geographic number, so it leaves an impression on your customers/callers that your business is not restricted to a particular place; unlike the normal number which have an area code and they give an impression of your business being restricted to a specific area.


Customer Trust
The 0845 Number makes you be perceived more professional which makes your customers trust you more than your competitors. This results is in more calls by your customers which is translated into more satisfied customers and hence more business for you.

Location Flexibility:
This flexibility of location allows you to setup your call centre at a place where it costs you the least. So 0845 Number provides you with complete flexibility of using any phone line, mobile and other telecommunication devices without letting your customers/callers know about what your location is!!

National Reach , Local presence
A 0844-number gives a number of benefits to your customers also i.e. your customers can call you from any where in UK at the same rate and you do not get charged for the calls that you receive. Your business can be marketed throughout the nation and at the same time your customer gets a feel of your local presence.

Marketing Benefit
And that it has also been proven by a research that the marketing campaign launched through these type of professional looking numbers (e.g. 0845 Numbers) are a lot more effective than the campaigns done through other numbers.

Revenue Sharing
0845 Numbersalso provides a facility of revenue sharing where in the 5pence per minute paid by the caller is shared between you and your 0845 Number services provider. That is 1 pence out of this 5pence goes to you and the rest to the service provider and that your percentage revenue share can be increased as your number of calls received increases.

Memorable numbers

Choosing such a number that either reflects your business, your product or service is an excellent method to give you a competitive edge over others. These numbers are more memorable than the normal ‘number’ numbers. i.e. it has been proved by research that remembering a number in terms of digits is far more harder than the remembering it in alphabetic of in word form. Using a 0845 Number enables you to do that; you can get a ‘0845-your business name’ number and become more memorable than your competitors


The benefits of a 0845 Numberfor your business are not restricted to the discussed ones in fact each of its additional service provided with it has a number of benefits individually.

03 numbers to overtake 0845

03 Numbers to overtake 0845 for new business connections

03 Numbers exhibit the benefit that they have to be charged at the same rate as the 01/02 rate that a caller is due to pay on its tariff. Therefore, as most businesses have free landline minutes within their mobile phone tariff packages, this means that calling back to the office on the main number will also be free.

Some companies who front their businesses with 0870/0844 will now find that they will have extraordinary large phone bills. Funny when you think this is most telephone companies.

i.e. when they use BT’s Presentation Number Service and transmit their 0844/0870 from the office as a CLI to to the mobile handset, users will naturally just dial back and therefore will be charged at the going rate which is typically between 10p-£1.50/minute.

According to recent news articles, 03 Numbers are likely to overtake 0845 numbers as the popular type of business phone number. Some of the reasons for this lie in the following:-

1. They offer a national presence. Therefore businesses who are based in Northumbria can have the feel of a company that is based in London or indeed anywhere throughout the U.K.

2. They offer smart call handling features in much the same way as 0845 numbers such as call whisper, call recording, and auto-attendant features, so there is no loss in the quality of the service being offered.

3. For instance, callers into the service can be presented with Press 1 for sales, 2 for service and 3 for accounts, etc.

4. 03 Numbers are great if a company is likely to relocate – often new start businesses may move two or three times in the short history.

5. It is possible for businesses who get in early to select their numbers from niche players in the market rather than be randomly allocated the numbers by the carriers such as BT and C&W.

6. It is easy to set up and can be provided across all types of numbers such your local business number and also to mobiles and international numbers.
0300 numbers are exclusively for public service bodies so it is likely that over time people will become far more familiar with the concept of these numbers and start to use them for businesses purposes.

What to look out for when you buy 0845 numbers.

All too often individuals look for the best of the cheapest deal on 0845 Numbers, only to find that the cheapest was not necessarily the best.

In this article we aim to assist in providing some helpful hints in what to look for in an 0845 number to achieve the best deal.

Most providers look to charge a connection fee and ongoing monthly rental. This seems like industry norm but clearly if it is totally free then there is a good reason for this. Caveat Emptor (Buyer beware), as often the devil is in the detail.

Free means that it’s possible that you may be asked for a lot of money to move the number to a new location. If your business moves premises then you will need to plan early for the 0845 Numbers as part of your project management plan as it can take up to 10 working days for some providers to action your request which may mean you will loose connectivity if the 0845 number is one you rely on.

Are you receiving a rebate on your 0845 Numbers? Most providers will offer some form of rebate, albeit a low one, but only when the number of minutes exceeds a certain threshold, which varies from provider to provider. If you do not see this; ask for it, it’s definitely there.

Do you have a self service portal? This means you can move your own numbers instantaneously without involving the provider, who may or may not have gone bust. This is good for business continuity planning, especially if you are a plc. As they have a duty of care to the shareholders to provide a business continuity plan for telecoms.

Do you receive statistics on your existing 0845 Numbers. Number of calls answered to the number unanswered and what duration of the call.

Can your provider present you with a detailed summary of where the call originates from in terms of both geography and also Caller Line I.D. This is important for marketing purposes when planning where budgets are to be allocated in terms of marketing expenditure.

How quickly can your provider set the numbers up. If you have an important advertising deadline, ask the provider how long it takes to set the numbers up from receipt of a valid purchase order. Often this can be up to 3 working days and if that important deadline is not met for a campaign what impact will this have on your organisation.

It is worth asking to see a set of terms and conditions of contract before you place your order as the company may not advertise this on their web-site. Do they have a secure internet portal and does it provide the after sales back up that you require from a telecoms company.

Finally, don’t be afraid to ask these questions before you place your 0845 numbers order.

What does an 03 number cost you?

What does an 03 number cost you?

The Called Party

03 Numbers were introduced as a charging replacement for 0870 numbers which were the subject of adverse public sentiment as a result of the saynoto0870 campaign.

There are various iterations 03 Numbersdepending upon whether it is a public or private organisation which is purchasing the number. 0370 replaces 0870. The various carriers have the same number range as the 0870’s they were issued originally. It is still possible that you can purchase either 0870 or 0370 or indeed 0300, but they will be charged at the rate of approximately 3p/min. at all times. Previously 0870 was the subject of a rebate or ‘kick back’ to the user of the number, typically a bank or building society.

The Calling Party

03 Numbers are national rate i.e. they will be charged at the same rate as 01/02 numbers. What this means is that if you pay for 01/02 numbers either in your inclusive landline minutes package e.g. BT anytime or your inclusive mobile minutes package then you will also receive 03 numbers as free.

The reason that GPs will not change from 0844 Numbers to 0333 numbers is that they do not receive the rebate and hence are bound contractually to front their practices with 0844 Numbers rather than the local or 0333 number.

Therefore, whilst you may see that 03 are free from mobiles this is strictly not quite true and should be considered when the overall package is considered.

03 Numbers come with all sorts of excellent intelligent network features such as:-

• Free call recording
• Call Whisper (or Network Whisper as it often referred to)
• Online call statistics such as number of unanswered calls / number of engaged calls.
• Real time Statistics - All of this can be achieved in real time minus 15 minutes, so visual displays can be mapped with the missed call (with CLI) can be displayed on a screen within the office.

0843 & 0842 NGN number ranges from intelesis

0843 Non-Geographic numbers (NGN)

0843 and 0842 numbers are new number ranges offered to the business and consumer markets by ofcom and are similar to 0844 numbers in the way they are charged and rebate structures are also possible on these numbers.

What is involved with these numbers?

Free set-up
No minimum monthly commitment
No minimum contract term
Provides appearance of a “national” company
Intelligent, flexible call routing options available (see below)
Gold numbers and platinums available for major campaigns
Easy for people to call you.
We offer a range of non-geographic number services; Freephone 0800 numbersSpecial Services Basic Rate(0844/0845) and Special Services Higher Rate 0871 numbers all at extremely competitive rates.

Call Whisper

You can record a message to be played on all inbound calls so that your sales teams can establish which campaigns the callers are responding to.

Call Recording

You can automatically record and store every incoming call to your non-geographical number using our network.

0843 numbers

Customers calling these numbers pay a flat rate at any time, enabling you to receive a payment for every call received. Why pay for a call when you could be paid?
Benefits of 0843/0842 numbers
Lowers risk of misuse by callers, as they have to pay for the call as well.
Intelligent, flexible routing options available.
Cheaper to operate than “Freephone” numbers.
Earn money on 0843/0842 numbers

Latest STD area code dial

Dial Code Location
7505 Virgin Mobile
182284 Bere Alston
7982 Virgin Mobile
137548 Chafford Hundred, Thurrock
7983 T-Mobile
7911 Wave Telecom (Guernsey)
208915 Sutton
999 National
120576 Benington, Lincs [Boston]
238062 Eastleigh, Hants
7910 Virgin Mobile
7913 Virgin Mobile
151348 Little / Great Sutton, Ellesme
190374 Storrington
1800 USA
164288 Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland
7504 Virgin Mobile
149289 Colwyn Bay [Tesco]
123 Eastbourne
18443 Princes Risborough
999 Police
148341 Godalming
125976 Alva, Clackmannanshire
7793 O2
5602 BT Broadband Talk
7847 Virgin Mobile
9710 Virgin Mobile
7906 Virgin Mobile
13898 Duntocher, Dunbartonshire
121270 Birmingham (Vonage)

0845 numbers for Business Centres and Serviced Offices

0845 for Business Centres and Serviced Offices

0845 numbers can now be used for the life of the business and it is for this reason that scores of business centres up and down the country and indeed overseas are turning to 0845 numbers to further enhance their revenue streams and retain the customer for life.

Early stage

Small businesses that may work from home to begin with can take up residence in fully serviced offices in early stage growth.
It is possible for the business centre owner to rent the number or indeed port the small businesses existing home or office number into their business centre number range.

If they have broadband telephony via IP it is possible to port out-of-area numbers into the plan – If for instance a client has a Sheffield based telephone number on a particular exchange i.e. 0114 272 3150 and the business centre has a different number range on a different BT local sub-exchange i.e. 0114 250 3450, then it is still possible to port the number into the business centre and have all calls answered there by a live receptionist at the agreed rates between the parties.

During their occupancy

0845 can be redirected to overseas and mobile numbers so it is now possible to get the number pointed to a group of underlying Direct Dialling Numbers that are set up in a hunt group. One of these numbers in the hunt group may actually be an international telephone number, so that in the event that no-one is in the UK office, Its possible, using the non-geographic 0845 number for calls to be routed off-net into non-UK destinations using follow the sun principles, so out of hours answering and overseas inbound call centres can take the calls.

For instance, you might be an MD for a holiday lettings company in Marbella but you actually live in the Spanish resort but have your mail and calls initially handled in the UK but out of hours you may wish to go online; change the terminating number for the 0845 and answer the call on your Spanish mobile number.
If the 0845 comes with online statistics on the number of incoming calls; then its possible to reconcile this with the billing system.

After the ‘small business’ leaves the Business centre

Clearly, the business centre owner never wants to loose custom, but there will always be companies that move out of centres as they seek to expand the business and may need more space or want to own their own therefore when the client leaves its now possible for that business owner to take its number with him and this is an opportunity for the centre owner to continue renting that number for the life of the business as it is a number for life. It also gives the centre owner the opportunity to cross-sell other services such as mail forwarding and any other services as it sees fit.

0871/1/3 numbers and lower rate 09 numbers

The premium rate regulator with regulate 0871/1/3 (087X) and lower rate 09 numbers.

How will this impact you?

Any customers holding or wishing to hold 087X of affacted 09 ranges must register with PhonePayPus and comply with the 11th code of Practice and the Statement of Application and provide their Service Provider Number and other information to Intelesis by August 1st 2009.

please note that once the 087X and affected 09 numbers are covered by the phonepayplus code any one useing these numbers must:

Register with payphone plus - existing users must do this by August 1st 2009

Fund Phonepayplus by the deduction of a levy from the outpayment

Ensure that the content and the promotion of the service using the number complies with the code

Update their data protection notification as indicated in the code

Obtain "prior permission" if they run certain "live services" (unless the type of service is exempted) and comply with additional obligations for that service.

Consider their call waiting times as services must not be unreasonably prolonged or delayed

Publish pricing information wherever the number is published in printed form or on the internet.

Ensure that services on these numbers comply with the law, do not cause harm or offence and are fair

Comply with rules about internet dialler services, promotions, and specific rules for different catergories of services

Provide information to network operators who will be required to conduct due diligence on users of these numbers

Why 0800 numbers are good for plumbers?

Tradesmen, especially plumbers can be called away at very short notice, only to find another caller needs their services. Gone are the days when there is dividing line between your home number and your work/out of office phone number. Now you don’t have to be tied to the house to wait in for telephone calls.

Lots of local tradesmen use their mobile number instead of an 0800 number because of this perceived dividing line between land and mobile numbers. Consequently plumbers do not need to advertise their mobile number and can manage the call to 0800 and then onto the mobile number much better.

It is also lowers the barrier to entry for individuals to call a plumber as the call is completely free if dialled from a landline. According to research conducted by the Henley Centre for Management in 2004, having an 0800 also increases the response rate on inbound calls. Individuals were 185% more likely to dial a free number than a chargeable one.

There are some great deals available to get bundled minutes package so all off-net calls from the 0800 to 07 numbers can be included and not chargeable.

With 0808 Numbers, it’s now possible to for the plumber to route your calls on the Intelligent network to a destination of their choice, typically a landline number, but equally it could be a mobile or even an international number. This is often possible using an online control panel.

0808 Numbers, are also able to deliver intelligent and meaningful call statistics on the number of received/missed and unanswered calls. This is especially useful for plumbers who may wish to measure their efforts. It’s also possible to gather the number (or Caller Line I.D.) of the missed caller, something which might help to increase business if the caller has not found the services they were looking for.

Other really useful features of 0808 Numbers are as follows:-

1. Non-Geographical Number presence;
2. Number for life;
3. Memorable numbers are available;
4. Portability of an 0800 number to different network providers;
5. Plumbers can relocate without having to change their business telephone numbers.

0808 Numbers, can also help to offer the plumber a very professional and rich customer experience by directing them to the relevant department or you can use it to announce the latest and greatest feature of their service, i.e. a selling tool.

It is clear 0800 numbers that offer plumbers very many benefits to plumbers.

0800 Freephone Numbers For Charities

Much mention has been made of ways in which charities can attract much needed contributions, especially in times of recession.
There are over 167,000 charities in the U.K. according to the Charities Commission and many of them are looking for innovative ways to improve their interface with the public.
0800 Freephone numbers are excellent and the new 0808 number range also assisst as they lower the barrier to entry to customers willing to contribute.

It is possible for charities to set up 0800 numbers free of charge and use them in various advertising mediums. Some larger charities are already using 20-30 different numbers to identify the relative

success of certain advertising campaigns. By receiving a monthly report its possible to correctly allocate future marketing spend to the most effective of these response mechanisms.
They can be used for the larger charities through the use of Direct Response Television Advertising or DRTV as its more commonly known. By adertising a memorable and catchy freephone number, charities are

able to attract much needed contributions.

One excellent feature of 0800 numbers is the captured Call Line I.D. (or CLI) information that is presented as part of the service. This can be used to assess which areas of the country to target for future

marketing activity. Bill posters in London, for instance, may be able to get a far better response rate than say Birmingham.

0800 numbers can be connected in less than 15 minutes and this helps to improve lead times to getting re-routed to alternative locations such as call handling centres in the U.K. and overseas. This re-route

facility can be achieved at short notice.

0800 is well established in the public mindset – according to some research conducted by the Henley Centre for Management in 2004, 93% of respondents were able to correctly identify that 0800 was free to

call. In addition, it was found that people were more likely to dial free numbers than chargeable ones by a factor of 185%, thereby increasing the chances of getting ‘hits’.

Charities may also want to move towards the utilisation of 03 numbers as most people are moving towards using their mobile numbers and the increase in mobile useage means that some of the 0800 number ranges

are not free to call off certain mobile networks. The 03 numbers do also provide network based statistics. Ofcom did consult on the use of 09 premium rate numbers for charities for their telephone helplines

for the use of contribute-as-you-go type payment models but it was felt that there was too much adverse public sentiment towards these numbers the idea was finally dropped.
Some charities seem to be getting on board with short code SMS services for attracting different segments of the market. 5 digit mobile short codes e.g. text donate to 64123 can be used to target individuals

who are more likely to be on the move and are more likely to use their mobile than there landlines.

03 numbers or 0870 numbers - which is best?

It is worth noting that 03 numbers are charged at the same rate as 01 and 02 numbers, but then so too are 0870 numbers under BT's anytime pricing plan.

So whats the difference?. Well the main difference appears to be that 03 numbers are FREE from all mobile networks whereas 0870 are chargeable at up £1.50/min. For a more detailed explanation of 03 numbers simply point your smartphone at the following image and view all of the information:

Ofcom update the 0870 numbering plan

new rules for all communications service providers:

• encouraged not to charge higher tariffs for telephone calls to 0870 numbers from fixed lines and mobiles than calls to “geographic rate” numbers (01 numbers,02 numbers, (03 numbers; and


• To include 0870 calls in call packages on the same basis as geographic calls.



Communications providers that want to continue charging for 0870 calls at rates above those for geographic numbers are now bound by strict rules about how prices are publicised on websites and in promotional material at point of sale.


Communications providers are responsible for making sure their customers know how much they will be charged for calling an 0870 number and they are not allowed to advertise 0870 numbers as “national rate” unless they are charging at geographic rates.

Great alternative to 0870 for UK businesses

August 1st, 2009 is the date for organisations to consider a change in their 0870 numbering provision.

Previously rebate structures (or so called "kickbacks") allowed organisations to make money from clients when they called. From today, companies will now be charged to receive these calls.

It is estimated that up to 30% of businesses will actually retain their existing 0870 numbers, despite being charged to use these numbers, typical charges will be between 3-4p/min. at all times.

There will be many companies who want to retain these numbers as they obtain statistical information about the number and pattern of inbound calls in order to allow them to plan their contact and call centre strategies.

It is worth noting that most companies will probably want to revert back to their geographical local area codes such as Sheffield 01142, London 0207, etc.

Now it is possible to revert back to your local geographical number, but retain statistical information on inbound calls. This is not possible to achieve on standard PSTN telephone numbers, but with the use of Intelesis' virtual STD code service it will now be possible to retain a local presence but advertise nationally.

These numbers are virtual numbers and therefore can be used outside of the local area in order to attract business that may not easily be achieved from using fixed geographic number ranges.

These numbers only cost £20.00 to set up and £7.50 rental with call charges being a mere 4p/min. the same as receiving calls onto 0870 numbers today.