084 Prefixed Numbers banned in the NHS

Charging more than the cost of a local call for dialling a 0844 Number in order to contact GPs or any other part of the NHS will be banned in England.

Other premium rate and national rate numbers were banned in 2005 but this did not cover the 084 numbers which also cost more than a local call.

Money generated from the 0844 Numbers can be used to offset the costs of running the phone line, known as revenue sharing.

The lines mean callers can be put in a queue instead of hearing an engaged tone and can navigate through the system by following prompts.

A public consultation on the use of 0844 Numbers led to more than 3,000 responses.

Health Minister Mike O’Brien said: “We have been concerned that some people are paying more than the cost of a local call rate to contact the NHS. It is clear from the feedback we have received that patients support the banning of any number or tariff which is more expensive to call.
“For people on low incomes, and for those who need to contact their local doctor or hospital regularly, these costs can soon build up. We want to reassure the public that when they contact their local GP or hospital, the cost of their call will be no more expensive than if they had dialled a normal landline number.”

The use of 084 numbers can continue but callers must not be charged more than the equivalent local call rate.

The Department of Health wants to include the changes in the legislative changes into the GP contracts.
Dr Richard Vautrey, Deputy Chairman of the BMA’s GPs Committee, said: “Patients who call their surgery because they’re ill shouldn’t be penalised because they have to call an 084 number, so we’re pleased that the phone companies who supply these lines to practices have agreed to ensure that their tariffs are in line with local charges.

“There are many added benefits that telephone systems using these numbers have and which patients find helpful, for example better and quicker access, so it’s good to see that the government has recognised this and has not gone for a complete ban on the use of these numbers. Combining the benefits of 084 numbers with an assurance that they won’t cost more than a local phone call is the best solution for patients and practices.

“We’d also like to see more phone companies include 084 numbers in the comprehensive call packages they offer customers to increase the benefit for patients. Calling these numbers should be treated no differently from calling other geographic numbers.”

Katherine Murphy, Director of the Patients Association said “It’s great that the Department of Health have listened to patients. Asking them to pay extra costs for phone calls was unreasonable. Patients have had to wait long enough for the ruling-let’s hope the change happens as quickly as possible.”

Alternatively the new 03 Numbers, which allow the same functions of holding callers in a queue and others, but without the extra cost, can be used by the NHS, ministers said. The organisation receiving the call bears the cost of providing the extra functions instead of charging more for the call.

The NHS Direct telephone advice service currently operates on 0845 4647 but discussions are being held on replacing this with a new three digit urgent care number.

The current NHS Direct number will continue until its replacement has been decided.

6 good reasons why the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) moves to 0345 UK wide 0845 migration

The Royal College of Nursing recently moved to an 0345 number from its old 0845 number and in doing so took a positive step towards to adopting 03 for its users.
Their telephone advice line for members is now free and they can be reached on 0345 772 6100.

03 numbers can be used from payphones and mobiles at a rate equivalent to that which the caller pays for 01 & 02 numbers.

• These
03 Numbers come with statistics on the location of the caller;
• They can be used for business continuity purposes i.e. if the RCN’s telephone lines were to fail for any reason;
•
03 Numbers are free from mobile phones where inclusive landline minutes are part of the package which is an increasing number of tariffs in the UK. The same applies for payphones which are currently a minimum of 40p a call;
•
03 Numbers offers divert on busy, no answer services when the call is unable to be taken. This has the effect of ensuring no missed calls. It can be coupled with data capture or voicemail type services that are not hosted on the company PBX.
When looking for
03 Numbers, it is important to ensure that you choose the right provider, not one necessarily that offer the cheapest rate, as there is always hidden charges with these providers. What happens for instance if you want to change the underlying number for the position of the
03 Numbers? Will the provider charge you an arm and a leg. In short, don’t get caught out; read the small print in the contract.
03 numbers, as opposed to 0845/0870 will be future proofed on their charging structure as they are tied to 01/02 and not a ‘local’/’national’ definition
It is possible for businesses who get in early to choose the best numbers from niche players.
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.
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.

The 03 Numbers 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.

It is also possible to port the numbers between providers in much the same way as you might with 08 type numbers. This way, if the rates that you receive are not sufficiently good enough then its possible to change with minimum fuss. Clearly, all the features of the intelligent network need to be considered before a change is effected but there should be no reason for staying with a poor deal.
All in all we feel that 03 numbers should be adopted more readily as it shows better commitment from organisations towards customer service.

Call Whisper is great for businesses

Call Whisper can be used with UK & International Virtual Numbers

Call Whisper is a feature that offers the users of a particular virtual geographic or non-geographic number(s), the opportunity to answer the call with a particular salutation.
There is no requirement for any additional hardware or software or equipment to connect to your company telephone switch, the message is handled in-side the intelligent network platform of the carrier concerned.

To offer an example of how this would work in a call handling / contact centre environment is a great example of how this would work in practice.

Take for instance, calls emanating from your company web-site on 0845 XXX XXXX. This would route into the call answering centre, irrespective of geographic location and call handlers would be greeted with a pre-recorded announcement of “This call is for company X from their web-site....” or “This call is for company X from the flyer campaign....”. The benefit of this is that you know it to be a new enquiry but the flyer campaign might be a warmer lead than a web-site enquiry so ultimately the person that you assign to handle the lead may be different.

If for instance you have a particular skill in selling Call Whisper services for instance, you can point your telephone number at a particular DDI or set of DDIs and that way Call Whisper will allow you to deal more professionally with the call. If you have modern telephone system with digital display handsets, you can visually see and well as hear where the call is emanating from and handle the call appropriately. Call Whisper is great if you are attempting to manage multiple non-geographic and geographic telephone numbers.

This is great for companies who may wish to take overflow calls or calls that a large company may syndicate on particular campaign. Perhaps for large insurance companies and banks who are less concerned about non-core elements of their services such as Will Writing or Inheritance Tax Planning (IHT), but still want to offer the services under the brand as part of a complete solution. They may wish to have their name to the campaign but in actual fact the call is handled elsewhere by an external third party.

Call Whisper is free to set up and can accompany any type of 08 number or indeed 03 or virtual areacall number of which there are over 4000 codes.

The overall benefit of call whisper is the fact that calls can be handled for more professionally than would otherwise be the case if you were not aware of the callers origination.
To summarise call whisper offer the following specific benefits:-
1. Creates the impression that the user has multiple or local offices.
2. There is no minimum term for the service however you must notify us if you wish to cancel.
3. Numbers will be created for you within 5 days.
4. You can have as many Virtual Numbers pointing to the same UK landline.
5. This is a low cost option compared to BT Remote forwarding which is £106 per number, per quarter (saving you over £90 every quarter).

Why organisations should move to 03 numbers immediately.

We have read with intense interest in some notable telecoms forums & blogs in the 08 space recently and find it genuinely moving to note that there is a lot of emotion centred around the use of so called ‘local rate’ 0845 and ‘national rate’ 0870 Numbers numbers.

There have been lots of people writing and sending Freedom of Information requests to government departments referring to 0845 rebates that the government is receiving for their various helpline numbers. These responses normally come back vague and not helpful in any way and this is because it is not in the interests of those bodies to provide anything meaningful in terms of actual numbers, for it would just frighten and shock the generic public on just how much money the government was making in a form of indirect taxes.

Often these numbers are for benefits or some form of tax, to report a crime and more often than not it is the marginalised segments of society that can least afford to dial 0845 and 0870 Numbers numbers.

Therefore, would it not be prudent to make use of 03 Numbers in cases where there is a marginalised segment of society such as the elderly or the infirm or those most in need, to ensure that they were not penalised for securing a basic human right.

I once spoke with the former procurement director at National Express Trains and he said they made as much out of people dialling 0870 Numbers as they did selling tickets on trains. Is this not an admission that something is quite wrong.

This seems to be another way of further polarising society in terms of wealth and cannot be constructive to society.

It would seem that 03 numbers are far better for businesses that are concerned that customer service is important to them.

0845 numbers are charged at rates of 4p/min and up to £1.50/minute from most mobile networks. Often people such as the young have pay-as-you-go mobile phone and the rates to dial 08 numbers from these tariffs arrangements can often be exorbitant. This should be set against the cost of dialling an 01/02/03 number which is often free from most landlines and in some cases free from most mobile tariffs. Sure , the networks operators would have to stump up some of the cost for change but so what – they make vast sums of profit each year and can afford it.

03 numbers are a great concept in view of their socially acceptable nature and we believe that Ofcom should promote the idea of this service far more than they already have. Its the telecommunication industry’s responsibility to ensure that 03 Numbers are used more and more in businesses.

Key Facts about 0333 & 0300 numbers.

03 prefixed numbers were introduced by Ofcom in March 2007 as a way of appeasing certain factions of the general public whose perception it was that 08 numbers were charged at a premium.
The intention is to provide a clear understanding of what callers will pay for calling organisations. The
03 pre-fix will still be non-geographic, but the charging structure will exactly reflect geographic number charges (i.e. 01 & 02).

03 number ranges explained

0300 & 0303 Numbers – Public Bodies and Not for profit organisations (eligibility required).
0330 & 0333 Numbers – No eligibility required so all companies and organisations can use these numbers.

Following a lengthy consultation process with the public, corporations and selected public sector bodies from 2004 onwards, it was concluded that greater transparency was required on calls made to Non-Geographic numbers of all types and from all locations. This is why Ofcom announced the use of 03 Numbers which could be used from any device including home and office landlines, mobile phones and payphones.

An Ofcom spokesman confirmed this: "Consumers will be able to dial 03 numbers with confidence about the cost of their call. We expect public services and many others to view
03 Numbers as a real alternative to higher cost 08 numbers." Organisations who have already adopted these numbers in favour of 08 ranges include, but are not limited to: A main advantage of using 03 UK Wide numbers rather than geographic numbers is that enhanced services can be provided such as; call statistics, routing plans, advanced call plans and disaster recovery solutions. 03 numbers can also be given out as the number that identifies your call (CLI) to the number that you have dialled (this product is called 'presentation number' and can be supplied by your outbound call supplier.

Many consumers have been unhappy that some organisations who use 0870 and 0871 numbers receive a share of what the consumer pays to make a call. 03 numbers are therefore likely to be perceived as being more ethical and customer friendly. The new 03 number range is split into 3 different groups aimed at specific types of organisations, businesses or individuals: 0300 and 0303 numbers are exclusively available to the public sector (including organisations with a .gov.uk or .nhs.uk website) and not-for profit organisations such as registered charities. 0330 and 0333 numbers are available for any organisation or individual that wishes to use them. Migration numbers 0344, 0345, 0370 and 0371 -this sub range of 03 numbers has been made available to those who wish to migrate their existing 0844, 0845, 0870 or 0871 numbers to the new 03 UK-wide numbers range. For example, a company with 0845 500 5000 will be entitled to migrate to the equivalent 0345 500 5000 UK Wide or 03 numbers are a new, non-geographic range offering all of the features and functionality of non geographic numbers, but with the positive marketing image and customer service benefits of geographic numbers.

Why 0800 numbers are good for businesses

Why 0800 numbers are good small businesses.

Free phone numbers such as 0800 Numbers & 0800 Numbers can be used to receive calls into the business and are especially good for businesses who are in price sensitive markets such as Florists/Plumbers/Landscape gardeners/Locksmiths, etc.

Clearly, 0808 Numbers come with all of the standard features of Non-Geographic numbers such as call diversion to mobile and international numbers, so tradesmen (and tradeswomen!) who are often out and about can still take their 0800 calls with them onto their mobile phones so they never miss a call.

The free phone 0800 & 0808 numbers can be also used to make overseas international calls. All non geographic numbers can be use to route overseas calls. In this scenario the calls are made via an international gateway and then routed to various locations, overseas.

Non-geographic numbers are especially good for circumstances where a business may have to relocate or indeed call transfer the calls. In a UK based serviced office for instance, it may be possible to route the call to the Spanish office when employees in the UK office are simply not there.

0800 numbers also come complete with statistical information on the number of lost calls, number of unanswered calls and the Call Line identification (CLI) to find out where the clients are generally calling from.

It is also possible to have all of your calls recorded for the purposes of training and monitoring but at the same time to ensure rapid dispute resolution. If for instance, customers have asked for something in a certain size or colour

Additionally, it is also possible to have the caller announced to your operation before the call is taken so that it would greatly assist in knowing where the person has found your number and if you were advertising in various mediums all at the same time it will provide accurate online statistics.

Why 0800 numbers are good large businesses - Business Continuity & 0808 Numbers

0800 & 0808 numbers come with the inbuilt facility to re-divert the number instantly in a scenario where the underlying ISDN/PSTN is not functioning. This is great for times when disaster recovery/business continuity is needed.

All eggs in one basket

Often it has been written that to have an 0845/0808 Number is putting all of your eggs in one basket if the underlying carrier goes bust. Yes, that is correct but clearly if the company that is selecting the number chooses a reputable but stable company then this cannot possibly go wrong.

The company should aim to choose a company that mixes speed of response to customer service calls with the ability to port that number to another company should the company fail. Typically all 0800 number providers have a porting agreement with BT plc and some have agreements with Cable & Wireless or Kingston Communications for instance.

Most PLC’s operate with the understanding that they owe their shareholders a duty of care for business continuity planning and therefore Non-Geographic numbers can be a part of that plan, rather than a geographic number which is a single point of failure.