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.