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.

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.

Beware – The true costs to call an 08XX number

It is widely know that the public’s perception of what 08 pre-fixed numbers are and what it costs to call these numbers varies widely. Here we try and unravel the intricacies of charging structures so that you may avoid the hidden costs of calling.

A useful way of remembering the costs to call the various numbers is to take the 3rd digit in the number and convert this to 0 and thereby arrive at the cost of calling from landlines.

Therefore, 0800 would be zero, 0845 would be 4p or thereabouts and so on.

A new free-phone number range was launched recently known as 0808. These are freephone numbers in much the same was as 0800 but given that lots of the 0800 number ranges were sold out by the network providers such as BT, it was felt that a new number range was necessary. The charge to call these numbers is the same as 0800.

To add a little more confusion, in 1991 Mercury Communications (now Cable & Wireless) also had a range of freephone numbers that started with 0500. These numbers have the same charging structure applicable to them as 0800 and 0808.

Presently, a large proportion of the public perceive that 0800 are free, whilst 0845 are ‘local’, and 0870/0871 are ‘national’. This was certainly true when BT’s standard rate for calling local and national standard trunk dialling numbers (i.e. 01/02) numbers was 3.35p/min and 6.73p/min.,respectively.

However, when calling “Freephone” 0800 from mobiles these numbers will no longer be free and can be charged at between 10p/min. to approx £1.50/min. depending on which network you are on.

In certain instances, the mobile operators have waived the costs of calling 08 numbers, but a good case in point was the recent swine flu helpline number in July 2009. Vodaphone were the only network operator to continue to charge 20p/min. or for a 5 minute call £1.00.

Additionally, from Payphones these numbers can be chargeable whereby the actual set up costs are 40p and a rate thereafter. Many helplines operate services on 0845 numbers that may be called from payphones by users in vulnerable situations, but at present there is no distinction in charges between calling an 0845 and an 0870 number from a BT payphone, with a 10-minute call costing £1.20. Current payphone interiors do not display charges for 0845 calls, nor are these identified in a pre-announcement.

From August 1st, 2009, the public and businesses will be charged for dialling 0870 at the same rate that they would be for dialling 01/02, thereby bringing the national rate terminology back into play, whereas for some time it was far higher than to dial national STD codes. Organisations have been encouraged where possible to move towards new number ranges either 0844 or 0333/0370.

0844 numbers still allow organisations like banks and building societies to be paid a rebate by the network operators and these migrations have been taking place over the past 18 months.

From August 1st, 2009, Ofcom have also positioned former ‘national’ rate number ranges 0871 to sit under the premium rate regulating body, Payphone Plus (formerly ICSTIS). Therefore, users of these numbers will be required advertise the cost of the call according to the regulator’s guidelines, which are provided upon request.

A new telephone number range was issued by Ofcom in 2007. This 03 number range is for organisations who want to stop using 087X numbers, but want to retain a national presence using a non-geographic number. The costs of calling these numbers is the same as calling 01/02 number so if you get inclusive minutes in your mobile bundle then calls to these numbers will also be free.

A new application for the Apple I-Phone which identifies the underlying number and automatically makes the call to this number rather than the 08 number, thereby saving users up to 80% of the call costs.

Free Calling 0845 & 0870 Numbers from your BT landline

Hi, from January 16th 2009, BT announced that calls from BT landlines to 0845 and 0870 numbers was "free". However, when one unravels the terms of this offer its not really free at all, for the following reason.

The fair use policy states there is a cap on the number of minutes you are allowed to use (1,000) and when you average out the calls that are likely to be made i.e. 3.35p/min to 0845 and 6.73 p/min to 0870 you get roughly 5p/min.... 1000 x 5p = £5.00(the additional cost of the plan to enable you to get access to this "offer"). How many people would actually use this offer - NIL - Profit to BT - LOTS.

For a full explanation of terms of this offer please Click Here

BT put prices up again

BT is going on yet another price hike, rendering its telephone calls 34% more expensive than 6 months ago.

Calls will be 5.25p per minute.

The set-up fee per call will rise to 9p.

This will affect 12 million of BT's 14 million customers. Only those on its Anytime package, which costs £4.95 a month, will not be affected.

The latest increases will come into effect on 1 October. Customers were told of the change in the magazine that BT sends out with its bills.

"We have been quite generous to customers over the years, offering things like free calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers. Telephony costs have come down," a spokesman for BT said. "We advise customers to consider whether they would be better off moving to the Anytime calls package in order to avoid increases in daytime call prices and the set up fee. BT's Unlimited Anytime Plan costs just £4.95 a month, or 17p a day, and includes all your UK calls and calls to 0870 and 0845 numbers at any time."

"Today's price increase announcement isn't likely to improve BT's popularity in the eyes of cash strapped consumers," said Steve Weller of price comparison website uswitch.co.uk

Ofcom Announces changes to 08 ranges

Update on the changes to 0870 numbers as of 1st August 2009
Since we last posted a blog entry about Ofcom’s new regulation for 0870 numbers, we have received some more information regarding pricing and the various options available to 0870 number owners come 1st August 2009.


Announcement

Following a review by Ofcom the charging method for 0870 numbers will change from 1st August 2009. From that date there will be a charge made on the person calling a 0870 number (Origination) and another charge raised on the person receiving the call (Termination).

Origination - The cost of calling 0870 numbers is likely to fall although this is not compulsorily on providers and at the time of writing very few carriers have published their rates. From 1st August 2009 Intelesis will charge 2p per minute for calls made to 0870 numbers from fixed landlines.

Termination - From 1st August 2009 Intelesis customers will be charged 2p per minute for incoming calls on their 0870 numbers.

NOTE - Intelesis will no longer refer to 0870 calls as National Rate and will not include 0870 calls in any bundled minutes or packages billed by Intelesis.

What options are available?

There are 4 options available:

1. Leave the 0870 number live and accept the new charges. The service will continue as normal and routing will not be affected. (This is the default option which will be taken if no other option is specified).

2. Cease the 0870 number. There will be no charge for ceasing a 0870 number. Callers will receive unobtainable tone or network message advising that the number is not in service. The number would be available for another subscriber to use if the number were ceased.

3. Play answer message on the 0870 number and advise caller of an alternative number to call. No charge for set up, calls would be charged at 2p per minute.

4. Play an introductory message at the start of each call advising that the number will change and then connect the call as per existing routing. No charge for set up, calls would be charged at 2p per minute.

In conjunction with any of the above it is possible to migrate to a new number prefix e.g 03, 0800, 0844, 0845 or 0871 or local prefix. No cost for set up. New number prefixes can be run in parallel to ensure business continuity.

Default Option:
In the absence of any instructions from you the number holder we will apply option 1 - Leave the 0870 number live and accept the new charges. The service will continue as normal and routing will not be affected. Charges will be applied to the customer's invoice.

Where the customer does not have an active account or an account is unpaid and we cannot establish contact with the account holder we will cease the 0870 number. Callers will receive unobtainable tone or network message advising that the number is not in service. The number would be available for another subscriber to use if the number were ceased.

The Intelesis Inbound Portal allows numbers to be managed and call routing changed. The Intelesis Inbound Portal costs £10 per month irrespective of the number of lines controlled by the portal.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries regarding this new legislation OR would like to discuss the available options for your current 0870 number.