Orchid V4, V4+ Programing Tool Support

charlieheard

After many years of using the Heinz program on Primus CPS, for a number of reasons we've changed to BT for phone, BB & TV. I've only got the basic phone, which gives us free calls only at weekends. I tried searching without success for a post which describes what I need to do to change my Orchid to give me the cheapest weekday evening calls. I suppose I could always just pay the £2 a month to BT for that, but I'd rather not...

Heinz

The option would be to change your use of 18185 in the Heinz Program to add weekday evening 01/02/03 calls to the weekday daytime calls the program already specifies.

That would be achieved by simply overwriting Routing Rules 01, 02, 05 and 06 on your Orchid by picking up the handset and keying the following 4 sequences (hang up after each one).

*###*2*8#4110#01#

*###01#3110#02#

*###02#3110#05#

*###03#3110#06#

You'll also need to change the evening times on your Orchid by keying:

***07001900*5

However, that would mean you'd pay 5p per call so, if you were to make more than 40 such evening calls in the course of a month, it'd cost you more than the £2 you want to avoid paying BT.

charlieheard

Thanks for that. I'll have to look back through our bills to see how often we call in the evenings. Of course, signing to BT evenings will give us 0845 & 0870 numbers as well. Need to do some analysis.

And I'll need to dig out my tone dialler app as well. Now where did I download that...?

Quentin

Remember you will have to pay BT for every month of the year, (even when you are away, etc). If you go down the 18185 route, then you can still save over BT as long as your average spend at 18185 is below £2/month.

charlieheard

Good point!

seanhodges

Howdy,
I just moved to Sky fibre ('cos O2 were chucking me out) and I'm getting a great broadband speed, but it has been so long since I had to think about my little Orchid that I forgot to check whether it would still work.
Obviously I have now found out about Sky blocking 1899, 18185 & 18866, and I need to reprogram Orchid for the long 0808 numbers.

I have the spreadsheet and a modem and I'll sort out what rules to apply once I have checked all the prices.

Does anyone have any top tips for setting up the spreadsheet with the 0808 numbers rather than the short codes? Do I need to add any delays after the number, or is it like the short codes where the whole thing can be dialled together?

Are there any pricing novelties with the long 0808 numbers that I need to watch out for, or are they roughly the same as the short code prices?

I'm trying to focus on being pleased with the fast broadband but I am also kicking myself for forgetting to do the research on the Indirect Access issue as well. Ah well, can't get everything right eh?

Heinz

Stick 5 hashes at the end of the 08081703703 number in your Carrier table and that'll work fine. Each # will put a 1 second delay in so that the announcement has time to start before your dialled digits arrive.

08081703703#####

CaptainHaddock_2

I sold my Orchid on eBay a couple of months ago. I am sticking with BT landline for now (many people call us on it and for now it is our broadband ADSL line), but the number of outgoing calls we make is now close to zero.

We have bought a DECT phone that is connected to our broadband for making IP calls, and I have to say it is a revelation. Most UK, mobile and overseas calls are cheaper than we got with 18185, 1899 and 0844... using the Orchid - and just like with the Orchid, we don't have to think about what we dial. I have also found a reliable IP telephony provider that is cheaper than e.g. Skype Out.

If you are looking for alternatives now that it is becoming more and more tricky to use CPS, IA and the like, I can heartily recommend IP telephony when done this way.

Heinz

seanhodges wrote: »

Are there any pricing novelties with the long 0808 numbers that I need to watch out for, or are they roughly the same as the short code prices?

Most call costs are the same or very similar BUT 01/02/03 calls are 1p/minute instead of 0p/minute.

GTG

seanhodges wrote: »

Howdy,
I just moved to Sky fibre ('cos O2 were chucking me out) and I'm getting a great broadband speed, but it has been so long since I had to think about my little Orchid that I forgot to check whether it would still work.
Obviously I have now found out about Sky blocking 1899, 18185 & 18866, and I need to reprogram Orchid for the long 0808 numbers.

I have the spreadsheet and a modem and I'll sort out what rules to apply once I have checked all the prices.

Does anyone have any top tips for setting up the spreadsheet with the 0808 numbers rather than the short codes? Do I need to add any delays after the number, or is it like the short codes where the whole thing can be dialled together?

Are there any pricing novelties with the long 0808 numbers that I need to watch out for, or are they roughly the same as the short code prices?

I'm trying to focus on being pleased with the fast broadband but I am also kicking myself for forgetting to do the research on the Indirect Access issue as well. Ah well, can't get everything right eh?

Thanks for bring this up Sean, I'm in a similar boat to you but I was not aware there is a work around with the 0808 numbers. I was aware that when going over to Sky they provide a fully unbundled service i.e. CPC and IA is not allowed. Also, if you want to leave Sky after your contract expires it's necessary to find a new line provider. Charges can be up to £125 as it's classed as a new connection although I'm sure there will be some tempting cheaper offers or even free to tempt one in. I am only on my own most of the time so I make very few outgoing calls and most usually fall with in Skys' off peak period or can wait until then. Most of the people I call have all inclusive packages with their fixed or mobile providers anyway so they won't mind calling me back. However, after all these years I was getting a bit sentimental about making my trusty Orchid dialler redundant. So I presume I can find the 0808 numbers on the relevant websites just in case my caller profile changes or I encounter some exceptional circumstances? I use CPS services as per Heinz's table.

I have to say that I switched because of the excellent deal I got from Sky. Like you, they were going to migrate me as part of their buyout of be/O2 but when I rang them up they offered me:

1) Free line rental (normally £15.40) for the 12 month contract
2) Free evening and weekend calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers
3) Fibre optic broadband half price for six month i.e a £10 saving per month then the normal £20 per month after that. (I'm hoping to be able to wirelessly stream YouTube once I get my smart TV)
4) A £75 credit to my bill

So it's going to save me about £300 this year and if the worst came to the worst and I had to pay for a few calls and a £125 reconnection charge I would still be well up. I also have Virgin Media in the street so have another bargaining chip when I'm at the end of my contract.

Good luck