0845 for the POLICE

greytroot

Today I received a leaflet through the door telling me about the new way to contact the police. Oh Yes 999 is for emergencies and emergencies only. All other calls should go through an 0845 number. Why not an 0800 number?

Heinz

greytroot wrote:

Today I received a leaflet through the door telling me about the new way to contact the police. Oh Yes 999 is for emergencies and emergencies only. Al other calls should go through an 0845 number. Why not an 0800 number?

Or, simply, an 01 or 02 number?

Answer - because they can make money from people calling them on 0845 numbers.

It's yet another stealth tax.

Norbert_Colon

Hopefully this - and other public service lines - will change to an 03 non-premium number, when Ofcom get round to introducing them.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2006/07/nr_20060727

Plasticman

Many police forces & councils introduced 0845 numbers and had to pay for the privilege - they haven't always been there to generate revenue. 0800 numbers would have been even more expensive so I guess 0845 seemed a sensible option. At the end of the day you will either pay for it when you make the call, or pay for it through your council tax.

As the previous poster says, hopefully most will move to an 03 number in the future.

greytroot

Norbert,
I thought OfCom had been disbanded?

Heinz

greytroot wrote:

Norbert,
I thought OfCom had been disbanded?

Chocolate fireguards spring to mind.

Norbert_Colon

Ofcom are still going AFAIK. Yes, normally they are completely useless, just like they were when they were called Oftel.

Introducing this 03 range might be the first useful deed of their lives.

billsavings

Not every Police Force use 0845, some still have the good sense to use Georaphical Numbers.

kenshaz

greytroot wrote:

Today I received a leaflet through the door telling me about the new way to contact the police. Oh Yes 999 is for emergencies and emergencies only. All other calls should go through an 0845 number. Why not an 0800 number?

They are a Public service ,and if advice is required it should given readily and freely,why should we have to pay,and generate hidden revenue .They are public servants and they should not forget it .We pay through our council taxes ,if that is insufficient ,then we need to know about it and audit their accounts.Accessibility is the key to good community liaison ,do the 0845 numbers go through to a triage monitored by non -uniformed staff with attitude.

bbb_uk

In most cases, police forces that now use 0845 still use their existing geographical number so continue to ring on that.

I, for one, have saved our police force geographical number in my mobile in case they suddenly change to 0845 same as the rest. That way I don't pay upto 40p/min to call them from my mobile if I need to ring them!

I've never been able to understand the real reson for that except the homeoffice want the forces to adopt a single number. The thing is that most police forces have single numbers anyhow in the form of their geographical numbers. The only time this may not be true is a police force that operates two areas and they have been amalgamated into one but still continue to operate two call centres then they 0845 can route calls to either of the two call centres otherwise I can't see any advantage from a joe public point of view.

stamford

kenshaz wrote:

They are a Public service ,and if advice is required it should given readily and freely,why should we have to pay,and generate hidden revenue .They are public servants and they should not forget it .We pay through our council taxes ,if that is insufficient ,then we need to know about it and audit their accounts.Accessibility is the key to good community liaison ,do the 0845 numbers go through to a triage monitored by non -uniformed staff with attitude.

0845/0870 numbers don't help accessibility whenever any organisation I deal with starts touting one I always demand the geographic one on the basis that I might want to phone them from abroad. Never do of course but I'm paying BT the fee for unlimited calls which doesnt cover 0845 & 0870