0845 Numbers - divert to mobile?

grumbler

Why 0800 is 'money grabbing'? Does it not cost companies to receive the calls? I think it's mobile companies that grab the money, but you can usually find a way not to pay for calling 0800.

Cash-Strapped.T32

I'm sure it's not in actuality, but that's just what goes through my mind whenever I look in the top corner of some correspondence, and see an 08-number, it's my initial reaction & it entirely colours my view of the company in question.
I recognise the phenomenon, but knowing about it doesn't change it, because I know that the company has chosen to use a number which costs me more money - even if they don't personally pocket the cash, they've taken that decision.

08-number = £££ for someone out there, and that someone isn't me.

I have to be fair & even handed - The company I work for is going the same way; All our sites use old fashioned "real" numbers that are recognisable for that particular area, but we're moving to a model where all calls will go to a central location, probably using an 0845 number by the time the move has been completed nationwide.

I'd drop them like a stone if I were a customer which is a massive shame imo because it's utterly unnecessary.



I agree with you as it happens, my way of avoiding such fees is to do a quick look-up for an alternate number.
I have land-line numbers for all the companies I deal with (Bank, Insurance, Utilities etc..) harvested from Say no to 0870 et-al saved in my phone for just this purpose.

grumbler

Cash-Strapped.T32 wrote: »

08-number = £££ for someone out there, and that someone isn't me.

No. 0800/0500 numbers are the best for all customers to call from a landline - unlike mobile numbers and geographical numbers, especially when it is not a local geographical number.

Cash-Strapped.T32

You make a good point re; freephone numbers, fair play.
For me though, I hardly ever call a company from the home-phone because I can't record the call without hassle, so I barely even distinguish between 'em any more.

DanielThomas1

Hi all,

I used to work in the Telco industry, and constantly used to get frustrated about the way that the entire industry works, and misconceptions created thereafter.

08 numbers were originally designed as Non-Geographic numbers for businesses who have a National Presence, or don't want to give a Local Presence.

Three bands were created; Freephone (0800 and 0808), Lo-Call Rate (0845) and Fixed Rate (0844 0843 0870 0871 0872). Only the Fixed Rate numbers can earn 'revenue share'. You'll notice companies use freephone numbers for Sales lines and Fixed Rate numbers for Support/Complaints lines. Revenue can be shared on Fixed Rate numbers - some companies take the kickback outright, some give it up to get their sophisticated telecoms system for free.

0845 numbers vary in tariff based on your call plan and provider. 0844s are Fixed rate, usually 5ppm. 087* numbers vary up to 25ppm usually around the 10ppm area. Freephone numbers are [meant to be] free to call.

Unfortunately these rules only work at a 'carrier level'. BT cannot charge Virgin Media to call a BT freephone number. However even though there is no cost to Virgin to place the call to the BT 0800 number, there's nothing really stopping them from charging their customer for the call. Ofcom would have a fit if a landline provider did this, but for some reason they let the mobile providers get away with charging a surplus on all Non Geographic numbers.

Basically, if its 0800 or 0845 it's actually cost effective to call, unless you're on a mobile. Any other 08* number usually means the company is getting a kickback in some form. There is a solution for Freephone numbers though. A lot of people provide services like these, but this is who I use; www dot mobile2freephone dot com. Basically, you just call the 01888 444 888 number (which is a normal landline number - your mobile inclusive minutes pay for the call) and follow the instructions, typing in the freephone number you want to call, then bam, you're connected and only using your free minutes.

Currently there's no way around this for 084* or 087* numbers, but ultimately, you'd want to use www dot saynoto0870 dot com to find a freephone or landline number for the company anyway.

Someone mentioned about a 07(0) number which 'Looks like a mobile number' but give free call forwarding to his mobile. These are 'Follow Me' (070) numbers which cost between 35ppm to 50ppm to call from a BT landline (mobiles even more!). Essentially, this high tariff pays for the expensive mobile forwarding, that's why its free. Big issue with these is that people think they are mobile numbers, then get their bill to find a 10 minute call cost them a fiver.

Premium Rate numbers (09) were designed specially for revenue share for special services (not limited to but obviously including to chat lines, competition lines and the like).

There's also a new range of numbers Ofcom just brought out - 03 numbers. These are designed to be non-geographic (IE no geographic relevance) but ALWAYS cost STANDARD LANDLINE RATE to call - whether you're on a mobile or landline yourself. 033 is for business and 030 for charities/government/not-for-profit organisations. Lots of people avoid these as they are new, but a lot of people are using them now - especially the police and NHS. These are great for companies too, as the cost implication to your callers is the same, landline or mobile - minuscule!

Thought that might help!

lastminutelaura

My company used to have an 0870 number but recently we switched to an 0370 number (exact same number, but with 03 instead of 08, so that our customers could still remember the main number) We chose this number because it worked out good for us (same price as before to receive calls) and better for our customers (03 is included in both landline and mobile calling packages and has quite a low rate per minute, unlike 0870 and 0800 from mobiles). :beer:

You can get 0370s at a few places but we got ours from flextel.com, since we got our original 0870 number from there many years ago and because their numbers include a broad range of optional 'bolt on' services (e.g. number masking for outgoing calls, virtual receptionist, instant automatic rediverting to a second/third destination number for unanswered calls, etc), most of which are free to use.

We've kept our original number (so we don't lose customers who have it saved/memorised etc) but we only advertise our new one now. We can see the difference between calls going to the 03 and 08 numbers because our handsets display these numbers as they're called (a feature Flextel's named 'dialled number display'). We find this really useful because when we stop seeing our 08 number come up for calls, we'll know that this means people probably aren't calling the old one anymore and we can then phase it out fully.

Hope this helps!

colen219

How to be programming engineer IPhone well!!