Call 18866 - any good really?

Luis

Hello,
I am writing to enquire whether call 18866 are actually any good.

I am an AOL user, so would have to set up a hotmail account - how do I do this please?

Is the 1866 service good? Can you always make calls? Can you pre-programme the 18866 no into each no in your phone, or is it best to dial the prefix then the number you want? Does it affect caller ID etc?

Sorry to ask so many questions - I guess I am a doubting thomas........?

Al_Mac

Luis wrote:

I am writing to enquire whether call 18866 are actually any good.QUOTE]

Yes it is very good. BT have cut my monthly payment from 45 to 30, after only six weeks of using it. Will be asking for another cut at next bill time.

We have friends in France, BT 7p per minute, 18866 2p per minute.

All numbers in phone prefixed in memory with 18866.

So the only calls we pay for now are ones SWMBO or children do not prefix, and mobiles.
:beer:

markdavey

Hi Luis,

I have been using 18866 (in conjunction with 1899 and One.Tel CPS) now for 2 months using an Orchid Dialer to route calls. I now pay BT £13 per month (this covers line rental and any ring backs I do). I use One.Tel for free weekend calls to land lines. My call charges have gone from £12-£13 per month to less then £2.50 per month. I have yet to have a problem with the service provided by either 18866 or 1899 (by the way I believe that they are part of the same Swiss telecoms company).

That's a saving of almost £120 per year and I am not a particularly heavy user!!!

As with any non-BT alternate carrier, the transmission of caller ID is not guarenteed, sometimes you will transmit it, sometimes you wont. It does not effect the receipt of caller ID on your line though (as BT still handle incoming calls) as long as the caller is sending it.

Hope this helps.

Mark

bbb_uk

Further to Marks post, we also have been using OneTel's free evening&weekend (monthly fee waived for 12 months) and Call18866 for daytime calls and have not had any problems with Call18866

We were paying £15 per month for calls (excluding line rental). This was on Telewest's unlimited call package but since moved to BT to take advantage of telephone providers like OneTel & Call18866, etc) and our 1st month (not long moved to BT) was only 54p (yes 54p) as most calls we make are geographical offpeak (very few are daytime) and we use the excellent site http://www.saynoto0870.com to look-up the normal (geographical) numbers for those firms (and there are loads now) that use 0845 or even 0870/0871 money-making lines.

Based on our first months bill, were looking at around £170 odd per year saving.

OneTel are currently still doing their free evening&weekend calls with no monthly fee for 12 months offer. This offer runs out end of this month but in the past they have extended it but who knows!

Either way if you want to use OneTel then i'd sign up (you currently get £20 credit for signing online as well) before end of this month just in case they stop doing this offer

See http://www.onetel.co.uk/index.php/leisureuktalk for info on their free evening/weekend package.

Also, we use the excellent Orchid dialler to automatically route calls depending on type of call, time of call (offpeak, peak, etc) so we don't have to remember to dial 18866 before daytime calls.

I'm not sure about caller display as don't generally bother with but our calls are automatically withheld by using the Orchid Dialler (it can be set not to withhold numbers but as mentioned by Mark sometimes depending on how Call18866 routes the calls it maybe withheld).

For more info on Orchid Dialler see MSE's thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=15502 or http://www.orchid-electronics.com/Diallers/lcr.htm.

I recommend the v4 dialler as its only £5 more but is worth it for its facilities.

Kev

Edinburghlass_2

Luis, 18866 is the best thing since sliced bread :j

I have used it for some 18 months and have never had any problems putting a call through or with line clarity.

BexTech

I've been using 18866 and 1899 for 15+ months without any problems, they have cut my bill drastically. Even more so when I was able to convince Talk Talk they should offer me free evening and weekend calls for 12 months without the need of me cancelling my service with them and re-joining!

mike_paterson

Yes 18866 rocks - and so does 1899 !

asot

Caller ID does work.

klondyke

Luis wrote:

Hello,
I am an AOL user, so would have to set up a hotmail account - how do I do this please?

Sorry to ask so many questions - I guess I am a doubting thomas........?

Noticed no one answered that bit: you can see overview and sign up at

http://www.imagine-msn.com/hotmail/default.aspx?locale=en-gb

Just follow instructions.

Alternatively, if it helps, I have loads of spare gmail invites. PM me if you want one.

BexTech

With 18866 and 1899 caller ID is transmitted fine to mobiles and VoIP numbers, but to most UK landlines daytime calls will show up as "International".

Luis

Wow - thanks to everyone for their positive responses!

I am not bothered about my ID being transmitted - in fact I would prefer it did not, as I have automatic withold on my BT account - will this still work does anyone know? More concerned that I would get the ID of the person calling me - which it appears I do - thanks.

klondyke - have pm'd you for the Gmail account - thanks for that too.

Guess I'll be signing up for 18866 then!