SMARTY network call to a "Business" (01xxx) number are not included in unlimited even DR or Hospital

Alderbank

vennypenny said:

Alderbank said:

vennypenny said:

Each time I tried to call, I got disconnected straight away.  Thought my phone was playing up, so tried using a a different one - that connected and I could complete my call.  

I think that's quite normal if the line is engaged. Might not happen much when you ring your friends' personal numbers but nowadays your doctor's surgery will get a lot of calls. Just redial until you get through. It was just coincidence that happened when you used a different phone.

"Hi, I have checked with the team and confirm that 01 number is a standard number and you should be connected to it, However, if they intend this to make a business number which gets attached to a company, then it will be chargeable."

That is all correct. What they did not explain, or what you did not catch, is that if it is changed to a corporate number it will begin with 05

Unlimited calls include: standard UK landlines (starting 01, 02 and 03)..."  There is no mention of separate charges for calls to "business numbers".

Yes there is (now anyway). Smarty say 'Calls to corporate numbers (numbers starting with 05) are charged at 12.9p per minute'.

Maybe I am showing my age but if the number I dial starts with 01 are you saying that it can be switched somewhere in the system to be interpreted as 05 instead? If this happens then clearly I am very out of touch. Because I definitely dialled 01 at the beginning and not 05. Thanks

No, it can't be switched like that. I have a Samsung phone on network 3 but they all work in the same way. If the number you called is engaged it just cuts off as you seem to have described. That is normal. You might be able to set your phone to automatically redial at that point. If the number is not engaged it will ring.

Corporate numbers, which are what I think you mean by business numbers, actually begin 055. They are non-geographical numbers and were introduced as a way for companies to buy up blocks of individual phone numbers which could then be used throughout the country. They might have made sense back in the days when we all paid for each call and you paid different rates depending on how far away you were. An 055 number meant that callers then paid the same for the call wherever they were in the UK.
Fairly pointless nowadays and in practice hardly any companies use them, but they still exist.
I can't see why a local service like a GP would want to switch to a non-geographical number.

Edited to add:
If there is a network problem your phone will cut off as you describe even if the number you called is available. That is quite common

user1977

vennypenny said:

user1977 said:

Just to clarify, is the 01 code the standard geographical code for the area the practice is in, rather than some sort of virtual code?

It is the same 01xxx area code as my landline and definitely not a virtual one. Thanks 

Have you tried phoning other numbers with the same area code? I can't see how they can distinguish between different "types" of number within a normal area code.

outtatune

How does Smarty know what numbers are businesses? The person on the other end of the chat would appear to be an idiot.