The demise of 0845 numbers

Hi

Are you aware that if you use an 0845 number for your business that from Jan 2008 OFCOM have changed the game rules and that from then on, not only will your callers still pay - but so will you!
This is a complex matter, because some users of 0845s already pay for callers to call them - especially if rented from BT.
Other users though, have over the years found other telcos (like us) can provide them for free and without charging usage either.

But the new OFCOM ruling makes it different and callers will pay less than they do now, with the difference paid by the owners/promoters of those numbers.
The same is applying to 0870s too!

I can supply OFCOM pdfs to explain this further - great for insomniacs!

To avoid this we have a variety of solutions such as using
1) cheap rates for freefone 0800 numbers and you pay for the calls.
2) take 0844 numbers and the callers pay the same as standard BT per minute rates, but you can get a share !
3) take 0871 numbers and the callers pay what they did for 0870s but you get an even bigger share!

We can also throw in Call Queueing to stop calls getting lost or missed and other ideas too.
So why not call me, or email your number and I'll call you to discuss.

Thanks for reading
Paddy

Crikey, I had no idea about this. We use an 0845 number but only paid a 1 off fee. How do we go about changing this?

Yipes! we only use 0845 on our Yellow Pages add to link into my actual STD code number, so I suppose its only a virtual number, will we have to pay for this to?

Hi Nina

The easiest thing way - and cheapest - is to replace your 0845 with an 0844 number.
I'll call you tomorrow to explain.

Best
Patrick

Hi Dave.
Yes you probably will.
I would suggest that you change your next Yell advert to show an 0800 number.
It's not expensive and is Free for callers to call you - which the public love - and because we can issue you with one 0800 per advert you can track how many enquiries each advert or promotion generates.
Regards
Patrick

Not cheap or easy to replace things such as business cards etc though is it!

yup got a few people by the curleys if you have a marketing campaign with one of these numbers as unless you want to kiss response goodbye you had better keep them at least while you communicate you number to all potentials. which could be more than the cost of footing the additional cost?