0845 0870 0871! What? Why?

[ink4-u]

Hello its Jay

Do you have an 0870, 0871, 0845?
Why?
Do you earn from it?

The reason im asking is i had an 0871 number charging my customers a fortune, so i thought not any more why should i do that after all they are my customers and i dont like calling them myself. So i went and got an 0845 number, but that also was no good according to people because they actually dont cost local rate! So i rang the people that gave me the number and said switch the thing off! And we now have the geographical number!

Do you feel it is ok for your company to have a non geographical number? (if you have one)

If you have a geographical number, does it make any difference to your company? (are the customers less anxious when calling? not in a mood because of the phone bill)

IF YOU DONT LIKE CALLING THESE NUMBERS, AND HAVE ONE YOURSELF WHY?

There is a great site out there what made me stop and take a good look, if you haven't heard of it its this http://www.saynoto0870.com/

Thanks Jay :D

[Coding Monkey]

I have an 0845 that all my clients have. It's purely there because I want to move into an office and not have to give them all a new number. Everyone calls me on my mobile anyway.

But I have a local number on my website as I have detailed statistics that I created which show the decrease in contact rate when I had the 0845 number.

It reflects my service as well. You get a personal and professional service from a small company.

[ink4-u]

Great stuff, i did have that same feeling about if i move i just redirect the number, but then i thought you just get a recorded message on the end of the old number these day's!

[cjd]

Numbers all have different purposes - they're actually products that have different prices and provide different services.

0800 are freephone marketing numbers - they say "I want you to call me so much I'll pay for you to do it" Use them on adverts or sales lines

0845 says "we want you to call us as cheaply as possible but we can't afford to pay for your call" my bank uses them to provide telephone banking

0870 & 0871 says either "I'm providing a service to you that you need to contribute a little to" - maybe a customer help line - or "I'm being cheap and/or ripping you off"

A geographic number says "I'm local to you" or I'm a big business and can afford a central London telephone number.

A mobile phone number says "I'm a very small, maybe one man business "

With VoIP tho' that's not always the case - there's a new spin on it. See below:
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/online/insideit/story/0,,1606956,00.html

[fastfences]

Numbers all have different purposes - they're actually products that have different prices and provide different services.

0800 are freephone marketing numbers - they say "I want you to call me so much I'll pay for you to do it" Use them on adverts or sales lines


Hi Jay,

I use an 0800 freephone number, but unlike the quote above which seems a tad desperate, mine says, 'I'll provide you the convenience and cost free means of contacting my company.'

The 'freephone' is an excellent business tool.
Cheers, Nigel

[cjd]

'I'll provide you the convenience and cost free means of contacting my company.'


Now that's a real marketing man speaking!

[winton50]

I avoid calling premium rate numbers of any type at all.

I recently had a company who was selling to me trying to get me to call them back on their premium rate number!
Guess what? they didn't get my business!

we use an 0800 number because we are in a competitive YP listing and we need every edge we can get. It works too and I can redirect it whenever I want instantly

[ink4-u]

Great stuff, there are some people that use them and i think these numbers are *CRAP* for business. They have not done me any favors, i mean fair enough if you are running a technical support line ok to an extent its a good way of paying for the service or support. Thanks for all your replys and keep them comig maybe we can talk about business effects due to these numbers, and any suggestions for people considering getting one.

There are options for geographical numbers, i would get one via Skype or voipfone.co.uk as they have a wide range to choose from.

For 0800 numbers which i was told not to bother getting by saynoto0870 the best people are (price wise)

http://www.call08.com/

[Coding Monkey]

Do any 0845 providers not charge for the number to be diverted to your mobile?

[clairemackaness]

Ryan Air annoy me, their telephone number cost 25p per minute. Dont they earn enough?

[cjd]

For 0800 numbers which i was told not to bother getting by saynoto0870 the best people are (price wise)

http://www.call08.com/

That was written before we launched ours (yesterday :-))

[Toon]

I use 0870/0844 numbers for my business. The main reason for this is that I operate numerous websites and have a different number for each website. I have all of the numbers going to the same place but when a call comes though I know what kind of call it is and can answer appropriately.

Plus, if I move or change my telephone number then I don't have to give out new numbers.

I originally worked from home and didn't want to give out my home number and also new I would eventual move into commercial property and didn't want to change my number.

[barry.hynd]

This has made me think a little. Are these numbers that important? I mean I accept that in some industries an 0800 number is essential but i wouldn't not phone a company if they had an 0870 or 0871 or 0845. Ok I draw the line at these 090 numbers but would it really put you off that much!

[cjd]

Do any 0845 providers not charge for the number to be diverted to your mobile?

No, you'll find they all have to charge for that - calls to mobiles are just too damn expensive.

We can do it for between 8.5 & 12p per minute depending on the network. Transferring to a UK landline is about 1p.

If you could organise yourself so that the transferred calls go to another Voipfone phone (anywhere) it would be free.

[crus]

Interesting,

have used a range of numbers over time.

For example, we used to use an 0871 number for a wap service as a payment method from the mobile handset and was very successful with it.

As with others above, I am lookin at other services, I have been recommended the following, a london number service that routes out to anywhere in UK over VOIP, this gives the 'prestige' of a good looking number if done correctly and is free for many people to call within allocated minutes or free uk call scenarios.

As for freephone numbers, I avoid considering calling companies that use them as they will only end up rolling the price into the product or service I am considering buying. I like to think that I am quick and concise when using the phone, so why should I pay for the other idiots who clog up the free phone number (assuming they are not called back).

D

[fastfences]

I have been recommended the following, a london number service that routes out to anywhere in UK over VOIP, this gives the 'prestige' of a good looking number if done correctly and is free for many people to call within allocated minutes or free uk call scenarios.


Wow, crus. I hope these people don't adopt the same atittude as this:



. . . they will only end up rolling the price into the product or service I am considering buying . . . so why should I pay for the other idiots who clog up the free phone number


On that basis, companies wouldn't have an office because the rent would be rolled into the price, ditto with advertising etc. I would glady refund 22P from an £800 fence if one was concerned about using a 'freephone' number! :wink:
Cheers, Nigel

[crus]

I see your point Nigel,

but I spose, equally I avoid buying electrical goods from high street retailers who generally advertise on TV as they are 20 - 30% more expensive.

So I guess it does scale that way as well, but I will reasses my position as buying a new TV (2-3k purchase) and will compare prices of those companies that advertise and those that I find to see if my concept is/still a misconception.

Thanks

D

[ink4-u]

well crus what about internet companies, they advertise all over the web via banners and most banner plots cost a fortune, big players in the game like aol.co.uk wont anve an affiliate banner there they charge you for the plot, and google charge you to be at the top so its the same thing really.

[crus]

It is,

and I do sometimes avoid google or other obvious ppc advertisers for the same reason, such as some comparison sites.

There is always a balance between convenience and cost, I must just be a bit humbug.

Equally though 'I would glady refund 22P from an £800 fence if one was concerned about using a 'freephone' number!' Is the same as me being prepared to pay it to get the £800 fence for £799.78 and save the hassle of asking for the refund, I guess its just conditioning.

I mean people dial premium rate numbers for all kinds of stuff so horses for courses.

As an aside, one of the most successfull startups (ROI) I saw in the last 8 years on the web NEVER spent anything on advertising, but by having the best of a certain type of product simply dominated the market place until that marketplace changed.

D

[DuaneJackson]

You can get a portable geogrpahic number if you want the image of a geographic with the flexibility of a non-geogrpahic. I use cjd's firm ( www.voipfone.co.uk ) and can redirect my 020 number anywhere I like (with no recorded message ubnless I want it) or answer it directly over IP with no forwarding charges if I want to. It's good stuff, I highly recommend it.

Plus he seems to have a good PR firm working for him. : )

[cjd]

You can get a portable geogrpahic number if you want the image of a geographic with the flexibility of a non-geogrpahic. I use cjd's firm ( www.voipfone.co.uk ) and can redirect my 020 number anywhere I like (with no recorded message ubnless I want it) or answer it directly over IP with no forwarding charges if I want to. It's good stuff, I highly recommend it.

Plus he seems to have a good PR firm working for him. : )

Now I'm blushing ....... ;-)

[billcutter]

For 0800 numbers which i was told not to bother getting by saynoto0870 the best people are (price wise)

http://www.call08.com/

That was written before we launched ours (yesterday :-))

cjd.

You charge £4.99p a month rental for yours, and calls cost 3p.

call080.com charge £4.95,included with that is 800 minutes a month free which would cost another £24 with you.Then they only charge 2p a min after that.

[Trade Agency]

ofcom are changing 0870 to the same rules and costs as 0800 soon, "free phone"

[cjd]

ofcom are changing 0870 to the same rules and costs as 0800 soon, "free phone"

Not quite. They are removing the revenue share element and making them the same price to call as normal national calls. This is because of the industry abusing both 0870 and 0871 - customers now hate them and generally won't call them.

(Although they have come unstuck because of some technical stuff about burglar alarms.)