BT Makes Phone calls to 0870 and 0845 Numbers Cost Nothing
This week’s landmark news that British Telecom is to become the pioneer United Kingdom telephone business to ensure calls to 0870 numbers and 0845 numbers are free, is expected to be seen in with delightful cheers from consumers and campaigner organisations alike.
0870 numbers in particular, have been the topic of a great deal of negative media coverage over recent years and this is mainly because of the high price to call them the fact that some organisations make money from phone calls to these numbers (particularly annoying for clients calling help numbers and after-sales help).
Using these numbers in the public sector has also faced a large amount of scrutiny and the Department of Health has recently launched a consultation in an attempt to review the application of them in the NHS.
There are even groups that have been particularly set-up to campaign against these phone numbers, like saynoto0870.com.
When they were brought in, 0845 numbers used to be billed at local rate, whereas 0870 numbers used to be national rate to call. This is not the case now with the bringing in of free quota minutes and call deals offered by mobile and landline companies and is likely to be the main reason for British Telecom’s new billing structure for its residential clients.
British Telecom at the moment has about a sixty percent market share so it appears probable that the other normal players in the telecoms arena will follow suit – including Sky, Virgin Media, Talk Talk and Tiscali, who currently charge between 26 pence and £1.07 for a 10 minute phonecall to an 0870/0845 number (as of 8th January 2009).
Now, although this massive leap is in the right direction for BT’s residential clients, it’s must be noted that 40% of all United Kingdom calls carried out in 2007 were made using mobile phones (Ofcom 2008). This means that, though some of British Telecom’s landline callers look set for a great bargain, mobile callers will still pay around 20-30 pence per minute to call 0870/0845 numbers.
For organisations that would like to offer their landline and mobile callers an fantastic bargain, 03 numbers are going to be the obvious answer.
03 numbers cost clients the same to call as standard landline numbers- even when calling from a mobile phone – at any time. They are also included in the free minutes packages that are optional with all major mobile and landline providers.
The 03 number range is split into three segments:
-0303/0300 numbers exclusively for charities and public sector organisations.
-0330 / 0333 numbers for any business or organisation.
-03 equivalent numbers for businesses that at present have an 08 number and would like to swap it for 03.
Organisations are now taking advantage of the massive potential of 03 numbers, including the BBC, the Metropolitan Police, Pioneer, Oxfam and the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
03 numbers are also being advocated by the Department of Health as the perfect alternative to 08 numbers for NHS services that want to help from the extra services that 08 numbers offer (like caller options and call queuing etc.) and at the same time providing their callers a better deal.
In all, BT’s newest move will save its residential clients an estimated £24m a year. This new business plan not only underlines the importance and popularity of non-geographic telephone numbers, it also reinforces the argument for providing clients a better deal at all times. And for this, 03 numbers still reign supreme.
