Friday, 21 October 2011
The most popular 0800 number?
I keep wondering, what are the most popular, the most used, the most advertised 0800 numbers? Surely the Crimestoppers number has to be up there, as every time I put the phrase 0800 numbers into a Google search, it brings up something on the first page to do with Crimestoppers. Maybe that is just the most newsworthy. Anyone else got any other thoughts?
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Blog expands to include international freephone numbers
Up until now, this blog has mainly focused on 0800 freephone numbers in the UK, but of course freephone numbers are used worldwide, not just in the UK. In the UK of course, 0800 is the freephone number, but a wide range of different numbers are used across the globe. Therefore, in the future, whilst still considering UK freephone numbers, we will also be looking at international toll free forwarding numbers.
So, this includes 1 800, 1 855, 1 866 and 1 877 numbers in the USA, 0805 numbers in France, and countries which also have 0800 numbers, which include Germany and New Zealand.
More and more telecoms companies are now offering toll free numbers internationally, which is why we are expanding the material covered in this blog to take account of that. Look out for this in future blogposts!
So, this includes 1 800, 1 855, 1 866 and 1 877 numbers in the USA, 0805 numbers in France, and countries which also have 0800 numbers, which include Germany and New Zealand.
More and more telecoms companies are now offering toll free numbers internationally, which is why we are expanding the material covered in this blog to take account of that. Look out for this in future blogposts!
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
A brief history of UK freephone numbers
If like me you're a bit of a history buff then you might be interested to learn a little bit about the history of UK 0800 numbers.
The Post Office, which had controlled the telephone system in the UK since 1912, introduced freephone services to subscribers in 1959 and to business services in 1960.
Linkline 0800 and 0345 numbers were first introduced in 1985, and became freefone and lo-call afterwards. In 2000, BT's 0345 numbers and Mercury's 0645 numbers were merged to create the present day 0845 numbers.
The Post Office, which had controlled the telephone system in the UK since 1912, introduced freephone services to subscribers in 1959 and to business services in 1960.
Linkline 0800 and 0345 numbers were first introduced in 1985, and became freefone and lo-call afterwards. In 2000, BT's 0345 numbers and Mercury's 0645 numbers were merged to create the present day 0845 numbers.
Friday, 30 September 2011
False hope
For a brief moment, we thought the first move had been made in the price of calling 0800 numbers from mobile phones coming down when Vodafone UK announced that they were dropping the costs of calls to 0800 numbers from their phones. That is until 3rd January 2012 when they're putting them up again. The long wait continues!
Friday, 16 September 2011
0800 number for safety, security and peace of mind?
This week, OFCOM published an article called Keep Connected at College - a student guide - which we highly recommend as a useful and informative document for young people moving away from home for the first time, going to college or university.
On this note, we thought it worth repeating a suggestion we heard a little while back, that maybe parents might want to consider getting an 0800 number for their kids for when they go away to university or college. Yes, they all have mobile phones now, but it is amazing how easily they can loose them or have them stolen on a night out, and end up without money or a card for phoning home.
The freephone numbers can be pointed either to the parents phone, to the student accommodation or to anywhere else, to give the parents and the students peace of mind and to act as an extra security and safety precaution just in case.
On this note, we thought it worth repeating a suggestion we heard a little while back, that maybe parents might want to consider getting an 0800 number for their kids for when they go away to university or college. Yes, they all have mobile phones now, but it is amazing how easily they can loose them or have them stolen on a night out, and end up without money or a card for phoning home.
The freephone numbers can be pointed either to the parents phone, to the student accommodation or to anywhere else, to give the parents and the students peace of mind and to act as an extra security and safety precaution just in case.
Friday, 9 September 2011
UK Newspapers noting costs of prices to 0800 numbers from mobiles
Freephone numbers have been in the news again this week. Last weekend (Saturday 3rd September) there was an article in The Telegraph by Neasa MacErlean with the headline “Taking action over the high cost of essential phone helplines”, and on Monday 5th September The Sun newspaper had an article with the headline “mobile callers paying £1.70 for ‘free’ 0800 number” by Tim Heming.
Both were complaining about the fact that people calling freephone 0800 numbers from a mobile phone are charged a high price by their mobile phone network provider in order to do so. The Sun article named and shamed the mobile companies that charge the highest amount, and noted that UK consumers are paying £1.9billion per year on calls to freephone numbers from mobiles.
The Telegraph article focused on the costs to government departments, other organisations and helplines being over 40p per minute. According to the report, OFCOM is looking at stopping mobile phone companies from charging people for phoning 0800 numbers from their mobiles. Both articles looked at the impact that being charged to phone an 0800 number has on the poorest people in society, many of whom do not have a landline and so have no choice but to pay the high charges. Although the Department of Work & Pensions agreed a deal with mobile providers earlier in the year that most of their 0800 numbers would be free when called from a mobile, there are still a lot of other organisations out there with 0800 numbers which are expensive when called from mobile phones. Apparently a decision is due within four months, so we’ll watch this space.
Both were complaining about the fact that people calling freephone 0800 numbers from a mobile phone are charged a high price by their mobile phone network provider in order to do so. The Sun article named and shamed the mobile companies that charge the highest amount, and noted that UK consumers are paying £1.9billion per year on calls to freephone numbers from mobiles.
The Telegraph article focused on the costs to government departments, other organisations and helplines being over 40p per minute. According to the report, OFCOM is looking at stopping mobile phone companies from charging people for phoning 0800 numbers from their mobiles. Both articles looked at the impact that being charged to phone an 0800 number has on the poorest people in society, many of whom do not have a landline and so have no choice but to pay the high charges. Although the Department of Work & Pensions agreed a deal with mobile providers earlier in the year that most of their 0800 numbers would be free when called from a mobile, there are still a lot of other organisations out there with 0800 numbers which are expensive when called from mobile phones. Apparently a decision is due within four months, so we’ll watch this space.
Friday, 2 September 2011
Order now in time for Christmas!
If you were thinking about giving your business a boost by getting one or more freephone numbers, then now is the time to do it. The summer is just about over, companies are more or less going to be at full staff again now, everyone has taken their summer holiday, and it is work work work until Christmas. And yes, Christmas is less than four months away, so things are going to start getting busy again soon with people preparing for Christmas and buying Christmas presents. So, if you want to stand out from the crowd when people start looking for businesses, start ordering your 0800 numbers today!
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