0800 numbers

[r.bartlett]

Hi guy's

Anyone got any experience with one of these or 0845 numbers. How expensive are they and do you think they actually work?

Cheers

Richard

 

[breezer]

yes, its true you can call an 0845 number

 

[gas4you]

I have 0871 numbers on my internet shop, purely for the reason that I got fed up with time wasters calling and asking 'what price is this?' when it was clearly posted on my site.

At present I would'nt have a 0800 number as I think you wiil get too many time wasters call , who are not really interested in your product because it is a free call

A lot of people have no one to call so abuse 0800 numbers for something to do

 

[breezer]

I got fed up with time wasters calling and asking 'what price is this?' when it was clearly posted on my site.

i sympatise with you. i hate it when people say how much is or other such questions that are on the website for all to see

 

[r.bartlett]

I have 0871 numbers on my internet shop, purely for the reason that I got fed up with time wasters calling and asking 'what price is this?' when it was clearly posted on my site.

At present I would'nt have a 0800 number as I think you wiil get too many time wasters call , who are not really interested in your product because it is a free call

A lot of people have no one to call so abuse 0800 numbers for something to do

Have you gone the BT route or via one of the 08 number sheds?
Do you think they are value for money?
Can you have the old business number with 0871 instead of 01..?
Can you have broardband on a 0871 number?

Cheers

Richard

 

[gas4you]

The 0871 number as any of them is just a redirect diversion to your existing landline number. Broadband or anything else is not affected.

Yes it does put some customers off, but I think genuine ones will still call, even if you had an 09*** number at £1 per minute.

I went through an 08** shed, UK2numbers, but don't think there is much difference between any of them.

BT too expensive for me, although I would only use BT for my business landline.

Only you can decide what you want for your business and your company image I'm afraid

 

[^neo^]

I keep getting emails from a company called Maple Telecom. Never list any prices though

 

[Diyisfun]

The company I work for have about 100 x 0800 numbers.
Part of my job is reporting on them, ie the number of calls received (this is easy to do from monthly reports supplied by our telecom supplier)
They are free to the customer they cost peanuts & you know where the people are calling you have seen the number.
In my view they are very good & of course you can have them routed to any number you want them. We even have an 0800 fax number.

 

[diy_darren]

Yes it does put some customers off, but I think genuine ones will still call, even if you had an 09*** number at £1 per minute.

I certainly wouldn't

As a tradesman what advantage does having an 0845 give you?

As a customer I prefer to deal with smaller local companies and would pass by companies who list 0845 numbers in favour of those with visible area codes.

For example, when I needed the boiler serviced I found a few local companies - one of which was 0845. When I called the 0845 and got routed to some central call centre, who the guy must be affiliated with, I was put off right away.

I guess I'm in the minority then? Do most people just ring around trying to get the cheapest price?

 

[Diyisfun]

Yes it does put some customers off, but I think genuine ones will still call, even if you had an 09*** number at £1 per minute.

I certainly wouldn't

As a tradesman what advantage does having an 0845 give you?

As a customer I prefer to deal with smaller local companies and would pass by companies who list 0845 numbers in favour of those with visible area codes.

For example, when I needed the boiler serviced I found a few local companies - one of which was 0845. When I called the 0845 and got routed to some central call centre, who the guy must be affiliated with, I was put off right away.

I guess I'm in the minority then? Do most people just ring around trying to get the cheapest price?

With number portabilty an 0208 number can be anyway in the UK maybe anywhere in the world.
I agree about the local company issue, but our 0800 numbers are advertised in our catchment area

 

[Spudley]

Hia.

I work for one of the "number sheds" that Richard referred to (actually, we're a fully licensed telco, unlike a lot of others, but I'll let it pass ), and I thought it might be good to try to answer some of the questions being brought up here.

Firstly, for a small business, you should be going with 0800 or 0845, and not 0870. And certainly not 09!!! (You need a licence to operate an 09 number anyway).

0800 -- Free for the caller at all times, but costs you money to receive calls. Great for attracting customers, but also attracting time-wasters.
0845 -- 4p/min peak, 1p/min off-peak (same as a local call), but doesn't cost you anything to receive calls. Quite good at attracting customers, generally no time-wasters.
0870 -- 8p/min peak, 4p/min off-peak (same as a national call). People don't like 0870, and will only call if they really want to talk to you.


Other reasons why you might want to get one of these numbers:

* You can change where they're routed to very easily. So it can go to your office number during work hours, your landline out of hours, your mobile while you're on the road, or have it try your landline first and then switch to your mobile if you don't answer.... or any other combination you care to chose.

* It means you can change your landline or mobile number without losing business. Just changing where it routes to.

* You can cancel it without losing your phone line. eg if you retire, you can cancel the business number so you don't get people finding you in five-year-old copies of the yellow pages.

* You can have more than one 08xx number, and you can set it so your phone tells you which one has been used to call you, so you can tell instantly whether the customer found you in yellow pages or thompson or wherever, without having to ask them.


One thing I would say is don't buy your numbers from BT -- they're much more expensive than anyone else, and they don't offer nearly as many options.


Sorry. Hope that doesn't sound too much like a sales pitch My main aim was to answer some of the questions that had been posed. And I'll be happy to answer any more if you've got them.


All the best.

 

[fattony]

best get rid of the advertising bits of your post, your only giving mods something to do

 

[fattony]

spudley is it really free to set those numbers up?

 

[Spudley]

spudley is it really free to set those numbers up?

Yes it is. At least, in the case of 0845.

Setup fees are justified for a desirable number, but if they charge a setup fee for their basic numbers, they're just ripping you off.

0800 numbers do require at least some up-front payment even if the setup fee is zero, because there's a monthly service charge for them, but on 0845 numbers, there isn't even that, so it's totally free.

All telcos make their money on calls. For example, an 0845 costs the same to call as a local rate call, 4p/min. If you call a local number, BT will get that 4p. If you call an 0845 number, BT gets about half of it, and the telco gets the other half, since it goes through both their networks.

Hope that helps

 

[fattony]

I signed up how long till its active?