:) Mid Beds District Council and South Beds District Council are moving to a single
   unity authority called Central Beds District Council as of 01 April 2009.

   see http://www.centralbeds.gov.uk/

   They will be moving to 0300 300 8XXX numbers as a result for all customer
   facing departments ie main customer services number is now 0300 300 8000.

   See it is possible to get away from 08 !!!

   Also proves the early bird gets the best numbers !!

   (yes in a small way I am involved in making this happen) ::)

The reasons and issues involved in this change are well laid out in a detailed document:-

http://www.southbeds.gov.uk/Images/07_Change_to_SBDC_Telephone_Number_tcm6-24473.pdf

This should provide a worthy reference for other authorities who are presented with an opportunity for change.

Many congratulations to TigerTim_UK and to Mr Wood, Cllr Hegley and other colleagues involved in this decision.

Members of the forum will, I am sure, be keen to encourage all efforts to draw attention to this wise move and persuade others across the public sector to follow suit.

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Jul 5^th, 2008 at 10:05am:

The reasons and issues involved in this change are well laid out in a detailed document:- http://www.southbeds.gov.uk/Images/07_Change_to_SBDC_Telephone_Number_tcm6-24473.pdf This should provide a worthy reference for other authorities who are presented with an opportunity for change. Many congratulations to TigerTim_UK and to Mr Wood, Cllr Hegley and other colleagues involved in this decision. Members of the forum will, I am sure, be keen to encourage all efforts to draw attention to this wise move and persuade others across the public sector to follow suit.

As an 03 number will cost Council Tax payers money on every single call the council receives I still don't see why they couldn't use a geographic phone number that would cost them nothing to operate?

Since the unanimous adoption of a resolution by the full council banning the use of 084/7 numbers in July 2005 I am not aware of any adverse consequences that have ensued for my local authority - Mole Valley District Council.

Surely only large national operations like HMRC, DWP etc have any need to use 03 numbers.  I can't see what exactly is wrong with a local council sticking to using a local phone number? :-? :-/

NGMsGhost wrote on Jul 14^th, 2008 at 1:38pm:

As an 03 number will cost Council Tax payers money on every single call the council receives I still don't see why they couldn't use a geographic phone number that would cost them nothing to operate? Since the unanimous adoption of a resolution by the full council banning the use of 084/7 numbers in July 2005 I am not aware of any adverse consequences that have ensued for my local authority - Mole Valley District Council. Surely only large national operations like HMRC, DWP etc have any need to use 03 numbers.  I can't see what exactly is wrong with a local council sticking to using a local phone number? :-? :-/

Hear Hear!!!!    Couldn't agree more.   And the same goes for GPs who should all be using a local geographic number.

NGMsGhost wrote on Jul 14^th, 2008 at 1:38pm:

Surely only large national operations like HMRC, DWP etc have any need to use 03 numbers.  I can't see what exactly is wrong with a local council sticking to using a local phone number?

This is a fair question which is only partly answered in the document referred to above. Whilst this does refer to benefits it does not fully explain how these are justified against the cost.



loddon wrote on Jul 14^th, 2008 at 2:40pm:

And the same goes for GPs who should all be using a local geographic number.

We have heard that NGNs offer a greater facility for network queuing and perhaps re-direction out-of-hours.


I am happy to be added to this declaration of ignorance.


I suggest that we need to clearly understand the respective limits and costs of applying such features on geo numbers before we can offer advice on the choice between a geographic and 03xx number. We also need to understand the scale of the likely benefits before we can determine the quality of a decision to utilise such features and to choose disassociation from a particular geographic locality.

There is doubtless much waste of public money, which is rightly condemned. There will also be differing views on the scale of likely benefits. Our focus here is however on costs that are wrongly carried by service users through use of revenue sharing numbers.

In the absence of detailed knowledge and understanding of any particular circumstance and the wisdom of any particular decision, I am content to simply celebrate any decision to adopt a 03xx, rather a 084x, number.

Without going into too much detail there will be a lot of relocation of job functions with the move to unity authority which means current 01 numbers will be phased out in favour of 03 to give this mobility.

There will be savings made else where (rightsizing of voice links between buildings) that will more
than offset the costs of 03 calls.

South Bedfordshire District Council is now promoting its new number:

http://www.southbeds.gov.uk/Images/Housing%20Matters%20Autumn%2008_tcm6-29956.pdf


Quote:

0300 numbers are a new range of telephone numbers available since early 2007. Under telephone regulations (for UK dialled calls – landline or mobile) they can cost no more than a national rate call to an 01 or 02 number, and must count towards any inclusive minutes supplied by your telephone operator in the same way as 01 and 02 calls. For further details please see www.ofcom.org.uk

Dave wrote on Dec 13^th, 2008 at 3:56pm:

Quote: 0300 numbers are a new range of telephone numbers available since early 2007.Under telephone regulations (for UK dialled calls – landline or mobile) they can cost no more than a national rate call to an 01 or 02 number, and must count towards any inclusive minutes supplied by your telephone operator in the same way as 01 and 02 calls.For further details please see www.ofcom.org.uk

Best description I have seen so far of the costs of calling 03 numers by a body that has adopted them. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

That is directly quoting from Ofcom:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/features/03numbers

Which makes it even more surprising that they use the term "national rate". Why do they have to persist in using that, which implies it is more expensive than calls to "local" numbers? Even more alarming is that 0870 is often still referred to as national rate.

We are still struggling to find the best simple understandable term that describes the rate applied to calls to 01, 02 and now 03 numbers. For clarirty this should also describe which calls are covered by inclusive packages.

We have "local-", "national-"  and "UK-wide-" used to describe the rate. The first two are obviously unsuitable as they hark back to previous distinctions and the latter is meaningless as it is unfamiliar and could be though t to mean anything. I have heard packages descrirbed as including calls to "landline numbers", with the comment that this does not include non-geographic numbers - perhaps "landline rate" would have some meaning.

Until someone finds a suitable term, any term that is used must be followed by a wordy description such as that given here. It is unfortunate to have to do this, but better not to use a simple term that could be misunderstood.

"Standard landline" is the best I can think of at the moment, if the use of "geographical" is considered unsuitable for the general public. "Rate" should be avoided as these calls are often not charged on a per-minute basis. So they could say, "Calls to this number are charged [the same] as calls to a standard landline".