Callers crash North Yorkshire Police recruitment line

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/north_yorkshire/8510089.stm

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More than 188,000 people have called a police recruitment hotline to inquire about 60 jobs.

North Yorkshire Police's phone line crashed on Monday, the first day of a campaign to recruit officers, when it received 20,000 calls.

A new number was issued and 168,000 people called it on Wednesday. The line is only open between 1700 and 2000 GMT.

The force, which employs about 1,500 officers, said the number of calls it had received was "incredible".

Despite Monday's technical problems, Deputy Chief Constable Adam Briggs said: "Response to 999 calls and routine operational calls has not, and will not, be affected."

A force spokesman said: "Regrettably, unforeseen technical difficulties occurred as a result of this unprecedented overwhelming demand.

"Working in conjunction with partners, North Yorkshire Police has implemented an alternative telephone number which applicants are now requested to dial. This is 0300 123 9020."
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To answer those who were wondering what the initial number was, it is found here to have been a geo number.

The 0300 number drafted in as a replacement is from the block of 0300 123 numbers held with BT by the COI.

This demonstrates that it is 03 numbers to which public bodies now fall back when in need of a non-geo number that perhaps has the ready capacity to handle greater call volumes than may be possible with some geo numbers.

One could ask why a premium rate number was not selected in order to reduce the number of callers and perhaps also make a little money. I am delighted that 03 is seen as the natural choice for all public services.