anxiety alliance helpline previously operated from 01926 851 608, this number is now a deadline, they now use 0845 296 7877 as their only contact number for the helpline, i am unable to find an alternative landline number for this helpline. Their office number is 01926 779911, but the woman who answered the phone would not give me the landline number for this helpline when I asked, any help to get this landline number would be appreciated. I,ve looked on yell.com, and on google search without any success so far.

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~ Edited by Dave: Thread title amended

I'll start off with some basic background information:  ::)

1 Taylor Close
Kenilworth
Warwickshire
CV8 2LW

Website: www.anxietyalliance.org.uk

The website says that the helpline, 0845 296 7877, is open 10am-10pm everyday. And it says that "Calls charged at Local Rate"...  ::)

I wonder if the reason for the number change is because the helpline is operated from elsewhere. Could it be operated by volunteers that work from home? If so, perhaps it (the 0845 number) points directly to the home number(s) of the volunteer(s) who is manning the line at the time.  :-/

Dave, I noted the Anxiety Alliance email address is not in the same format as the website address, this would lead me to think it's operated on a voluntary basis, and that 0845 number points to a standard home landline.

Might still be worth emailing them...

yes the anxiety alliance helpline is offering the telephone service from volunteers homes I believe, not sure how to access the landline numbers hidden behind the current 0845 number they now are offerring, if anyone can explain where the email adrress is I could try emailing to see what happens.....I,ve asked one of the volunteers if they know the landline number for the helpline, told by this particular volunteer they don,t.....any further help would be appreciated, thankyou.

just thought I,d add that when it says local rate I,ve been charged 14 pence just to call the 0845 number and get through to the answer phone...this happened over 10 x before I knew it wasn,t a proper local rate charge on my phone bill..ouch !  I,ve just found the email address and sent an email re : the charges and requesting they advertise an alternative landline number for callers on eg low incomes etc... see what they say !

dandy wrote on Aug 1^st, 2010 at 8:16pm:

just thought I,d add that when it says local rate I,ve been charged 14 pence just to call the 0845 number and get through to the answer phone...this happened over 10 x before I knew it wasn,t a proper local rate charge on my phone bill..ouch ! …

May I ask where you are ringing it from? What provider and what tariff?  :-?

dandy wrote on Aug 1^st, 2010 at 6:56pm:

yes the anxiety alliance helpline is offering the telephone service from volunteers homes I believe, not sure how to access the landline numbers hidden behind the current 0845 number they now are offerring, if anyone can explain where the email adrress is I could try emailing to see what happens.....I,ve asked one of the volunteers if they know the landline number for the helpline, told by this particular volunteer they don,t.....any further help would be appreciated, thankyou.

http://www.anxietyalliance.org.uk/contact_us

The e-mail address is located on this page.

:)

looks like with the fact that volunteers operate from their home and the 0845 number diverts to the volunteer when it is rung that this is going to be a difficult one to crack..I got a reply to the email I sent, merely stating the helpline couldn,t afford the continuing use of the landline number ( though no explanation what costs were associated with this ) and that moving to an 0845 number was " inevitable ", she said the woman who replied to me. Think I,ll reply asking why the landline number is unafordable..think she,ll tell me why ? I,m not clear as to when an 0845 number diverts calls is it still operating from a hidden landline number ? Anyone know ?

Dave, I,m ringing from London area...

dandy wrote on Aug 9^th, 2010 at 3:37pm:

looks like with the fact that volunteers operate from their home and the 0845 number diverts to the volunteer when it is rung that this is going to be a difficult one to crack..I got a reply to the email I sent, merely stating the helpline couldn,t afford the continuing use of the landline number ( though no explanation what costs were associated with this ) and that moving to an 0845 number was " inevitable ", she said the woman who replied to me. Think I,ll reply asking why the landline number is unafordable..think she,ll tell me why ? I,m not clear as to when an 0845 number diverts calls is it still operating from a hidden landline number ? Anyone know ?

I can only speculate, but I think that the old 01926 number was often diverted to volunteers' own 01/02 landline numbers, and thus this would have been likely to incur costs on a per minute basis.

The 0845 number will probably be set to point (put calls through to) different landline numbers at different times.


If you are with BT or TalkTalk, then the cost of a 0845 call will cost you no more than a geographic call (to a 01/02 number).

Thanks Dave for your help, can you explain to me the difference then, is it that by me ringing the 0845 number the helpline generate an income which offsets any previous charges that occurred when a service user rang the 01926 number they previously used ? I, new to this, and learning.

dandy wrote on Aug 9^th, 2010 at 5:14pm:

Thanks Dave for your help, can you explain to me the difference then, is it that by me ringing the 0845 number the helpline generate an income which offsets any previous charges that occurred when a service user rang the 01926 number they previously used ? I, new to this, and learning.

In essence, yes, although a more in depth explanation may be useful:

Strictly speaking, the 0845 number doesn't divert calls anywhere because the word "divert" implies that calls are sent elsewhere from their normal destination. With respect to the 0845 number, a call is routed to a destination number, or to phrase it differently, the 0845 points to a 01/02 number.

The user of the 0845 number receives a subsidy which (in general) covers the cost of routing the call to the destination 01/02 number. The user of the 0845 number will not 'see' the subsidy, other than it won't have to pay for calls put through to the chosen 01/02 destination number(s). This happens behind the scenes, as it were, between the caller's telephone company and the receiver's telephone company (which operates the 0845 number).

So the use of an 0845 number is a financial one, but still not 100 % clear why companies/services need to rely on such numbers, how did they manage before such numbers could be used for revenue ? Any answers ? ( Does this need to be in a different post ? ).

dandy wrote on Aug 9^th, 2010 at 9:51pm:

So the use of an 0845 number is a financial one, but still not 100 % clear why companies/services need to rely on such numbers, how did they manage before such numbers could be used for revenue ? Any answers ? ( Does this need to be in a different post ? ).

Companies often cite that they need a 0845 number because it allows them more flexibility to route calls. For example, routing calls to another office may form part of a disaster recovery plan or in the event of a fire evacuation.

In 2007, largely as a result of this campaign, 03 numbers were introduced. These provide exactly the same technical/operational benefits as 0845 (and 0844 etc) numbers, but without passing back some of the service costs onto callers.

Prior to this time, having such routing facilities on a non-geographic number meant taking a subsidy from callers. This covered the cost of the 0845 number delivering calls to the destination 01/02 number(s).

So organisations were quick to say that they needed these facilities, but they didn't have to pay for them. Like Anxiety Alliance does, they trumpetted calls as being charged at "local rate" so as to paint the picture of costing no more than a normal "local" call.

Thanks Dave for all of your help and excellent guidance, you could write a book !

dandy wrote on Aug 9^th, 2010 at 11:28pm:

Thanks Dave for all of your help and excellent guidance, you could write a book !

So long as the ISBN doesn't start with 0845 or 0870; I couldn't have that!  ;D

I,ve emailed the email address again suggesting they switch over to an 0300 number, based on your information provided about this, Dave....see what they say. Still not found any landline number(s). Any further help/advice/suggestions for this ? Thankyou.

I never got a reply back from the woman answering emails re : the fact that the 03 number does the same job as the 0845 number....perhaps she doesn,t want to have to think about the financial issue I,m touching upon here ? It looks like finding the landline number for this line is proving difficult.