OK, so lets start with an appology, I intentionally provided a message tittle, and user name designed to get a response, but for good reason.

I fully agree that many large companies are missusing the 0870 system, but ongoing 0870 bashing also has an effect on those of use that use them for a good reason.

I run a support website (aimed at medical and nursing staff) I do this with very minimal funding, and to pay for a geographical number is beyond my means (a BT residential line would cost more per year than my entire budget to run the website)

So I chose to use an 0870 number (yes this has a landline number behind it - but it's my home number, which I don't want publicised) (and I'm never there - because I work full time as a nurse)

Instead any user that wants to leave a message can use our 0870 number, which is connected 24/7 to an online answerphone service.

We publish the call costs next to the number, and make no profit at all from the line.

Before discovering that 0870 could be used in this way we used a YAC number - which again made us no money, but cost users an aweful lot more!

So, sorry, our 0870 number is a valuable tool, that we are proud to have and will continue to use.

So lets not totally write off 0870 it can be a force for good.

What do you plan to do next year? Has your 0870 supplier advised you that things are changing? Are they persuading you to move to 0844, 0845, 0871 or 03? Have they even mentioned 03? Sorry, lots of questions, but at the end of the day, you are getting a service (voicemail/call redirection/etc) for free because your callers are charged a premium. This revenue stream stops on 0870 from next Feb (Jan?) and I wonder what you/your telco will do to pay for the service.

MS

ms01 wrote on Jun 13^th, 2007 at 10:34am:


Well the obvious (and best choice) for us would have been to continue with an 0870, but as you rightly say this may well not be an option.

We therefore  have a range of options:

1) Stop offering a voicemail service.

2) Switch back to using our YAC number (at up to 32 pence per minute)

3) Use a mobile voicemail service (and, therefore, charged at mobile rates)

So, that you see was my point, a perfectly useable system has been villified because of missuse, we should be regulating the companies using the system, not dismantling the whole thing.

As we see it our only option will be to stop the service, and replace it with one that costs our users more.

jgxenite wrote on Jun 13^th, 2007 at 11:48am:



True, but equally they were aware of the cost of the calls with 0870, and it has the advantage that any of our 'admin' staff could access it from their PC's (bearing in mind that we don't have an office, and are many hundreds of miles from each other)

With a mobile service only one of us will be able to routinely access, and it will cost us to receive the calls (picking up voicemail is not free on most tariffs)

It still all goes back to 0870 being the ideal, cost effective, service for us.

Oh, I guess I should have provided the website - http://www.gizmoproject.com/

Ilikemy0870 wrote on Jun 13^th, 2007 at 11:58am:

What about 0845? These numbers are available that do not charge for incoming calls.

I entirely concur with all of idb's sentiments on this matter.

The only acceptable way to fund this service is through a low end 09 Premium Rate number that people understand is Premium Rate before they call it or by charging callers of the number a fee they agree to have debited from their Maestro or Visa Delta card (credit cards inevitably not being cost effective for these small amounts of money).

This is just another example of an 0870 abuser claiming that they uniquely have  a special reason to carry out the abuse when other 0870 users do not.

There is no excuse for using 0870 and your outfit is just scamming people like all the other outfits with 0870 numbers.