SAYNOTO0870.COM - Getting One's Own 08xx Number

rfctabs

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Getting One's Own 08xx Number
Feb 24^th, 2010 at 11:53am

First off - excellent site - thank you. I've been lurking for years and have only registered today, so shame on me.

I've been thinking about registering my own 08xx number to reclaim some of the revenues that organisations take from me when I can't find an alternative landline number. Clearly, I would give such a number to companies in my contact details so that they would pay a similar cost to call me as I have to pay to call them.

I know some people think that taking this route is akin to going over to the Dark Side, but I take the view that this is all about money. These numbers and associated services were started by telecoms providers as a means of generating additional revenues and have been refined and expanded over the years into a sophisticated money-making machine. Big companies make millions of pounds from these services every year through their call centres and it's particularly galling to have to pay these charges even when calling to complain or to report faults. Right now I can't change the rules of the game, but until the rules do change I can work within them and reduce the cost to me of these services that I don't actually want to use. I could even claim to be contributing to the economy by generating additional revenues for the service providers... Grin

I've had a look at a few random providers via a Famous Web Search Engine and they seem to be geared towards businesses only. Does one have to be a business to use these numbers? I would've thought not, but this is such a bizarre area of commerce that I equally wouldn't be surprised.

I've looked at the threads in the Hot Topics but they're all a bit dated now so I wondered if anyone has any recent experience of doing this? Any suggestions for a company to sign up with?

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derrick

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Re: Getting One's Own 08xx Number
Reply #1 - Feb 24^th, 2010 at 12:42pm

rfctabs wrote on Feb 24^th, 2010 at 11:53am:

First off - excellent site - thank you. I've been lurking for years and have only registered today, so shame on me.

I've been thinking about registering my own 08xx number to reclaim some of the revenues that organisations take from me when I can't find an alternative landline number. Clearly, I would give such a number to companies in my contact details so that they would pay a similar cost to call me as I have to pay to call them.

I know some people think that taking this route is akin to going over to the Dark Side, but I take the view that this is all about money. These numbers and associated services were started by telecoms providers as a means of generating additional revenues and have been refined and expanded over the years into a sophisticated money-making machine. Big companies make millions of pounds from these services every year through their call centres and it's particularly galling to have to pay these charges even when calling to complain or to report faults. Right now I can't change the rules of the game, but until the rules do change I can work within them and reduce the cost to me of these services that I don't actually want to use. I could even claim to be contributing to the economy by generating additional revenues for the service providers... Grin

I've had a look at a few random providers via a Famous Web Search Engine and they seem to be geared towards businesses only. Does one have to be a business to use these numbers? I would've thought not, but this is such a bizarre area of commerce that I equally wouldn't be surprised.

I've looked at the threads in the Hot Topics but they're all a bit dated now so I wondered if anyone has any recent experience of doing this? Any suggestions for a company to sign up with?

Got mine from just0844numbers no set up fee or ongoing charges.

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samwsmith1 Newbie Offline Posts: 40 York Gender:	Re: Getting One's Own 08xx Number Reply #2 - Feb 24^th, 2010 at 1:11pm I bought a 0844 from http://www.uk2numbers.co.uk/ not much revenue back on 0844 but it's still something.
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Dave

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Re: Getting One's Own 08xx Number
Reply #3 - Feb 24^th, 2010 at 1:45pm

Hi rfctabs and welcome to the forum.

Some things to be aware of are that providers often have a minimum usage, so you will probably have to have so many minutes of calls go through the number every month to keep it active. Also, they will only pay out when the revenue gets to a certain level, so if you only accrue a few pounds, then you may never see it.

I have a 0870 and a 0844 number from UK2Numbers and it requires 3 minutes of calls per month to each else they will charge £4.95. They will pay out when the balance reaches £50! Cost for setting up a 0844 number is £9.95.

Derrick's suggestion of just0844numbers looks better. Setup is free and it pays out at £10. Derrick, what is the minimum usage for this provider?

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rfctabs Newbie Offline Posts: 19 Solihull West Midlands Gender:	Re: Getting One's Own 08xx Number Reply #4 - Feb 24^th, 2010 at 2:24pm Thanks, Dave, and for moving the thread to the correct forum. Derrick, could you also tell me how to claim the rebate? Would I just send them an e-mail or would I have to create a pseudo invoice? As a non-VAT registered individual, presumably I'd only be able to request the net amount? Cheers, Peter
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Heinz Supreme Member Offline Posts: 1,362 Essex	Re: Getting One's Own 08xx Number Reply #5 - Feb 24^th, 2010 at 8:59pm I got mine from http://www.switchboardfree.co.uk/index.asp Completely free (but no income). You have to be tolerant of their misuse of apostrophes to designate plurals though.
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samwsmith1

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Re: Getting One's Own 08xx Number
Reply #6 - Feb 24^th, 2010 at 10:07pm

Dave wrote on Feb 24^th, 2010 at 1:45pm:

Hi rfctabs and welcome to the forum.

Some things to be aware of are that providers often have a minimum usage, so you will probably have to have so many minutes of calls go through the number every month to keep it active. Also, they will only pay out when the revenue gets to a certain level, so if you only accrue a few pounds, then you may never see it.

I have a 0870 and a 0844 number from UK2Numbers and it requires 3 minutes of calls per month to each else they will charge £4.95. They will pay out when the balance reaches £50! Cost for setting up a 0844 number is £9.95.

Derrick's suggestion of just0844numbers looks better. Setup is free and it pays out at £10. Derrick, what is the minimum usage for this provider?

Didn't realise the minimum calls oops, and I have 2 as well - one to a sipgate voip number for when signing up and one to my main landline for banks etc.

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Dave

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Re: Getting One's Own 08xx Number
Reply #7 - Feb 24^th, 2010 at 10:20pm

samwsmith1 wrote on Feb 24^th, 2010 at 10:07pm:

Didn't realise the minimum calls oops, and I have 2 as well - one to a sipgate voip number for when signing up and one to my main landline for banks etc.

Terms and Conditions for UK2Numbers is at: http://www.uk2numbers.co.uk/terms.cfm

For some reason it isn't linked to from the UK2Numbers site, although it does say "Terms of Use" at the bottom of each page which is a hyperlink to the Copyright and Trademarks page.

Clause 6.1l says:
Quote:

In the case of a Non-Geographic Number (NGN) or Personal Number receiving less than 3 minutes per month of incoming calls after the first 60 days of operation, UK2Numbers may reclassify the Number as a Low Usage Number and we may apply a Low Usage Charge of £4.95 per month until such time as usage exceeds 3 minutes per month.

I was charged on month last year and since then I have ensured that each number receives 3 minutes of calls every month.

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derrick

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Re: Getting One's Own 08xx Number
Reply #8 - Feb 25^th, 2010 at 10:10am

Dave wrote on Feb 24^th, 2010 at 1:45pm:

Derrick, what is the minimum usage for this provider?

I have been told that there is none, you get paid at £10. whenever that occurs.

From an email from them when I asked the question;-

"Hi Derrick,

If you are routing (and continue to route) your 0844 number to a UK landline then you will pay nothing to maintain your 0844 number or to receive calls to that number. However, there is no option to have a 'low usage option' on 0844 numbers as there is no monthly fee. This is only available on 0800 numbers.

Your rebate will increase the more you minutes you use, revenue displayed depends on monthly call volumes, breakdown below:

0 - 9,999 minutes - 1ppm
10,000 - 49,999 - 1.25ppm
50,000 - 99,999 - 1.50ppm
100,000 - 249,999 - 1.75ppm
250,000 - 499,999 - 2ppm
500,000 - 999,999 - 2.5ppm
1,000,000+ - 3ppm

You will only be paid when you reach £10.00 (1000 minutes). Whether this takes one month or six months."

rfctabs wrote on Feb 24^th, 2010 at 2:24pm:

Derrick, could you also tell me how to claim the rebate? Would I just send them an e-mail or would I have to create a pseudo invoice? As a non-VAT registered individual, presumably I'd only be able to request the net amount?

Cheers,

Peter

Not sure about this, I think you will need to contact them and request it, as when I set it up, no bank details or address where required.

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derrick Supreme Member Offline Posts: 1,124	Re: Getting One's Own 08xx Number Reply #9 - Feb 25^th, 2010 at 10:12am samwsmith1 wrote on Feb 24^th, 2010 at 1:11pm: I bought a 0844 from http://www.uk2numbers.co.uk/ not much revenue back on 0844 but it's still something. You BOUGHT it Why?
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derrick

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Re: Getting One's Own 08xx Number
Reply #10 - Feb 25^th, 2010 at 10:19am

I also got them to put an 03 number on their site for contact, this email reply was the culmination of a few;-

"Hi Derrick,

As a result of our conversations I suggested to Skycom Management that we make public a dedicated 03 number that we can be reached on.

They have advised today that the main reason we use NGN is for the call handling capabilities rather than revenue generation - the majority of our customers use them in the same way.

However, we recognise that mobile operators and even some landline operators continue to charge a premium for calls to these types of numbers, so the management team have agreed that a dedicated 03 contact number is a good idea.

Therefore 03330 888 015 has been added to our contact page here - http://www.skycomuk.com/contact.php, which still allows us to handle calls effectively while being treated the same as 01 or 02 numbers (and therefore included in bundles for mobiles etc)

It's always good to be able to respond quickly and effectively to feedback from potential customers, so thanks for your input.

Regards

Derek Bruce

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rfctabs Newbie Offline Posts: 19 Solihull West Midlands Gender:	Re: Getting One's Own 08xx Number Reply #11 - Feb 25^th, 2010 at 11:11am Thanks for the information everyone. I've just signed up with just0844numbers as posted earlier in the thread. It was free, took a couple of minutes to do, and the number worked immediately. Now to sit back and let the money roll in...
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samwsmith1 Newbie Offline Posts: 40 York Gender:	Re: Getting One's Own 08xx Number Reply #12 - Feb 25^th, 2010 at 2:59pm derrick wrote on Feb 25^th, 2010 at 10:12am: samwsmith1 wrote on Feb 24^th, 2010 at 1:11pm: I bought a 0844 from http://www.uk2numbers.co.uk/ not much revenue back on 0844 but it's still something. You BOUGHT it Why? Because I didn't realise you can get them for free. If I had of done I wouldn't have paid.
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