Companies Without 0844 Numbers Are Missing Profit Opportunities, Warns Commsready

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/02/prweb3626584.htm

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(PRWeb UK/PRWEB ) February 22, 2010 -- Telecoms expert Commsready is promoting the use of 0844 numbers by UK businesses to earn revenues whilst receiving calls.

Companies which purchase and advertise numbers beginning 0844 - known as 'revenue sharing' numbers - will earn money for each incoming call that they receive on that number, advises Commsready.

Revenue share numbers help businesses to offset the cost of providing services to incoming callers by giving the host company a share of the call charges. 0844 numbers create profit for companies and can be linked to existing phone numbers to avoid disruption.

These numbers are typically used for ticket hotlines, technical assistance and other popular services.

Traditionally, UK companies used 0870 numbers for contact with their customers.

But last year Ofcom added call charges to 0870 numbers– turning them from profit centres to cost centres overnight. As a result, Commsready is urging all businesses to switch to more profitable 0844 numbers.

Commsready Senior Account Manager Will Burton warned: “There are still many companies using 0870 numbers when they should be using 0844 numbers instead.

“Using 0844 numbers offers a way of reducing the cost of calls for customers against traditional 087 revenue share numbers, while still giving businesses a revenue share.”

He added: “0844 numbers provide a national image and can be an additional and valuable revenue source for many businesses.”

With 0844 numbers from Commsready, companies can receive 1.5p per minute from incoming calls while the cost for customers to call these numbers is 5p per minute.

Commsready’s mission is to provide clients with the latest high quality, cost-effective communications solutions via a user-friendly website fully supported by dedicated personnel.

A wide range of telephone numbers – including standard, gold or platinum 0844 numbers – is available from Commsready.

For more information about 0844 numbers, please contact Commsready Senior Account Manager Will Burton, 0808 168 6600, www.commsready.co.uk
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Just decided to have a little look at the company they mention Comms Ready .. they seem to also promote 03 Numbers... as they sell them..

http://www.commsready.co.uk/03_numbers.html

It's a shame we can't shut down half these companies!

I wonder what the situation is in other countries about calls costs to Business' do they have special numbers?

TONYDH wrote on Mar 5^th, 2010 at 11:59am:

Post away on the Sky thread.

CJT-80 wrote on Mar 4^th, 2010 at 11:58am:


I think the Asda thread answers this one - as they started using 0844, the parent company in the US was still toll free.

I am still trying to find out if Spanish Santander customers have to pay premium rate, but previous emails to the CEO are passed to a lapdog who, incidentally, gives me an 0845 number to call with any complaints!

The Rip Off Britain Gravy Train rolls on.....

there is a company whose chief executive is an ordinary working class lad who has done well for himself.
the chairman is the son of the founder.

however the cloud in this particular sky (good pun?) is that although the new chief exec bangs on to the press about putting their customer first they make it impossible for customers to contact them without being forced to use an 0844.

my emails are not acknowledged.

i tried many numbers in what i correctly guessed would be a series of consecutive ddi numbers.

try this yourself.

i called 0207 7705 3000, 3001, 3002 etc. all the way to 0207 7705 3018. these numbers go directly to extensions within the business. that's what a DDI (direct dial in) number does.

just start with a number and call all sequential numbers.

i also called all of the geographic numbers listed on this site. many of them are answered by reception.

between us we will find the direct dial number(s) for customer services.

please publish it if and when you do.

i spoke to many of their departments this way.

none of their staff would transfer me to customer services.

some thought that 0844 was a "local rate" number.

the very, very few who would comment said that they would totally avoid calling these numbers themselves.

so put the customer first - first for what? -

Nickel and dime the customer for a few pence on each call; refuse to respond to email or direct calls in any meaningful way; be oblivious to justified criticism.

yes lots of calls = lots of revenue for the business - but the damage to goodwill and customer relations?

i for one will NEVER be a customer for these businesses.

how many other sales will they lose?

then it isn't as if dozens of channels of tv, mostly old repeats with long ad breaks is essential to life is it.

put the customer first eh. say one thing and do another - maybe he should have been an mp.


do we really want large corporates with huge market power who have no real competition therefore decide that they have no need to worry about commercial damage that would be of major concern to most other companies.

no thought not.

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any company that abuses its market power or treats the customer with contempt should be avoided not supported.

please argue with me on that one if you can.

working for a company whose policy you disagree with is a forced choice facing more and more people because of the spread of companies who do not value their staff or their customers.
yes people need an income therefore need a job.

people who need a job and are afraid of losing it so have to lose their ability to voice their personal opinion on company time. how very sad.

is this the kind of job anyone would freely choose?

more and more people believe that they no longer have that freedom of choice.

you've met them in all sorts of large companies and they do seem to be a growing band.

i leave you to ponder the internal management style and employer policies that produce this effect.

p.s. i have considerable telecoms expertise - 20 years as a freelancer - there i go being modest again - but it is true and in my view there is  no justifiable economic case for businesses to use the, now outdated caller paid for 08xx NUMBERS, unless the business chooses to receive a revenue for their inbound calls and there is a business case for them. we do not offer them - they are a minefield.

yes they offset the outbound cost but that sum can be TRIVIAL against the loss of turnover due to the deterrent effect to potential customers - especially domestic ones, of paid for 08xx's.

using these numbers has to be thought through very carefully. the supplier has in my view a responsibility to provide best advice and i would certainly personally avoid making generalised benefit claims to any potential client.

PUBLIC AWARENESS GROWS - BUSINESS DAMAGE INCREASES FOR REVENUE COLLECTING 08XX COMPANIES.


I AM HAPPY TO CLEAR UP ANY 08XX CONFUSION AND I AM NOT TRYING TO SELL YOU ANYTHING.

CJT-80 wrote on Apr 16^th, 2010 at 4:19pm:


That is mentioned elsewhere on this site. I think I am right in saying (and I am sure SCV will correct me if I am not) that they can tell where the call originates from but not the caller.

to answer cjt-80 and silent calls victim's questions and for everyone's general information

please be careful with bt set up charges. as far as i am aware they are one of the last if not the last company to cling on to call set up charges. there is no actual cost to bt to "set up" a call. they are straight profiteering and yet one more example of bt trying to exploit their "household name".

their commercial activities over the 20 years or so that i have been in telecom deregulation have not matched what i suspect most people's image of a national icon might be.

let us just say that their commercial reputation in our industry is the subject of much criticism.

from the inside view, we cannot understand why anyone would choose them as a supplier when there are so many, much better alternatives.

to answer your question, bt unilaterally set their own call set up charges. they are now at a level that means that bt calls outside package inclusive calls can now cost up to around 9p minimum.

most businesses will not be aware of this recent hike in charges since most unfortunately don't bother to examine their telephone bill (if it is a bt bill they may well have a difficult task anyway); and are being nicely ripped off because a set up charge of i think about 5p + a minimum call charge of 4.7p means a call of even a few seconds costs about 9p.
in some cases i believe bt still round up to the full minute.

some competitors have minimum call charge of around 1p, we do not charge a set-up fee or minimum call charge.

the average take for a company using 0844 will be at a minimum of around 1.5p per minute out of your 5p.

the 5p is split between between the carrier - in this case bt - the provider - which could be a separate reseller or could be the carrier taking both splits if sold direct - and the called party.

09xx numbers pay the seller(s) generally 50 to 70% of the call charge. bt takes the rest.

Bt charges are not clear to the user and their billing is opaque. use another supplier please

even if you conceal your number from the called party your supplier/carrier - in this case BT - is able to see the numbers at both ends of the call.

it used to be the case that suppliers could not see the last four digits of a "concealed" number - i don't know if that is still the case - it is not something that i keep a check on.

they therefore could tell where the call originated because std codes will identify the trunk exchange and the first 2 numbers of the six digit bit identifies the local exchange.

if you use any "cable" company you will not be able to use any other company on that infrastructure to your house.

you just have to judge whether their pricing and support justifies this restrictive choice.

they will always win on broadband because fibre optic will support much higher bandwidth than established copper twisted pair.

my view would be that twisted pair broadband is adequate for the majority of users.

do not go for the cheapies if you need more than basic internet access - in broadband you pretty much get what you pay for.

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my comments were aimed at the public face of a company as being often indicative of what to expect.

in my experience if a company wants you to pay for a call before you join them - expect to see a high level of unacceptable arrogance and contempt for the customer.

it is interesting that in the usa the vast majority of companies use free to call 1-800 numbers (95% is anecdotally quoted but i have no evidence to support that actual figure - perhaps someone knows the figure)  and anecdotally 95% of companies in this country don't use them.

use the free services available from microsoft, google etc - not the paid for ones.

there is free software available for the microsoft office type applications which is at least as good as ms

at the risk of repeating what i said in my last post - there is no justifiable need at all to call paid for 08xx or 09xx numbers. send an email asking them to call you. if they don't reply or call - well you then  know what kind of company you are dealing with.

don't waste your time on them.

the reason we are in this situation is because people still call these numbers and out of laziness, complacency or for whatever reason, these people CAUSE and underwrite the proliferation of these abominations to the detriment of everyone else.

TV VOTE OFF SHOWS WITH THEIR PREMIUM RATE 09 NUMBERS FROM WHICH THEY AND BT COLLECT TENS OF THOUSANDS OF POUNDS PER SHOW SHOULD BE BOYCOTTED COMPLETELY.

is it going to change your life if your choice doesn't win. better to get some real quality back on tv

THAT IS THE ONLY WAY TO STOP THAT ABUSE.

i'm sorry i do not wish to offend but not doing something that you want to do because of a fear of lack of enough support is why nothing changes. witness a certain political party still in the wilderness because of exactly that approach.

i am not espousing any political party but use the above as an example.

do what you want - don't wait for the comfort of mass endorsement.

large companies like "comfort" motivated apathetic, low expectation, customers.

TONYDH wrote on Apr 16^th, 2010 at 11:36pm:

AFAIK, call set-up charges or call connection charges as they are sometimes known, were coined by the cable provider Virgin Media formally as ntl and Telewest. Only relatively lately have they become a staple of BT, Talk Talk, Sky Talk and maybe others.

What I believe was a BT first was whole minute billing. If we still had clockwork exchanges, then I could maybe understand it. But now whole-minute billing has spread like a cancer, just as call set-up fees.

BT's 5 pence minimum charge and per second billing for geographic calls, RIP.


TONYDH wrote on Apr 16^th, 2010 at 11:36pm:

You speak as an industry insider which means you will appreciate termination charges and how call charges are split up between the various operators that carry a call. I mentioned this in my previous posting, but I will come on to it again in response to your posting.


TONYDH wrote on Apr 16^th, 2010 at 11:36pm:

The minimum charge for a call with BT during the daytime (for all but those on Anytime) is now about 16 pence.


TONYDH wrote on Apr 16^th, 2010 at 11:36pm:

This is looking more and more like you have copied the text from your company's literature. Which of your competitors have a minimum charge of around 1 pence? Surely if you have no minimum charge or set-up fee, then you would contrast it to a set-up fee of around 10 pence which your competitors charge and not the lowest. Please can you identify those providers that have a minimum charge of 1 pence where new customers can sign up because I don't know of any.


TONYDH wrote on Apr 16^th, 2010 at 11:36pm:

As I said above, BT takes a miniscule amount, unless it is the provider of the 0844 (or other) number in question.


TONYDH wrote on Apr 16^th, 2010 at 11:36pm:

BT as an originator or terminator?

As you know, because of the regulation on BT (the NTS Condition), BT takes a tiny amount (when it acts as an originator). When it acts as a terminator (an operator of a 09 number), it takes a big chunk, just as other providers such as Cable & Wireless and ntl:Telewest (Virgin Media) do when they provide the numbers.


TONYDH wrote on Apr 16^th, 2010 at 11:36pm:

The more I read of your posting, the more it looks like spam.


TONYDH wrote on Apr 16^th, 2010 at 11:36pm:

This campaign has never been opposing charges for telephone calls to companies. It is about the covert-premiums with the 084 and 087 numbers (0870 numbers were removed from this bracket last year).


TONYDH wrote on Apr 16^th, 2010 at 11:36pm:

Does not having internet access (such as an elderley person) not count as a "justifiable need"?