In times of sickness when you’re not feeling your absolute best, it seems more effort to go into work and less effort to see your doctor - but with many local surgeries enforcing premium rate numbers when calling up to arrange appointments, perhaps it’s a case of less effort to go into work and more effort to ring your GP.

Patients at Wokingham GP surgeries have no choice but to pay up to 35p per minute for calls made to their doctor, despite the recent legal regulations preventing surgeries from charging callers more than the normal local rate.  But for those held in a queue, patients could be paying several pounds, costing them both time and money.

Brookside Close Surgery patient Sunil Dharmabandhu has expressed his dismay for paying roughly 35p per minute for each call.  He said: “When you ring up you always go through to the information system and then you have to listen to that and the cost goes up.

“Then it gives various options and you press numbers and you have to wait for your turn because you are in a queue and all the time the clock is ticking.

“It’s not too bad for us because we can afford to pay but in this time of recession there are lots of other people who find it difficult have to pay these premium rates just to get an appointment”.

Whilst 0844 and 0845 codes are no currently banned under new Government legislation, patients are entitled to pay no more than the cost of a local geographical phone number.

0844 numbers are also known as non-geographic numbers (NGNs) which can sometimes be confusing, and certainly misunderstood by anyone who isn’t a telecoms expert.

They are the new and realistic 0845 replacement and calls may be charge up to a maximum of 5p per minute for your caller– but whilst this is substantially low for a business line, it also means that they will generate revenue for you. So from the cost of every call, your company can take a small slice.

NGNs are pretty easy to grasp however, they are numbers that do not reveal your area code – and thus, your location. See, simple.

It means that customers will call your business and not be put off by distance or where you are based. But what’s more is that these numbers tend to be memorable, we hear them almost every day, and have rang them countless times.

When a customer dials your memorable 0844 number the call is automatically routed to your existing landline number or business mobile phone. Customers presume that by having an 0844 number you are a national and successful corporation, the 0844 promotes professionalism and credibility.

Also, because NGNs can be routed anywhere, you can leave the office, or work from home, as calls can be diverted to your mobile phone – or any other phone number.

If we have managed to persuade you to buy an 0844 number, or if you require any further information - don't hesitate to call us on our 0844 number in the top right hand corner.

Sometimes we think that advanced technological minds much prefer to sit and ponder the future of technology rather than actually fuel it. Some tech watchers are now saying that the end for phone numbers is nigh and it’s all thanks to the more convenient juggling of IP based telecoms and social networking.

With predictions declaring that the beloved phone number may have less than five years left in circulation before becoming obsolete, or facing severe decline, Nikhyl Singhal, co-founder and chief executive of voice-application startup SayNow, stated that people have lost the importance of the traditional phonecall, and kids are growing up without ever having to pick up a Yellow Pages.

He blames the wonder of social interaction over the internet, saying that the advantages of such methods far outweigh the traditional phone call, e.g. being able to send out group messages on Facebook.

VoIP services such as Skype are also adding to the vulnerability of the phone number, which offer cheaper calls than landlines.



 

 

 

 

 

 

We don’t believe in the demise of the phone number, as we think they will always be essential for businesses and a company's image, especially with regards to freephone numbers and other non-geographic numbers. However, whether this will soon be adopted by companies via VoIP rather than a traditional phone system is relatively unknown. (But there are lots of predictions).

Singhal says smartphones will be the essential communication device for contacting people however, but instead of punching numbers, users will be able to contact their friends through their social network accounts as accessed via their phones.

What do you think?

Many businesses these days choose 0844 numbers because of their cost saving, opportunity gaining benefits.

Below are the benefits of choosing a 0844 number for your business:-

• 0844 numbers are non-geographic: Market your business in areas you have no physical presence - 0844 numbers remove the barriers potential customers can have when dialling a number from outside of their local area.


• Relocating? Take your 0844 number with you anywhere in the world: Customers don't realise you've moved, and will follow you wherever you choose to be.


• Choose a highly memorable 0844 number: Research shows that if more people can easily remember your phone number, you'll get more calls - if you get more calls you'll do more business!


• Flexible Routing: Control the time of day/week, destination, percentage of calls and more.


• No cost to receive your incoming calls - callers pay just 5p a minute to call you from anywhere in the UK, including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.


• You'll earn a rebate from your incoming calls, or put this revenue towards routing the calls overseas.

There’s usually nothing I enjoy more than listening to the radio as I drive and as a news writer, I find it interesting to listen to different radio stations and their portrayal of the news. However, this morning I was quite dismayed to hear an old issue dragged up once more – I figured it was either a slow news day or some people just couldn’t let a complaint go. The news story was referring to the 0844 phone numbers used by the NHS and of course, people were incensed to be paying any money at all for ringing the NHS.

Now, for all those radio news readers out there, 0844 is not, and I repeat NOT, a premium rate number, and describing it as such is just misleading. The 0844 prefix is a local rate number so calls cost exactly what they would should you decide to give your Aunt Flo a call.

Another problem I have with the 0844 story is describing the NHS as like an emergency service. If your illness is that bad, ring an ambulance and not the NHS, because the freephone 999 number IS for emergencies.

Now for the good stuff – having an 0844 phone number for the NHS will, as I have said before on countless occasions, protect you as well as the NHS. 0844 phone numbers allow network level services to be placed on the number. So should the NHS line be busy, telecoms companies can re-route your call to a line that’s open. Should the phone line be down, we can direct your call to a different call centre. And should you get bad advice and wish to pursue a legal avenue, call recording placed on the 0844 number will provide you with the evidence you need. A few pence per call for all that? Sounds more than fair to me.

People are once again kicking up a fuss over phone numbers. There’s now talk of banning the 0844 and 0845 numbers that apparently a fifth of 8000 GP Practices are using. And lest we forget, the 0845 NHS Direct number too!

Well, let’s take a look at 0844 and 0845 shall we? 0844 and 0845 numbers are not, contrary to popular belief, premium rate numbers. Let me repeat that – 0844 and 0845 numbers are not premium rate! It does not cost the national debt to ring them and I seriously doubt that people would actually appreciate a local number for NHS Direct.

With 0844 and 0845 numbers, GP Practices can gain Network Level Services. This means that call recording, call statistics, call reporting and call re-routing to contact centres are all features available to GPs because they have an 0844 or 0845 number. So imagine the line’s busy when you ring your doctor – we can divert you to a contact centre or to another GP Practice. Calls can be recorded for legal reasons and training purposes. Listen to me when I say, 0844 and 0845 numbers are not the enemy! Instead, they enable your GP to offer you a better service – and let’s face it, we’d only complain if they didn’t.

Much Ado About Nothing

BBC Chiefs have been criticised. Well, they’re always being criticised. Big deal. This time though, it’s been said that the BBC “exploits viewers” by capitalising on 0844 numbers. Puh-lease!

Firstly, 0844 numbers are like the mice of the 08 phone number world. It’s pennies in a world of pounds! Secondly, if people are stupid enough to ring in to a TV show then they deserve to be charged! Call me crazy but if you’re going to make a fuss about something, at last make sure it’s something worthwhile! And I’m not even talking war or pestilence- just maybe the crap that passes for TV nowadays.

Phone numbers happen to be big business. Deal with it.