Author: Direct Numbers Team

Direct Numbers are specialists in providing quality numbers and virtual call handling services to businesses of all sizes in the UK. Our numbers and services are all hosted in the cloud so this means no expensive in-house kit is needed.

You can access all our cloud services by using our online management tool to give you full access to your numbers, services and call stats. Take control of your customer calls today.

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Direct Numbers

Changes to 084 and 087 numbers

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) will force some organisations to migrate away from 084x and 087x number ranges that they currently use for inbound customer service contact in June 2014.   How will the changes affect you? Not all types of organisations will be affected. There are exclusions such as financial services, the property sector and government department helplines that are not covered by the proposals. BIS are also seeking further views on whether to apply all the provisions to the travel and timeshare sectors.   Organisations that are affected include retailers who will need to review how the changes impact them and whether they need to make alternative arrangements for customer service and complaint telephone numbers.   We cannot advise you specifically on whether you will be impacted so we recommend you seek legal advice as to whether the changes will impact you.   What do you need to consider if you are affected? If you have been advised by legal counsel that these new regulations will affect your organisation then there are several considerations to discuss:

  • You will have to change your customer service and complaints phone numbers to ones that charge no more than the geographic rate
  • As a result of changing your phone number you will also need to update all your promotional material
  • You will also need to plan for the loss of income that may result from switching to a zero or geographic charge number.

Please note: The impending changes only apply to customer service and complaint lines and your customers will still be able to use 084/087 numbers for sales lines, business to business calls and technical support lines.   Primarily we want to make sure you are aware of this impending legislation and encourage you to discuss the changes as soon as possible.   If you have any questions about the impending changes proposed by BIS, or would like more information on alternative numbers then please contact the Customer Support Team on customer-service@directnumbers.co.uk or call 08000 755 755

What number are you currently using for customer service and complaint lines?What’s the impact of the Consumer Contract Regulations?
  01 & 02 geographic numbers e.g. London 020No changes necessary
  03 non-geographic numbers charged at a geographic rateNo changes necessary
0800 & 0808No changes necessary. These numbers are already free to phone from landlines (and Ofcom should soon make these free from mobiles too).
0843 0844 0845 0870 0871 / 0872 / 0873  From 13 June 2014, it will be a legal requirement that these numbers are no longer used for customer service and complaints lines. They must be switched to a geographic (01/02), or a non-geographic 03 or 080 number.   Changing to a 03 non-geographic number is probably the easiest solution, as migration ranges exist for this purpose. For example 0845 becomes 0345. Calls to 03 numbers cost no more than calls to geographic numbers.   Please note: 084 & 087 numbers can still be used for sales lines, business to business calls and technical support lines.

Kind regards   Customer Support Team Direct Numbers

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Direct Numbers

Come and visit us at The Business Show 2014

We are exhibiting at the Business Show next week at the London Excel centre. It’s the biggest business show in Europe and free to attend. There are some great speakers and workshops going on so it should supply something for everyone not matter how big your business is.

Come and visit us!
Come and visit us on stand 1520!

Come and visit us on Stand 1520 to find out about the change in regulation to 084 and 087 numbers next month. We’ll be able to provide you with options for changing these numbers if you’re organisation is currently using them for customer service and complaint lines.

We’ll be demoing our great cloud call handling services to show you what your business can get out of our numbers and services.

So come and see us and say hello, enter our raffle to win a Kindle Fire HD or just come to get yourself a chocolate.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Direct Numbers Team.

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Direct Numbers

Financial Conduct Authority says time to end premium calls for consumers

FCO logoChristopher Woolard, the FCA’s director of policy, risk and research said:

“It is not fair that customers often have to use expensive phone lines when calling firms to ask for help or to complain.

“At difficult times the last thing people need is the added stress of worrying about how much calls are going to cost.   We would welcome companies looking again at the rates they charge for phone calls ahead of our consultation.”

Richard Lloyd, Which? executive director said:

“We’re pleased the FCA agrees customers shouldn’t have to pay a premium to talk to their bank or insurer. Changing the rules so financial firms can only offer basic rate helplines would be a big win for the 87,000 people who supported our campaign.

“Some of the biggest banks have already dropped costly calls so there is no reason why others shouldn’t follow their lead. We’d like to see all financial services firms change to basic rate lines as soon as possible, and not wait until new rules come into effect.”

Current FCA rules require every authorised firm to have a free channel for making a complaint. While some firms do provide a Freephone number, this ‘channel’ could also be by post or online.

The FCA’s consultation will propose the standardisation of the rules so that charges for consumer help, and complaint, lines are capped at the cost of a basic rate call. In a letter to consumer group, Which?, the FCA said it believed that the introduction of requirements in the Consumer Rights Directive, designed to ensure firms no longer charge a premium for calls, should apply to all financial services firms.  The Directive requires firms to offer basic rate numbers for enquiries but at present, this does not apply to financial services firms.

In the same consultation the FCA will also look at a number of proposals to improve complaints handling by financial services firms including looking at complaints reporting and responding to the recommendations of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards.   The consultation will be published later this year.

Direct Numbers will be providing further information on this subject in the future. You can read the full article here.

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Direct Numbers

PhonepayPlus Update

PhonepayPlus

PhonepayPlus hereby gives notice of the following:

  • From 13 June 2014 providers who operate consumer complaint facilities on the 087 number range, or other premium rate number ranges such as 084, will be in breach of the Regulations.
  • When the Regulations come into force, providers of premium rate services that operate consumer complaint facilities on a premium rate number range, including 087, 084, or otherwise, must continue to ensure that they comply with outcome 2.6 of our Code relating to ‘complaint handling’, and relevant rules, using suitable number ranges for complaints handled via the telephone.
  • From 13 June 2014 the expectations set out at paragraphs 8.1. to 8.4 of the current Service-Specific Guidance will no longer apply in respect of other PRS (such as data capture and chat) operated on the 087 number range. Providers of such services will be required to provide and effectively publicise an effective complaint facility operated on a number range which is compliant with the Regulations. The Guidance will be revised and published shortly, reflecting the changes in the law.

What about PRS  that provides technical support?

BIS guidance sets out that this need not come under Regulation 41, provided it is clear to the consumer that the line exists to provide technical support for a product already purchased (e.g. a laptop, tablet, software, machinery, white goods or other electronics), with that technical support being charged separately from the original purchase via the cost of the call.

Technical support lines must not provide the facility to complain about a product already purchased.

What about 087 services which provide something other than a consumer complaint facility?

Where an 087 number is used to provide a PRS (such as chat, conference call facilities, data capture – i.e. receiving an order and/or payment for a product from consumers who call, or other forms of entertainment and information) its use will be compliant with the Regulations as long as no consumer complaint facility is provided on the 087 number.

In addition, such providers will no longer be permitted to use any other 087 or other premium rate number, to receive complaints about the premium rate service.

PhonepayPlus recommends that Level 2 providers who use 087 numbers do the following:

  1. Review their current services against the BIS Guidance in order to ascertain their likely compliance with the Regulations.
  2. Take appropriate steps to alter any services which are not compliant, particularly in respect of complaint handling arrangements for 087 services, or transfer services to a compliant number range.
  3. Ensure that premium rate services continue to operate in full compliance with outcome 2.6 of our Code relating to ‘complaint handling’, and relevant rules, using suitable number ranges for complaints handled via the telephone.

PhonepayPlus also recommends that Level 1 providers and networks that operate and provide numbers for the service types outlined above note the Regulations and conduct appropriate due diligence and risk control to ensure they are not facilitating unlawful practices through the operation or provision of numbers.

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Virtual Phone Numbers

Government cuts off costly calls to 087 and 084 numbers.

Department for business bans 084 numbers

If you’re a business running a helpline or customer service line on a 084 or 087 number then you’ll have to start thinking about an alternative number as the Government will be banning these numbers in 2014.

Head of campaigns for Which? Alex Neill dubbed the initial ban “a huge victory” for consumers:

“Actually, what we have heard from the Government is that they are going to tackle this. They have said it’s out of order. So we would expect them to lead by example and make sure they issue guidance to public bodies not to do this.”

If you’re a business currently using one of these numbers don’t despair totally yet – you can switch to the new 03 UK wide numbers which are customer friendly numbers that are charged the same as geographic 01/02 numbers.  For more information on our 03 numbers Click for 03 numbers.

You can read the full Government press release below –

Customers calling helplines to complain about their faulty microwaves or incorrect train tickets will no longer have to pay more than the basic rate, putting a stop to costly calls faced by consumers, announced Consumer Minister Jo Swinson today (13 December 2013).

Following consultation with business associations and consumer bodies, the government will put an end to expensive premium, 084 and 087 numbers for customers calling airlines, train operators, and major high street and online retailers.

Whilst many firms already offer freephone or basic rate numbers, consumers can find that some traders provide an 0800 or free phone number for pre-contract calls to lure people in, but then only offer expensive premium rate numbers when the customer has paid for a product or service. Everyday examples, such as a security company offering a freephone number for new enquiries yet expecting existing customers to call an 0844 number to report a fault, would be stopped under the measures.

The government believes it is inappropriate for callers to pay high call charges for accessing vital public services and the Cabinet Office will be publishing guidance for departments’ use of number prefixes shortly.

Finally, the Financial Conduct Authority is also committed to considering whether it could introduce similar measures for those calling banks, insurance companies and investment brokers.

Consumer Minister Jo Swinson said:

It really is unfair that consumers are being stung in this way. For too long, some businesses have been trying to extract every extra penny from their loyal customers.

From next year (2014), if something goes wrong with a cooker, or commuters want a refund on their season ticket, they will now pay the same to phone a helpline as they do to call friends or family.

We want consumers to be confident to shop with a range of traders. The new rights announced today will mean consumers are entitled to the same level of protection whether they are purchasing goods or services online, at home or in a shop.

Richard Lloyd, Which? Executive Director said:

This is a victory for the 63,000 people who supported our Costly Calls campaign calling on all companies and public bodies to provide basic rate numbers for all customer service and complaint telephone lines. We’re pleased the government has extended the Consumer Rights Directive to include travel firms and that it has now agreed and clarified that basic rate does not include pricey 084 or 087 numbers.

We look forward to seeing the guidance to stop public bodies using high rate numbers and we expect the Financial Conduct Authority to introduce similar measures in financial services to ensure that there are no exceptions and put an end to costly calls across the board.

Tom Ironside, British Retail Consortium Director of Business and Regulation, said:

The British Retail Consortium has been fully supportive of the Consumer Rights Directive and has been closely involved at all stages including shaping the original proposal and working in the European parliament to secure a good outcome. It should make online retail in the UK and EU easier for business and consumers.

The measure is to be included in the Regulations implementing the Consumer Rights Directive, which is due to come into force in June 2014. It also includes:

  • increasing the time limit for returning goods purchased online or by phone from 7 days to 14 days after the goods have been received, should the consumer change their mind
  • banning pre-ticked tick boxes for extras that the consumer may not want or need and that could result in unexpected payment
  • setting out key information consumers should be given by traders before agreeing to purchase, like additional costs or cancellation rights

Businesses will also benefit from the new Consumer Rights Directive regulations, which will make it clearer that goods bought at a distance (e.g. online) must be returned or proof of posting must be provided to the trader before the consumer can get a refund. Traders will also be able to deduct money from refunds where there is evidence that a returned product has been used.

Notes to editors

1.The regulations on the Consumer Rights Directive are available at: www.gov.uk/government/policies/providing-better-information-and-protection-for-consumers

2.Basic rate means equivalent to standard geographic rates (e.g. 01/02/ 03 numbers) or mobile rates, or free to call.

Examples

  • a home appliance company uses 0844 numbers to arrange a service or repair, but offers an 0800 number for product enquiries
  • a large retailer provides an 0845 number for queries about website orders

3.At present, consumers can pay more than the standard rate to call a customer helpline. These costs can vary, depending on the number, the consumer’s telephone provider, the time of day, and whether the call is from a landline or a mobile. Certain numbers may also be included in call packages and inclusive minutes. The table below sets out typical call costs for a range of numbers:

Calling from a landlineCalling from a mobile
08451 to 11p per minute, plus a set up fee of up to 14p14 to 41p per minute
08441 to 13p per minute20 to 41p per minute
0870No more than a geographic rate call from some landline providers, plus a set up fee. Up to 11p per minute plus a set up fee from other landline providers14 to 41p per minute
0871/2/311 to 15p per minute plus a set up fee20 to 41p per minute
099p to £1.69 per minute from BT landline. Up to £2.16 per minute from other landline providers50p to £2.50 per minute
Calls between landlines are typically charged up to 10p per minute

4.All helplines relating to consumer contracts are covered by the Directive, with the exception of a number of sectors, which are better governed by sector-specific rules: gambling, package travel, timeshare, and financial services.

5.The Financial Conduct Authority is committed to considering whether they should introduce a similar measure on customer helplines for financial services shortly. A number of banks (Barclays, Barclaycard, NatWest and RBS) have already announced that they will be switching to basic rate customer helplines.

6.Examples of where the draft regulations will help consumers:

Purchasing something online:

You buy a dress from an online retailer and you don’t like the look of the fabric once you have seen it in person. You will now have 14 days after you receive it to change your mind and return the dress for a refund. Previously it was only 7 days.

Pre-ticked boxes:

You buy a washing machine online. When you get to the payment page, the trader offers a 5 year warranty for £110. The box is already ticked. If you do not want the warranty, and miss or forget to untick the box, you are not liable for the £110, which should be refunded to you.

7.Key facts:

  • according to the latest IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group) Capgemini eRetail Sales Index, British online shoppers spent £68 billion in 2011
  • Civil Aviation Authority survey of UK’s top 20 airlines showed most used an 084 number, and 3 used a premium rate number typically costing £1 to 1.28 per minute from a landline
  • recent Which? research found:
    • 15 of the biggest train operators use 0844 or 0845 numbers for their customer helplines.
    • 24 of the 38 airlines included in the study give high rate numbers for consumers to call for customer service or to complain, while 11 ferry companies give 0871, 0872, 0845 or 0843 numbers for customer inquiries
    • two-thirds of people (67%) believed firms used high-rate numbers to discourage people from calling them

8.Along with the draft Consumer Rights Bill announced in June 2013, the reforms to consumer law will enhance consumer rights and make them easier to understand and help businesses interpret and apply the law. The changes will boost the UK economy by over £4 billion over the next decade. For more information on the wider consumer changes please go to: www.gov.uk/government/policies/providing-better-information-and-protection-for-consumers

9.The government’s economic policy objective is to achieve ‘strong, sustainable and balanced growth that is more evenly shared across the country and between industries’. It set 4 ambitions in the ‘Plan for Growth’, published at Budget 2011:

  • to create the most competitive tax system in the G20
  • to make the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business
  • to encourage investment and exports as a route to a more balanced economy
  • to create a more educated workforce that is the most flexible in Europe

Work is underway across government to achieve these ambitions, including progress on more than 250 measures as part of the Growth Review. Developing an Industrial Strategy gives new impetus to this work by providing businesses, investors and the public with more clarity about the long-term direction in which the government wants the economy to travel.

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Direct Numbers Hosted IVR Systems

Hosted IVR – A Great Tool for Small & Medium Sized Businesses

ivr-call-handling

IVR which stands for Interactive Voice Response has been around for a while now and is used extensively by businesses. It’s basically an automated menu tool on your phone which will route your customers to where they want to go.

Back in the day, a company would need to have a piece of kit in their office to make use of this IVR service. This would require technical know how and equipment costs which can be a daunting prospect for many businesses.

Hosted IVR has provided a breakthrough in that it is now an affordable facility that many small to medium sized businesses can now make use of. Hosted basically means the IVR platform is hosted in the ‘cloud’ and therefore no in-house kit is needed. A customer can simply design and manage their IVR on an online portal which requires little to no technical knowledge.

So why should a business use IVR technology? I would say it’s not for all businesses but if you do have a customer flow of calls coming in on a daily basis then you need to look at where they are terminating to, what your customers are calling about and can an IVR manage these calls better for you than say a receptionist.

I have highlighted below some of the key benefits an IVR can have for your business:-

1)     Answering phone calls can take both time and money so let the IVR capture that initial call. Don’t lose your customer calls.

2)     IVR will work for your business even when your business is closed. You can provide information to your customer and capture their messages even when you’re closed and there is no one to answer the call.

3)     Your business can seem a lot bigger and have a professional front end even when you’re just a small ‘one man’ show.

4)     Hosted IVR is easy to use and very affordable which means it’s a great choice for a start up company that wants to look at managing their calls.

5)     Save time and money by getting the call to the correct department without having to send the call to a busy receptionist first.

6)     Analyse your call stats and see what your customer calls are doing on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

7)     Use automated key capture functionality which will allow your customers to check their balances, order over the phone or request information without having to speak to a representative.

Things to look out for if you do run an IVR for your business and common customer gripes are:-

1)     Long IVR menus are a big no no – put yourself in your customer’s shoes – so keep menu options short and direct.

2)     Make sure it works properly and voice activation technology works correctly without customers having to repeat their choices.

3)     If you do have long call queues on your IVR then make sure you’re not charging too much for the call. This will really annoy your customers.

So keeping all of this in mind and deciding that you do need this for your business then you’ll need to look at a provider for this service. This is where you’ll need to speak to us at Direct Numbers whereby we always urge our customers to try a free demo of our hosted services to see how it can benefit your business.

 

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Direct Numbers

Government to ban use of 084 & 087 numbers for customer inquiries

Call centre

Under new legislation, companies will be prevented from charging more than the cost of a call to mobile or local landline numbers

The rules, set out in a European Union directive, are due to come into force on 13 June 2014.

Inquiry and complaint calls cost up to 41p a minute for mobile phone users.

David Hickson, of the Fair Telecoms Campaign, welcomed the government’s decision, telling the BBC: “We’ve seen the words in the draft legislation. There’s no get-outs. There’s no cop-outs.”

Read the full story on BBC NEWS.

If you’re a business then you need to think about changing your customer helpdesk and complaint numbers from 084 and 087 for the change next year.

A great alternative to these numbers and a much more user friendly number is the new 03 number ranges which cost the same as a geographic number when called. For more information on this please speak to Direct Numbers today.

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Direct Numbers

Five services to make communicating with your customers smoother

Businessman sat at desk with two telephones.If you have customers calling you on your phone then here is a list of some handy tools out there that are available for your company. It doesn’t matter if you are a one man band or a large corporation, these are affordable services that do not require any kit and will make your life a lot easier.

 

1)      IVR (Interactive Voice Response) – The recorded auto attendant doesn’t have to be dreaded. Let the IVR do all the hard work and send callers to the correct department which will free up your customers and your time. Just don’t make your menu choices too long and convoluted.

2)      Call queuing – Don’t miss those all important customer calls. The worst thing a caller can get is an engaged tone. Queue your customer calls and keep them on the line. Just make sure you have enough staff to answer as people don’t want to queue for too long. That’s bad!

3)      Fax to email – Be greener and cleaner. Don’t waste paper. It’s far more secure way of sending a fax and you can save the files electronically.

4)      Time of day routing – If you’re open Mon to Fri 9am to 5pm then route all out of hours calls to another call centre, voicemail or even to your mobile. Stay in touch with your customer calls.

5)      Call whisper – we love this service. Record an audio prompt that only you hear which alerts you that it’s a call through your business number. Great if you use your personal mobile for business calls.

 

These are just a few virtual tools you can employ on your customer phone calls which are easy to set up and control with our great online management portal. Be in touch with your calls, your customers and your staff. To demo any of these services and see how you can get your business connected speak to Direct Numbers today.

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Direct Numbers Freephone Virtual Phone Numbers

Is your 0800 freephone number wasted on your mobile customers?

Freephone numbers are a great way of encouraging new sales and marketing calls and it gives companies the opportunity to pay for their customers to contact them. Nothing wrong there and it’s very commendable for companies using these numbers, but When I currently call a 0800 from my mobile which is on a pay monthly tariff, Vodafone kindly charges me 14 pence per minute to call these freephone numbers. The poor company advertising the freephone number wants me to call for free, I want to call for free and the mobile network gets to charge me a premium for my call so they are winning in this scenario. What the company needs to do is look at switching its freephone number to a 03 number. These new 03 numbers are a great alternative to any 08 number and they tend to be a more customer friendly option when you call them from a mobile. They are charged the same as a geographic number and the call will be included in your ‘free minutes’ package on your mobile tariff.

So, if I made the same call from my Vodafone mobile on an 03 number then the call will be free as its included in my free minutes quota, the company advertising the number will pay less for the incoming call as they are cheaper than freephone numbers. This makes me happy as I don’t end up paying for the call, this makes the company happy as they save money on their inbound calls and more importantly this makes their customers happy as they’re saving money!

That’s why if you are a company and you are advertising on any mobile platform – your mobile website, your mobile PPC campaigns, mobile display or any medium whereby its highly likely that your customers are going to use their mobiles to call you then I would strongly urge you to shift from using a freephone number and switch to a 03 number. You’ll start saving money the moment you switch and you’ll also save your customers a lot of money too.

So until OFCOM manages to change the pricing on the mobile networks to make freephone numbers actually free when you call them from your mobile I would seriously consider looking at your business numbers and how your customers contact you and make sure you have the right number in place for your customers. In this present economic climate where we’re all tightening out budgets any solution that saves you money and your customers has to be the right one.

At Direct Numbers we work with our clients to supply them with the best numbers and call handling services for their business. If you would like more information on our 03 numbers and services then please feel free to contact us.

 

 

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Direct Numbers

Things to consider when buying a number

If you have made the decision and decided to buy a number for your business then there are a number of factors you should consider before you commit yourself. Here at Direct Numbers we’ve put a few points down that we think all customers should consider before they hit the ‘buy now’ button.

So where do you start when you want to buy a number? Most businesses either have existing relationships with current telecommunication providers or will start by looking online. Searching online can be quite a daunting process as you will be faced with pages and pages of suppliers trying to sell you their wares. Type in the term ‘buy 0845 numbers’ into Google and you’ll see what we mean, you’ll be bombarded with terms like ‘free’, ‘memorable’, ‘no contract’. So how do you choose the right provider?

If you take into consideration these main points then this should help steer you in the right direction.

1) What do you get for your buck? Check the small print and ask the company to clarify what you get when you purchase a number. Is it just the number translation to your landline or mobile or do you get extra services included in the price? Extra services can range from advanced IVR set up, time of day routing, call queuing, fax to email and call whisper. Many companies will offer these services but they’ll add on extra cost for them so always check what’s included in the price.

2) Competitive pricing – there are a lot of resellers out there that will be offering numbers for ‘free’. I would always be a little more wary of these as you should always ask yourself ‘why is it free?’, ‘what’s the after sales service like?’ etc. We’re not saying that there is anything wrong with free numbers it’s just you should always check behind the scenes a little before jumping in.

3) What’s the network like? What kind of UK presence do they have? Can they handle high call volumes? What is their disaster recovery like? Many people seem to forget about these points until the number they bought goes down and their customers can’t get through to them.

4) I’m not happy with my current provider so can I take my number elsewhere? This again is often overlooked at the start with customers being blinded by ‘free numbers’ and ‘inclusive minutes’. Before you buy your number make sure that you ask the provider if they have porting agreements in place with all the major networks because sometimes things do go wrong and the last thing you want to happen is to be told you can’t port your number away because your provider doesn’t have any porting agreements in place. Personally, I would always make sure I had a contract in place for my number for added security and peace of mind. Make sure you can terminate your contract with a notice period – normally around the 30 day mark.

5) How much control do I have over my number and services? Most providers should provide you with your own secure online portal to manage your number and services. You can monitor your call stats and set up your services. Again, you want to make sure that this is included in the package price and that you are not expected to pay more for it.

6) Why not try before you buy! Have a play around with the service and see if it’s right for you and your business. If they’re not willing to set you up with a demo in the first place then is this someone you want to do business with long term?

Hope this helps in your quest to getting your business connected with a number and call handling services. If you have any other questions with regard to any of the above or business numbers in general that please feel free to call us on 08000 755 755.