Re: Newbie 0870 questions

"Peter M" <us-mail@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:43baf04e$0$1478$ed2619ec@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> R. Mark Clayton wrote:
>> Your main problem is that 0870 costs a lot more to call than geographic,
>> especially if you use carriers instead of BT. From a customer point of
>> view you will not look local, as you would if you had a geographic
> > number.
>
> Since your number will be changing at some point, having a geographic one
> is of limited benefit. You can always change back once you have
> moved, if you wish.
>
>> The biggest problem area is from mobiles, where calls to geographic
>> numbers are normally inclusive, and usually have no cost unless you
> > run out, whereas calls to 0870 are always chargeable, often at an
> > even higher rate than landline calls. Don't do it.
>
> Depends whether many calls will be made from mobiles or landlines, and
> how long you expect callers to stay on the line. For my clients, the
> call on the 0870 will usually be short, and I ring their landline at
> low cost. With many call packages including geographic numbers the
> possibility of lengthy calls at low/no extra cost might cause some
> unwanted time-wasting calls. An 0870 concentrates the mind, whilst
> there might be some who are put off - but will they pay your invoices
> if they cringe at the thought of a few pence a minute? My clients are
> certainly not bothered when they want support - and while you will see
> quite a lot of strong anti-0870 opinions posted, it's your decision.
>
> I do not hesitate giving my 0870 number to people - I can divert to
> voicemail when I need, and my home numbers don't need to be released
> so when I want some privacy, I have it. Good luck! Peter M.
>

Thank you Peter & others for your replies. This information is very useful.
>From my reading of this, there seems to be substantial reaction against
premium tye numbers from telecoms enthusiasts, but not in my experience from
the general public, nor indeed from my own customer base. I would though
appreciate any thoughts on the likely outcome of the current Ofcom
investigation in these numbers.

I have been trading for 15 years & never advertise, any new customers are
obtained exclusively though recommendation. I am not therefore worried by
new customers being put-off by a premium number, although I would not take
an 09xx number. I am still adjusting my requirements & have not made any
decisions, but my intention would be to reduce cold calls & to obtain some
small financial compensation for the free IT telephone support that I
provide. Additional financial compensation from cold callers has a nice feel
to it - I really don't like marketing companies! We all have our pet hates.
Until an accidental Google search, I was blissfully unconcerned about 0870
as I beleive the majority of people, including my customers, are
unconcerned. I notice that my ADSL account (Demon) provides a fax to email
service, which happens to be an 0870 number. When I changed to ADSL a few
years ago, I changed my fax number to the 0870 number & informed all my
customers. To this day, I have never had any comment whatsoever regarding
the 0870 number from my customers or suppliers & I didn't realise that
someone (Demon?) is making a profit on my received faxes until my Google
search.

I would appreciate further intelligent discussion regarding this & I have
not yet made any decision on the subject. Perhaps a few less one line "I'll
never phone you" comments would help though. Peter did bring up an
interesting point, in that he mentioned about not being a local number. Part
of my business model is that I provide a local service; no-one is ever put
on hold & my customers always get to speak to me immediately if they wish
via landline or cellphone. A concern is whether an 0870 number would make me
appear less "local".

Regards
Nick


.

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