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| Frequently Asked Questions
Please click on the following links or scroll down to read our Non-geographic numbers frequently asked questions:
What are non-geographic
numbers?
What are non-geographic numbers? Non-geographic numbers or NTS numbers belong to a group of numbers, designated by Ofcom (www.ofcom.org.uk); the range includes:-
Unlike normal landline numbers, non-geographic numbers are not tied to one specific area of the UK. Calls are simply pointed to an existing landline number. * From 01.08.09 numbers starting 0871, 0872 and 0873 will be re-classified as Premium Rate numbers. Yes. Non-geographic numbers simply point to an existing telephone or fax number. So whether a customer calls you on your non-geographic number or your normal landline number, you still receive the call. However, we can only provide statistics for the calls to your non-geographic numbers.
How long does it take to set up a non-geographic number? During the working week orders normally go through in just 15 minutes. However during busy periods we recommend Customers allow 1-2 working hours. Upon receipt of your order one of our advisors will contact you to confirm your instructions and answer any queries you may have. We will contact you again when your service is live. Finally you will receive an Order Confirmation via email. Please ensure you have received your confirmation email before promoting your new number(s). Charges vary according to the type of non-geographic number selected. For more information on pricing please refer to the appropriate link on our Products and Services page.
BT want to charge me a lot more for a number. How can you still make money? Unlike BT we do not have the massive overheads associated with running a nationwide telephone network; this combined with our buying power enables us to keep our prices permanently low. We only deal with carriers employing the very latest in network technology. This means all our customers, large or small have access to some of the most advanced call routing solutions available today.
When ordering a chargeable number type e.g. 0845, you will receive a full VAT invoice in the post. You have 14 days to pay this invoice. Invoices are generated a month in arrears on or around the 16th of each month (so if you ordered a number in January, you would receive your invoice around the 17th February). We accept payment by Cheque/Postal Order, Credit/Debit card and Telephone/Internet banking. Details of how to pay appear on the back of your invoice. If your company or organisation is required to use a purchase order please speak to one of our advisors on 0800 505 3210, between 9.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday. Each month you will receive a statement showing your account balance. As long as your balance exceeds £10 the payment advice section of your statement will advise you to raise an invoice for the amount due. Unclaimed balances and balances below this threshold are carried forward to subsequent months. Should you have any queries regarding your account balance or require more information about this or any other aspect of your account please contact Customer Services on 0800 505 3210, between 9.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday. No. We can set up any number of non-geographic numbers to point to just one telephone number. This gives you the opportunity to use different numbers for different promotions, allowing you to measure the effectiveness of your marketing. Our Online Call Reporting service allows you to actively monitor and manage your telephony services account with us. By using this service, you can generate online reports of your telephony account, as well as administer the users within your company in order to create custom invoices. For more information please click here. No. Non-geographic numbers are only suitable for business use and not for domestic use. Whether you are a large company or a sole trader working from home, every business can benefit from our services. Certain number types e.g. 0844/0871*, may not be suitable for companies expecting a large amount of calls from certain 'at risk' sections of society e.g. the elderly or people on fixed/low incomes. 0844/0871* numbers are ideally suited to technical support lines and data response services where the use of a more expensive premium rate number (090x) may be unsuitable. * From 01.08.09 numbers starting 0871, 0872 and 0873 will be re-classified as Premium Rate numbers. No. We will only route calls through to a normal UK landline telephone or fax number. If this is something that you are looking to do we normally recommend that you contact your line provider e.g. BT, and arrange to have a Call Divert service added to your package. This would give you the ability to divert calls to 'any' number you wish, and would also mean that you would have greater control over the delivery of your telephone calls. It’s very simple. Telephone or email us, quoting your name, your business name, the non-geographic number(s) in question and the new number that you would like the number to point to and we will do the rest. Please note that change of destination requests are Free of charge. During the working week change of destination requests normally go through in under an hour. However during busy periods we recommend Customers allow 1-2 working hours. If your change is particularly important or you have a large quantity of numbers to change please give us advanced notice of when you want to make a change (when possible). If the person requesting the change is not down as your company’s main contact on our system, we may call you to confirm your instructions. If you have an existing non-geographic number (e.g. 0870 or 0845) provided by BT, C&W, Your Communications, NTL, Redstone or Energis, you can now transfer your number(s) to our service and benefit from lower charges and/or increased revenue out payments. The process is straightforward and takes no more than 10 days to action. These ‘ports’ generally take place during the early hours of the morning, so there should be no disruption to your business. As soon as you come over you can start to benefit from our lower rates. To transfer a number today please speak to one of our advisors on 0800 505 3210, between 9.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday. As well as our standard numbers we also have lists of Memorable numbers for you to choose from. For information on pricing and availability please phone one of our advisors today on 0800 505 3210 or click on the appropriate link below to browse our list of currently available numbers.
Can these numbers be dialled from abroad? Unfortunately, it is not possible for any responsible operator to give a definitive yes or no answer. Whether or not someone abroad can call these numbers is dependant on the Network Carrier they are using e.g. AT&T, France Telecom etc, rather than the Country itself. If you are expecting large numbers of calls from overseas, we would recommend you add a line on your website/literature that says something like 'if you are calling from outside the UK please contact us on +44 208 123 1234 ..etc' Please remember that callers outside the UK will need to dial the non-geographic number in it's international format e.g. +44 870 123 1234. |
