In article <4f29e2ad$0$2501$da0feed9@news.zen.co.uk>,
www.GymRatZ.co.uk <nobody@nowhere.cot> wrote:
>After many years of using Voipfone for incoming 0845 number and 0117 9
>numbers for our shop, I finally put the brilliant voipfone call logs
>into action and downloaded the incoming call records for January 2012 to
>see which was the more popular number.
>The Following page http://www.gymratz.co.uk/
>Shows where one would have a choice of either number and is the most
>influential point of contact as it's on every page on the site
>(currently at over 1300 pages I think)
>
>Other significant point of note are that if we have to leave an answer
>message on customers voicemail we typically leave the 0845 86 86 888
>number as it's easy to remember when spoken blocked as above. However I
>have caller I.D. set to 01179 118139 as it's more likely to be answered
>than CID of an 0845 so again customer has a greater push to the Geo.
>number for calling back of subsequent calls.
>
>B.T. number is listed in ever declining circles, even yell.com now lets
>me put the voipfone GEO number but still has it's (small) share of calls
>not forming part of this analasys.
>http://www.yell.com/b/Gym+Ratz-Fitne...891/index.html
>
>January was a busy month. voipfone call records show 323 calls (having
>taken out personal calls)
>0845 8686888 recieved 181 calls
>01179 118 139 took 142 calls.
>Mobile callers numbered 113 with the rest being GEO, International and anon.
>
>Proving clearly that an 0845 number for £1.99 a month is well worth
>running alongside a Geographic number. The more memorable the better
>though I'd suggest.
er, me? Not sure what I can add into it.
Personally, I don't like 0845/0844/0871 numbers - I feel there just a
bit old fashioned - however they can have their place - e.g. I recently
got involved with a charity who were looking for a way to fund a new
national phone system and an 0844 number costing the punter 10p a minute
at standard BT rates for a max. call duration of 10 minutes was one of
the proposals - the kick-back from the number would have financed their
system (and more, however)
But it then means that the punters calling it would be helping to
run the service... Which for a charity for what it is might have been
OK.
Things I really object to are things like doctors and dentists where
punters don't have a choice - then you have to pay through the nose
for some of the calls - and that's (in my experience) because they
have been mis-sold the numbers on the pretence of them being more
univerally accepted or some other nonsense like call waiting, queueing,
making life easier for the receptionist and so on - while all the time,
they're charging the doctors through the nose for the priveledge of
having off-site call handling and creaming the revenue return off the
poor people calling in!!!
For your 0845 number - you're actually paying for the priveledge of
having it - which I chuckle at as the number owners (er, Magrathea,
although you're presumably buying it via a reseller like me) get a
kickback on every call placed through it. So they win twice, once from
you and once from the network :)
Also I have the choice and if I were buying the kit you sell, I'd
personally buy from the one who didn't have an 0845 number, but that's
my choice. When I don't have the choice, then I feel it's unfair.
So people are probably dialling the 0845 because it's a memorable number
without thinking. Most people probably don't realise it's a revenue
generating number (for someone). A lot of home calling plans now include
calls to 0845 (or some of them), but not calls to 0844, etc.
You can get memorable geographic numbers though, but they do cost more -
depending on who you buy them from - e.g. I recently got a customer a
number ending in 1111 - that cost them over £500..
Your 0117 911 8139 number is also via Magrathea FWIW.
(I love the numbering range Magrathea has for Bristol 911 ... A lot of
people simply don't believe it - especially the younger folks who think
that 911 calls the emergency services, sadly)
Gordon
One for Gordon Re: 0845 vs Geo. number. 
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