Lots of questions and answers about the 0870 numbers, read through for a better understanding of how it works and what people are asking. (Tip: Print this page out and read it later - keep it to refer to when you have your number)

What can I connect an 0870 number to?

 

I want my 0870 number to be on my mobile phone number:

Sorry - 0870 can only be attached to a landline number, mobiles, international and other non-geographical numbers can not be used. (Our sister company at www.donphone.co.uk can provide 07021 service for this purpose)

I have my home number diverted to my mobile, will it cost my callers extra to use the 0870 number this way ?

No, you pay your telephone service provider for the part of the call from your home number to the mobile, this is not passed on to the caller who pays the going rate for calling your 0870 number only.

I have a fax machine on another line, can I have an 0870 number for this too ?

Of course, you can have as many 0870 numbers as you require and it does not affect incoming fax services as the call is passed straight to the 'real' number as normal.

My sales team call the office computer by modem, can we put an 0870 number on the modem line ?

Yes, it's just another phone line and calls can be routed via 0870 to any fixed destination number like this.

Re-routing calls:

Can I switch between my home and office numbers ?

No, once allocated the number stays with the fixed line. However, if you later move house or change telephone number you can email and ask for a change of destination number and keep the same 0870 number as long as it remains a fixed line. See also the 'Costs' page.

 

We are able to offer a follow-through service where one number is given as the main destination and a second number can be specified. When the first number remains unanswered or gives the engaged tone calls would be diverted to the second number. Please specify that you require this service on your order and provide the secondary number. The secondary number must also be a fixed landline. Changes made at a later date will be subject to a £5 admin fee.

 

 

Limitations of the service:

 

Can my 0870 number be called from abroad ?

Yes, simply change it as you would any regular number to add the country prefix of 44 and take off the leading zero - +44 870 xxx xxxx would be the format to use.

 

I want to use 0870 for a major advertising campaign, are the numbers from this site just for fun ?

No - certainly not, they are genuine national numbers as offered elsewhere for a large fee. They are available for business or personal/home use.

 

What about the 'Big Number' change ?

Any applications received were checked for this - destination numbers affected by the change were switched to their new code.

 

Will my 0870 number be subject to the 'Big Number' change ?

No, the recent changes did not affect 0870 numbers, these did not change at this time. Future dialling code changes may affect other areas. 0870 numbers will help protect customers from having to reprint stationary and advertise a new number.

 

 

Costs and Payments:

 

 

What will I be charged for this service ?

We do not charge for connection of the line unless a Gold number was ordered, these carry a one-off charge. There is no line rental either and we do not charge an admin fee for handling your account, as some companies do. However, numbers which record no usage in a month will be subject to an admin fee of £5 for each month of no usage. This will generate an electronic invoice. Should any given number be recorded as having no usage for three consecutive months then the number may be terminated. An email will be sent to the address given as part of the application before this action is taken and the status reviewed depending on the customer reply. If no reply is received a further attempt will be made, should this fail to bring a response then the number would be disconnected. Our feeling is that there is little point in issuing a number which is then not used at all, reasonable notification having been given the service would be withdrawn. It is possible that the disconnected 0870 number would later be allocated to another customer.

 

How long will it be before I get paid ?

That all depends on how much use your 0870 number gets - if you only get a few incoming calls a month then you may never get anything as you'll not get above the £25.00 payment level. If you have a lot of incoming calls like a customer service desk then you could be getting a cheque every month. Accounts are checked at the end of every month, any which are due payment should get a cheque around the end of the following month allowing for admin. time and post. ie. calls made to your number in June would be paid in the middle of August if payment were due.

 

I don't think I'll ever make £25.00 in incoming calls, can I cancel ?

Yes if you must, even though you may never reach a figure where you would get a cheque the number is still yours for as long as reasonable usage is recorded.

I have two (or more) 0870 numbers from you, can I combine the accounts to get paid out quicker ?

No, the accounts are dealt with separately and each is calculated on it's own. Although the name and address on the account are the same it's just not possible to combine them in this way. However, where a customer has more than one payment due we will send one cheque rather than one per number.

 

If I order an 0870 number what will my outgoing calls cost me ?

The same as they do now, by adding an 0870 number there is no change to the service or prices of your existing service. You continue to pay BT or your telephone service provider in the same way. We are not involved in any way where outgoing calls are concerned.

 

But won't BT charge me extra for having this number added to my bill ?

No, the number is not added to your bill at all - the telephone company need not know you have an 0870 number, they will probably not be interested if you do tell them.

 

My friend uses a third party telco and prefixes his called numbers with '1601' to get a discounted call rate, does that affect my credit on the incoming call ?

Not as far as we can find out, the incoming call registers as being to an 0870 number, the computer would credit the account regardless of it being prefixed by your friend. It does not really know about this. However, they would be charged the national, not discounted, rate for the call.

 

Can I check on my account online and see what amount I have ?

At present there is no way to check on-line what your balance is. Because of the low cost status of this offer it would not be possible to keep giving statements of accounts without incurring an admin fee. You may send us email and we can tell you what your balance is if you really want to know. This will only be available about 3 weeks behind the month in which calls were made.

 

Can I have a monthly account of what calls were made to my number ?

We can provide detailed reports at a cost which would be advised on an individual basis as these are tailored to individual requirements and may be a paper copy, .CSV data or even Excel spreadsheets. Please contact us about this.

 

Does this make my Internet access calls cheaper then ?

No - your outgoing calls are exactly the same as before, 0870 is only for incoming calls made to you.

 

I think I've had enough calls in to have a cheque for £25 due, when will I get it ?

Accounts are checked monthly and if a cheque is due it will be sent out by the end of the month following the one in which the account reaches that figure. If you are concerned that you havn't had a cheque then a contact email address is given with every number, email us and we will check. Please don't abuse this by asking for your account to be checked if you havn't got close to the payout figure or on a regular basis as this could jeopardise the service for others. If this is abused we would have to announce an admin fee for this part of the service.

 

Will my callers be charged if I don't answer the phone or if I'm on another call ?

Following a 1999 story on BBC's Watchdog, of people being charged for calling 0870 numbers that were engaged, we've been asked this question a lot. Normally people will hear a ringing tone or get the engaged tone if the line is busy. It seems that some companies have been charging callers for each call made, even if they did not get through. This is NOT the case with our numbers and was probably an error on the part of those providers who did charge. You are only charged once a call is connected via your 0870 number.

Other questions:

 

I want to order several numbers, can these be consecutive ?

Yes, email us with all details in one message and say what order they should go in and we'll do our best to get them allocated as a range like 0870 xxx xxx1, xxx2, xxx3 etc. The largest order we have dealt with was for 128 consecutive numbers!

 

My company has a switchboard with many direct dial numbers as well, can I get an 0870 number that will serve my DDI range by adding the extn number at the end like 0870 xxx xxxx then dial 123 for extn 123 ?

We've asked about this and been told that it can be done - but at a fee depending on the amount of work it would take to configure. Please email us with your requirements and we will obtain a custom price for this kind of service.

 

My company has many incoming lines to one number, how does this affect my 0870 number ?

Callers dial your 0870 number in the same way as they did your original number, as long as you have the incoming lines you'll get the calls - you could have several people using your one 0870 number at once in the same way as they did the original number. We have customers who use the service in this way, many calls per minute are sent via our system to theirs and the only problem that can occur is where their switch reaches capacity and calls can no longer be connected by us.

 

My number ends in '1234' can I have 0870 740 1234 ?

If you want to specify a particular number then there is a charge for this. Email us and we'll find out what your choice would cost - this varies depending on the actual number - ones like 0870 740 1111 etc. can be expensive but one like 0870 746 9037 could be arranged cheaper, if it's available. The costs range from £47 to over £500 to 'choose' a number. See the Gold Numbers page for details

 

I want a memorable number like 0870 740 0870 for advertising, can you do this ?

Yes - as in the last question, it depends on the required number and the cost involved, BT and other companies always have a premium for 'gold' numbers - 0870 is the same. The available numbers are all in the range 0870 74* **** so choices are limited to that range we're afraid.

 

I have Caller ID on my incoming calls - will this still work when the 0870 number is used ?

Yes - the Caller ID is passed through as through your 'real' number had been called.

 

I am often out and rely on 1471 to find out if anyone called, will this service tell me the number was withheld ?

As with Caller ID, the number is passed through the system as normal and will only say the number was withheld if the caller did this, as with any other calls.

How do I know if a call is coming in from my 0870 number or my real number ?

You don't know, and there is currently no way of telling this, even with caller ID. However, several companies offer a second number with a different ring tone on the same line, you could allocate the secondary number for 0870 usage and WOULD then know by the ring tone.

I switched over to LocalTel/Cable/C&W - can I still have an 0870 number ?

Yes, the number simply connects any incoming calls to a landline - it does not matter which service provider you use.

 

Who do I contact to have my 0870 numbers put in the Phone Book ?

We can arrange for your 0870 number(s) to go into the Phone Book. Obviously this takes time and your number needs to be on the BT directories system six months before the next issue is due to be printed, in the meantime your number(s) would be on the 192 directory enquiries system and in the BT online system. An admin fee applies for setting this up and normally your numbers would be shown about 14 working days after we submit the request.

 

I know people that are not on the Internet who would be interested in 0870, can I sign them up ?

Yes, just send an email or fill in the screen form as normal. Put their details in for payment and mailing address but use your email address so we can send the info back through you. Because of costs we cannot send them by post unless you/they send a SASE. Even so, an account must have a valid email contact address.

 

How good is this service, are there times where it will not work ?

Any service is subject to problems but the telco behind this offer is one that serves thousands of customers already and they cannot afford to damage their reputation by having any unnecessary downtime. In the unlikely situation that an 0870 number is unobtainable it would normally be down to network congestion rather than the service itself being down. Some downtime was noted during late May 2000 due to a system malfunction but this was replaced with new equipment in July 2000 to prevent reoccurance.

 

How stable is the number, will it last forever ?

Under present regulations the 0870 numbers are quite stable. There is nothing to suggest that the service would be changed. However, telephone regulations do change from time to time and you would be notified of any forthcoming change of service and given the option to continue (if available) or cancel. The terms and conditions page explains this further. OFTEL regulate the 0870 service and any future change would be notified well in advance.

 

My 0870 number isn't working - what do I do ?

Call the office number given to you when you got your 0870 number, they will try and sort it out. Please check your 'real' number as well to make sure it is not your telecoms provider who is at fault. We often find that there is a local fault which results in a number being unobtainable rather than the 0870 service.

 

So what's in it for you then ?

We get a small commission IF a number gets used enough. Nothing like the amount the customer would get but, hopefully, something to offset the amount of time it takes processing these orders and general running of the website. We've done this for free for a long time now and need something to offset the high running costs if nothing else. Payments made to us are based on a percntage of the amount payable to our customers. If our customers do not get paid then we do not.

 

What if the 0870 number scheme is changed, will I have to pay a fee ?

At present there are no further plans to alter the system, if this does change in the future you will be notified well in advance of any change so you can choose what to do. The telecoms market is pretty stable right now and no-one sees any future charges being implemented. Look back over the last couple of years, personal numbers used to cost the caller 50p a minute and you got nothing from it, 0870 is a lot cheaper to call and pays you! Who knows, maybe next year you'll be able to get an 0800 number for nothing ??!!

 

What if I do not use my 0870 number ?
Where a number is recorded as having no usage in any accounting month an admin fee of £5 will be raised and invoiced by email. Should any given number be recorded as having no usage for three consecutive months then an email will be sent to the address given as part of the application and the status reviewed depending on the customer reply. If no reply is received a further attempt will be made, should this fail to bring a response then the account flagged for disconnection. See the T&C page for information on this condition. Our feeling is that there is little point in issuing a number which is then not used at all, reasonable notification having been given the service would be suspended. It is possible that the disconnected 0870 number would later be allocated to another customer.

So who is behind The 0870 Company ?

DonWeb, Doncaster Web Design, is a company run by Gordon Sharpe (see Contact page) as an agent for these numbers. In effect one person running a multitude of Internet services. No massive office complex and no overheads leading to a situation where numbers can be 'sold' a lot cheaper than most companies - it actually costs them more to sell numbers as they then have to pay staff and overheads in calculating commissions. The domain name was registered, the pages written and the site launched in only a couple of days. Between June 1999 and July 2001 (when this page was last updated) we've issued over 3,000 numbers to individuals and companies alike.

What if you give up the offer, what happens to my numbers ?

I have spent a lot of time getting this offer together simply because I didn't like people being ripped off having to pay massive fees for them. I don't intend giving up as long as I am able to keep the offer going. If such a time came where I had to give up then the numbers would revert back to the office and they would continue to pay revenues and support the system.

What if they give up ?

If Telinco were to cease trading would there be any problem and as a major company in the telecomms field this is not very likely, since their takeover by World Online and then Tiscali the company is even stronger. DonPhone is my own company and should there ever be problems the numbers would also revert to Telinco.

 

Why can I only connect to a landline number ?

Our 0870 numbers are only available to genuine landlines, other than the Channel Isles or Manx Telecom customers, starting with 01 or 02. If you are looking for other options please try our sister site at www.DonPhone.co.uk

 

Sorry - I do not trust you, I think this is a scam, I want out now !

Well - I'm sorry if anyone feels that way - I'm not here to scam anyone, hundreds of 0870 numbers have been signed up now and there have been very few cancellations. These have just been where someone has thought they would get paid a regular income and then realised they may not make anything at all because they never gave out their number. The webmaster of this site, Gordon Sharpe, has a reputation on the 'net for bringing free services together for the benefit of his visitors, he does not charge for this and spend a lot of his own time and money on research - if he were out to scam anyone he would not risk everything he's done so far by linking it as a part of the 1-2-Free pages! If that's how you feel then simply don't sign up for an 0870 number. Check his site out using this link and you'll see the information he has there. The 0870 Company was created to give a fresh approach to advertising this service.

 

What about security of my personal details?

When you complete the online order form you are on a secure page although this is not apparant as it appears within a frame of the main site, feel free to open the frame in a new window to check the secure page status. This was a requirement of the Which? Webtrader scheme. Your details are then submitted by email to us. If you feel that this is not secure enough then feel free to submit your order by post or fax. We normally only correspond by email, please send a SASE if you require your information retuning by post.

 

Any other questions ? mail us, they may end up here....

Gordon Sharpe, Webmaster www.the0870.com - t/a The 0870 Company, P O Box 0870, Doncaster, DN4 0GB

Last updated July 4th 2001