Everything you need to know about 0845 numbers

Jan. 20, 2012 - PRLog -- Lincoln, UK: “People generally know what a freephone 0800 number is” says Jemma Fox, Marketing Director of The 0845 Number Company, “but they’re often unsure about what exactly an 0845 number is. I’m therefore hoping to shed some light on it and give people some information about what exactly an 0845 number is. I am also going to provide some details on our pricing and policies so that people know what to expect from an 0845 number”.

0345 numbers were first introduced in 1985 as BT’s version of Lo-Call numbers, whilst 0645 was Mercury Communication’s version. Readers may remember that Mercury Communications was formed as a consortium of Cable & Wireless, British Petroleum and Barclays Merchant Bank in 1982. Back in the 1980s, BT and Mercury were the two giants of UK telecoms. These two numbers survived until 2000 and the Big Number Change of 22nd April, when they were replaced by one number: the 0845 number which we have today. These were universally charged as local numbers until 2004, but this can now vary.

The 0845 numbers provided by The 0845 Number Company however are still lo-call numbers. They can also be referred to as low-call numbers, but the basic principle behind them is that if the person making the call is phoning from a landline then they pay the same cost as if they were making a local phone call. As that cost is relatively quite low (around 3 -5p per minute), the words low and local and combined to make either low-call or lo-call. Customers may be charged by their mobile phone provider when calling an 0845 number from their mobile.

0845 numbers are pointed to either existing landline numbers or existing mobile numbers. When pointed to either a landline or a mobile there is a one off £5 + VAT set up fee, and then a monthly number rental of £5 + VAT. Unlike 0800 numbers, you don’t pay to receive calls when the 0845 number is pointed to your landline. However, if your 0845 number is pointed to your mobile phone then you do pay 13p + VAT per minute to receive the call. If you are on the 3 Mobile network this increases to 27p + VAT per minute.

The 0845 Number Company also offers an environmentally friendly and energy efficient fax-to-email 0845 number, which means that people send you a fax and it goes straight to your email inbox. Aside from the benefits of this on the environment and your pocket, it means that you will have an 0845 fax number to match your 0845 telephone number. The 0845 Number Company also offers a wide range of added value features to accompany their 0845 numbers.

With all phone numbers from The 0845 Number Company you only have to give 30 days written notice to cancel. If you order between 9am and 5pm on a normal working weekday then The 0845 Number Company will be able to connect your new phone number in minutes.  The 0845 Number Company provides fully itemised bills, per second billing and discounts on multiple numbers.

Jemma Fox said: “0845 is a fantastic compromise between freephone numbers and premium rate numbers. Your customers pay a small amount – it’s not free but then it’s not high price either. Meanwhile you don’t pay to receive the call but you don’t get money from it either.  However it is still a non-geographic number so it still gives you that national presence”.  

To find out more about The 0845 Number Company, visit their website http://www.the0845numbercompany.co.uk/

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We supply 0800 numbers to small, medium and large businesses in the UK.

If your not sure whether an 0800 number is the right choice we also offer 0844 numbers, 0845 numbers, 03 numbers and local virtual numbers for nearly 500 UK towns and cities.