Say no to 0870

Dialling a number starting 0870 or 0871 should ring alarm bells as well as the phone. While named NationalCall rate numbers, they're more akin to premium rates, costing up to 10p/min, massively more than a normal call. This is my two-step cost cutting plan.

And it's needed. These numbers are everywhere; household names like Comet, Vodafone and Barclaycard all issue them. Worse still, it often means that call to complain and the company you're calling will profit from the call.

Companies treasure their 0870 numbers

Non-geographic numbers: The cost

Non-geographic numbers are where the call cost doesn't relate to where you're calling; they have their own special pricing arrangements, which are invariably more expensive than standard calls, and worse, are usually excluded from 'free calls' packages. There are four main offenders:

• 0870 'National Call'. Can cost up to 10p/min
  
  On BT's standard package, calling an 0870 on a weekday costs the same as calling a landline, 4p/min. For other providers the picture's worse; calls to 0870 numbers cost up to 10p/min (Virgin), and are never included in free allowance.
  
  Quick Costs (daytime): BT: 5p, Talk Talk 4.5p, Virgin 10p, Sky 5p
  
  
• 0845 'Lo-Call'. Can cost up to 7p/min
  
  Don't confuse Lo-Call with local; numbers starting 0845 aren't as cheap, though are now more frequently included in ‘free calls' packages. Sadly many small businesses actually pay to have these numbers, misled by old promises that they “look more professional and attract custom”, without realising that these days their customers have to pay more.
  
  Quick Costs (daytime): BT 5p, Talk Talk 4.5p, Virgin 7p, Sky 6p
  
  
• 0871. Can cost up to 11p/min
  
  Dialling 0871s can cost up to 10p/min. They're often used for special services where providers deliberately get a cut of the call revenue (see the International Callchecker for how you can use them to get cheaper international calls).
  
  Quick Costs (daytime): BT 10p, Talk Talk 10p, Virgin 10p, Sky 10p
  
  
• 0844. Can cost up to 6p/min
  
  With numbers starting 0844 the price is fixed, at between 1p and 5p/minute. At half the cost of 0871 it's less problematic, but 0844's still never included in free calls packages, meaning the costs can quickly add up.
  
  Quick Costs (daytime): BT up to 5p, Talk Talk up to 5p, Virgin 3p, Sky 6p
  

While these are the four biggies at the moment, that's not to say they're the only ones. There's also 0843 & 0872 to watch out for in future. More info will be included on these as they become more prominent.

Are they included in free allowance?

For years the answer to this question for all but a few niche mobile phone tariffs was invariably NO. Yet this changed when BT added both 0870 and 0845 numbers to its free call packages, and others followed. Watch my 0870 changes Videocast.

• What does BT include? 0870 & 0845 numbers in its call packages. Outside of inclusive allowances, the calls are charged at the same rates as calls to landline. The changes don't affect 0843, 0844, 0871 & 0872 numbers, which remain excluded from all call packages, and can cost just as much.
  
  
• What does TalkTalk include? Exactly the same as BT. Outside of inclusive allowance, calls cost 4.5p/min daytime, or 1.37p evenings & weekends.
  
  
• What does SkyTalk include? 0870 numbers only. Outside of inclusive allowances, the calls are charged at 4.5p/min, the same as any other landline call. The changes don't affect any other 08-prefixed numbers.
  
  
• Any exclusions? Yes: all exclude 0870 Internet Service Provider connection calls, or indirect access calls (where you call through to another phone provider, as with callchecker numbers).
  
  
• Is there any way around this? Those who pay line rental to BT but use another provider for calls may be able to get around paying exorbitant rates by dialling a special prefix number to route calls through BT (see below).
  

Why do companies use these numbers?

The answer is simple. non-geographic numbers are often revenue makers, so it's unsurprising many high street names, including Sky, Argos and even Carphone Warehouse, issue them.

A five second ‘0870 numbers' Google search reveals all; telecom providers offer, “0870 numbers that earn you 1.5p per minute” A simple calculation based on this is all too revealing; a big company with 3,000 daily daytime callers, each holding for 10 minutes, would generate over £150,000 a year.

The "we aren't paid when you call" excuse

Some companies deny they profit, with cleverly worded, “we're not paid when people call our numbers” disclaimers. This usually means that in return for using an 0870/1 number, they're supplied with sophisticated high tech call handling and routing technology, and the provider gets the revenue. So the real question is, ‘how much would that service have cost otherwise?”, as that's their real profit.

0870 can be worse than premium rates

While premium rates are more expensive, at least they're transparent as they're required to inform you of the tariff. More importantly, premium rates' much tighter regulation means they can't leave you on hold, racking up the cost. Yet the 0870 regulations are flaccid, so they can and do keep us on hold, boosting their profits.

Step 1: Dial the wrong number

If you're not on a BT package, or you need to call outside your inclusive free time, there's a way to dodge the numbers altogether: often, companies have numbers other than 0870s that will enable you to reach the same place.

The website SayNoTo0870.com has a searchable ‘alternative number' database to help you work around the charges. These numbers come in two main types:

• Alternative departments.
  
  Most big companies have a range of numbers. 0870s are commonly for complaints and enquiries, while sales lines are cheaper or even free (i.e. putting complaints off and encouraging sales). So dial the sales number and ask to be put through to the relevant department.

• The ‘calling from overseas' number.

  Many companies list standard numbers as an alternative that may be dialled when you're overseas. Use these numbers from the UK simply by replacing the 44 prefix with a 0 (eg 4420 7123 XXXX becomes 020 7123 XXXX).

The only problem with this: SayNoTo0870 uses adverts straight from Google to help fund it. Sadly Google automatically places ads to match the site content; paradoxically meaning that 0870 providers are often advertised on the site. Luckily the ads rotate so many people won't see this, but if you do, you now know why.

Get it on your mobile

There are now some clever free, third-party mobile programs which can search for alternative geographic numbers when you're on the go:

• 0870 for Java (J2ME) handsets. If your phone has a web browser on it, chances are you'll be able to get the most basic version of the 0870 app working. To download it, go to http://www.wamtag.com/0870/ on your phone, and save it somewhere.
  
  The file is 158.6 KB in size (ie 0.16 MB), and each search takes up about 1.5KB of data. This is a neglible amount for most people, but worth being aware of if you've got high data costs to contend with.
  
  Using it's a simple matter of tapping in the number you want to find an alternative for, then clicking the 'find' button underneath. After a quick search it'll tell you whether it's found anything and ask if you want to call. While in our tests it wasn't as comprehensive as the SayNoTo0870 site, it's a useful backup.
  
  
• 0870 for iPhone. The iPhone version is available free from the iTunes App Store (search '0870'), and works in much the same way. Version 1.1 supports copy and paste, and will tell you whether it found a cheaper number before putting you through, but if no alternative's available you'll still pay full price.
  
  
• 0870 for Android phones. The version for Google Android phones is currently the most finessed, and is available from the Android Market (on your handset's menu as standard). It'll tell you whether an alternative number's been found and let you decide whether to use it or the original pricier one.

While feedback has been very positive so far, using these applications is at your own risk; we can't accept responsibility should an issue arise.

Step 2: Cut the cost of calling 08 numbers

If there's no alternative number, the next step is to cut the cost of calling 0870s. The first rule is try not to call from your mobile, as that can seriously cost, yet depending on your provider, home phone costs can be little better. Thankfully, by dialling prefix numbers before calling, you can shave more than a third off the price.

Override the cost

Yet even from home phones it can cost large. Better still, use an ‘override provider'; a special phone company you can access without changing your home phone provider, thus ‘overriding' the network and you can usually undercut the big providers.

All you need do is dial a prefix or access number, and then call the 0870 number. Virgin media costs 7p/min yet use override provider Bestminutes and you'll pay only 6p. The UKCallchecker provides a list of the cheapest providers for calling 0870 and 0845 numbers and is updated every day.

Route the call through BT

If you pay line rental to BT, and another company for your calls (what's known as 'carrier pre-select') you may be able to route specific calls through BT to take advantage of its prices regardless of your calls provider. Simply dial 1280 before the number you wish to call and you should be making a call through BT.

As even the basic BT package (which you pay for line rental) includes free weekend calls, that means these 0870 and 0845 calls are free at weekends via BT. Yet it does stipulate you need to make one chargeable call per month through BT to get an automatic upgrade. So, dial 1280 and call a friend quickly before hitting the 0870 numbers. Outside of the weekend you'll pay BT's standard rate, up to 6p/min if you dial the 1280 number, which is often still the cheapest.

This doesn't work for everyone

Sadly if your main provider has switched to BT's wholesale arm, this precludes their customers access to BT calls, currently, only Sky's publically noted its switchover, and BT's unable to give up any other company names due to commercial confidentiality agreements.

As a rule of thumb though, if you get a separate bill from BT, chances are you can use 1280 to get cheaper calls. Though always do a test call first, then check the bill when it comes to check it works.

If you dialled 1280 before calling 0870 and yet been charged at your provider's standard rate, then do please post in the 0870 discussion, to help us build a list of 1280-exempt providers.

The future of 0870s

With most providers now moving to include 0870/0845 calls in packages, things are clearly moving in the right direction. Yet while a small battle's been won, the war rages on: charges for 0871 & 0844 numbers haven't changed, and some businesses are already migrating from 0870 numbers to 0871s in a bid to keep profits up. Until all 08 numbers are accounted for, the fight must continue.

Initially there was a consultation paper, then in May 2008 recommendations were released, which should have been in place by Autumn 08. Ofcom then announced it'd make a statement at the end of 2008, yet this was delayed by ongoing issues in it's other battle, over call termination rates.

After waiting a long time for these recommendations to be made solid regulation and promising an official statement by the end of January it was only at the beginning of April that it finally announced its changes that are now effective.

The rules

Unfortunately, there's nothing actually forcing providers to make these changes other than the threat of fines from Ofcom, which has said it will monitor the effect of its new rules and make updates if necessary. After waiting so long for some definitive action from Ofcom, it's quite frankly shocking it's done so little to end the 0870 issues.

• National rate to mean national rate.
  
  Providers will only be able to refer to 0870s as national rate if it charges the same for 0870s as it does for geographic numbers. They will also need to make it clear in pricing leaflets whether 0870s are included in inclusive calling packages. While there's nothing forcing them to do this, they may face fines if they don't. It's more likely providers will act because they don't want to lose out to competitors who have already started doing this.

• Revenue sharing for 0870s to end.
  
  The changes to pricing should mean an end to revenue sharing, so companies won't be able to profit from using such numbers and will be fined if they don’t follow strict rules about how their call prices are publicised. However it's been suggested providers will simply move services across to expensive, soon-to-be premium rate 0871 numbers to continue making money on phone calls.

• 0871 numbers redefined as premium rates.
  
  0871 numbers will be redefined as premium rate and come under the regulations of PhonePayPlus (which used to be called ICSTIS), the premium rate regulator. This means these numbers and the revenue sharing will be much more tightly controlled.