 |
 |
We have Telewest at home. If I had opted for one of their prepay options (I have not, but many users have done so in this area) then I could ring any local or national number for no cost. Calls to 0844 & 0845 numbers are not included in this, and are charged at the full rate. I have a mobile phone contract (Vodafone) which gives me a certain number of minutes of free calls to any local, national, or mobile phone number. Again, 0845/0844 numbers are excluded, and I have to pay full price for calls. Laurie Miles > -----Original Message----- > From: GP-UK [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Chris Salter > Sent: 23 January 2007 3:09 pm > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: [GP-UK] 0844 numbers for surgeries > > Hello Laurie and GP-UK, > > On Tuesday, January 23, 2007, at 10:23:24 AM, Dr wrote: > > > This is incorrect, the cost is most definitely NOT the same. Many people > have > > all inclusive packages on their mobile phones or home phones, where for a > flat > > monthly fee all calls are included (or a certain amount of calls are pre- > paid). > > For these 0844/0845 numbers, these packages do not apply and the user has to > pay > > the full cost of the call. > > http://www.downloads.bt.com/pricing/SpecialisedNos.pdf > > The above includes pricing of 0844 and 0845 calls from BT Residential > Lines. > > 0845 numbers are charged at "Local NTS" rate. Using Daytime rate as an > example the standard rate is 3.36p per minute (all examples exclude > VAT). However, most BT customers will probably be on one of the BT > Together options in which case the rate is 2.55p per minute. The > called number pays 3.48p per minute plus a monthly rental of 10 GBP. > For heavy users of NHS Direct, 0845 numbers are eligible for Friends & > Family discounts (excluding the Auto Update option which automatically > selects the 5 highest call cost numbers for the billing period; the > 'non-auto update' standard option allows 10 customer selected > numbers). Although 0845 numbers do not qualify for any of the BT > Together major discounts (e.g. BT Together Option 1 10p for one hour > call at evenings and week-ends) they are discounted to the caller in > the sense they are 'national' numbers charged at local call rates. > > 0844 numbers are charged at varying rates depending on the two or > three digits following the 0844. They fall into two major categories, > Internet Metered/Un-Metered Services and Special Services, the latter > covering "Calls not including Internet Services", and "Calls to Fixed > Fee Numbers" but in each category there is a range of differing rates. > > As far as GP practices are concerned, assuming the majority of > patients will be calling from within the local exchange area, I > personally don't see any reason for 0845 numbers and certainly not > 0844 numbers. NHS Direct is a slightly different case. For example, a > BT Residential Customer on the Basic BT Together Option 1 would pay > less calling an 0845 number during the day but would pay considerably > less calling an 01/02 number evenings and week-ends. If NHS direct > also has/had an 01/02 alternative number, where there is a price > advantage for the caller there would also be a cost saving for the NHS > i.e. they wouldn't be footing the 3.48p per minute for the 0845 call. > > Please note that all the above is my personal interpretation of > various BT documents and therefore may contain errors. > > For costs of providing and running 08XX/09XX numbers see > http://www.btbroadbandoffice.com/linesandcalls/telemarketing/overview > > Chris > > >> -----Original Message----- > >> From: GP-UK [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Emile de Sousa > >> Sent: 22 January 2007 8:18 pm > >> To: [log in to unmask] > >> Subject: Re: [GP-UK] 0844 numbers for surgeries > >> > >> and, to all those > >> Luddites who object, I'd like to say that the cost to the patient is the > >> same as the BT cost. BUT I also gather that within a few months Ofcom is > >> going to insist that all organisations using 0844, 0845 and 0870 number > must > >> list a geographical number as al alternative. > >> > >> We shall see > >> ********************************************************************** Information in this message may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient please accept our apologies; please do not disclose, copy or distribute information in this e-mail or take any action in reliance on its contents: to do so is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Please inform us that this message has gone astray before deleting it. Thank you for your co-operation. NHSmail is used daily by over 100,000 staff in the NHS. Over a million messages are sent every day by the system. To find out why more and more NHS personnel are switching to this NHS Connecting for Health system please visit www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/nhsmail **********************************************************************