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What are 0845 numbers

0845 is an incoming only phone number (also known in the industry as an ‘inbound’ number). Being inbound establishes that you would not be able to make outbound calls from your 0845 number at all, however you can inform your landline provider that you have an 0845 number and ask them to present the number as your dialled number (CLI Presentation – the number you are calling from).

Most UK companies use 0845 numbers for two very specific reasons:-

They want to disguise their geographic location. 0845 is not based in any location in the UK (that is why they are called Non Geographic). So when someone calls the 0845 number they will not know where they are calling. This is a positive because some companies operate on a national basis and don’t want to appear local (if on the other hand you want to appear local, you should look at our virtual UK landline numbers).
They want to keep their number forever. An 0845 number is routable to any phone number worldwide. So for example if you are a company based in London and you move to Glasgow (i know its a big move – but we’re just saying!) you can take the number with you. We have had examples where a company has moved to France and they have taken their 0845 number with them with no problems at all.

There are other reasons why companies buy 0845 numbers but these are the main two.

What is the cost to call an 0845 Number? Another daily question!

The cost to call 0845 numbers has reduced significantly over the years. If you are on a BT call plan you will generally find that the cost to call a 0845 is free (up to a certain amount of minutes per month). If you are not on a plan then the cost to call is about 3.5p per minute at all times. However, one of the negative points about 0845 numbers is the cost to call them from a mobile. Depending on your mobile provider it can cost between 5p and 25p per minute to call.

An important point

One final point that we think is important is that 0845 numbers are not guaranteed to be dial-able from overseas. So, if you are a company that have international customers please be careful about using an 0845 number. You may want to look at an alternative number range.

What are 0845 numbers through City Numbers?

We currently provide over 20,000 0845 numbers to companies across the UK and they are highly popular with our customers. If you are interested in purchasing an 0845 number or would like to know about the costs please feel free to click on the last link in this sentence.

Hope you like this article? If you do please re-tweet, +1 or ‘like’ in Facebook for us.

Posted in 0845 Numbers, Information | Tagged 0845, 0845 phone numbers, an 0845 number, numbers, what is | Leave a comment

City Numbers +1 and ‘Like’ Us

We have recently deployed the Facebook ‘Like’ button and the NEW Google +1 button across our site. This gives you the ability to recommend us to your friends and contacts or approve a service that worked for you.

+1 and Like available throughout City Numbers

Google +1
Easy to use, you need to have a Google profile. Clicking the button will explain everything you need to know and if you have a Google account already you will be prompted to login. If you don’t have one, then simply register in that same window and come back and +1 our page.

Facebook Like
Simply click the Like button and login to your Facebook account. If you are already logged in then you it will provide you with a Comment box to say what you like and post onto your personal wall.

The Blog
Our Blog section already has these options available to you, so you can use those as you normally would, we have also implemented the Google +1 to theses posts, so feel free to use the +1 there as well.

Posted in General | Tagged +1, facebook, google, like | Leave a comment

Cheap calls to India reduced to 1p a minute

We are happy to announce that our cheap calls to India package has been made even cheaper. We have slashed our prices to call India landlines and India mobiles to just 1p per minute.

Using our cheap international call service is easy. Just follow the easy 1-2-3 steps below:-

1 – Dial 0844 720 2400 (this is charged at 1p per minute by your landline provider – calls from mobiles may be higher).
2 – Wait for the voice to prompt you to dial the India Landline or India Mobile number then dial.
3 – Connect to your friends and family in India and speak to them for just 1p per minute.

We have also slashed other countries to 1p per minute which we will blog about shortly.

We hope you enjoy our cheap calls to India service.

Posted in Cheap Calls | Tagged cheap calls to india | Leave a comment

City Numbers going Green

Please note that this was a City Numbers April Fools

Yes that’s right, we are going friendly green for the good of the planet. We are currently in the process of making all of our internal and external services environmentally friendly, with the hope that with just our help, the planet will be in existence that little bit longer.

Many companies take steps to reduce travel and spend extra time working in the dark to help, but we are going one step further, we are going to be putting all of our numbers through environmentally green filtration devices to make sure our numbers aren’t using too much power and supplying only the right emissions through the telecom systems.

How does it work?

Simple. Our numbers flow through a channel to the innovative filtration device and hey presto the magic happens and all harmful effects are removed.

What does this give you? Well every number, even the 0845 number and 0800 number are keeping the same quality and the same functionality, yet they stay the same price. Yes, we are not passing on the cost of this fantastic, innovative technology.

Now you understand why you are with City Numbers, we not only give you a great service but we give the planet a great service to.

Have a great 1st of April.

Posted in Funny | Tagged april fools, funny | Leave a comment

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Alert – Poor Telecommunications and Mobile Phone Service

After reaching 8.9 magnitude the Earthquake off the coast of Tokyo has caused an additional Tsunami with a reported 10 meter (33ft) high waves, which is also expecting to hit Hawaii at around 3am local time. Buildings have also been rocked in China, 1500 miles away. The UK airlines are reported to have cancelled flights to Japan in the wake of the Earthquake.

Further to building damage and fires, it appears that communications have also been damaged across Japan with poor services for mobile networks being announced, this being due to potential damage to telecommunication equipment. Softbank Corp, one of the largest mobile phone operators in Japan were in the process of checking for damage on Telecommunications facilities according to one of their spokes people.

Japan accounts to 20% of the worlds Earthquakes and reports an average magnitude of 6 or higher, but this new one is very severe and comes only a few weeks after New Zealand’s Christchurch disaster.

0207 Number: A Foreign Office helpline for relatives 0207 008 1500

Posted in General | Tagged earthquake, hawaii, japan, phone service, telecommunications, telecoms, tsunami | Leave a comment

VAT to 20% – What does this mean for your purchase and how to make a saving?

Firstly let’s talk about the saving. You might have forgotten that the 20% VAT change is coming on the 4^th January 2011 (I doubt it!). Yes that right, not far off now. Our advice would be to get a few of your phone numbers purchased before the New Year and save a little money by doing so. See our main site menu to get your number today.

With the drop of Value Added Tax (VAT) to 15% in 2008 it was always going to cause a future increase to the consumer once the markets became stable. In January 2010 we had an increase back to the original 17.5%. However the UK is now going to have another increase in VAT, going up to 20% starting January 4^th 2011.

Basically anyone purchasing our goods on or after the 4^th January 2011 will be affected by the 20% VAT charge. There are exclusions from VAT such as Children’s clothing, Food and Magazines, but that’s about it – No exclusions on phone numbers!

At 17.5% we have currently the lowest rates of VAT in Europe, so the increase to 20% VAT will bring us more in line with every other country. Not a great thing to smile about I know and it will possibly adjust some people’s attitudes to forking out on expensive items like Televisions or cars and perhaps slow down on the amount of fast foods takeaways they have in the short term, but we shouldn’t see much of a big change in the smaller business purchases.

With this VAT increase, companies unfortunately have no choice but to abide by charging the current rate. At City Numbers we will be keeping our prices the same and will not be putting our excluded VAT prices up, however due to this government change we, along with all other companies, have to now charge 20% VAT on those prices.

Please remember that our pricing on our website is Ex-VAT (always has been and always will be).

Happy New Year to you all and I hope the 2.5% pinch doesn’t hurt you too much!

Posted in General | Tagged 20 percent, 20%, tax, vat | Leave a comment

Text Messages From Santa

Santa has been around now for hundreds of years but he has just decided to join us in the 21st century! Santa has got a mobile phone!

You may ask yourself why is this so special? Well Santa is keen on keeping in touch with all the boys, girls, men and women in the UK and this year he has the ability to text them. Imagine that – looking at your phone and seeing a Text Message from Santa.

Santa can now send text message directly from his Santa mobile. He can only send them to people in the UK and as he is such a busy chap if you don’t order them before 3pm on Christmas Eve he may not send it (he has lots of other things to be getting on with!)

If you want to order a text message from Santa simply go to www.textfrom.co.uk/text-from-santa and enter the details that you would like sent. You can choose 5 personalised text messages and here is an exampleas follows:-

“Hi , I’m just checking that you have been a good as I’m getting ready to bring your ”

The text message from santa will be sent FROMSANTA as the number so it will look as if it has come from him personally.

Text messages from Santa are sent on Christmas eve or we have an option to receive one on Christmas Morning.

Make Christmas a very special one for your friends and family and order your text message from Santa today.

Posted in Funny | Tagged text from santa | Leave a comment

India Phone Numbers now added to the portfolio

After months of trying to set up virtual phone numbers in India we have finally cracked it! We are now able to supply local phone numbers in India and route the calls back to your existing UK landline or mobile phone (we can point them internationally if you need this but you will have to pass our credit checks first).

India Phone Numbers have been difficult to set up due to the quality issues with the networks in India. We have completed our testing 2 months ago and we are happy to release the following cities to our portfolio:- Bangalore phone numbers and Mumbai phone numbers.

Now if you want to make it look like you are a business with an office in Mumbai or Bangalore all you have to do is buy one of our India numbers and point it to your existing lines. The quality is superb as we are using traditional methods to route the calls and NOT VOIP!!! We are very excited about being able to provide India phone numbers as we get asked every day for a number. The service has been live (following our beta testing) and we have already supplied numbers to some of the UK’s fastest growing companies.

If you have any further questions about our India phone numbers then please contact us on 08453 666 555 for more information.

Posted in Interesting Numbers | Tagged india phone numbers | Leave a comment

0800 Travel to the Commonwealth Games 2010?

0800 Numbers can be used in many areas and a great example is currently with travel companies that are organising quick and easy advertising for the Commonwealth Games 2010. A simple call to a company like us and you can get your 0800 Number set up within hours and advertised to the public within the day, a quick and easy solution for a great advertising opportunity.

So the idea for travel companies is to get people out to the Commonwealth games and make good revenue on this, but in order to get those people to call in they need a great number for advertising. If they have a local number then they run the risk of looking too small and they want a big image, so step in the non geographic free phone number and you have an ideal number for encouraging callers.

You don’t need to be a new business to get the benefits from 0800 numbers, you can be a big or small company that sees an eye for a great marketing idea and then encourage users to call this marketing idea with a free phone number. The number is then transferrable over to other campaigns you want to run.

Don’t forget the purpose of a free phone number is to encourage growth in your company and encourage customers to use your service, it doesn’t matter on the size of your business or the age of your business, free phone numbers, like 0800, can help you out regardless.

Posted in 0800 Numbers | Tagged 0800 numbers, 2010, commonwealth games | Leave a comment

What have my numbers team done to me?

Having a sense of humour is a good thing to have, it enables you to get through the thick and the thin, especially in business. Now when you work here, you have to have a little bit of a sense of humour, as the team like their odd little prank and even being the ‘main man’, you are not immune.

I’m sitting in the office after a hard day’s work of shooting videos for our website and YouTube channel. Getting the videos right is important and several shots are needed in order for me to keep a straight face or stop stuttering some words. Either way, after a long day, me and a few of team got what we needed. From there my part was done or so I thought!

Back to me sat in the office. I’m browsing our twitter page and all of a sudden my account has tweeted. Strange as it may be, i hadn’t entered anything, so i checked the post out to see what had been put up. Now, being a trusting individual i give the account to 1-2 members of the team to allow them to update certain posts for special events or coupons, it makes my life easier and keeps or customers up-to-date sooner. However what i saw was a little out of that ball park. “I uploaded a YouTube video — outtakes reel it’s super 8 http://youtu.be/G_qxbs7_OgY?a” is the post. I remember saying to myself “Outtakes reel?”, “super?”, then the penny dropped. For my sins, the team decided to take the unedited outtakes of my hard days work and posted them up on YouTube and twitter. I have to admit, no matter how stupid i feel and think i look, i love them for it and my kids do even more. Great work team you got me there, now get back to your number duties.

For those who missed it, here it is in all it’s glory:
http://youtu.be/G_qxbs7_OgY

Oh yes, i did promise the team that i would get the certain individuals back one day..

Posted in Funny | Tagged craig busst, funny | Leave a comment