0845 number

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The UK 0845 number code is a special telephone number, in which the calling party is charged a special rate for the call by the telephone operator, regardless of the actual cost to route the call. Instead the called party pays or receives any differential in the charges for the call to the telephone operator, usually based on factors such as the amount of usage the number experiences, the cost of the trunk lines to the facility, and possibly a monthly flat rate service charge. The numbers are used by commercial entities due to the fact that:

• UK consumers associate them with large companies.
• The non-geographic nature of the number allows one number to cover the whole of the UK, and means that they are not tied to one physical number.

The cost to the typical end user is higher than a geographic 01 or 02 call, with BT's main rates for 0845 special rate numbers as follows:

Residential

• 3.0p/min daytime
• 1.0p/min evening
• 1.0p/min weekend

Business

• 3.95p/min daytime
• 1.0p/min evening
• 1.0p/min weekend

(All prices are inclusive of VAT)

Until 2004, 0845 numbers used to be known as "local rate" numbers, since they used to be charged at the same rate as a local call would have cost. However, BT and other carriers have drastically reduced their rates (in BT's case for non-business customers at least) to call geographic numbers since then, but have not correspondingly reduced the rates to call 0845 numbers. Also, most carriers make no distinction between standard 'local' or 'national' rates. Many tariffs now exist in the UK where long distance calls, and even international calls, are cheaper than calls to 0845 numbers. OFCOM now term these numbers "Special Services:Lower Rate". In fact the cost of routing the calls dropped by so much that many 0845 numbers now share revenue with the service provider, rather than needing to be subsidised by the called party. This has led to the situation where many dial-up ISPs are entirely funded by the cost of the calls to the 0845 numbers, and as of 2006 OFCOM is not considering restoring the link to a local rate call due to the difficulties this would cause for ISPs.

0845 numbers were formerly known as 0345 numbers, which were operated by BT and were described as "Lo-call" numbers (play on the word "local"). Mercury Communications Ltd, now Cable and Wireless, operated a similar scheme using the 0645 code. 0345 and 0645 numbers had six-digit numbers, whereas 0845 (in the vast majority of cases) has seven-digit numbers. When the 0345 and 0645 codes were abolished, 0345 numbers were prefixed with 7 to become 0845 7xx xxxx and 0645 numbers were prefixed with 9 to become 0845 9xx xxxx.

[edit] How 0845 calls are handled by operator

In the UK, all carriers handle the 0845 number range, with the requirement to do this written into Ofcom licences.

The format of the 0845 numbers is called a "non-geographic" number, in contrast to telephone numbers associated with households or businesses in a particular location, which are known as "geographic". In the latter case, it is often possible to determine an approximate location of the caller from the dial code (e.g. Manchester or London), however this is not always reliable due to the use of virtual offices, or using services similar to those described below on traditionally geographic number ranges. 0845 numbers in contrast could be physically located anywhere in the country, and can even route overseas.

When an 0845 number is dialed, the first job of the telephone operator is to determine where the actual physical destination is. This is achieved using the intelligent network capabilities embedded into the network.

In the simplest case, the special rate number is translated into a regular geographic number. This number is then routed by the telephone exchange in the normal way. Other cases may apply, ranging from simple to complex depending on the needs of the owner of the number. Some of the available options are:

• Time-of-Day (TOD) Routing. One of the simplest ways to influence the destination of the call is by using time-of-day routing. An example of using TOD routing would be a company with a call center in the UK and a call center in India. TOD routing would enable Follow the Sun routing. The India center opens first and calls are sent to that destination earlier in the day. As the time changes, expanded coverage would be offered by the call center in the UK.
• Day of Week (DOW) or Day of Year (DOY) Routing. Depending on the day of the week and business practices, not all call centers operate 24x7. Some centers may be closed for weekends or holidays. DOW routing allows alternate routing for calls that arrive on specific days. DOY routing allows for alternate routing on fixed holidays (example December 25th).
• Area Code or Exchange Routing. 0845 traffic may also be routed depending upon the location of the caller. For instance, if a company has call centers in the north and in the south, they may express a preference to have their southern callers speak with people in the southern call centers. Companies may also wish to take advantage of the difference in UK rates with different carriers, as calls may be cheaper to route when the whole call travels thorugh one carrier.
• Percentage Allocation Routing. If a company has multiple call centers, the company can choose to route calls across a number of call centers on a percentage basis. For example, an airline with ten call centers may choose to allocate 10% of all incoming traffic to each center.
• All-Trunks-Busy Routing. If at a given time, a company's trunk facilities can no longer handle the incoming traffic, an alternate destination may be chosen. This assists companies handling unexpected call volumes or during crisis times.
• Ring No Answer Routing. Some carriers have the ability to pull a call back into the network if the call is not answered. This provides for contingency routing for calls that ring and are not answered at the final destination.
• Emergency or Disaster Routing. Companies usually have some type of disaster plan to deal with both natural (e.g. floods, fires and earthquakes) and man-made (e.g. bomb threats) emergencies. Carriers can provide alternate destinations should any of these situations occur.

All of the above routing features are sometimes referred to as static routing features. These routes are put in place and are not usually changed. If changes are required, a customer usually has several options to make changes. A customer can call the carrier directly via a special number to make changes, or a customer may be able to make changes through direct access to the network via a dedicated terminal provided by the carrier or via the net.