[Paul Coleman]

As I could end up moving in the next two or three years, I have decided to obtain the use of an 0845 number.  Also, becausae I will now be getting my van signwritten, I felt that the number should be a very easy one to remember.  I did not accept Yellow Page's offer of a free 0845 number because it ties me in with having a paid advert with them - i.e. if I want to revert to a free listing, I would lose the use of the number.
I wanted to obtain the use of a number that was very easy to remember as some people may only have a few seconds to note the number on my van.  Usage of the easiest to remember numbers is charged for.  Anyway, I have bitten the bullet and forked out £200 for the right to use a very easy to remember 0845 number.  Not totally certain that I've made the right decision but, in view of the fact that I will now be getting my van written, I think I've probably done the right thing.  The calls will cost the caller 3.5ppm and will cost me 1.5ppm.  I will be paying £1 per month and won't pay any call charges until the £1's worth has been used up.  So, basically, the first hours worth of calls I receive per month incur no extra cost.
Anyway, you could say that usage of a very easy to remember number is going to cost me £1 per month (sometimes more if I get a lot of enquiries).  The £200 outlay is a one off.
I know that some people say that 0845 numbers don't work as people don't ring them but it's never put me off from buying a service.  I think that most people are only put off by 09xx numbers (premium rate) or 0870 (equivalent of the old national rate).
Anyway, for the sake of maybe two or three pounds a month at most (after initial outlay), I'm willing to give it a go.

[DaveWilkinson]

The only thing thats annoying about 0845 0870 and even 0800 is there not included in a monthly mobile phone mins allowance on contract phones and also not included on all the free mins in the various land line packages from BT and other carriers like talk talk etc.

I have a few free phone numbers and it annoys me to think that the customer is charged at normal rate from a mobile AND i have to pay for the call as well on my freephone bill.

[Paul Coleman]

The only thing thats annoying about 0845 0870 and even 0800 is there not included in a monthly mobile phone mins allowance on contract phones and also not included on all the free mins in the various land line packages from BT and other carriers like talk talk etc.

I have a few free phone numbers and it annoys me to think that the customer is charged at normal rate from a mobile AND i have to pay for the call as well on my freephone bill.

Yes Dave that can be irritating I know.  I did take that into consideration and wondered if it might deter some people from calling the number.  However, I feel that most people are aware that calls to 0845 numbers are cheap enough not to cause a problem.  I had to balance this up with choosing an easy to remember number.  On top of that, with my probable house move in 2 - 3 years time, it means that I will have a portable number that doesn't cost a fortune to ring as in a mobile.
If/when I do move, I will have to pay a £15 "admin charge" for redirecting the number.  Probably means 20 seconds of someone pushing buttons somewhere.

Generally, there seems to be an issue of portability and cost.  If you want a bit of portability, you have to pay a bit extra.  I also have this problem when I have call divert set up to my mobile.

Now that I have this 0845 number, it means that I pay 1.5ppm for receiving a call (after the first £1 per month is exceeded), then I will have to pay the going rate for the part of the call from my landline to my mobile.  The caller will pay 3.5ppm.
This is something that I've had to accept since I've started to advertise my business more.
I feel it would be wrong to expect the caller to bear a higher proportion of the call charges as they would be unaware that the call was being diverted to a mobile (as far as they know it might be diverted to another landline).

I could have got what might have been a slightly better deal with my 0845 number.  There are deals where you don't pay to receive the calls or sometimes, you even get paid a little.  However, the monthly rental was higher.  So it was the proverbial swings and roundabouts.  If I anticipated a very high call volume, I may have gone for higher rental rather than a "pay per minute" deal.

[DaveWilkinson]

Seems like an ok deal to me, i have 5 freephone and  a 0870 number, same sort of costs as yours but its got a web interface which is great, means i can change where the calls terminate too anytime i want.

Dave

[S.Carpenter]

what companies do you guys recommend?

[DaveWilkinson]

I use

http://www.skycomuk.com/

very quick and efficient set up etc

Dave

[David Seaman]

Hi. I used this guy, Paul Bailey, on ebay.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Voice2-Telecoms

My 0800 number was up and running in just 3 days. It cost me 99p. There is no connection fee, no monthly rental fee, no set-up fee and no minimum call charges. You can move the number free at anytime. Incoming calls to a landline cost 1.85 pence per minute. He does 0845 numbers as well. I think his company offer a great service.

DJ

[Paul Coleman]

I purchased the use of my chosen number from www.resource-utilities.co.uk
I can't recommend them though as it's to early for that.  However, they have set up the number already and I haven't even paid them yet so they will probably be OK (famous last words).
The monthly fee must be by direct debit but if you buy the use of one of their "golden" numbers (as in easier to remember), you must send them a cheque for that.  I would have preferred using a card to pay as you get more protection when it's over £100 but as they set the number up so quickly, I am having to assume that they will be efficient in other ways.