trillianjedi - 11:12 am on Jul 12, 2005 (gmt 0)

There's so many number prefixes these days, 0870, 0845, 0909 etc, that the consumer gets confused and they're always wary of dialling a £1/minute line.

That's a very very strong point.

0845 is a premium number

The fact that you think of it like that (and I'm sure that many do) proves the above point.

It isn't actually premium rate. The problem with 0845 is that they are not regulated by OfCom, which means that some providers (other than BT) charge them at higher rates than those specified by BT.

OfCom are currently talking about adding an overall cap to 0845 and 0870 at 4p/min, but the damage to the reputation of these numbers is already done. Which is a shame because they would actually be useful and a good idea if they didn't have that stigma and were regulated to protect the consumer.

And if they were regulated and capped, they would also be good value to your customer.

I think because of that lack of regulation and stigma, they are probably best avoided in favour of 0800.

TJ