I am trying to get a geographical number to contact my son at Lancaster House, University of Sussex Falmer, Brighton, BN19QP. The present no is 0870 147**** I would be most grateful if anyone could help.

The number belong to Torch Communications (aka Kingston).

There are no Brighton numbers listed for them, but there are several allocated to "mixed operators". Try:

01273 31
01273 35
01273 80
01273 90 to 01273 96 inclusive
01273 98

Update: Ofcom seem to call this a "conservation area" with numbers allocated in blocks of 1000 rather than the usual 10000. I've checked Ofcom's spreadsheet and there are no numbers allocated to Kingston/Torch. Who operates the service?

Sometimes such services have been found to use an area code for a different city. If your son calls you from his room, what number does it give when you dial 1471?


Failing this, universities count as public bodies for the purposes of the Freedom of Information act. Write to the university (e-mail will do) asking for the geographical number pointed to by the 0870 number.

Please post any results/responses here!

Is the provider Keycom?

http://www.keytalk.net/

From that site:


Quote:

Calls to your keycom phone are free for you and callers pay standard national rates. NB. This is NOT a premium rate number.

(their bold emphasis).

Oh really? Even BT's pricelist now calls 0870 numbers premium rate.

Unfortunately, it seems Keycom specialise in voice over IP (VoIP), meaning calls are carried over the internet. There most probably isn't a geographical alternative number.

http://www.techland.co.uk/index/quintum_voip_case_keycom

If there is an in-room internet service, I suggest using a service such as Skype to make calls for free.

Dear all.

I´m having a big problem. My girlfriend is studying at University of Sussex and she is living on one of their residence on campus. The bad news is that the University has given her a a phone number which starts with 0870 147 xxxx. I´m calling from oversea (Í´m not in UK)and I just got my high phone bill :-[
The phone company that provided her 0870 number is Keycom.co.uk " www.Keycom.co.uk "

Can someone please help me how I can phone her room without paying such a high rate?

Thanks in advance.

leehom



[edit]by bbb_uk:
This thread has been joined to the existing one on University of Sussex Accomodation.[/edit]

I think we decided there wasn't a geographical number for Sussex.

Can you use voice over IP (Skype, MSN, SIP, etc.) instead? Failing that, it's probably cheaper for your girlfriend to call you using an international calling card, either in conjunction with her in-room phone, or with inclusive minutes from a mobile, or even from a BT phonebox (from where she can dial freephone access numbers).




~Edited by bbb_uk: Removed reference to existing thread as I've merged them

leehom wrote on Oct 4^th, 2006 at 5:13pm:

I´m calling from oversea (Í´m not in UK)and I just got my high phone bill

You could also email the company concerned and mention you are trying to get in touch with your girlfriend but your provider doesn't allow calls to UK 0870 numbers.  You can state that your telephone provider has stated that they don't allow access to UK 0870 numbers because they are not charged the same as normal UK 01 or 02 (known as geograhical) numbers.

Then kindly ask them do they have an alternative number you could possibly use like a number beginning 01 or 02.

The chances are they wont comply though.

I'm not certain they use VoIP exclusively, they may still use at least one PSTN number to maintain compatability and be able to route calls to this via their 0870 numbers.

leehom wrote on Oct 4^th, 2006 at 5:13pm:

Dear all. I´m having a big problem. My girlfriend is studying at University of Sussex and she is living on one of their residence on campus. The bad news is that the University has given her a a phone number which starts with 0870 147 xxxx. I´m calling from oversea (Í´m not in UK)and I just got my high phone bill :-[ The phone company that provided her 0870 number is Keycom.co.uk " www.Keycom.co.uk " Can someone please help me how I can phone her room without paying such a high rate? Thanks in advance. leehom

Your girlfriend should contact her MP and MEP - there is little point in complaining to either the university, the service provider, or least of all the morally bankrupt UK telephone regulator Ofcom as they will simply churn out the 'national rate' mantra.

Here we have a UK regulator that is fully aware that terminating internationally-originated calls to non-geographic numbers is not guaranteed, and where it is actually possible, the calls have a significant mark-up over standard geographic calls. Furthermore, the regulator is fully aware that a university hall of residence/accommodation facility can reasonably expect to receive internationally-originated calls, yet it chooses to do nothing about the problem or come up with any form of solution, preferring instead to pander to the demands of capita-esque scammers making a quick profit through a poorly planned numbering scheme. She should contact her MP/MEP and explain this ludicrous situation where people living outside the UK cannot contact friends and family who are forced to use these scandalous numbers for incoming calls. There is a wealth of information on this forum that you could quote or reference. An emphasis should be placed on the fact that Ofcom knows about the problem (and has done so for many years) yet has its head up its backside when it comes to addressing the difficulties.

It is simply staggering that this takes place in a so-called first-world economy. Ofcom should be ashamed of itself.

The parliamentary route really is the only viable option.

:)thank you all for respoding my topic. I will try all of your suggestions. Wish me good luck.

leehom

I've got a telephone in my room at Sussex Uni and the number I've been given begins:

0870 1498 with three other random numbers on the end.

My mum wants to call me but doesn't want to pay the extra charges and the alternative number is not listed on here... can anyone help...??

~ Edited by Dave: Thread joined to existing one

We need more information before we can help you. Is your telephone linked to the Sussex University internal telephone system? (can you call University numbers for free?) Who provides you outgoing calls?

The provider is 'Conference telephone service' or 'Keycom Conference'.
I believe I am connected to an internal network as I have an extension number which is different to the end of the telephone number they have given me, and I am able to dial an extension number to get to a helpdesk.
Other than that I'm not sure I have any more useful information to give you... sorry.

When you call out to someone else (an outside number) does a number come up on their caller display or is it number withheld? Is your student room at the university's own accommodation or is it a private provider? If it's the university's own, is there a page on its website about the telephone system?

Could this be the service you are referring to - KeyTalk?

Anyway, 08701 49xxxx is assigned to Affiniti Integrated Solutions, who have the following range in Sussex: 01273 258xxx

Two pages with information on the accommodation's phone system:

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/residentialservices/1-7.html
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/its/cd/html/faqs.html#611 (this one is apparently from "IT Services Welcome CD 2005-2006" - this is in the title of the page)

I have found this document. Perhaps we are looking for Manchester numbers:

http://www.quintum.com/files/prod_lit/Keycom_University-VOIP-CaseStudy.pdf

The diagram shows that the system connects to the public telephone network at Keycom's Manchester office.

It says:

Quote:

Keycom is a service provider of pre-paid and un-metered telephone and data communications for more than 50,000 students. It recently deployed a voice-over-IP (VoIP) service for 28 British universities, saving itself money on leased lines and making a pre-paid service available to more students.

So it's likely that the block of numbers is more than 50,000 and probably serves every university which uses Keycom. 0870 147 (referred to by the original requestor) and 0870 149 are both prefixes allocated to Affiniti, part of Kingston Communications.


Quote:

Student calls used to go from their residence over a PSTN ISDN30 line to Keycom’s CSP in Manchester and then on to another PSTN E1 to the called party. Now the calls often don't even 'touch' the PSTN. Keycom saves on line installation, line rental and call costs. Students get a choice of a reliable, affordable, pre-paid or un-metered voice and data services called KeyTalk and KeySurf.

Affiniti has a number of prefixes with the Manchester code:

0161 134 12/2002
0161 135 10/2004
0161 138 12/2003
0161 144 10/2004

0161 615 11/1998
0161 636 09/2001
0161 638 12/2002
0161 822 10/2004
0161 825 08/2008 F-Digit 2,3,4
0161 885 08/2008 F-Digit 5,6,7,8

Those with local numbers starting 1 are "national dialling only". That means that the code must be dialled even when calling from a 0161 number. They are used when another number such as 0870 is pointed at them. We may be lucky, a whole block of 0870s may map straight to a 0161 block. For example 0870 149 xxxx could map to 0161 144 xxxx.

The most important thing to do is to keep a note of what you've tried and what you've found. You might try one number and it is answered. Supposing it is confirmed by the person answering that this is a student room; this means you are getting warm.

More recent information shows : 

A telephone is provided in each study bedroom. Your 5-digit extension number should be written on the phone.......... For you to receive incoming calls, the caller must dial 0844 887 2222, then your 5-digit extension.

Current information shows that study bedroom phones can be accessed on a geographical number : 01273 648030 + 5 digit extension.  This is not valid via the main University switchboard number.