SAYNOTO0870.COM - Police introduce charges for non-emergency calls

derrick

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Re: Police introduce charges for non-emergency cal
Reply #15 - Sep 24^th, 2007 at 11:08am

jgxenite wrote on Sep 23^rd, 2007 at 10:46pm:

irrelevant wrote on Sep 15^th, 2007 at 2:36pm:

Back on topic ... Manchester use a local number, 0161 872 5050, and always have done, for non-emergencies. I'd imagine it would be very difficult for them to withdraw that, thankfuly, due to the vast number of places and notices and documents that quote it ...

Sheffield is the same - South Yorkshire Police non-emergencies is 0114 220 2020 (quite memorable if you ask me

).

Preston,(Lancashire), also has an easy to remember number, 01772 203 203, but it looks like they are going with this new 0845 number if the LEP article is true, if so I wonder if they will withdraw the 203 203 number, as that will be on lots of documents and notices, but hey what the h*ll, it's only taxpayers money!

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Dave Global Moderator Offline Posts: 9,902 Yorkshire Gender:	Re: Police introduce charges for non-emergency cal Reply #16 - Sep 26^th, 2007 at 9:23pm West Yorkshire Police are currently spending money by way of radio advertisements to get people to call their 0845 number. Whilst I agree with totally agree with the jist of the commercial, that 999 is for emergencies only, I am disgusted that they continue to promote their rip-off number.
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NGMsGhost

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Re: Police introduce charges for non-emergency cal
Reply #17 - Sep 26^th, 2007 at 10:49pm

Dave wrote on Sep 26^th, 2007 at 9:23pm:

West Yorkshire Police are currently spending money by way of radio advertisements to get people to call their 0845 number. Whilst I agree with totally agree with the jist of the commercial, that 999 is for emergencies only, I am disgusted that they continue to promote their rip-off number.

Have you not submitted a recent FOI asking:-

1. How many calls per month to the 0845 number

2. The name of the telecoms provider routing the calls for them and taking the revenue share.

3. If they were not aware of COI guidances regarding cost to citizen consumer of calls to government contact centres

4. If there is not a geographic alternative number they are willing to publish for people calling from overseas or who object to calling 0845

5. If they have calculated how much extra per annum all their callers in total will have to pay for calling 0845 versus a geographic number

6. If they are not aware of Ofcom's new 03 NGN number range and that it costs callers no extra to call unlike 0845.

7. What plans they have to replace their 0845 number with an 03 number so that callers will not be deterred from calling and so that the cost will not be 11 times higher than an 01/02 call per minute from a BT Payphone.

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jgxenite Supreme Member Offline Help us to help you - read the instructions!! Posts: 1,454 Gender:	Re: Police introduce charges for non-emergency cal Reply #18 - Sep 27^th, 2007 at 9:10am Do we not have the alternative to the 0845 number in the database? I think it goes to their central offices in Wakefield, which I believe you can find the alternative to on their website.
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NGMsGhost

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Re: Police introduce charges for non-emergency cal
Reply #19 - Sep 27^th, 2007 at 9:57am

jgxenite wrote on Sep 27^th, 2007 at 9:10am:

Do we not have the alternative to the 0845 number in the database? I think it goes to their central offices in Wakefield, which I believe you can find the alternative to on their website.

There is no alternative to the 0845 number for non emergency calls on the www.westyorkshire.police.uk Contact Us page.

Worse than that they state:-

Quote:

Non-Emergencies

Telephone 0845 6060606 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for non-emergencies where:

• Police attendance is required
• To report a crime
• To report other incidents

This is a local rate telephone number

Surrey Police removed their claim 0845 was "local rate" well over a year ago and I know that the contact centre manager there now has a very good understanding of the issues involved in using 0845 and would like to introduce an 03 number at some point if he can.

There is no excuse for West Yorkshire Police still calling this 0845 "local rate" and the attention of the smug Ofcom Director of Standards Mr Tim Suter who has been preaching against the immorality of the use of 09 numbers by broadcasting organisations should be drawn to Ofcom's total failure to prevent public sector organisations repeatedly lieing about the cost of 084 and 087 numbers.

Also the Chief Constable should have his attention drawn to the several ASA guidances and Trading Standards guidances suggesting that 0845 numbers should not be called "local rate".

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« Last Edit: Sep 27^th, 2007 at 9:57am by NGMsGhost »

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farci

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...MEANWHILE IN SCOTLAND...
Reply #20 - Sep 27^th, 2007 at 10:02am

The discussion about non-emergency numbers has reached us North Brits with police here observing with interest the discussion 'Doon Sooth'. Here's the article in The Herald today http://www.theherald.co.uk/display.var.1717630.0.0.php?utag=57509

I urge all Scottish members to write to ACPOS secretariat@acpos.pnn.police.uk urging the adopiton of '03' numbers plus a copy to your MSP. Here's what I wrote to the police and Bill Aitken MSP, Convener of the Justice Committee at Holyrood:

To: Bill.Aitken.msp@scottish.parliament.uk

Dear Mr Aitken,

You are quoted in THE HERALD today as supporting the idea of a police non-emergency number.

I concur with your sentiment, but please be aware of the cost implications as detailed below in my mail to ACPOS.

For more information on the charges argument, please refer to this group of which I am a member:

http://www.saynoto0870.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1189257846

To: secretariat@acpos.pnn.police.uk

I support the idea but please be aware of the cost implications for the public.

In England & Wales use of 101 (10/p call and much more from mobiles) or 0845 (up to 35p/minute from mobiles) is likely to deter those wishing to report, say, anti-social behaviour or other information which does not justify a 999 call but which the police need to know about.

The new '03' number range to be introduced in early-2008 allows flexibility of call handling and routing but costs the same as a normal '01/02' call to the caller.

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NGMsGhost

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Re: ...MEANWHILE IN SCOTLAND...
Reply #21 - Sep 27^th, 2007 at 10:12am

farci wrote on Sep 27^th, 2007 at 10:02am:

The new '03' number range to be introduced in early-2008 allows flexibility of call handling and routing but costs the same as a normal '01/02' call to the caller.

03 numbers came in to effect in late August and are now being used by the internet service provider Andrews & Arnold for all their contact numbers. Andrews & Arnold are also trying to sell 03 Voip numbers as a business solution to their customers.

See www.aaisp.net/aa/voip/03.html for more info on the introduction of 03 numbers in the UK.

Its just so far that the same totally useless and incompetent regulator (OfCoN) that trumpeted its decontrol of BT prices in full pages newspaper ads last summer has done precisely nothing to publicise the launch of the new 03 number area code to either the press or to the telecoms industry.

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ms01

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Re: Police introduce charges for non-emergency cal
Reply #22 - Sep 27^th, 2007 at 1:02pm

This morning's top class commuter publication also covered this story - not online or to hand now, but basically Metro reported that Audit Scotland had released figures showing the number of non emergency calls made to 999, and that ACPOS wanted to introduce an 0845 number for non emergencies. Embarrassed

And there's me thinking they want to reduce non emergency calls to 999.

Email back to Metro and ACPOS in progress...

MS.

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NGMsGhost

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Re: Police introduce charges for non-emergency cal
Reply #23 - Sep 27^th, 2007 at 1:22pm

ms01 wrote on Sep 27^th, 2007 at 1:02pm:

This morning's top class commuter publication also covered this story - not online or to hand now, but basically Metro reported that Audit Scotland had released figures showing the number of non emergency calls made to 999, and that ACPOS wanted to introduce an 0845 number for non emergencies. Embarrassed

Plod always has been a slow learner it seems.

This is a typical case with them wanting to get an 0845 number just when its time to get an 03 number.....................

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« Last Edit: Sep 27^th, 2007 at 3:26pm by NGMsGhost »

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Dave

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Re: Police introduce charges for non-emergency cal
Reply #24 - Sep 27^th, 2007 at 2:39pm

Thanks to NGMsGhost for pointing out that West Yorkshire Police are misleading by suggesting that their 0845 number is "local rate".

South Yorkshire Police operates a geographical (0114) number which it has done so for over 10 years now. This proves that this sort of contact centre can be operated without the need for an NGN.

Sadly, West Yorkshire Police have been complicit in this rip-off and over recent years North Yorkshire Police and "Humberside" Police have switched. I wrote to "Humberside" Police about the claim that their new 0845 number was "local rate" in radio adverts.

I have just check North Yorkshire Police Authority's website and it makes the same claim. It was introduced in 2004, the same time BT binned it's "BT Standard" tariff where 0845 was local rate.

The stupidity of such bodies is unreal. I use the word "stupidity" because I believe it is appropriate under the circumstances.

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farci

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Re: Police introduce charges for non-emergency cal
Reply #25 - Sep 27^th, 2007 at 2:51pm

Dave wrote on Sep 27^th, 2007 at 2:39pm:

Thanks to NGMsGhost for pointing out that West Yorkshire Police are misleading by suggesting that their 0845 number is "local rate".

Maybe you should all write to ACPO and MP's, just as I have recommended we do in Scotland and nail this so-called "national 0845 policy" once and for all?

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NGMsGhost Supreme Member Offline The Forum Ghost of NonGeographicalMan<b r /> Posts: 2,720 Surrey, United Kingdom Gender:	Re: Police introduce charges for non-emergency cal Reply #26 - Sep 27^th, 2007 at 3:28pm And what exactly is Ofcom doing to educate these bodies that they must now move to one of its shiny new 03 numbers?
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Dave

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Re: Police introduce charges for non-emergency cal
Reply #27 - Sep 27^th, 2007 at 7:04pm

I've mentioned this on the thread for Humberside Police, but I received a letter saying it pays 0.5 pence per call to receive calls!

Both West and North Yorkshire forces also use 0845 numbers beginning 0845 6060xxx, which for reference is allocated to BT. The point is that they all may well be paying to receive calls!

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ms01

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Re: Police introduce charges for non-emergency cal
Reply #28 - Sep 27^th, 2007 at 8:22pm

This on the BBC today:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7015674.stm
Quote:

The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos) has been trying to establish a national non-emergency hotline and recently agreed a sequence of 0845 numbers for each force.

Makes you despair, eh? Perhaps if enough people complain they will never implement the numbers that they have "recently agreed".

I emailed ACPOS earlier - still no reply.

MS

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NGMsGhost

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Re: Police introduce charges for non-emergency cal
Reply #29 - Sep 27^th, 2007 at 8:47pm

The response just given by the FCO to loddon's FOI asking how they can successfully operate a large contact centre with call stats and virtual call queuing on a geographic London 020 number will serve as useful ammunition to shoot down any of the predictable lies used by these numpties in the Police to disguise the fact that they are either stupid and have been ripped off by a telecoms company or are getting the public to pay for part of the cost of a telecoms system that they should have paid for out of their own capital projects investment budget.

See www.saynoto0870.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1189971086

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