National Health Service to review phone numbers to improve service to customers
The choices for NHS services should the Department of Health’s public consultation prohibit the use of 0844/0845 telephone numbers in 2009.
10 Reasons Why 03 Numbers are Being put forward by the Department of Health
The department of Health launched an England wide consultation on the 16th of December to ask whether it should prohibit the use of 0844/ 0845 numbers to get in touch with services provided by the National Health Service.
Increasing numbers of General Practices, pharmacies, Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and opticians use these 08 numbers as they offer improved call features like caller queuing and choices for patients to ensure they get through to the right department (e.g. press 1 for reception, press 2 to speak to a matron etc.)
The consultation (which closes in March 2009) frequently talks about 03 telephone numbers as the natural substitute, as they offer the same additional functions as 0844/0845 numbers, but crucially are priced at the same rate as normal landline numbers, even from mobiles.
This is specifically essential when 40% of all calls made in the United Kingdom last year were from mobiles (Ofcom 2008).
0300 numbers are exclusively for the public sector and are readily being put into place by many NHS organisations including Wiltshire Medical Services, South Staffordshire PCT and West Sussex PCT
Here are Ten reasons why 03 numbers are being advocated by the Department of Health:
1. They meet the needs of the public as they are priced the same to ring as 01/02 numbers - even from a mobile.
2. Because 03 numbers are relatively new there are still a huge range of easy to remember 03 numbers available (they were launched in 2007).
3. The public trust 0300 numbers as they are entirely for public sector organisations.
4. Organisations can cope with enquirers more efficiently, gain valuable data about their specific 03 number and make sure all calls are answered by the right person, first time.
5. You can set up 0300 numbers to record calls.
6. If an organisation changes its location it is simple to move the 0300 number with you.
7. Organisations can decide where they get their calls, by diverting their 03 number to any United Kingdom landline or even a mobile phone simply via the web/phone.
8. It’s possible to see the geographic location of callers and the busy periods of the organisation using online call statistics packages.
9. Callers can be queued, meaning that all important calls will be answered.
10. They can frequently be inexpensive to run if you look for the provider with the most competitive offering in the market.
What the outcome will be from the public survey will be very interesting and for National Health Service organisations that depend on the features of their telephone numbers, then at least 03 numbers or 0800 numbers provide a great alternative if they should choose to rule out 0844/0845 numbers in the NHS.
