So there has been moves afoot recently to make sure that all VoIP operators give their customers the ability to dial 999, and very recently, the wholesaler I use to interconnect with the PSTN has started trials of their service 
But it’s not free 
So what are we paying for?
Well, someone has to sit there and wait for the call… Someone has to then verify the number, name and address of the caller to the emergency services, and that someone costs money…
How much are we talking about? Well, not a lot in the grand scheme of things, and a VoIP “line rental” is still cheaper than a BT line rental (of which, I imagine part of it goes to support the emergency service anyway, so you’ve been paying for it all along, you just never knew!)
I do think it’s a lot of fuss over nothing though. It’s rare that someone doesn’t have a mobile phone handy, and you can also bet that the one time you do want to call 999 is when your building has lost power… You did put a UPS on your PBX, Internet connection, Ethernet switches and phones, didn’t you?
Of course you did … Just checking
Anyway, Drogon Systems will soon be offering a 999 service to all our customers. It will be an opt-in service (as not all need it - especially if you’re using existing PSTN lines of some sort) and there will be an small additional monthly fee to cover it. More details soon!
Many moons ago we used to have a 2-tier charging system for calling “landlines”. Local and National. Then NGNs were invented - Non Geographic Numbers. These started off as 0345, then quickly became 0845 and 0870 (and now we have others too - 0844, 0871, etc.) This was well and good, when we had the 2-tier charging system - however very soon, we moved to a single charging system for all UK landlines, but the 0870 “national” rate, and 0845 “local” (now “lo-cost”) rates still carried on.
What’s worse is that these numbers are revenue generating, meaning that someone, somewhere if making money out of your call, and it’s not just BT …
What’s even worse is that most of the time you can’t use your inclusive or discount minutes on whatever telephone (landline or mobile) plan you use.
So you end up paying the full whack, and the recipient of the call gets money for the pleasure of talking to you. The amount they get varies, but it can be over 5p a minute, which may not sound much, but imagine 100’s or 1000’s of people calling this number every month …
These calls are now firmly in the class of premium rate calls, and as far as I’m concerned, the operators of these numbers are ripping you off on the pretence of “national” rate, or some other feeble excuse.
So what can we do about it? Well some (but not all!) 0870 numbers have a geographic equivalent… How do we find that? Well this website has a very good list: Say No to 0870
What else? Well, Ofcom decided last year to finally recognise that these numbers are revenue generating and ought to be treated like premium rate numbers. In February this year, everything was supposed to change.
It didn’t.
Fortunately the consultation is still going on.
Basically the plan is to treat them as proper revenue generating numbers (announcements needs to be made in advance on while on-line telling you how much it’s costing you, etc.) and fines can be imposed to those who don’t follow the rules. The department responsible for premium rate numbers is called PhonePayPlus (previously known as ICSTIS)
Ofcom has aimed to publish a decision in the summer of this year PhonePayPlus will start to regulate these numbers by the end of the year.
If you want to read the consultation notes, then for 0870 numbers, it’s:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/0870calls/