Encabler

August can be a nerve-racking month for hundreds of thousands of UK students who receive the results of their A and AS-level exams.

To give students advice on their next steps once they have got their results, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has set up a National Exam Results Helpline that is running until 29th August 2009: 0808 100 8000.

By using a freephone 0808 number (which is exactly the same as an 0800 number) the DCSF has enabled students and their families to call the Exam Results Helpline totally free from a landline.

However, call costs from a mobile will vary and this is of particular importance because the overwhelming majority of students are likely to rely on their mobile phones.

This reflects the latest findings from Ofcom which found that 44.5% of all UK calls are now made from mobile phones (Ofcom Communication Market Report 2009).

In order for the DCSF to offer callers a great deal from a landline AND mobile, the National Exam Results Helpline should be an 03 number which are included in mobile users’ free minutes.

Here are 10 reasons why the National Exam Helpline should be an 03 Number

1. 03 numbers cost people the same to call as regular landline (01/02 numbers) even from a mobile phone. They are also included in the free minutes allocations offered by both mobile and landline network providers. This is of particular importance for callers to the National Exam Helpline when the majority of the callers are students who tend to rely on their mobile phones.

2. Like all non-geographic numbers, an 03 number enables organisations to smarten up the way they deal with calls with intelligent features like introduction messages (“Thank you for calling the National Exam Helpline”) and options menus (e.g. “Press 1 for information on the clearing process, press 2 for general enquiries” etc.)

3. There is a range of 03 numbers – 030 numbers that are exclusively for public bodies and not-for-profit organisations to use.

4. Callers can be queued, meaning that all important calls will be answered. This is particularly relevant for the Exam Helpline which is advertised nationally and will inevitably get hundreds of thousands of calls.

5. Organisations can handpick a highly memorable number that their callers will recall easily.

6. Calls to 03 numbers can be easily recorded for training purposes.

7. 03 numbers simply ’sit’ on top of any landline or mobile number. No additional equipment or hardware is needed.

8. 03 numbers can be inexpensive to run if you seek out the provider with the most competitive offering on the market (e.g. 30,000 free inbound minutes per month and once they have been used 0.5 pence per minute for all calls received after that).

9. It’s possible to see the geographic location of callers and the busy periods of the organisation using online call statistics packages.

10. 03 numbers and their features are fully controlled online. No additional hardware or equipment is needed and settings can be changed at any time and from anywhere with an internet connection.

The ever-increasing popularity of mobile phones means that the uptake of 03 numbers has grown significantly. Not only do they provide all the benefits of 08 numbers, but they offer all callers a great deal and there is a range (030 numbers) that is exclusively for public bodies and not-for-profit organisations.

Many public bodies are now using 0300 numbers, including the Department of Health, Companies House and the BBC and it seems that it won’t be long before 03 is the phone number of choice for all in the public sector.

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