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Why comic relief is using 03 Numbers

This year Comic Relief is using an 03 number for its telephone donation line.  The popular biannual fundraising event, which raises money for people in the UK and Africa, has followed in the footsteps of Children in Need and can be contacted on 03457 910 910.  Red Nose Day itself happens on 13th March 2009 and this year it’s using the strap line “do something funny for money!”  But why use 03 numbers over 08 telephone numbers?

Here are 6 reasons why Comic Relief has opted for 03 numbers this year:

1. 03 numbers cost the same to call as standard 01/02 phone numbers even from a mobile phone (40% of all calls are now made from mobiles).

2. The public trust 03 numbers because of their transparent call costs. This makes 03 numbers caller friendly and therefore not subject to negative publicity.

3. There’s a range of 03 numbers that are specifically for public bodies and charities: 0300 numbers.

4. Like all non-geographic numbers, 03 numbers give the event a national presence – meaning Comic Relief can publish one single memorable number throughout the UK – which is not location specific. This is specifically important for its national TV and radio coverage.

5. Comic Relief’s 03 number donation line can have intelligent call systems added to it easily. For example, welcome messages and caller options. E.g. “Welcome to the Comic Relief donation line, press 1 to donate, press to for more information about where your donation goes etc.)

6. 03 numbers can often be inexpensive to run if you seek out the provider with the most competitive offering in the market.

The uptake of 03 numbers in the UK is rapidly increasing. Alongside Comic Relief, there are a number of organisations now using them including Oxfam, the BBC, the Met Police, Nikon and Pioneer.

In fact, The Department of Health is also advocating them and has launched a consultation asking people whether 08 numbers should be banned for NHS services and is suggesting that 03 numbers are the ideal alternative.  With these facts in mind, it seems that 0845 numbers will soon have a challenger for the title of the UK’s most popular non-geographic number range. 2009 could be the year of this dethroning.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 29th, 2009 at 8:41 am and is filed under General Interest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.