Frequently Asked Questions on AI Voice, IVR & Cloud Voice, Business Phone Numbers, 0800, 0333, Virtual City 01/02 Numbers - Telephone Services supported by 08UK

08, 03, 09 numbers are from a special range of UK numbers called Non Geographic Numbers (NGN) they can also be known as special rate service numbers. 01/02 Numbers are called UK landline numbers we can offer virtual landline numbers that are not linked to a location. NGN numbers allow you to direct calls to any other number or to a range of destination numbers in any combination.

Within the 08, 09, or 03 ranges different price plans/charges apply to the caller depending upon which number range they choose & exactly which number they call from within that range. For example 0844 is described by Ofcom as a Low Call rate number. To call any 0844 number you pay a 'Low Call Rate' of up to 5p/minute from a BT landline.

01/02 numbers are the most common numbers known as landline numbers. We can now offer virtual landline numbers which as there name suggests are not linked to a physical line & location (like most landline numbers) so calls to these numbers can be routed to anywhere in the UK or abroad.

08UK offer phone number that are virtual number so do not exist 'on a line' and so do not have a specific location. Such virtual numbers are used to control where a call routes too normally to a range of location/lines or can route the calls it receives to a number of destinations telephone numbers. An 08 is a national business number so using one gives your company a corporate national image, instead of a regional domesticated.

I believe we can receive a revenue from 084 or 0871/2 number, is that correct?

Yes, you can receive anything from a 1p/minute up to 6p/minute, dependant totally upon on the number itself and the also crucial the amount of minutes of calls you receive as a minute total each month.

Not always, we can offer 30 days rolling notice, however a 24 or 36 month term is most common.

No, we can offer a large range of 08 or 03 or 09 Numbers with no charge, however, we do have Gold 08 Number, Gold 03 Number, Gold 09 Numbers (e.g try memorable 0844 numbers) available and there is a set up charge for these sought after numbers. Some features or services are chargeable more advanced features like the implementation operation of for instance call recording, voicemail, network queuing, complex area routing or when routing to a mobile.

Yes that is easy once the call plan is built correctly. The destination can be changed as many times as you require, this could be done straight away by our 08UK operations team as a one off favour but day to day would done by end user logging in via a web portal. Similarly the % for the % routing feature once it is applied to the call plan can be altered with immediate affect any time of the day.

Every month we will produce a report which we then send to you, if you have achieved our minimum minutes required. This clearly shows calls and with it minutes received on your 0844 or 0871 numbers. If payment is due you then simply send your invoice to us.

03 numbers are from a special yes new range of numbers namely Non Geographic Numbers and were released by Ofcom as a new number choice for organisations to use. Such (NGN) numbers are virtual numbers starting with 08, 03 or 09. Such numbers allow you to direct a callers experience to your chosen feature & routing them to various landlines or a mobile number anywhere in the UK or in the world. The caller pays a nominal rate to call an 03 number (the same rate that they would be charged to call an 01 or 02 landline number, including crucially from mobiles). 03 numbers are not free-phone nor are they premium rate numbers, they are UK local rate numbers. The owner of the 03 number has to pay to receive calls per minute to discount the cost to the caller. 03 numbers will promote more calls.

Yes that's right certain 03 numbers exist but rules state who can use a 030;
0300 & 0303 numbers
Public Sector such as government and health and non-profit organisations e.g Charities
0330 numbers
Available for general use.
0345 & 0845 numbers
0345 numbers are intended to replace the existing 0845 numbers i.e user will be entitled to the equivalent 0345.
0370 & 0870 numbers
As 037 is intended to replace the existing 0870 numbers i.e. 0870 users will be entitled to secure their equivalent 0370 number.

0871 is now a premium rate service at up to 10p/minute, good for revenue.
0844 is a low call rate of up to only 5p/minute for landline callers, a good balanced choice.
0845 has description issues and will be changing soon. 0845 number owners will have to pay/minute soon.
The exact 0345 is available to all 0845 owners. Similarly 0370 is also now viable for users of 0870.
0800 is a freephone - but is (not yet) a free call nor is included in mobile bundle packages.
Surely the best for all callers is a 03 number, they pay a small figure irrespective of which network & number owners pay a small figure too per minute to receive the calls.

Yes. Once you have confirmed which number you would like, the 0* number can often be put live straight away usually within the same day.

No always No

Yes, absolutely. Calls from landlines are charged at fairly accurate rates dependent upon the various numbers and price range being called. All who do quote BT rates as other networks do vary especially mobile networks. No calls from mobiles are free (not even free phone 0800 numbers - not yet anyway) but calls to virtual 01/02 or 03 numbers are included in UK mobile minute packages. UK call credit would be required to make a 01/02 or 03 call from a pay-as-you-go mobile handset albeit at a very low rate.

Yes, absolutely - in theory anyway. All numbers should work, but in truth sometimes some don't on some countries networks - this is usually temporary & this can be reported to that company whom of course should be keen to sort this out for you to spend more with them. No logical rule applies as to which and from where, it all depends upon how up to date their UK telephone range list is. Similar rules apply to calls made from any mobile anywhere in the world. Provided that the network in that country has the numbers properly configured, the 08, 03, 09 or 01/02 numbers will connect. It is the responsibility of each telecom company to ensure numbers work when calling from their network, so is not under our control.

Yes of course (usually no additional charge), we offer this as part of our service to those that required this useful tool. The online web account allows you to also view advanced calls statistical reports. We can also just as easy make changes for you, free of charge, all you need to do is call us or email during normal working hours. We also have a support line which during the day puts you straight through to our operations team.

We make our money through the calls you receive on your numbers. When a customer calls you, the few pence that they pay cover's our costs so there are no additional charges to the number owner.

Yes, your existing setup is not affected in any way by having a virtual number pointed to your landline. The virtual number simply routes calls to that number, to your landline, it just sits on top of your existing
service. If the landline number is dialled directly it will still work as normal. You can even have multiple NGN numbers pointed to the same landline number. Call handling services currently on the line such as voicemail or call diversion will be unaffected.

No, everything is delivered via our Tier 1 carrier networks and is hosted on their "Cloud" so no expensive hardware is needed.

Of course, however this is chargeable. Choosing a 0871 number can help cover these costs due to the revenue generated. For other number ranges there would be a charge per minute to receive calls on a mobile.

Our SLA is 3 working days however numbers can be put live within 24 hours if needed. Set up is really quick and easy.

Once your number is live you will receive a username and password for your own secure, portal, log-in. From here you will be able to see full, advanced stats on how many calls your number is receiving, their duration and when they were received as well as what calls where dropped, unanswered etc. You can also instantly view previous month's bills via our webabillity feature if you have taken a chargeable service.

No. We route calls to your existing landline; callers can dial either your normal phone number or the new non-geographic number (NGN). Both ways you will receive the call as normal.

Simples, either give our operations team a call who can make the change for you for free or login to your online account and make the change instantly yourself. If numerous changes need to be made regularly we would advise these are done on the portal, via the client.

Given the strong financial position of the company, this is extremely unlikely. However if this were to happen, we have chosen the carriers we represent very carefully which means you are free to port your number to any other major tier 1 carrier in the UK for any reason, so peace of mind is assured.

Most professional companies will use memorable NGN number as it gives the perception of a larger, national organisation. This obviously makes their number easier to remember which callers like and gives the impression that they are doing business with a quality company who cares about their callers experience. The more memorable the 0844 number the higher the cost will be. Our prices start from �250.

08/virtual numbers are for inbound call handling so do-not affect how outbound calls are made, therefore your landline number is still displayed on outbound calls. If you want to display you 08 on outbound because that's the number you want customers/clients to call back on (because you earn revenue for those calls or because of virtual features that are on the number or because you don't want callers to know your geographic location) then most landline providers can arrange this for a small, one off fee.

Yes, your SIP provider will be able to provide you with your SIP gateway number (this will start with 01, 02 or 05) which we can route calls to and will be delivered to you as normal

Here at 08UK we are extremely stringent about who we do business with and choose who we represent carefully. We only use the major, Tier 1 carriers here in the UK with the most resilient and robust networks which can handle millions of calls in any one instant.

There are options for installation cost and contract length, each one with different monthly rentals. Remember that for the installation/rental charges you do get come in two channels blocks on the line, which is effectively equivalent to two normal lines.

ADSL is the next generation of high speed (A is for Asynchronous) Digital Subscriber Line. This means that the upload speed (e.g. 256Kbps) is usually different to the download speed (e.g. 512Kbps or more). ADSL gives you a permanent connection to your ISP (un like dial-up broadband on an analogue line). ADSL launched across the UK in 2000 & is the most widely used product now.

You can place regular voice calls over an ISDN line, however you cannot connect your telephone straight into the ISDN line though - you have to have a terminal adaptor with an analogue port which can digitize your voice. In simple terms this means you need a phone switch or phone kit. You can also connect faxes, answerphones and modems to analogue ports so they can also utilise line/s.

At present, inland calls made over an ISDN line cost the same as regular analogue calls. If you use Multilink-PPP (combining two channels to get 128Kbps throughput) then you are placing TWO calls (one on each channel) and you are charged for both calls (i.e. twice the price of using one 64Kbps channel). International calls have their own pricing structure. Check with your line supplier (e.g. BT) for current pricing.

An AI Voice Agent is a conversational artificial intelligence system that can answer telephone calls, understand natural language and interact with callers in real time.

Yes. Modern AI voice agents can answer enquiries, gather information, qualify leads and route calls without human intervention.

In most cases, yes. Existing 0333 numbers can usually be connected to an AI call answering solution without changing your published number.

Yes. AI receptionists operate continuously, including evenings, weekends and public holidays.

Absolutely. Appointment booking is one of the most popular features of an AI virtual receptionist.

For most businesses, yes. Instead of asking customers to leave a message, an AI phone answering service can engage callers immediately and help resolve enquiries in real time.

We can discuss this in detail but this can be selected our side on a per-use-case basis. We aim to offer a good balance between performance and cost, this can change bespoke, so we don't detail any particular LLM, or LLM provider.

There are also different models used for the transcription, for the responses, and for the analysis of data from the transcript, which have implications not just commercia differences.

As we are offering 'Bespoke Built AI Inbound Voice' it means we are not offering you a one boxed solution that is then tailored, Instead we can build to specifics or we can build and put live for testing and then discuss, these, so quite the reverse, really. Experience means we can reflect the differences these may have commercially.

Average response latency (how quickly the AI replies).
We aim for 600-800ms but this varies based on the use case and complexity of the prompting.
Can it interrupt naturally during conversation?

The bot won't interrupt the user, but can be interrupted mid speech itself.
CRM integrations available.

Supports Salesforce and HubSpot out of the box, but we can custom develop any integration.
Human handoff process.

Again varies per use-case. We have typical guardrails around "I want to speak to a human" and other frustrated customer scenarios, but the customer can define how and when they want that escalation to happen.

Pricing per minute or per call.
POA

A: 0333 number is a non-geographic UK business number that is not tied to any specific location. Calls to 0333 numbers cost the same as calls to standard 01 and 02 landline numbers and are included in most UK mobile and landline call packages.

A: 0333 number from 08UK starts from £X per month on a 30-day rolling contract. There are no long-term commitments. Call charges start from 1.5 pence per minute. Premium memorable and gold 0333 numbers are available at additional cost.

Calls to 0333 numbers are not free, but they cost the same as calls to standard UK landlines beginning with 01 or 02. Most UK mobile and landline plans include 0333 calls within their standard call allowance, meaning many callers pay nothing extra.

Yes. You own your 0333 number and can port it to any provider at any time. 08UK charges no termination fees and supports full number portability. The porting process typically takes 5 working days. If you have purchased a Gold memorable 0333 number, these are supplied with a 24 month term contract term.

0800 numbers are freephone - callers pay nothing to call. 0333 numbers are non geographic - callers pay standard landline rates, usually included in their call package. 0333 numbers are better suited to businesses that want a national presence without the cost of providing a freephone service.

Yes. Your 0333 number can be diverted to any UK mobile or landline number. You can set up time-of-day routing, department-based routing, and failover to voicemail - all managed through the 08UK platform.

You can get a standard 0333 number live today if the team has time to process your order. Choose your number online, complete the agreement, and 08UK can activate it the same day. Memorable and gold 0333 numbers may require additional configuration time.

A memorable 0333 number is a number with a distinctive, easy-to-remember pattern - such as 0333 000 XXXX or repeating digits. These are ideal for advertising and brand building. 08UK offers gold, silver, and platinum memorable 0333 numbers sourced directly from Tier 1 carriers.

Yes. 08UK can build a bespoke AI virtual agent and connect it directly to your 0333 number. The AI agent answers calls 24?7, removes queuing, and handles customer enquiries automatically. You pay per minute, making it cost-efficient for businesses of any size