Phone

Paying for Business Phone

1. How do I pay for the service?

Payments are taken monthly by Direct Debit or Credit Card. You can choose either a call package option with inclusive calls, or pay for your calls as-and-when you make them with a PAYG option:

• Business Phone Daytime - free daytime calls to UK landline 01, 02, 03 numbers and 0870 numbers (subject to standard charging rules, exceptions apply).
• Business Phone PAYG - be charged for each call you make (at the same rate as our Daytime call plan).

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2. Why is the first payment less than the normal monthly amount?

The first payment taken is a pro-rata payment and covers the time between the day your phone service activates and your next broadband billing date.

After this you'll be billed the normal amount each month at the same time as your broadband.

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3. Where can we see our bill?

Use the Business Phone Control Panel, you'll be able to see charges for:

• Line rental
• Call plan
• Calls you've made
• Call features

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4. What happens if I miss a payment?

If you miss a payment, outbound calls (apart from emergency and operator) will be barred. Call barring incurs a one off charge of £4.90 to remove.

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Credit Limits

5. Whats the Credit Limit?

The credit limit for Business Phone accounts is £75.

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6. How do credit limits work?

Once a day your Itemised Bill will be updated as the calls you make are processed.

The charge for each call will be deducted from your credit limit, up to the maximum allowed for your product (like an 'overdraft' for call charges).

At the end of the month you'll be charged the amount that's been deducted from your credit limit at that point (this will be reduced if you've topped up during the month). Your credit limit will then reset for the next month.

For example:

1. If you make £10 worth of chargeable calls during your billing month you'll be billed £10 on your next billing date
2. If you make £10 worth of chargeable calls during your billing month but top-up by £5, you'll be billed £5 on your next billing date

If you top-up and don't use this within the billing month your credit will be carried over.

Sometimes it takes a while for a call to be confirmed. If a call is not confirmed before your next billing date, the cost will be added to your next invoice but the call will appear on the bill for the month it was made in. Have a look at your Recent Calls to see unconfirmed calls on your account.

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7. What if we use our credit before the end of the month?

If you reach your credit limit, all calls (apart from emergency 999/112 and operator) will be barred and a charge of £4.90 will be added to your next bill.

Before this happens, we'll email you as you reach £15, £10 and £5 available credit.

You'll need to top-up and have at least £5 credit available before we allow calls on your line again.

You can prevent this by topping up your credit through the month using the Home Phone Control Panel.

You can top-up by £5, £10, £25, £50, £75 or £100.

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Call and Feature Charges

8. How much do calls cost?

See our Business Phone Tariffs Guide.

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9. How are calls charged?

1. Calls are charged for a minimum one minute duration
2. Call durations are then rounded up to the next minute
3. A setup fee is added (6p)
4. The final total is rounded up to the next whole pence
5. Call rate information is available in our Business Phone Tariff Guide

Example: A call of 1 minute 3 seconds
Call duration rounded up to 2 minutes
Final cost is for 2 minutes call plus setup charge rounded up to next whole pence
Call rate information is available in our Business Phone Tariff Guide

Inclusive Calls

Package	Inclusive Calls
Business Phone Daytime	Daytime calls to standard UK landline numbers beginning with 01, 02 or 03. 0870 calls are included at all times (subject to standard charging rules, exceptions apply).

• Inclusive calls have a maximum duration of 60 minutes.
• After this, calls are charged for at the standard rates (see Business Phone Tariff Guide).

Setup Fee

The following call types will be subject to a 6p set up fee:

• Non-inclusive 01,02 or 03 landline calls
• Non-inclusive 0870 (NTS) calls
• UK mobiles
• International mobiles
• Premium rate services

The following call types do not attract a set up fee:

• Fixed fee calls
• Calls starting with a fixed fee

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10. How can we query premium rate call charges?

Firstly you should check what other pieces of equipment are connected to your telephone line (apart from your telephone handset). One or more of these may be dialling out to premium rate numbers without you knowing.

• Fax dial-up modem (not your broadband router) - You should disconnect this from your telephone line and run a virus check on your PC. A virus may be dialling out to premium rate numbers when you switch your PC on.
• Security and fire alarm systems - Many of these connect to a telephone line. (This is because if a break in or fire happens an alert can be raised, as well as to ensure that the alarm is still connected to the alarm company). You should contact the alarm company and ask under what circumstances the alarm system automatically dials them.

You can find out more about who provides any premium rate number at the Phonepay Plus (the premium rate services regulator) website. This won't always show you the company, but will let you find out the operator (e.g. BT operate '09' numbers for other companies).

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11. How are Call Features charged?

For more information on the costs and features available, please see our Call Features Guide.

If you add features with a total cost less than £3 a month, you'll be charged for them on your next bill. If you add features costing more than £3 in total you'll be charged for them immediately.

To add Call Features, use the Business Phone Control Panel.

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This page last updated 24th February 2010