Phone hacking - under siege Murdoch appears before Parliament again

Moving away from virtual phone numbers again this week, we are drawn back to the telephone number phone hacking scandal again. It really does make for compelling viewing! Yesterday we had the increasingly under siege James Murdoch appearing again before the ever growing in confidence Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee. Chairman John Whittingdale and his committee, which includes the Labour MP Tom Watson and the Tory former chick lit writer turned MP Lousie Mensch (nee Bagshawe) are really starting to get used to taking on the Murdoch empire now, with Watson accusing Murdoch of being a mafia boss. The former lawyer for Murdoch's company suggested afterwards that Murdoch has misled Parliament, and there were reports swirling that either Murdoch was not being truthful or was not on top of his job as he should have been. The whole sorry scandal continues.

OFCOM publishes State of the Communications Nation report

Although this blog is mainly about virtual numbers, such as virtual 0207 numbers, we like to cover all aspects of telecommunications. OFCOM published what they are calling their "State of the Communications Nation" report on 1st November. The report shows the state of communications coverage and capacity in the UK. The maps included in the report include outdoor mobile phone coverage and mobile broadband availability. The maps are available on http://maps.ofcom.org.uk. The report also considers the UK's landline network, digital radio and TV coverage in the UK. To see the full report, click here.

Murdoch AGM - phone hacking takes its toll

We promised news on the News Corporation Annual General Meeting in light of the scandal which has seen phone numbers around the UK and the world hacked, from 020 numbers to mobile phone numbers. The event certainly raised more than a few eyebrows for the votes cast against the Murdochs.

Rupert Murdoch was opposed by 14%, up from 2% the previous year.

Around 35% opposed his son's, James Mudoch, re-election, what is important to remember is that the Murdoch family owns around 40% of the shares on News Corp. Taking that into account, the rest of the shareowners make up around 60%, so over half of the non-Murdoch family shareholders voted against James Murdoch.

Murdoch was once indestructible, as was his empire. Slowly, bit by bit, he is taking a knocking.

Murdochs to face pressure at first post-phone hacking News International AGM

You may have read our posts earlier in the year about the phone hacking scandal and therefore know that, as a telecoms related blog, we have been following the story with some interest. We aim to cover all phone related stories, not just those relating to virtual London numbers. Within the last few weeks, the Serjeant-at-Arms in the House of Commons has announced her retirement. This was soon followed by an announcement by the Speaker, John Bercow, that security for the DCMS Select Committee hearing that the Murdochs were at was not good enough, and that they would look into creating a new Director of Security post for Parliament. We suspect that the timing cannot have been coincidental, and that Jill Pay was the latest individual to lose her job over the hacking furore. Saying that, she hasn't been too popular since allowing the police in to arrest Damian Green 2 or 3 years ago.

Anyway, Murdoch is back in the spotlight again today, as it is the first annual general meeting of News International since the phone hacking scandal erupted earlier this year and he was forced to close News of the World. Apparently he is going to face a tough time, and Tom Watson MP has been invited along to make it that little bit harder for him. We will report on what happens next week.

Knowing which virtual number is calling you

One problem often mentioned to us is the problem of having multiple virtual phone numbers for different areas pointed to the same phone, and then not knowing which number people are calling and therefore not knowing which area they are talking about. Such a scenario can leave you feeling rather red faced.

The solution to this is offered by many suppliers of virtual phone numbers now, and it is a application often called a whisper. The way it works is that a short recorded message is linked to each phone number. So, if you had an 020 London phone number, then the whisper might be "London number call". When you answer your phone, the whisper is played to you whilst the caller still hears the ringtone and doesn't hear the message, so you know what to expect when you answer. They are also handy for distinguishing between personal calls made to your existing number and business calls made to your virtual number.

If a virtual telephone number company isn't offering this to you as an option, then look for one that does.

What are virtual numbers?

Someone asked me the other day what exactly is a virtual phone number. Well, it is a phone number that isn't itself directly associated with a phone line. It is therefore effectively a call forwarding number. Someone phones the number and it forwards the call to either an existing landline or mobile phone number. So, a freephone 0800 number, 0845 number, 0844 number, or a local number or London phone number for a different location are all virtual numbers, as they are all forwarded to existing phone lines, aren't physically connected to that phone line, and can be moved around to point to different phone lines at will.

Use a virtual number to take advantage of the sun!

To anyone who has their own business, this wonderful last gasp of summer sunshine and glorious weekend has made me think of an added bonus to having a virtual phone number! You can have you virtual 020 numbers pointed at your mobile phone, so people can still get in touch with you and think you're in your London office as normal, whereas actually you're out in your garden in the hammock with a nice glass of wine and a book! Enjoy the wonderful weekend folks! It's probably the last we'll get until next March! :)

The phone hacking saga continues

Westminster has been back briefly for two weeks before MPs head off for the Party Conference season. One of the highlights in that short time was the news that the Culture, Media & Sport select committee is to recall News International Chairman, James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch. A huge number of phone numbers have been hacked, including 0203 numbers and mobile phone numbers of the rich and famous, politicians, royals, and most notably crime victims.

More details about the ongoing saga can be read here.

OFCOM announces plans to make sure local phone numbers don't run out

OFCOM announced this week that they will start rolling out a new system next year for local phone numbers whereby you will have to dial the full area code for the number you are phoning even if you are only phoning the person next door. The idea behind it is that numbers are running out for some area codes, with many providers of virtual numbers keeping a large stock in reserve, thus limiting the amount available. However, if everyone dialling a number in that area has to use the area code then they will be able to introduce 0 and 1 as the first digit of the 6 digits that follow the area code, greatly increasing the amount available and making sure that there is still a large amount of competition. Bournemouth will be first, with a full map of areas on the OFCOM website.

Phone hacking scandal continues

With the summer break ending, we're wondering what the next development will be in the phone hacking scandal? Will any more celebrities or important individuals come forward to claim that their phone numbers have been hacked? And will anymore heads role?

After all, who could forget those memorable scenes before parliament rose for the summer recess when James Murdoch and Rupert Murdoch appeared before John Whittingdale, Louise Mensch, Tom Watson and the rest of the MPs on the Culture, Media & Sport select committee? To see the mighty media mogul attacked with a plate of shaving foam was a very surreal experience!

Will the Prime Minister manage to disconnect himself from his former communications director Andy Coulson, or will Mr Cameron's Premiership be brought down by this scandal? Coulson's gone, Rebekah Brooks has gone, the News of the World has gone, and there is still a lot more of this drama left to go. Get comfy for the next act!

The point of virtual numbers

Someone asked me recently, what is the point of having a virtual number. What good do they actually do?

My key point in response was this. If you live in London and are wanting to hire a company to do some work for you, or provide a service for you in some way, when looking for companies you are naturally going to be attracted to a London company for obvious reasons, mainly because they are local. But the company does not have to be from London, it is just a natural, inbuilt reaction that it should be.

Sorry Londoners, but London is ridiculously expensive. To rent or buy property there is unbelievable. The key benefit, using London as an example, of virtual London phone numbers, is that you can do business in London without being based in London.

Property costs are the biggest source of expenditure for a business. If we can reduce those, then there is more chance of a business not having to close and therefore of people keeping their jobs and not having to be unemployed. With the economy back in tough times, this is vital. So that is the point of virtual numbers.

What should you be looking for when buying a virtual number?

Right, lets go back to basics ...

What should you be looking for when choosing a company to provide you with a virtual phone number?

Firstly, they should have a wide range of different area codes to choose from. You would expect a decent provider to have a choice of around 500 different area codes - including 020 London numbers.

Secondly, they should not be VOIP numbers, as these are poor quality.

Thirdly, you shouldn't expect prices to be higher than 5p per minute to receive the call.

You should only expect to be charged for what you pay for - look out for pay per second billing.

Look out for companies that tie you in to contracts. You want companies that you only have to give a month's notice to. If they're locking you in for a year or two years then there might be something wrong with them and they think you're going to leave.

Finally, the company should reasonably be able to connect you the same day if you're calling within working hours.

Virtual fax to email numbers

Just a thought on something I read the other day ...

When you get a virtual local phone number, such as virtual 0207 numbers for London, you are presumably doing it to appear to be somewhere you're not. For example, to appear to be based in an office in London whereas actually you are driving around in a van in London, or based in an office just outside of London to save cost.

However, what people don't think about is that they need to get a fax number to match the virtual number too, otherwise you blow your cover when someone asks for the fax number for your office, and you have to give one which shows you're not in London, or wherever your virtual numbers are set up for.

Getting a virtual fax to email is also a great excuse for modernising the way you receive faxes. Instead of via a fax machine, they're turned into PDF and sent straight to your email account, so you don't have to print them, waste ink, paper, electricity, etc.

Interesting facts

Was having a browse through the OFCOM website, and found this to be quite an interesting read.

It talks about different telephone number codes and costs, from fascinating facts to 020 numbers.

Enjoy!

Interesting info about 020 numbers ...

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I have to say, I'm not usually a fan of Wikipedia, but I found this article about London 020 numbers on there to be quite informative and interesting. I will focus on some of the elements of this in future blog posts ...

Demand increases for virtual London numbers ahead of olympics

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Of all the various virtual numbers available, London phone numbers appear to be particularly popular at the moment. Demand for 0207, 0208 and 0203 virtual numbers is increasing all the time. Presumably there are a lot of companies hoping to ride on the coat tails of the London 2012 Olympic Games and make their business appear to be London based when it actually isn't. Not that you can blame them - the price of property in London is incredibly expensive, so it is quite a good way of making sure your business gets some of the benefits that the London games are meant to be bringing to the UK without having to spend a fortune doing it.

What to do when you have lots of virtual phone numbers

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One of the main ideas behind having virtual phone numbers is that instead of having lots of different offices, you can have one office with virtual phone numbers from all of the areas your business is operating in pointing to the same place.

The problem resulting from this can be that you have so many different virtual local numbers that you don't have enough staff to answer all of the calls!

The Virtual Number Company not only provides local phone numbers, but also has a virtual reception - or call answering service, whereby any calls that you can't take gets diverted to their receptionists to answer in your business name.

Or, they can answer all of your calls for you if you're not in the office very much! A great little service!

London phone numbers - is there a crisis?

There seem to be conflicting opinions in the phone numbers market place regarding London phone numbers.

Check out these 2 press releases:

London phone numbers are running out (again) London Phone Numbers Won’t Run Out

What is your opinion after reading these?



Talk about spot the difference!