topic Re: Please do not withhold your number in Plusnet Feedback

Please do not withhold your number

mapletree — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:49:40 GMT

When PN phone me the caller ID says "withheld". I can see no reason why a business would wish to withhold their telephone number. Since most withheld calls are scams or cold callers I would not normally answer them at all and it was only chance that I did so.

Re: Please do not withhold your number

godsell4 — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:51:06 GMT

Agreed, I dont answer those calls either. PN can make the CLID value be their freephone number if they wanted to.

Re: Please do not withhold your number

Chris — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:55:18 GMT

I know we've looked into this before, but IIRC the main issue was due to the fact that we also operate Madasafish, Metronet, Just the Name etc from here too so it'd need different numbers displaying for each one. As the support centre don't have a set seat (they mostly hotdesk) then this isn't easy to implement.

Re: Please do not withhold your number

itsme — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:04:50 GMT

I assume that PN use ISDN30 so hotdesking is not an issue and I would assume that calls for the different brands could be routed to give the correct CLI.

Re: Please do not withhold your number

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:10:59 GMT

Alternatively keep the specific VISP phone support numbers for customer's initial contact.
Set up a new generic support number which is transmitted and displayed for caller ID regardless of which VISP the customer is with.
Any incoming calls on that number that customer support receive will need to be answered by an automated "PRESS" - "1 for Force9", "2 for Plusnet". . .
That way us customers at least get the display of a legitimate number, and not ignore or bar it because it is yet another "number withheld" scam call.

Re: Please do not withhold your number

mapletree — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:00:31 GMT

TBH presenting any number is better than withholding it. I don't really understand why you would have to present different numbers for your different brands unless you wish to pretend they are not related.
The company I work for I'm sure is much smaller than PN but we can do it and we don't even run a telephone or ISP service.
Generally people who wildhold their number do it to hide their identity often for malicious purposes.

Re: Please do not withhold your number

198kHz — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:36:40 GMT

IF the problems mentioned by Chris are insurmountable, could it at least be made 'Unavailable' rather than 'Withheld'.

Re: Please do not withhold your number

Strat — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:48:11 GMT

This really annoys me as important calls from organisations where the number is withheld can go unanswered causing more problems for the recipient.
On the other hand if 'number withheld' calls are answered because an important call is expected then the recipient is liable to be pestered with unwelcome cold calls.

Re: Please do not withhold your number

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:30:17 GMT

I have on at least two occasions (that I know of) not picked up the phone when Plusnet/Force9 support have tried to call me - because they "number withheld".
If I had been called with ANY legitimate UK phone number, then I would I answered the call immediately.
We receive about eight to fifteen "number withheld" calls EVERY single day and now simply don't answer those calls as 99% of the time they are foreign callers that we really don't want to talk to - and generally the same call centers every day !
Knowing that this was a problem (and for other reasons), I recently wrote in a Plusnet support ticket please DON'T phone to discuss the issue, but please respond ONLY using the ticket system, but Plusnet still phoned anyway ! - D'Oh ! - not reading the ticket again

Re: Please do not withhold your number

rongtw — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:16:06 GMT

must admit that i hardly ever answer a witheld number as 90% of the time its sales calls

Re: Please do not withhold your number

TheIslander — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:42:24 GMT

I cannot find the info. But from memory it's is not legal for companies to call customers witholding caller ID. They must show one even when you phone the number it advises who called. This does not stop the cowboy companies not doing that.

Re: Please do not withhold your number

mapletree — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 08:23:30 GMT

Quote from: 4C
IF the problems mentioned by Chris are insurmountable, could it at least be made 'Unavailable' rather than 'Withheld'.

That would be worse. If 90% of "withheld" calls are nuisance calls then 99% of "unavailable" ones are cold-callers. At least you can be fairly sure a "wildheld" call originated from the UK".

Re: Please do not withhold your number

mariek — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:29:58 GMT

I agree. Withheld numbers are a nuisance.

Re: Please do not withhold your number

Chris — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:37:41 GMT

We had a discussion about this earlier today, there are quite a few things we need to consider so if we don't reply to this thread please don't think it's being ignored!

Re: Please do not withhold your number

chandu — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:07:26 GMT

Quote from: Strat
On the other hand if 'number withheld' calls are answered because an important call is expected then .......

This happened to me the other day, when I was expecting an important call and ended up picking up a cold call. Next time this happens I shall have to ask the otherend to hang-on and just leave the phone on the table and get on with other work. This should teach them a lesson.
Chandu.

Re: Please do not withhold your number

godsell4 — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:09:06 GMT

Yep, had the same experience as chandu too.

Re: Please do not withhold your number

Rich — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:29:14 GMT

Can PlusNet dial 1470 before the number?
That works on the system at work, both to our land line and my mobile.
Richard

Re: Please do not withhold your number

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:36:55 GMT

Quote from: Chris
I know we've looked into this before, but IIRC the main issue was due to the fact that we also operate Madasafish, Metronet, Just the Name etc from here too so it'd need different numbers displaying for each one. As the support centre don't have a set seat (they mostly hotdesk) then this isn't easy to implement.

Surely in the majority of incoming support calls will be from the landline number associated with the customers phone and/or broadband service - therefore the helpdesk phone system could use the incoming customers CLI to identify or route a large percentage of calls to the relevant VISP operative. This should simplify the helpdesk phone system as separate numbers would NOT be required for each VISP. This means you could use a single phone number for ALL incoming enquiries, and because there is only one number there would be no reason to withhold the outgoing CLI. - PROBLEM SOLVED !.
Obviously this identification of customers landline CLI could be extended to include any registered phone numbers or mobile numbers on customers accounts, further improving coverage and accuracy of customer and VISP identification before answering the incoming call.
This should work as there will be a very high correlation between each customers phone details and the VISP that any given customer is with.

Re: Please do not withhold your number

Chris — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:22:58 GMT

@Purleigh
That's not far off what we're changing our phone system to do, along with other tweaks to identify if there is an open fault ticket etc. The issue is with some of the other VISPs we operate (including our Partner service) that for contractual reasons simply can't display the same Plusnet phone number.

Re: Please do not withhold your number

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:37:11 GMT

OK, but the same principle can work in reverse.
So you want to keep separate contact numbers for each VISP - fine no problem with that.
A customer is aware of their ISP's unique support phone number and always dials that when support is needed.
The original point of this thread is for customer support calls to send a CLI to the customers phone so it is no longer showing a withheld number.
So in the case of support staff wishing to call any customer, presumably the staff member will have a computer screen open with the 'case' details, so how hard can it be to have a button on the screen that dials the phone number that the customer has provided. When the number is dialed, the computer will know the customer's VISP, and should be able to route the outgoing call in such a way that the VISP specific CLI is transmitted.
As the computer sets up the call, the details of the call could automatically be added to the customer's open support ticket - that would avoid another annoying practice where support tickets say "I tried to call you today but there was no answer" when the customer has been sitting ALL DAY next to the phone - which categorically didn't ring !!!