Every path hath a puddle
|
|
|
Skype loses bunch of Skype In numbers
VOIP VENDOR Skype told some of its London customers it's had to hand back some of the 0207 numbers to the authorities and so their numbers won't work from December 20th.
Bit of a nuisance that, as Skype admitted to its customers in an email "it realises the inconvenience this will cause you, and sincerely apologise".
To sweeten this rather bitter pill, the Londoners whose numbers will disappear have been given 12 months voicemail and a new 0207 number.
It is thanking customers for their patience and wants to make the changeover "as painless as possible".
One customer told the INQ: "This is obviously really annoying."
Skype didn't say why it had to surrender the 0207 numbers. Perhaps some traffic lights are desperate for a connection. µ
Share this:
Share
That's not quite right. It is more like this:
(020) is the area code for London. London local numbers have eight digits.
(020) 70** **** and (020) 71** **** numbers are newly created and can be *anywhere* in London (0** **** and 1** **** numbers were invalid under the old 071 and 0171 area codes).
(020) 72** **** to (020) 79** **** numbers were migrated from the old inner London (0171) code. Newly issued previously unused numbers in this range can be *anywhere* in London.
(020) 80** **** and (020) 81** **** numbers are newly created and can be *anywhere* in London (0** **** and 1** **** numbers were invalid under the old 081 and 0181 area codes).
(020) 82** **** to (020) 89** **** numbers were migrated from the old outer London (0181) code. Newly issued previously unused numbers in this range can be *anywhere* in London.
(020) 3*** **** numbers are newly created and can be *anywhere* in London (these have been issued since 2005).
(020) 2*** **** - reserved for future use.
(020) 4*** **** - reserved for future use.
(020) 5*** **** - reserved for future use.
(020) 6*** **** - reserved for future use.
(020) 9*** **** - reserved for future use.
Note:
020 3*** ****
should read:
(020) 3*** ****
That's not quite right. It is more like this:
(020) is the area code for London. London local numbers have eight digits.
(020) 70** **** and (020) 71** **** numbers are newly created and can be *anywhere* in London (0xx xxxx and 1xx xxxx numbers were invalid under the old 0171 code).
(020) 72** **** to (020) 79** **** numbers were migrated from the old inner London (0171) code. Newly issued previously unused numbers in this range can be *anywhere* in London.
(020) 80** **** and (020) 81** **** numbers are newly created and can be *anywhere* in London (0xx xxxx and 1xx xxxx numbers were invalid under the old 0181 code).
(020) 82** **** to (020) 89** **** numbers were migrated from the old outer London (0181) code. Newly issued previously unused numbers in this range can be *anywhere* in London.
020 3*** **** numbers are newly created and can be *anywhere* in London (these have been issued since 2005)
(020) 2*** **** - for future use.
(020) 4*** **** - for future use.
(020) 5*** **** - for future use.
(020) 6*** **** - for future use.
(020) 9*** **** - for future use.
020 is the area code for London. 
020 7*** **** numbers are for inner London (was 0171). 
020 8*** **** numbers are for outer London (was 0181)
020 3*** **** numbers are for all of London (from 2005)
Any suggestions on where I can port my number to? 

I am not too happy at Skype for having to possibly toss a few thousand business cards, and mail all my contacts of a number change, not to mention having less than a month to scramble to make changes.

This should make everyone VERY wary of using Skype for business!

There is no such thing as an "inner London" or "outer London" area code. The only area code for the whole of London is 020.

0171 and 0181 area codes did mean inner or outer London, but when the 020 area code for London was introduced, 020 means London and the first digit of the subscriber number (for example 7, 8 or 3) does not mean anything.
I can't believe SkypeIn are taking away our numbers with less than a months notice. I have several 020 7 numbers with Skype, I have had them for years and given them out to so many friends and customers, the number is in the Yellow Pages, on my business cards and headed notepaper and even on my van! Imagine if BT said they were going to change thousands of customers phone numbers, there would be outrage! The way Skype has handled this is astonishing, they don't reply to emails and don't even have a contact phone number (and they call themselves a communications company?). Luckily it looks like there is a solution; customers can port their SkypeIn number to a new service provider (like BT or another VoIP provider) before the cut off date, of course Skype aren't telling customers about this (although people are now discussing this option on the official SkypeIn forum) but Ofcom have said that Skype has to honour any porting request, just like any other company that provides UK telephone numbers, otherwise they will be breaking the law! So it looks like you can keep your existing 020 7 London number AND leave Skypes rubbish service at the same time (unless you like being treated like this) - two birds one stone springs to mind!
Skype's approach to compensation for their incompetence comes nowhere near to what is actually required. 

It is going to cost my business to change the number. We cannot afford for Skype to mess up like this again! They havn't even responded to my direct emails. It is a shambles!!!
Those numbers would actually be 020 7 ones, not 0207 ones. [sheesh kebab. Ed.]
It's great they tell you you have to change numbers and promise a voucher. However you get sent a voucher that is invalid.
Taking a further look, there are NO 0207 numbers that I can find through any search, I think they've lost them all. They also sent a voucher that doesn't work.

The skype email says:

Due to changes in the capital's number plan there is a limited
availability of 0207 numbers and we cannot guarantee that you will
find a 0207 number to replace your existing one. However, we have
plenty of 0208 numbers and 0203 numbers which OFCOM has introduced to
cover the whole of Greater London.


Limited 0207 - read None.
0203 - Can't see any of these either.

Nice!
What's an "0207" number? Is it related to London's 020 area code?
0207 Numbers are inner London Number ie central London

0208 Numbers are outer London Numbers
The 0207 code is for inner London, typically within 3-5 miles of the center. The 0208 is for any area outside of this. Of course there are variations and exceptions.

0203 - isn't that the new national-local number scheme, or is that some other number?
I renewed the 0207 number that I had for just over a year just 11 days ago and had more stationery printed at a cost of over £200. 

I complained over 24 hours ago, but have received no reply. 

(1) If according to their blog response, they knew of this potential situation some time ago, why didn’t they at least warn you when renewing recently 

(2) Having renewed 11 days ago, the offer of 12 months Skype in represents just 11 days subscription - 14 Euro cents 

(3) Be warned, these numbers don’t appear to work as fax forwards to a VoIP based fax to email service.