One for the Christmas list?

I know what's on my Christmas list this year!

Yamaha PSG-01S Speakerphone for Skype

Originally posted on The Really Mobile Project.

Last week a nice surprise arrived via courier - the new Yamaha PSG-01S speakerphone for Skype. Described by Yamaha as a ‘Sound Gadget’, the idea behind this device is that it acts as a speakerphone for Skype calls when upright and doubles as stereo speakers when lying on its side.

The Yamaha PSG-01S Speakerphone

It’s a highly portable device and perfect for packing in your laptop case. The speakerphone has several clever features. When on a Skype call you can lay the device on its side to mute the microphone. The device chimes to warn you when switching from phone to speaker mode. If the device is being used as stereo speakers (listening mode) and a Skype call comes in, turning the device upright allows the call to be answered. The speakerphone has a series of LEDs around the top which indicate the current status; nice idea but not obvious what they mean without referring to the user guide! Everything you’d expect from a quality speakerphone is there - echo cancellation, background noise reduction and support for super wideband audio. The build quality is excellent; it has a solid feel to it and is finished in brushed metal. Connectivity is standard USB2.

Making a call is simple and uses both the Skype client on your PC and the on-hook / off-hook hardware buttons on the speakerphone. Call quality is outstanding and it’s a great enhancement to Skype, especially as an alternative to a headset. However, the one bizarre thing about the Yamaha is the price. The Skype store is selling it for £199.90 and I can’t work out who would pay that price for a speakerphone. It’s undeniably a great bit of kit but that price point seems too high. The quality may well justify the price but I don’t see users paying that sort of premium which is a shame because anyone using the ‘Sound Gadget’ will love it!

The Yamaha PSG-01S is available from the Skype store.

Be Broadband

I've been using Be Broadband for a few months now. They caught my eye as one of only two ISPs offering 'unbundled' ADSL 2+ broadband in my home area and I was keen to see how much difference ADSL2+ makes. ADSL 2+ is marketed as an 'up to 24MB' broadband service but as with all these 'up to' services very, very few people get anywhere near the theoretical maximum.

I have an ADSL Max ('up to 8MB') service on another phone line here and get about 5-6 MB download speed. The Be service gives me 8-10 MB depending on time of day. If I connect my PC directly to the router I can push that up to 12 MB at certain times of the day - using WiFi does have an impact on speed, even when I'm close to the router. At the top end this is not far off the estimated speed for the line and is no doubt influenced by other factors.

A frustrating issue with ADSL broadband is the number of factors that can impact on performance - distance from the telephone exchange, quality of the copper wire between your house and the exchange, internal wiring, other phones and devices plugged into the line, ISP contention ratios, router, ISP line settings. The list sometimes feels like it's endless!

A key quality check with an ISP is their technical support and Be has been very good here. I've discussed a number of points with technical support agents and they have a good understanding of broadband issues and resolutions. Call hold time is negligible; another plus point and the number is freephone.

The broadband provisioning process was excellent, considering it operates within an overall industry framework. The router arrived next day and the service was up and running on the due date a few days later. Order progress is trackable via the customer portal and via SMS.

The router is fairly typical of routers included by ISPs in their broadband packages. It does the job although not surprisingly doesn't give the impression of being in the same league as the sort of router I've bought myself in the past.

Overall I'm a big fan of Be. ADSL2+ does make a difference (for me) and the overall quality of service is excellent (which is not the case for some ISPs). Based on my experiences I would definitely recommend them if you're in the market for broadband.

For anyone who wonders who Be is; they're owned by O2 and also run the O2 fixed line broadband service.

The perils of working at home

With thanks to Sony and Tim Donnelly Smith.

FREETALK Everyman headset for Skype

Originally posted on The Really Mobile Project.

I’ve used a number of headsets over the years with variable results and recently I’ve been using the FREETALK Everyman headset. The headset has been optimised for Skype which means it supports Skype’s SILK codec and makes it a great choice if you’re a Skype fan.

The FREETALK Everyman: A portable Skype-capable headset that impresses

The headset is designed to be used when travelling - the earpieces pivot and fold flat, making it reasonably compact so you can slip it in your laptop case. Call quality is excellent and I experienced no problems using the headset. Skype is selling the Everyman for £19.98 in the UK which seems excellent value to me. At that price you can afford to carry it round and if it gets damaged it’s not a complete disaster! Build quality and comfort are good, considering the price point of the headset. I was amazed how light it is and would happily wear it for a couple of hours at a time.

As well as a USB connector, the Everyman has a 3.5 mm connector. I’ve been using this with my iPhone and it works perfectly. Music fades out for calls and it’s a lot more comfortable than using the regular iPhone headset.

So, my verdict is if you’re in the market for an inexpensive headset take a look at the FREETALK Everyman which is available through Skype’s own shop.

Ninite - time saving way to download & install multiple apps

Setting up a new PC is always a time consuming experience, especially finding and downloading all those great free apps you used on your old PC.

Ninite offers a time saving way to download at least some of your favourite apps. On the Ninite web page you select the apps you want and Ninite creates a single download and installation file.

I used Ninite to download a couple of small apps as a test and all worked well. Always great to find something simple that just does what it says it will.

How to Date a Nurse with .TEL

This caught my eye. Wish I'd had my .tel in similar circumstances. Had to make do with a business card - but it did work!

Next Generation Billing conference - Berlin

In December I'm heading over to Berlin for the IIR Next Generation Billing conference. I'll be discussing a couple of themes in the billing and payments space - 'Understanding how to effectively monetise the content being delivered via your platform' and 'Strategies to encourage preferred customer behaviour via ebilling and auto payment'.

I've enjoyed participating in previous Next Generation Billing conferences and made some great contacts in the billing and payments business. A key area for me is how to improve the customer experience when transacting online and the impact this will have on the future of payments. The conference is a great place to exchange ideas with others who face similar challenges. Look forward to seeing you there!

iPass exploits a WiFi opportunity

Originally posted on The Really Mobile Project.

The increasing number of WiFi enabled smartphones in large organisations presents an opportunity for WiFi service providers to leverage that capability with products that seek to address deficiencies with 3G data, including roaming costs, poor in-building coverage and variable download speeds. iPass is one of the companies exploiting that market opportunity with their Mobile Office enterprise product. The Mobile Office client is compatible with iPhone, BlackBerry, S60 and Windows Mobile devices as well as Windows and Mac. iPass provides access to 140,000 WiFi hotspots in 83 countries and removes the need to sign up with individual WiFi providers in each location you visit.

In my experience, coverage is good in the usual places you expect to find WiFi; hotels, coffee shops, airports, railway stations etc and shows that iPass has signed extensive roaming agreements with the key WiFi providers. I’ve used the S60 client in Europe and the service worked well. I experienced occasional glitches but that seemed to be down to issues with a local hotspot. As well as regular data access I used Truphone over iPass to save money on voice calls and this combination worked exceptionally well. Knowing how much money I was saving on roaming costs did make for a very satisfying experience.

I’ve now got the iPhone client installed although the benefits are not so apparent in the UK because the iPhone already roams with The Cloud & BT Openzone. The S60 client delivers a better mobile experience because it seamlessly runs in the background whereas the iPhone client suffers from Apple’s bar on background running. I’ll be keeping the iPhone client installed for my next trip abroad to give it a thorough ‘road test’.

Since getting an iPhone I’ve become increasingly dependent on WiFi because the combination of private WiFi at home & in the office plus the bundled public WiFi provides a much better experience when available, than the O2 network with 3G, EDGE & GPRS. The big opportunity for WiFi is to increase coverage in towns and cities plus other places that suffer from poor cellular data coverage, like trains. There’s some interesting innovation appearing in this market with service providers like Freerunner emerging and I’ll be returning to this in a future article.

Another look at Truphone

Originally posted on The Really Mobile Project.

I've been using Truphone on various Nokia S60 handsets for about 2 ½ years now, both for low cost international calls and because it delivered great quality mobile WiFi coverage for me at home when my main mobile service provider didn’t (I have now moved MNO to Vodafone to solve the home coverage issue). Truphone call quality has been consistently good in my experience and much less variable than other VoIP services I’ve tried. I’ve used it via my home WiFi and via commercial hotspots in both the UK & elsewhere in Europe. The savings when travelling have been significant when set against roaming charges, both for outbound and inbound calls (no charge to receive roaming calls when in WiFi coverage!).

I recently acquired an iPhone and immediately installed Truphone to take advantage of the service on that device. Truphone has done a great job rolling out service across multiple handset operating systems – Nokia S60, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android and BlackBerry. Truphone on each device delivers a different user experience because of the constraints of each operating system. I like the Nokia S60 implementation because it integrates with the standard handset functionality, runs in the background and offers full outbound and inbound calling. Having a unique Truphone mobile number which forwards to my regular mobile number when I’m out of WiFi coverage is a nice feature. The iPhone implementation offers outbound calling but because of the iPhone’s constraints on background apps it can only receive calls when the Truphone app is open. For this reason Truphone decided not to provide a unique Truphone number for each handset but use the existing mobile number so inbound calls are delivered via your regular mobile service, unless the caller is also on Truphone.

Both the S60 and iPhone versions support Truphone Anywhere which is a neat way to call international numbers when outside WiFi coverage. Your handset makes a call to a local number which is then onward connected to your destination number. The local call is typically ‘free’ because it comes out of bundled minutes and the onward leg is charged as a standard Truphone call. I’ve set up Truphone Anywhere rules on my Nokia E63 to routes calls to 08 numbers (charged by my mobile provider out of bundle) via Truphone so the calls are made at lower rates (free for 0800 numbers).

It’s not yet possible to have one Truphone account across multiple devices so it’s necessary to manage each handset separately which isn’t ideal but I’m expecting to see some changes there before long.

The big enhancement coming to Truphone later in the year is the launch of Truphone Local Anywhere. This will provide a Truphone SIM card with multiple inbound numbers in countries of your choice and competitive calling and SMS rates in all those countries. No more SIM swapping for regular travellers, no more extortionate roaming charges. Truphone has not yet announced tariffs but Truphone Local Anywhere has the potential to be the first competitive global mobile operator. One point I noticed which could be key to success is the ability to port your existing mobile number to Truphone. I’m also hoping that an iNum will be standard with all Truphone Local Anywhere accounts, matching a single international phone number with an international phone service. I’ll return to the subject of iNums in a future post.

Multiple contact numbers brings its own challenges – lots of contact numbers to give out and which do people use, when? However, combine Truphone Local Anywhere with a .tel address and anyone can find the best number to reach you on, wherever you are. Manage your contactability via .tel profiles and the right number is always available.

Reckless Ambition playing in Oxted

George's band Reckless Ambition played last night at Oxted School. Another fine performance by the band.

Apple, I never thought I’d say it …

Originally posted on The Really Mobile Project.

I never thought I’d say it but I much prefer my iPhone to my Nokia E63. I’ve played with the iPhone on a number of occasions and always been impressed by the user experience but felt it was lacking in a number of areas, for example the ability to customise it in the way you can with a S60 device and the lack of a ‘proper’ keypad. I also resented the ‘Apple tax’ and the closed nature of the way Apple operates, for example offering the device through one UK operator (who incidentally has the weakest 3G coverage, we learned this week) on expensive tariffs.

However all that changed when I received an iPhone (not the 3GS sadly) for business purposes. Using the iPhone every day made me realise just what a game changer it is. Much as I love the qwerty keypad on my E63, the iPhone makes Nokia’s S60 interface seem so dated by comparison. The App Store ecosystem changed the mobile marketplace forever and when compared to the Ovi Store … well let’s not even go there. From a business perspective, the Exchange integration for mail, contacts and calendar is excellent and very easy to set up.

I’ve been a staunch Nokia user, supporter and campaigner since 1994 when Orange launched in the UK and Nokia still produces some great devices in the E and N Series. However the user experience is in drastic need of an overhaul. Although I’ve yet to try the N97, Nokia’s latest flagship device, nothing I’ve read so far leads me to believe I’d change my mind about Nokia.

Where the iPhone really scores is in simplicity for the user. I’ve already mentioned the App Store with its wealth of compelling applications but other areas like WiFi with pre-configured hotspot coverage, SMS message threading, hardware switch to silence the device, to name a few, just make it easy for users. Not everyone is a mobile geek!

The iPhone certainly has some drawbacks. The battery life is rubbish - I don’t even get a day with a bit of use but maybe that will improve in the next firmware release. The inability to remove and replace the battery is ridiculous, unless you’re Apple who makes money out of it! The camera resolution, even on the 3GS, is low, although the photos are surprisingly good for the resolution. No option to expand the memory via a memory card is a limitation for some users. But on balance I can work round these issues.

Everyone has their own personal preferences but for me the iPhone has changed the way I see my handset. Over to you Nokia – surprise me!

The new way to communicate

A while back I posted the very entertaining .tel promotional video. Just come across this version on Telnic's website with an alternate ending!

Enterprise mobile VoIP from Agito Networks

Originally posted on The Really Mobile Project.

Last week I had a chat with the guys at Agito Networks. Agito has developed a mobile VoIP solution for enterprises that deals with the issues of poor in‑building coverage, ever increasing mobile costs, enterprise integration and the complex user experience of juggling multiple devices. Agito’s RoamAnywhere product uses the available wireless coverage at any point in time to deliver the best quality service at the lowest available cost. So in a user’s home or office environments WiFi may be used but in the car 3G or GSM. With the client installed on a handset, the handset provides both deskphone and mobile functionality, tightly integrated into the handset user interface using the standard dialler, so the user doesn’t have to learn how to use their handset again or need to load a separate app. The advantage of tight PBX integration is being able to optimise call routing, for example avoiding international call charges.

Last week Agito announced support for BlackBerry which takes their handset coverage to over 40 handsets across S60, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry platforms. iPhone support will arrive later this year. Agito also works with the usual operator provided handsets so there’s no requirement for an enterprise to buy SIM free handsets at huge expense. The client software uses standard APIs so no hacking or unlocking is required.

I especially like Agito because it addresses some key issues with mobile technology. The coverage deficiencies of both WiFi and 3G are addressed, the user does not have to make a choice about which wireless connectivity to use and cost control is central to the platform. There are some great mobile VoIP apps in the market but generally they involve the user making decisions about usage. Agito’s solution is designed to be used by anyone who uses a regular mobile phone in exactly the same way they already use their mobile phone. My only disappointment is there’s no consumer version!

Protection for an external hard disk - the LaCie Coat

If like me you regularly carry round an external hard drive with you then it's good to know it's well protected. Having recently acquired a new external drive I needed a case to protect it and got hold of the new Coat from LaCie. In common with a number of LaCie products it's been designed by Sam Hecht which makes the styling a bit more interesting than the average case.

The case is reversible with what looks like neoprene on one side and a suede finish on the other. The neoprene is finished with a bubble effect (I guess Sam Hecht had a hand in this!). It's very well padded and offers good protection for your drive.

The LaCie website has a useful compatibility chart covering all their hard drive cases to ensure you select the right case for your drive. This includes other hard drive manufacturers which is a nice touch from LaCie and shows they're after all external hard drive users and not just people with a LaCie drive.

I have to confess that I'm actually keeping a Western Digital hard drive in it at the moment but of course I am now in the market for a LaCie drive!

Reflections on mobile stuff in Amsterdam

Originally posted on The Really Mobile Project.

Last week I spent a few days at the BSS Summit in Amsterdam and just wanted to share some thoughts on the ‘roaming experience’.

The Vodafone Passport promotion whereby calls and SMS come out of your regular price plan bundle is excellent.  For the first time you can use your mobile abroad just as you would in the UK without giving any thought to a nasty bill racking up in the background. It’s worth just signing up for a Vodafone SIM for the Summer if you’re going to be travelling where Vodafone has a partner network.

I made a lot of use of WiFi, both in my hotel and at the conference venue, however yet again the user experience was marred by the challenges of using WiFi. When WiFi works, it’s fast and cheap (cheap compared to 3G roaming), however getting connected can be a real issue. Coverage at both locations was via Swisscom and using the iPass trial on my Nokia E63 I was able to make calls via Truphone and browse the web (including Twitter, of course) … some of the time. On some occasions the handset connected instantly but at other times I got a variety of connection errors. The conference venue seemed to be better than the hotel, despite both being Swisscom – why? I also experienced variable connectivity using Swisscom on my laptop so don’t believe iPass was to blame here. I think what it shows is that however comprehensive WiFi roaming coverage is; you never know what state the local network or local hotspot is in. One neat feature with iPass is the ability to enable or disable fallback to 3G, so when roaming disabling 3G is a must to avoid nasty surprises back home. Long calls via Truphone and iPass were a very satisfying experience knowing there were no big bills at the end of it!

I’ve used a number of WiFi services and good as they are, they only deliver a part of the wireless connectivity jigsaw. Wireless connectivity must be a transparent user experience; users should not need to make choices based on price and coverage, the technology should do that. Yesterday I had a chat with the guys at Agito Networks who are doing some clever stuff in this area and I’ll be blogging about them shortly.

Some mobile stuff for BSS Summit in Amsterdam

Originally posted on The Really Mobile Project.

Next week I’m heading over to Amsterdam for BSS Summit 2009. This is a key European billing event and worth attending if you’re involved in billing or payments. I’m speaking about ways for telcos to monetise the delivery of content over their networks.

Anyway, back to mobile! Vodafone’s recent announcement that Passport users will benefit from no roaming charges for voice and SMS on partner networks in June, July and August is great news. This means I can use my Nokia E63 on Vodafone’s Dutch network without incurring any additional charges. I was planning to use my SIM4travel SIM again but won’t need to this trip – I’ll be getting that out again when the Passport promotion has expired!

Unfortunately Vodafone decided not to include data charges in the Passport promotion so any usage will rack up charges at an alarming rate. However the team at Axicom has kindly organised a trial account with iPass which will definitely minimise my 3G bill. iPass is a WiFi connectivity app which has roaming agreements with a large number of WiFi networks and automates the whole process of access. Installing the iPass client creates a new access point which I’ve set as my default access point for handset apps that use data. Now all my apps use my home WiFi or commercial hotspots with a fall-back to 3G when WiFi is not available. When I’m in Amsterdam I’ll probably disable 3G fall-back to minimise the risk of nasty surprises when I get my next Vodafone bill! iPass will be great for web browsing, plus of course Twitter and Truphone. Truphone has always been a great alternative to pricey roaming calls but even with the Passport promotion will still be useful for international calls. The combination of Truphone and iPass could be a killer!

Also key for conferences is my .tel – being able to give new contacts a card with my .tel address on it or just tell them to check my .tel is so simple. It’s a business card in the ‘cloud’ with far more contact data than I could fit on a regular card. Nothing else I’ve found matches it for simplicity. I’ve tried various ID services but they tend to involve sharing data with third party sites, spamming contacts or installing annoying plug-ins; plus you never know how long they’ll be around for.

Let me know if you’re planning to attend BSS Summit and perhaps we can meet up.

Roaming with SIM4travel

This week's post from The Really Mobile Project - for readers who don't follow that site.

Vodafone’s recent announcement about scrapping roaming charges over the Summer for users on the Passport tariff is a bold step in delivering simpler and fairer charging to customers when they’re roaming (in a country with a Vodafone partner network).

When I travel abroad I try to avoid using my personal mobile as much as possible. It’s almost a matter of principle not to use it because charges are so much higher than in the UK. At home I’m in control of my spend because I have a decent bundle of minutes and texts and unlimited data. But roaming - anything can happen! A case in point was last week in France. Despite disabling all data features I still managed to run up around £5 of data charges in one day when launching apps and switching them over to WiFi. Puzzled how - but as many apps have a life of their own, anything’s possible and it does go to show the shocking price of data roaming!

I took a travel SIM with me to France from SIM4travel (part of Truphone) because I wanted to assess it in terms of delivering certainty and clarity of spend – essential components of a Normob user experience. The appeal of a travel SIM is that you don’t pay to receive calls in Europe (plus a few other countries) and charges for calls and texts are reasonably competitive and come off a prepaid balance; so no nasty surprises when you get home. Overall I was fairly happy with SIM4travel; my only hesitation is around the way you have to make outbound calls. You call the destination number and get the slightly confusing message ‘call not allowed’; the call is then dropped. Next you receive a call which when answered gives you a ringing tone for the person you’re calling. This sequence of calls allows SIM4travel to route calls using the most cost effective routing and once I got used to it, it wasn’t too unfriendly an experience. The other point to be aware of is that the SIM uses a Jersey number so friends calling you from UK mobiles will probably find the calls charged outside of their call bundle.

So what are the savings? SIM4travel charges 25p per minute to call the UK and Vodafone charges me 38p per minute. A text to the UK is 39p on SIM4travel and 25p plus 1 text from my bundle on Vodafone. Receiving a call is free on SIM4travel and 19p per minute on Vodafone. Note that if you're on an operator international tariff like Vodafone Passport then different rates apply so you need to check your own tariff. This shows that there are real savings to be made using SIM4travel and the pricing clarity is another benefit. Whilst I was using Sim4travel in France, the savings outside Europe can be much bigger - see these numbers from Ben quoted in a review he wrote last year comparing costs with Three’s prices:

Calling between Dubai / UK

1. Make call to UK from Dubai: 49p per minute with SIM4Travel / 180p per minute with Three (contract)
2. Receive call from UK in Dubai: Free with SIM4Travel / 80p per minute with Three

Calling between China / UK

1. Make call to UK from China: 69p per minute with SIM4Travel / 180p per minute with Three (contract)
2. Receive call from UK in China: 39p with SIM4Travel / 80p per minute with Three

If Vodafone’s new Passport pricing becomes the norm it will be interesting to see what the travel SIM operators do to compete. Travel SIMs are a feature of the high cost of roaming but with more competitive deals from the big operators plus continued EU pressure maybe we won’t need them, at least in Europe, in the future?

What’s on your handset?

This week's post from The Really Mobile Project - for readers who don't follow that site.

Flicking through the apps on my handset the other day made me realise that the key apps I use haven’t changed that much over the past year or so. The big change for me has been swapping from a handset with a regular keypad (Nokia E51) to a handset with a qwerty keypad; my Nokia E63. The E63 has transformed the way I use my handset. Now I find myself sending many more texts and emails because it’s so easy. And it’s not just contacting friends and family that easier; updating Twitter and Facebook is a much quicker and less painful experience. This week I’m going to look at some communications apps on my E63. I’ll take a look at the other apps I use in a future article.

I tend to use the Ping.fm SMS number for simultaneous updates to Twitter and Facebook and the Vodafone SMS number for Twitter only. Top marks to Ping.fm for using a regular Vodafone number for their UK SMS service as it’s included in operator bundles, unlike many other innovative services that use numbers from Manx Telecom or Jersey Telecom. When I check in with Twitter I either use Gravity or Dabr.co.uk via the handset’s browser. Gravity has a fantastic user interface, although I find the app a bit limiting because it only displays the last hour’s tweets and doesn’t always update when it’s running in the background (I’m not convinced this is normal behaviour so your experience may differ). Dabr.co.uk is a much better browser based option than mobile Twitter and has the advantage of allowing me to scroll back through several hours of tweets.

I’ve tried different email applications for accessing my personal email including the default email client on the E63, Nokia Messaging, Seven and Emoze. Having switched between them several times I’ve settled on Emoze as being the best one. Emoze is the fastest to update with new emails and seamlessly handles both text and HTML emails plus multiple mailboxes. Emoze is free for one mailbox and you can buy the Pro version if you want to download from multiple mailboxes. I’ve tried hard to like Nokia Messaging but two issues have stopped me using it; first it’s not possible to change the sender email address to my own domain name and secondly it has a habit of stopping receiving emails which necessitates a manual sync to pick them up. If Nokia can fix these issues I’d take another look.

Moving to the calling side, the main additional app I use is Truphone. Truphone is great for cheap international calls over home WiFi; plus Truphone Anywhere gives me the same prices via a UK access number when I’m out. I’ve set up custom filters in Truphone Anywhere so calls to 0800, 0870 etc numbers get routed via Truphone. So instead of the calls being charged at out of bundle rates by Vodafone, I pay Truphone for the call to the 0800 number and nothing to Vodafone for the call to the access number as it comes out of my call bundle.

The other calling service I sometimes use is Skype and currently I’m using it via Nimbuzz. Nimbuzz allows me to access my Skype unlimited UK landline calls package for which I pay the tiny sum of £1.95 per month (I also get a UK landline number for inbound calls included in the £1.95). I’m continuing to look at the options for mobile Skype and will come back to this in the future.

Let me know what’s on your handset to improve your communications experience!

Calling 0800 numbers for free from mobiles

This week's post from The Really Mobile Project - for readers who don't follow that site.

One of the ‘features’ that annoys me the most about UK mobile phones is the policy of all the big operators of charging to call 0800 numbers (with the exception of a few helplines). 0800 numbers are free from landlines and it doesn’t seem unreasonable to expect them to be free from mobiles. I know there are issues around interconnect rates but that’s not the consumer’s problem and is the bad publicity for the mobile operators really worth it? From a customer experience perspective, the calls are free on landlines so they should be free on mobiles (they were on Orange in the early days). In fact the issue is even worse because not only are they chargeable but they aren’t included in call bundles so they always appear as an extra charge on your bill. If you make a lot of calls to 0800 numbers the costs soon mount up. Consumer Focus the UK organisation that campaigns on behalf of consumers is pushing for calls to all 0800 numbers to be free from mobiles but while we wait to see what happens here there is a simple way to avoid the cost.

Several service providers have sprung up recently that route calls to 0800 numbers via a 01 or 02 access number. As 01 and 02 calls come out of mobile call bundles, this effectively makes 0800 calls free (as long as you don’t exceed your call bundle). I’ve been using 0800Buster and have stored the access number in my handset so it's easily available. If there are 0800 numbers that you call regularly you can store them in your mobile using a pause between the access number and the 0800 number.

For example, to store 0800 123 4567 using 0800Buster, save the following number in your mobile:

01255840800p08001234567#

The 'p' represents a pause and is obtained by pressing + three times on a Nokia handset.

There’s always the risk that the mobile operators will bar the access numbers but if they do check back to the provider’s website and there’s bound to be a replacement. 0800Buster cycle through a series of numbers; if you clear your cookies you’ll probably see a different one on their site. I’ve found ten so far and I’ve only reached 012!

This 0800 tip is great because it’s simple and Normob friendly – you don’t have to be a mobile geek to use it!