http://www.tfl.gov.uk/contact/13879.aspx

From today one can no longer dial a London number to get London travel
information, one has to dial the new 0843 222 1234 number - 0843 numbers of
course cost more, from a BT line that's 5p a minute (plus a "call set up
fee" aka connection fee of 10.9p), but the real sting is for those who call
from mobiles - e.g. from an O2 contract phone it will cost 20p/min, or an O2
PAYG phone it'll cost 25p/min. And UIVMM the 0843 number range is not
included within any inclusive allowances offered by any landline telco (BT,
Virgin, Talk Talk etc), let alone any offered by a mobile provider.

A regressive step, IMHO. One trusts that TfL will retain ownership of ABBey
1234 nonetheless (you never know, it could be put back into use in the
future). As of this morning if you call the 7222 1234 number you'll hear a
recorded message directing you to dial the new 0843 number.

On 25 Oct, 08:45, "Mizter T" wrote:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/contact/13879.aspx

From today one can no longer dial a London number to get London travel
information, one has to dial the new 0843 222 1234 number - 0843 numbers of
course cost more, from a BT line that's 5p a minute (plus a "call set up
fee" aka connection fee of 10.9p), but the real sting is for those who call
from mobiles - e.g. from an O2 contract phone it will cost 20p/min, or an O2
PAYG phone it'll cost 25p/min. And UIVMM the 0843 number range is not
included within any inclusive allowances offered by any landline telco (BT,
Virgin, Talk Talk etc), let alone any offered by a mobile provider.

A regressive step, IMHO. One trusts that TfL will retain ownership of ABBey
1234 nonetheless (you never know, it could be put back into use in the
future). As of this morning if you call the 7222 1234 number you'll hear a
recorded message directing you to dial the new 0843 number.

It is interesting to read the official blurb on the TfL website about
the change.

New, voice-activated service

The new number includes a voice-activated service that will deal with
simple A to B journeys between stations, hospitals, major landmarks or
points of interest within the London area.

If your journey's more complicated you can speak to a travel adviser

Benefits
No more waiting to speak to someone
Get information easily and speedily
On the phone for less time
Travel advisers have more time for you if you do need them
We'll be making even more improvements to this service soon - watch
this space.

It will be interesting to see how the "voice activated" service copes
with the following tube journeys:-

Morden to Wimbledon
London Bridge to Liverpool Street
Euston To Russell Square
Walthamstow Central to Leytonstone

All of which are generally quicker by bus.

It never ceases to amaze me how deteriorations in service are dressed
up as "improvements". Rather like the Royal Mail in my area who,
motivated by a desire to "constantly improve our service to our
customers" have decided that the last collection from the local pillar
box will be at 5:30pm instead of 6:30pm.

On 25 Oct, 14:37, Paul wrote:
On 25 Oct, 08:45, "Mizter T" wrote:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/contact/13879.aspx

From today one can no longer dial a London number to get London travel
information, one has to dial the new 0843 222 1234 number - 0843 numbers of
course cost more, from a BT line that's 5p a minute (plus a "call set up
fee" aka connection fee of 10.9p), but the real sting is for those who call
from mobiles - e.g. from an O2 contract phone it will cost 20p/min, or an O2
PAYG phone it'll cost 25p/min. And UIVMM the 0843 number range is not
included within any inclusive allowances offered by any landline telco (BT,
Virgin, Talk Talk etc), let alone any offered by a mobile provider.

A regressive step, IMHO. One trusts that TfL will retain ownership of ABBey
1234 nonetheless (you never know, it could be put back into use in the
future). As of this morning if you call the 7222 1234 number you'll hear a
recorded message directing you to dial the new 0843 number.

*It is interesting to read the official blurb on the TfL website about
the change.

New, voice-activated service

The new number includes a voice-activated service that will deal with
simple A to B journeys between stations, hospitals, major landmarks or
points of interest within the London area.

If your journey's more complicated you can speak to a travel adviser

Benefits
No more waiting to speak to someone
Get information easily and speedily
On the phone for less time
Travel advisers have more time for you if you do need them
We'll be making even more improvements to this service soon - watch
this space.

It will be interesting to see how the "voice activated" service copes
with the following tube journeys:-

Morden to Wimbledon
London Bridge to Liverpool Street
Euston To Russell Square
Walthamstow Central to Leytonstone

All of which are generally quicker by bus.

It never ceases to amaze me how deteriorations in service are dressed
up as "improvements". Rather like the Royal Mail in my area who,
motivated by a desire to "constantly improve our service to our
customers" have decided that the last collection from the local pillar
box will be at 5:30pm instead of 6:30pm.

Of course it's an improvement. We can now make journeys of our own
choice, freed from the burden of interference by travel advisors.

On Oct 25, 12:45*am, "Mizter T" wrote:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/contact/13879.aspx

From today one can no longer dial a London number to get London travel
information, one has to dial the new 0843 222 1234 number - 0843 numbers of
course cost more, from a BT line that's 5p a minute (plus a "call set up
fee" aka connection fee of 10.9p), but the real sting is for those who call
from mobiles - e.g. from an O2 contract phone it will cost 20p/min, or an O2
PAYG phone it'll cost 25p/min. And UIVMM the 0843 number range is not
included within any inclusive allowances offered by any landline telco (BT,
Virgin, Talk Talk etc), let alone any offered by a mobile provider.

A regressive step, IMHO. One trusts that TfL will retain ownership of ABBey
1234 nonetheless (you never know, it could be put back into use in the
future). As of this morning if you call the 7222 1234 number you'll hear a
recorded message directing you to dial the new 0843 number.

Agreed on all points. The new automated system could just as easily
been implemented on the old, 020-7222 1234, number.

On Oct 25, 9:09*pm, 1506 wrote:

On Oct 25, 12:45*am, "Mizter T" wrote:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/contact/13879.aspx

From today one can no longer dial a London number to get London travel
information, one has to dial the new 0843 222 1234 number - 0843 numbers of
course cost more, from a BT line that's 5p a minute (plus a "call set up
fee" aka connection fee of 10.9p), but the real sting is for those who call
from mobiles - e.g. from an O2 contract phone it will cost 20p/min, or an O2
PAYG phone it'll cost 25p/min. And UIVMM the 0843 number range is not
included within any inclusive allowances offered by any landline telco (BT,
Virgin, Talk Talk etc), let alone any offered by a mobile provider.

A regressive step, IMHO. One trusts that TfL will retain ownership of ABBey
1234 nonetheless (you never know, it could be put back into use in the
future). As of this morning if you call the 7222 1234 number you'll hear a
recorded message directing you to dial the new 0843 number.

Agreed on all points. *The new automated system could just as easily
been implemented on the old, 020-7222 1234, number.

Except that wouldn't have resulted in any revenue, whilst with the
0843 number, TfL gets a cut of the monies.

On 25 Oct, 21:20, Mizter T wrote:
On Oct 25, 9:09*pm, 1506 wrote:





On Oct 25, 12:45*am, "Mizter T" wrote:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/contact/13879.aspx

From today one can no longer dial a London number to get London travel
information, one has to dial the new 0843 222 1234 number - 0843 numbers of
course cost more, from a BT line that's 5p a minute (plus a "call set up
fee" aka connection fee of 10.9p), but the real sting is for those who call
from mobiles - e.g. from an O2 contract phone it will cost 20p/min, or an O2
PAYG phone it'll cost 25p/min. And UIVMM the 0843 number range is not
included within any inclusive allowances offered by any landline telco (BT,
Virgin, Talk Talk etc), let alone any offered by a mobile provider.

A regressive step, IMHO. One trusts that TfL will retain ownership of ABBey
1234 nonetheless (you never know, it could be put back into use in the
future). As of this morning if you call the 7222 1234 number you'll hear a
recorded message directing you to dial the new 0843 number.

Agreed on all points. *The new automated system could just as easily
been implemented on the old, 020-7222 1234, number.

Except that wouldn't have resulted in any revenue, whilst with the
0843 number, TfL gets a cut of the monies.

Does anyone know if they get a bigger cut of the bigger fees charged
to mobiles for those numbers? I've never understood the logic behind
that.

On Oct 25, 9:49*pm, MIG wrote:

On 25 Oct, 21:20, Mizter T wrote:

On Oct 25, 9:09*pm, 1506 wrote:

On Oct 25, 12:45*am, "Mizter T" wrote:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/contact/13879.aspx

From today one can no longer dial a London number to get London travel
information, one has to dial the new 0843 222 1234 number - 0843 numbers of
course cost more, from a BT line that's 5p a minute (plus a "call set up
fee" aka connection fee of 10.9p), but the real sting is for those who call
from mobiles - e.g. from an O2 contract phone it will cost 20p/min, or an O2
PAYG phone it'll cost 25p/min. And UIVMM the 0843 number range is not
included within any inclusive allowances offered by any landline telco (BT,
Virgin, Talk Talk etc), let alone any offered by a mobile provider.

A regressive step, IMHO. One trusts that TfL will retain ownership of ABBey
1234 nonetheless (you never know, it could be put back into use in the
future). As of this morning if you call the 7222 1234 number you'll hear a
recorded message directing you to dial the new 0843 number.

Agreed on all points. *The new automated system could just as easily
been implemented on the old, 020-7222 1234, number.

Except that wouldn't have resulted in any revenue, whilst with the
0843 number, TfL gets a cut of the monies.

Does anyone know if they get a bigger cut of the bigger fees charged
to mobiles for those numbers? *I've never understood the logic behind
that.

I think the 'termination fee' (that is, the fee paid to the final
telco, which in this instance it then shares with the called party) is
the same regardless of where the call originates from (so the rest is
kept by the mobile service provider) - so from a mobile users
perspective it's a mighty expensive way for TfL to collect a few
pennies for the call.

On 26 Oct, 01:09, Mizter T wrote:
On Oct 25, 9:49*pm, MIG wrote:





On 25 Oct, 21:20, Mizter T wrote:

On Oct 25, 9:09*pm, 1506 wrote:

On Oct 25, 12:45*am, "Mizter T" wrote:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/contact/13879.aspx

From today one can no longer dial a London number to get London travel
information, one has to dial the new 0843 222 1234 number - 0843 numbers of
course cost more, from a BT line that's 5p a minute (plus a "call set up
fee" aka connection fee of 10.9p), but the real sting is for those who call
from mobiles - e.g. from an O2 contract phone it will cost 20p/min, or an O2
PAYG phone it'll cost 25p/min. And UIVMM the 0843 number range is not
included within any inclusive allowances offered by any landline telco (BT,
Virgin, Talk Talk etc), let alone any offered by a mobile provider.

In message
, at
00:33:14 on Tue, 26 Oct 2010, MIG
remarked:

It leaves the question: why would it cost the mobile company more to
connect to one of these numbers than to connect to any other number?

It doesn't necessarily[1]. Phone calls are not priced on a cost-plus
basis.

[1] Although it probably does cost the mobile phone company more to
carry the call from a handset to the interconnection point, than it
would cost many landline operators. If "cost" takes everything into
account.
--
Roland Perry

On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 12:33:14AM -0700, MIG wrote:

Which makes sense from a billing point of view. It leaves the
question: why would it cost the mobile company more to connect to one
of these numbers than to connect to any other number?

Because they get billed more by TfL's telco.

However, them charging 20p+ a minute instead of just 5p a minute is
"because we can".

--
David Cantrell | Minister for Arbitrary Justice

The word "urgent" is the moral of the story "The boy who cried wolf". As
a general rule I don't believe it until a manager comes to me almost in
tears. I like to catch them in a cup and drink them later.
-- Matt Holiab, in the Monastery