Code of Practice

Code of Practice
New Call Telecom Ltd
November 2010

This Code of Practice is published by New Call Telecom Ltd. New Call Telecom is a highly professional telecommunications company providing an efficient, cost-effective and quality service to its customers. This Code of Practice aims to ensure that such a service is delivered.

1. Introduction to New Call Telecom

New Call Telecom Ltd acquired the retail assets of Primus Telecommunications UK Ltd on 1st October 2010.

New Call Telecom, owned and managed by an experienced team of Primus UK retail specialists

The acquisition sees the creation of a diverse and agile company better equipped to serve its customer base with a more focused team.

New Call has set out a comprehensive programme of improvements to existing services and the addition of new services to further improve the customer experience and value for money.

New Call Telecom Ltd (“New Call”) whose registered office is at Bow House, 1A Bow Lane, London EC4M 9EE operates the following business divisions:

i. Primus Saver; a post-paid residential home phone and broadband provider*
ii. Planet Talk; a prepaid residential international calls provider
iii. Primus Business; a post-paid business phone and broadband provider*
iv. Primus VoIP; a post-paid business phone and broadband service

* Carrier Pre Selection, Wholesale Line Rental, Local Loop Unbundled services

2. The purpose of the code

This code of practice, together with our standard terms and conditions for the relevant product or service that you take from us, describes the relationship between you the customer, and us, the service provider. The purpose of this code of practice is to provide our customers with details of:

the services New Call offer and how we aim to deliver those services to you; and
what you should do if you want to contact New Call regarding a new service or to tell us about any issues with an existing service.

This code is available for review on our website http://www.newcalltelecom.co.uk. Customers can request a hard copy by calling 0800 036 3839 or by writing to our Customer Services Address detailed in the ‘Contacts Us’ section at the end of this document. Braille and Large print versions of this code are also available by individual request.

3. Our Products & Services

Primus Saver

Primus Home Phone Saver: line rental and inclusive evening & weekend calls to UK landlines.

Primus Home Phone Max: line rental and inclusive anytime calls to UK landlines.

Primus Eco Saver: line rental and inclusive evening & weekend calls to UK landlines. Contribution to the Tree Council with every sale.

Primus Eco Saver Plus: line rental and inclusive anytime calls to UK landlines. Contribution to the Tree Council with every sale.

Phone & Broadband – Primus Saver: line rental, broadband and inclusive evening & weekend calls to UK landlines.

Phone & Broadband – Primus Max: line rental, broadband and inclusive anytime calls to UK landlines.

Primus Broadband: up to 8mb broadband, up to 24Mb broadband.

Primus Saver Basic: prepaid 3 month line rental package

Primus Saver Value: prepaid 6 month line rental package

Primus Saver Plus: prepaid 12 month line rental package

Primus Saver Extra: prepaid 12 month line rental package with inclusive calls to UK landlines.

Planet Talk

Planet Talk Instant: International calling service using 0844, 0871, and 090 number to access our network.

Planet Talk Card: International calling service for mobile phone purchased via Premium SMS (PSMS) and accessed using 0207/0800 access number.

Planet Talk Account - Prepay: Prepay telecom account for International and UK calls. Account has to be opened online / phone and prepayment required via credit card.

Planet Talk Account - Pay Monthly: Coming soon. Direct Debit Pay monthly residential accounts providing CPS, New Lines and broadband.

Primus Business

Primus Business Talk: Business Analogue line rental and calls (per minute rates)

Business Talk: Discounted Business Analogue line rental and calls (per minute rates)

Business Talk Capped: Discounted Business Analogue line rental and calls (capped rates)

Business Anytime: Business Analogue line rental and inclusive calls to local and national numbers (01, 02 & 03) during business hours

ISDN2 (2 Channels): Business ISDN rental (Digital System)

ISDN30 (8 Channels): Business ISDN rental (between 8 & 30 channels)

Business Talk LLU: Discounted Business line, broadband and calls

Business Anytime LLU: Discounted Business line, broadband and inclusive calls to local and national numbers (01, 02 & 03) during business hours

Business Saver: Pre-paid 12 months discounted business line rental

Business Broadband Basic: Up to 8Mb broadband with 10Gb Data limit

Business Broadband Value: Up to 8Mb broadband with unlimited Data limit (fair use policy applies)

Business Broadband Plus: Up to 24Mb broadband with 60Gb Data limit

Business Broadband Max: Up to 24Mb broadband with unlimited Data limit (fair use policy applies)

Business VoIP Premium 1-3 users: Business VoIP monthly line rental

Business VoIP Premium 4-6 users: Discounted Business VoIP monthly line rental

Business VoIP Premium 7-14 users: Further discounted Business VoIP monthly line rental

VoIP Total Business Premium: Business Analogue line rental and inclusive calls to local and national numbers (01, 02 & 03) during business hours

VoIP Saver: Business VoIP monthly line rental with free VOIP handset

VoIP Saver Unlimited: Business VoIP monthly line rental with free VOIP handset and inclusive calls to local and national numbers (01, 02 & 03) during business hours

All our products and services for new and existing customers can be reached via www.newcalltelecom.co.uk.

4. Pricing Information

You can find details of our product and service pricing at www.newcalltelecom.co.uk or by calling respective our sales teams:

Primus Saver: 0800 036 0094

Planet Talk: 0800 036 3839

Primus Business: 0800 036 3698

Primus VoIP: 0800 036 3698

5. Registering for New Call services

5.1 Primus Saver

To sign up for any of our Primus Saver products simply visit www.primussaver.co.uk or call our freephone sales line on 0800 036 0094.

Lines are open 8am to 9pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 6pm on weekends. This line is reserved for sales enquiries only and the personnel manning the line are not able to handle any issues related to customer services or technical support queries.

Prospective customers may also register for services via hard copy application form which is provided by our direct sales force for registrations that occur face to face with one of our sales representatives.

It takes approximately 16 days to set up line rental, calls and broadband services whether taken separately or as part of a bundle. As such we may test your phone line to confirm that you may receive the service. Once we have received your application we will contact BT who will set up the service(s) on your phone line. Once BT have confirmed the order for broadband you will be issued with an installation kit comprising of a router and an installation guide. Once BT have confirmed your order for home line rental and calls you will receive a welcome letter and switch confirmation letter by post or by email depending on the package and options selected at time of sign up. You do not need to take action upon receipt of these letters.

5.2 Planet Talk

To sign up for any of our Planet Talk services simply visit www.planet-talk.co.uk or for more information call our freephone customer services line on 0800 036 3839 or e-mail planettalkers@primustel.co.uk.

Calls & emails are answered 8am to 9pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 6pm on weekends

5.3 Primus Business

To sign up for any of our Primus Business products simply visit www.primusbusinesstalk.co.uk or call our freephone Account Management team on 0800 036 3698.

Lines are open 8.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday.

5.4 Primus VoIP

To sign up for any of our Primus VoIP products simply visit www.primusvirtualphone.com or call our freephone Account Management team on 0800 036 3698.

Lines are open 8.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday.

6. Billing

6.1 Who bills me?

As a Primus Saver, Primus Business, Planet Talk Pay Monthly or Primus VoIP customer you will receive a free monthly itemised bill from us. Electronic billing is free of charge and Paper Billing carries a monthly charge.

If you have a calls only product (i.e. CPS) your calls will be billed by New Call and your line rental by your current provider.
If you have a broadband only product your broadband will be billed by New Call and your calls and line rental will be billed by your current provider.
If you have a line rental and calls package (CPS & WLR) your line rental and calls will be billed by New Call and your broadband service will be billed by your current provider.
If you have a line rental, calls and broadband package (LLU) these three services will all be billed by New Call.

6.2 What payment methods are available?

Our products and services require varying methods of payment:

Primus Saver: Direct Debit payment only
Primus Saver new line installations: Credit Card / Debit Card payment only
Planet Talk: Credit Card only
Primus Business: Cheque, Direct Debit or mandated credit card payment depending on package selected.
Primus Business new line installations: Credit Card / Debit Card payment only
Primus VoIP: Cheque, Direct Debit or mandated credit card payment depending on package selected.

If you have difficulty paying your bill, please contact the Customer Service Team as soon as possible, where we will discuss alternative methods of payment with you. Please note that if we are not aware that you are having difficulty paying your bill we may send reminder letters requesting payment.

7. Cancelling & Disconnecting your services

7.1 Line rental
All our line rental services have either a 12 or 18 month minimum contract . To cancel your service please call our Customer Service team on 0800 036 3839.

7.2 Broadband
All our broadband services have an 18 month minimum contract . To cancel your service please call our Customer Service team on 0800 036 3839.

7.3 CPS
If you are using CPS, the procedure we use to disconnect you will depend on which operator you select to carry your calls in the future. You are responsible for contacting the operator to arrange this. It is then the responsibility of your new service provider to confirm when they will start handling your calls. In the meantime we will continue to bill you for your calls and remain on our terms and conditions.

There is no minimum period for supplying this service. However, you will continue to be responsible for calls you make before your new provider starts handling your calls, or if you have chosen not to receive CPS from another provider, until the date on which the termination notice applies.

Please note that if you do not pay our bill within 30 days, we can disconnect any service in line with our standard terms for this service. We may end your internet access if you break a term of your contract with us that allows us to take this action.

7.4 Early Termination of Contract
Primus Saver, Primus Business and VoIP packages come with minimum term contracts of varying length depending on the package selected. To ensure that New Call recovers its costs invested in the set up, provision of hardware used to operate the service, customer support and any associated network costs resulting from disconnection of your services with New Call, a maximum early termination charge of £75 per line subscribed will be levied on your account if you instigate the transfer of any services held with any of New Call’s products to another provider whilst within the minimum term of any contract you may have agreed to. In the unfortunate event that you do choose to move your services away once the minimum term has been reached then the cancellation notice period for that contract applies, which is typically 30 days written notice.

VoIP

Please call our Business Team on 0800 036 3698.

8. Faults & Repairs

8.1 Line Rental & Calls (Primus Saver & Primus Business)

If you experience a problem with your phone line and/or calls you should contact the Primus Saver service team by calling 0800 036 3839 or the Primus Business account management team on 0800 036 3698 whereby you can either reach a representative directly, or a voicemail message where you can leave the necessary information.

During New Call business hours, 8:00am and 9.00pm Monday to Friday, 8.00am to 6.00pm on weekends for Primus Saver and 8.30am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday for Primus Business, we will note the following details and generate a trouble ticket relating to the issue. Customers shall provide the following information to Primus when reporting faults:

Account Name and Number
Type of line
Originating Number
Terminating Number
Terminating Destination
Time and Date of when exact fault occurred
Reported Problem
Contact Details i.e., Contact name & number

New Call shall use commercially reasonable efforts to provide the following response times from the time of reporting to us depending on Customer care level purchased by the Customer;

Care Level 1: 24 hour response
Care Level 2: 4 hour response (within business hours), next working day response (outside business hours)
Care Level 3: 4 hour response

Care Level 2 and 3 carry a monthly charge, whilst Care Level 1 is offered as standard without charge.

8.2 Broadband (Primus Saver & Primus Business)

If you have a problem with your broadband connection you should contact the Primus Saver service team by calling 0800 036 3839 or the Primus Business account management team on 0800 036 3698 whereby you can either reach a representative directly, or a voicemail message where you can leave the necessary information.

Account Name and Number
Type of line
Service Number
Time and Date of when exact fault occurred
Reported Problem
Contact Details i.e., Contact name & number

During this call we will provide advice and support to assist you in resolving the broadband issue. If however we identify that the problem is within our network, we will aim to restore service within 48 hours.

8.3 VoIP (Primus Business)

If you have a problem with your VoIP connection you should contact the Primus Business account management team on 0800 036 3698 whereby you can either reach a representative directly, or a voicemail message where you can leave the necessary information.

During New Call business hours, 8.30am Monday to Friday for Primus Business, we will note the following details and generate a trouble ticket relating to the issue. Customers shall provide the following information to Primus when reporting faults:

Account Name and Number
Type of line
Service Number
Time and Date of when exact fault occurred
Reported Problem
Contact Details i.e., Contact name & number

8.4 Mobile calls (Planet Talk)

If you experience a problem with your Planet Talk service you should contact the Planet Talk customer service team by calling 0800 036 3839 whereby you can either reach a representative directly, or a voicemail message where you can leave the necessary information.

During New Call business hours, 8:00am and 9.00pm Monday to Friday, 8.00am to 6.00pm on weekends we will note the following details and generate a trouble ticket relating to the issue.

Account Name and Number
Type of line
Service Number
Time and Date of when exact fault occurred
Reported Problem
Contact Details i.e., Contact name & number

During this call we will provide advice and support to assist you in resolving the Planet Talk issue and provide a timescale for resolution, usually to fully restore the service within 48 hours.

8.5 Reporting Abuse

Should you wish to report any incident in which you believe your computer may have been accessed without your permission please contact our Primus Saver Customer Service team between 8:00am and 9.00pm Monday to Friday, 8.00am to 6.00pm at weekends. For Primus Business please call our Account Management team between 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Details of the incident will be compiled and sent to our network assurance team for investigation.

9. Complaints

New Call aim to provide you with brilliant quality of service and value for money products. However we appreciate that sometimes the need arises for an issue to be escalated. New Call are committed to resolving issues in a timely manner with the minimum amount of fuss. In the next few paragraphs we will outline how you can contact us and if necessary raise a complaint:

9.1.1 How to make Contact (Primus Saver / Planet Talk)

Should you be unhappy with the service provided to you please contact our Customer Service team on 0800 036 3839 and they will be happy to assist you. Calls to this number are free of charge. Lines are open from Monday to Friday 8am to 9pm and Weekends from 8am until 6pm.

9.1.2 How to make Contact (Primus Business / Primus VoIP)

Should you be unhappy with the service provided to you please contact our Business Account Management team on 0800 036 3698 and they will be happy to assist you. Calls to this number are free of charge. Lines are open from Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5.30pm.

9.2 New Call Customer Relations Team

If you do not feel you have received a satisfactory response from one of our customer care teams then please write to our Customer Relations Team at the following address:

Customer Relations Team
New Call Telecom Customer
6 Snow Hill
London
EC1A 2AY

You can expect a response within 7 working days from us receiving your letter but please note that delays may occur due to the postal service, both in our receipt of your correspondence and our response to it.

9.3 New Call Customer Management Team

If you do not feel you have received a satisfactory resolution to your complaint by our Customer Relations Team then you can request that this is reassessed by our Customer Management Team.

Customer Management Team
New Call Telecom
6 Snow Hill
London
EC1A 2AY

9.4 New Call Customer Management Team

If you do not feel New Call have resolved your complaint effectively then we can provide you with a ‘deadlock’ letter so that you may approach an independent alternative dispute resolution scheme. New Call telecom use Otelo for this purpose. If however your complaint has taken longer than 8 weeks to resolve then you can approach Otelo directly.

10. Independent advice

If you are not happy with the way New Call proposes to resolve the problem you can bring your complaint to Otelo. (Office of the Telecommunications Ombudsman). Otelo investigates Customers' complaints about telecoms services fairly. This service is free and independent.

New Call is a member of Otelo and as such is obliged to respond to Otelo enquiries and accept their decision on complaints.

Otelo

Office of the Telecommunications Ombudsman
PO Box 730
Warrington WA4 6VW
Phone: 0845 050 1614
Fax: 0845 050 1615
E-mail: enquiries@otelo.org.uk

10.1 General Complaints Address

Customer Service Team
New Call Telecom
6 Snow Hill
London
EC1A 2AY

11. Useful Contacts

Ofcom

Ofcom is the regulator for the communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services. Its purpose is to monitor and regulate communications within the UK.

Ofcom
Riverside House
2a Southwark Bridge Road
London SE1 9HA
Phone: 0845 456 3000
Fax: 0845 456 3333
Website: http://www.ofcom.org.uk

TPS – Telephone Preference Service

The Telephone Preference Service provide a service whereby you can register your home or business phone number to stop you from receiving unwanted marketing calls:

Telephone Preference Service (TPS)
DMA House
70 Margaret Street
London
W1W 8SS
Tel 020 7291 3320
Fax 020 7323 4226
Email tps@dma.org.uk
Web http://www.tpsonline.org.uk

ICSTIS

The Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICTIS)
4th Floor, Clove Building
4 Maguire Street
London
SE1 2NQ
Phone: 020 7940 7474
The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB)
Website: http://www.nacab.org.uk

12. Customer obligation

The Customer undertakes that the registration details that the Customer provides shall be true and complete. The Customer agrees to inform New Call of any changes to registration details immediately by calling the Customer Service Department or by sending an e-mail to the appropriate e-mail address above.

The Customer undertakes not to use the Service:

As a mean of communication for a purpose other than that for which the Service is provided.
For the transmission of any material, which is, or intended to be a hoax call to emergency services or is of defamatory, offensive, abusive, obscene or menacing character.

13. Privacy Policy

The Customer’s account details and personal information are covered by the Data Protection Act 1998.
To make sure we keep our Customers' personal details secure, we have an identification procedure in place which is part of the training for all our Customer Service Department. As an account holder, the Customer will need to confirm their password on each occasion they contact the Customer Service Department. We advise the Customer to keep their password secure and confidential at all times. The Customer should tell us immediately if they think that an unauthorised person has gained access to their password.
For further details on our privacy policy please visit the appropriate website set out in section 3 above or call the necessary number.

14. Terms and Conditions

The Customer will be advised of, and if they so request, receive a copy of our terms and conditions when the Customer contracts for any of our products and/or services. The terms and conditions are also available on the relevant websites set out in section 3 above.

15. Customers with visual impairment

We are able to provide our written documents including our Code of Practice in an alternative format such as large print. The Customer should call the Customer Service Department and indicate whether they wish to receive bills, terms and conditions, our Code of Practice or any other information in this format.

16. Customers with hearing impairment

We have worked very closely with the RNID (Royal National Institute for the Deaf) to ensure that our Customer Service Department get the relevant awareness in terms of giving the right assistance to our Customers with hearing impairment.
Please let us know if you have any suggestions on how we can improve the service we provide to our special needs Customers and our elderly Customers.
Please send your suggestions to the New Call Telecom Customer Services, 6 Snow Hill, London EC1A 2AY.

17. Code of Practice review

This code is reviewed regularly as required by Ofcom. Customers will be informed of any changes to the Code of Practice.
The latest version of our Code of Practice is available on our websites; www.newcalltelecom.co.uk, www.primussaver.co.uk, www.planet-talk.co.uk and www.primusbusinesstalk.co.uk.

The Customer can receive a hard copy by contacting the Customer Service Department at the address set out in Section 3 above.

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