Southern Communications Code of Practice

Including our Basic Code of Practice and our Code of Practice for Premium Rate Services and NTS calls

Part 1 – Southern Communications Basic Code of Practice for Small Business Customers.

Introduction to our company and services

Southern Communications is an independent telecommunications company that delivers communications services to business customers throughout the UK. While we may not provide all the component parts of our services ourselves we will liaise with our suppliers to ensure that any problems with their services are resolved promptly.

Purpose of this Code of Practice

This code informs you about our products, services, customer-care policies and where to find information about our charges and terms and conditions. This Code of Practice is published on our website at www.southern-comms.co.uk/code-of-practice. Additional copies are available on request and free of charge to any small business customer.

How to contact us

Please contact our Customer Service Team:

By phone: 0845 634 0800 From 8am until 6pm Monday-Friday

By Phone: 0844 880 2848 Out of Hours 6pm to 8am Monday – Friday 24 hours Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays.

By email: candl@southern-comms.co.uk

By fax: 0845 634 0808

By letter: Southern Communications Ltd, Down Street, Dummer, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG25 2AD

Website: www.southern-comms.co.uk

Our commitment to you

We are committed to giving you the highest quality of customer service. When we purchase our services from wholesale providers, we choose those providers carefully to ensure that you get a high-quality service. We make every reasonable effort to supply services that satisfy your requirements. We work to all relevant laws and regulations.

Our products and services

• Landline calls
• CPS – Carrier Pre-Selection
• WLR – Wholesale Line Rental
• ISDN – digital telephone lines
• Broadband access
• VoIP & IP telephony services
• Non-geographic numbers
• Intelligent Call Routing
• Mobile telephone and data services
• Equipment and maintenance service
• Audio conferencing

For more details on any of our products and services, or to place an order immediately, please contact us on 0845 634 0800.

Terms and Conditions

When you subscribe to a service from Southern Communications Ltd we will ask you to sign a contract, if applicable and refer you the terms and conditions detailed on our website. If you have any questions concerning services please phone our Customer Service Team on 0845 634 0800 or queries concerning contract or price should be addressed to our Customer Relations Team on 08450 538 778. We may carry out a credit check as part of our assessment procedures.

Where applicable, the standard minimum contract term for our services is 12 months. Longer or shorter term contracts may also be offered. We aim to provide services promptly subject to the availability and installation of any equipment and, where appropriate, lines to your premises. If we need to carry out a survey of your premises or lay additional cabling, we will inform you of the revised timescales as soon as we can.

Cancellation

If you decide to cancel your new order or agreement before we have taken any action to provide any services to you, you may do so without charge within ten working days after your order is placed. This is not applicable to renewed agreements where service is already provided. If you choose to terminate a new agreement after ten working days we will charge you a fee as set out in your contract. If you wish to terminate your contract within your agreed minimum term, please call our Customer Relations Team on 08450 538 778. We will charge you a fee as set out in our terms and conditions. After the minimum term you can cancel your service by e-mailing our Customer Relations Team at customerrelations@southern-comms.co.uk, giving us 30 days notice to expire on the contract anniversary date or at end of the renewed agreement or that in subsequent term. (please refer to our terms and conditions for definition of these terms).

Faults and repairs

Please call our Fault Service Team on 08450 567 765 option 3 if you experience a fault with any of our services. We aim to have this investigated and repaired within the parameters set to us by BT or other service provider, or as agreed in your maintenance contract. This timeframe will vary dependant on severity of fault and type of service, which may mean we will seek to improve on this timeframe.

Refund policy

Our policy is to assess each claim on a case by case basis. We aim to investigate any claims and respond within five working days for an internal matter, or following closure of an external issue. We will confirm to you whether the case can be dealt with internally or will need to be presented to our suppliers. Any refunds that are due will be credited to you, if dealt with internally, on the next invoice, or , if external influences are involved, following reimbursement to us.

Price lists

Our pricing structure is complied on a case by case basis further information can be obtained from our Customer Relations Team on 08450 538 778. We will write to you in advance if we change the pricing structure on your products and services. This can be notified by e-mail or on an invoice up to four weeks in advance.

Billing

We will send you invoices on a monthly basis via email notification or post as agreed. You can choose to pay us via a range of options including Direct Debit, BACS, Cheque or Credit
Card. These are agreed at the start of your contract. If you wish to change your method of payment at any time, please call our Billing Team on 0845 056 7771. If you have difficulty paying your bill, please contact us on 0845 056 7750 or payments@southern-comms.co.uk and we will try to arrange a payment plan for you. We will do all we can to help our business customers to manage their bills and avoid disconnection.

If you are moving home or office

Please call our Movers Team on 0845 634 0800 no later than 45 days before your move date. We will amend your account and billing requirements as necessary. We will endeavour to offer you the same telephone number to minimise disruption but please note that for geographic numbers this is not always possible.

Number porting

Southern Communications recognise that keeping your existing telephone numbers may be important to you. If you move your business to us and wish to keep the number that you have with your old provider, we will arrange it where possible. We will work with you to ensure that the services are switched over at a convenient and appropriate time. For more information, please call our Customer Service Team on 0845 634 0800.

Directory Entries

You are entitled to a Directory Enquiry listing (including an entry in the Phone Book) for both your fixed and mobile telephone numbers. If you do want your details included, please contact our Customer Service Team on 0845 634 0800

Complaints

We make every effort to ensure that our customers are happy with the level of service, and the products and service they receive from us. However, despite our best efforts, things can go wrong. We take customer complaints very seriously and aim to resolve them quickly and efficiently.
Our Code of Practice on Complaint Handling and Dispute Resolution explains how customers can complain. The code also provides information on how we deal with complaints. You can find a copy of our Complaints Code on our website at www.southern-comms.co.uk/code-of-practice. Alternatively, copies are available free of charge and on request from our Customer Service Team on 0845 634 0800.

Nuisance calls

We take the problem of nuisance calls and malicious communications very seriously. We tackle it by working closely with the police and others in the communications industry. If you have been a victim of this activity, please call the Customer Service Team on 0845 634 0800 to report the incident and for information on how to deal with it.

We encourage parents to register the mobile phones of their children, and take responsibility for all customer care enquiries.

Copies of this Code are available in larger print and other formats on request

Data protection

We comply fully with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Part 2 –Southern Communications Code of Practice for Premium Rate Services and NTS Calls

Purpose of this Code of Practice

This code informs you about our policies on providing information about Premium Rate Service (PRS) calls and on our charging policy for calls to NTS and PRS numbers.

Premium rate services

Premium rate services (PRS) are telephone numbers that offer some form of information or entertainment that is charged to your phone bill. UK-based PRS numbers are normally prefixed by “09”. 0871 is now also designated as a Premium rate number and subject to PRS regulation. Typical services include TV votelines, mobile ringtone downloads, technical helplines, charity fund-raising and adult entertainment.

Charges for these services are added to your telephone bill. Calling these services from, for example, mobile phones, cable networks or public payphones will generally cost more than any advertised rate. Our charges for calling these services are available on request from our Customer Relations Team.

If you have a problem with PRS, we can help. We can provide advice on checking the telephone number of any PRS charges that appear on your bill and will try to help you identify the premium rate service provider. We can use call barring to restrict access to “09” numbers. Please call our Customer Service Team on 0845 634 0800 for advice on this. You can also ask for help from PhonepayPlus (formerly ICSTIS), which is the industry-funded regulatory body for Premium Rate Services. PhonepayPlus operates a code of practice that sets out standards for the operation of PRS. You can use the PhonepayPlus website at www.phonepayplus.org.uk to check PRS numbers direct or to download a complaint form. PhonepayPlus has legal powers to require a provider of PRS to amend its service or promotional material (or both) and can also impose penalties on content service providers. For other ways to contact PhonepayPlus, see the “Useful addresses” section below.

Number translation services

Number translation services (NTS) are based on numbers that are normally pre-fixed “08”. For example, 0800 and 0808 are used to provide freephone services (some freephone services are also provided on 0500 numbers). 0844 and 0845 numbers are used for dial-up pay-as-you-go Internet access and customer service helplines. 0870 numbers are used for information services, technical helplines and telephone banking. They are also used by organisations to help them provide call-management features such as intelligent call routing and fax-to-email services.

Charges for calling services on NTS numbers are added to your telephone bill. Calling these services from, for example, mobile phones, cable networks or public payphones will generally cost more than the advertised rate but communications providers must publish prices for calls to 0870 numbers where these are higher than for calls to geographic numbers. Our charges for calling these services are available on request from our Customer Relations Team and via our website.

If you are unhappy with the help you have received from us on a problem with PRS or NTS, please contact the Customer Services Manager on 0845 634 0800 or email candl@southern-comms.co.uk, who has responsibility for compliance with our code of practice for PRS and NTS. You may also complain using the complaints procedure set out in our complaints code.

Internet diallers

If you use the Internet, it is possible for software to be placed on your computer without you knowing - using the same methods as for computer viruses. This type of software (known as Internet or rogue diallers) can then make calls to PRS and NTS numbers without your knowledge. PhonepayPlus has been given responsibility for policing this type of activity and you can contact them via www.phonepayplus.org.uk to ask for help or to report examples of this type of abuse. For other ways to contact PhonepayPlus, see the “Useful addresses” section below. We can also help by barring calls to 09 numbers.

The Telephone Preference Service

If you don’t want to get sales and marketing calls you have not requested, you can add your details to a list run by the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). If your number is on the list, it is illegal for a company to call you for marketing purposes. You can contact the Telephone Preference Service via www.tpsonline.org.uk or by telephoning 0845 070 0707.

Useful addresses

tSOL– PO Box 730, Warrington, Cheshire, WA4 6WU. Tel: 01925 430870 or 0845 050 1614
email: enquiries@otelo.org.uk Website: www.otelo.org.uk

Ofcom - Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 9HA. Tel: 020 7981 3040 or 0300 123 3333 email: contact@ofcom.org.uk Website: www.ofcom.org.uk

PhonepayPlus (formerly Icstis)- Clove Building, 4 Maguire Street, London, SE1 2NQ. Tel: 0800 500 212 or 020 7940 7474 Website: www.phonepayplus.org.uk email info@phonepayplus.org.uk
Telephone Preference Service - DMA House, 70 Margaret Street, London W1W 8SS Tel: 0845 070 0707 Website: www.tpsonline.org.uk

Federation of Communication Services (FCS) - Burnhill Business Centre, Provident House, Burrell Row, Beckenham, Kent BR3 1AT. Tel: 020 8249 6363 email: fcs@fcs.org.uk Website: www.fcs.org.uk

Southern Communications
Code of Practice on Complaint Handling and Dispute Resolution

Southern Communications is an independent telecommunications company that delivers communications services to business customers throughout the UK. While we may not provide all the component parts of our services ourselves we will liaise with our suppliers to ensure that any problems with their services are resolved promptly.

We make every effort to ensure that our customers are happy with the level of service, and the products and service they receive from us. However, despite our best efforts, things can go wrong. We take customer complaints very seriously and aim to resolve them quickly and efficiently.
If you have a complaint about any part of our service, please contact our Customer Service Team using one of the following:

By phone: 0845 634 0800

By email: candl@southern-comms.co.uk

If you telephone, our advisors will ask you about your complaint and seek to resolve the problem while you are on the line. During any discussions we will protect the privacy of the information that we hold on you. To do this we may have to ask you questions to confirm that we are speaking to the right person.

If you make your complaint by email or in writing, we will acknowledge receipt, advise how and when we will next respond and provide you with a contact point for checking progress on the resolution of your complaint.

We will try to resolve your complaint quickly and efficiently, and to keep you informed at all times.
We normally aim to resolve complaints within 10 working days but, depending on the nature of the complaint, this is not always possible. However, If you are not happy with progress in resolving your complaint you can ask the person to whom you are speaking to escalate the matter to their manager, and ultimately to the Director of Calls and Lines or Technical Support and IT. If we cannot resolve the problem, we will write to you to say so.

If it has been more than 8 weeks from the date you first contacted us to complain or you have received a letter from us saying that your complaint has reached “deadlock”, then you may ask for help from:.

The Ombudsman Services LTD (tOSL) Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm

PO Box 730,
Warrington,
Cheshire,
WA4 6WU
Tel: 01925 430049 or 03304 401614