Part 1 – Code of Practice for Small Business Customers

Introduction to our Company and Services

Odyssey Systems Ltd is an independent company that delivers communications services to small business customers. While we may not provide all the component parts of our services ourselves, we do take responsibility for the services delivered to you. So 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 www.odyssey-systems.co.uk Additional copies are available on request and free of charge to any domestic and small business customer. It is also available in alternative formats, e.g. large print

How to Contact Us

Please contact our Customer Service Team using one of the following:
By Phone: 01642 661800
Opening Hours: from 8.30am until 5.00pm Monday-Friday excluding bank holidays
By Email: post@odyssey.uk
By Letter: Odyssey Systems Ltd, Lockheed Court, Preston Farm, Stockton on Tees, TS18 3SH
Or via our website: www.odyssey.uk
Our registered office address is: 1 Lockheed Court, Preston Farm, Stockton on Tees, TS18 3SH

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 telephones and calls
• WLR – Wholesale Line Rental
• ISDN – digital telephone lines
• Broadband access
• VoIP & IP telephony services
• Non-geographic numbers
• Internet
• Mobile telephone and data services
• Equipment and maintenance service

For more details on any of our products and services, or to place an order immediately, please contact our Customer Service Team on 01642 661800.

Marketing

We work to the principles in the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing, which are set out on the website www.cap.org.uk.

Terms and Conditions

When you subscribe to a service from Odyssey Systems Ltd, we will send you our Standard Terms and Conditions and ask you to sign a contract, if applicable. If you have any questions, please phone our Customer Service Team on 01642 661800. We may carry out a credit check as part of our assessment procedures.

Where applicable the minimum contract term for our services will be twelve months. We aim to provide services within fourteen working days of your original request, 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 order or agreement before we have provided the services, you may do so without charge within ten working days of your order being placed. If you wish to terminate your contract within the minimum term of your Agreement with us, please call our Customer Service Team on 01642 661800. We will charge you a fee as set out in your contract. After the minimum term you can cancel any service by giving us one months’ written notice (unless otherwise specified on your order or agreement).

Faults and Repairs

Please call our Customer Service Team on 01642 661800 if you experience a fault with any of our services.

For SMEs, if required we will discuss operational service levels for the following on a case by case basis:

• activation of a new service
• restoration following loss of service
• keeping a pre-agreed engineer appointment

Compensation and Refund Policy

We do not offer automatic compensation payments in cases where the service level targets are not met and will assess any claim for compensation on a case by case basis. Any payment made will be on a purely discretionary basis.

We do not feel that fixed level compensation payments are appropriate for business customers, who we advise to seek other ways, such as insurance, to protect themselves against the impact of any loss of service.

Price Lists

Our pricing structure is available from our Customer Service Team on 01642 661800. We will write to you in advance if we change the pricing structure on your products and services.

Billing

We will bill you monthly.

Our payment terms are set out in our Terms and Conditions. If you wish to change your method of payment at any time, please call our Customer Service Team.

We provide itemised bills delivered by email as part of our service to you. Printed bills are available for a fee of £3.00 per month.

If you have difficulty paying your bill, please contact us on 01642 661800 and we will try to arrange a different method of payment. We will do all we can to help our small business customers to manage their bills and avoid disconnection. In any event, you will be given 48 hours notice of any decision to disconnect your services.

Moving Home or Office

Please call our Customer Service Team on 01642 661800 no later than 30 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

Odyssey Systems 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 if you ask us. 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 01642 661800.

If we fail to allow you to move your number away from us, we will pay you compensation at a rate of 1/365th cost of number per day of delay.

Directory Entries

You are entitled to a Directory Entry 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 01642 661800.

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 and your right to take unresolved complaints to Alternative Dispute Resolution. You can find a copy of our Complaints Code at www.odyssey.uk.

Alternatively, copies are available free of charge and on request from our Customer Service Team on 01642 661800.

Services for People with Special Needs

We are committed to helping all our customers to communicate easily. We offer the following additional services on request for customers who are vulnerable or who may have a disability:

• Priority access to the Customer Service Team
• Priority fault repair and assistance
• Text Relay Service
• Mobile SMS access to Emergency Services
• Third party bill management
• Access to a free Directory Enquiries service for people who are unable to use the printed phone book
• Copies of bills, contracts and this Code in an accessible format

Data Protection

We comply fully with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018.

Part 2 – Code of Practice for Calls to Premium Rate Service, Unbundled Tariff and Personal Numbers

Purpose of this Code of Practice

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

Unbundled Tariff Numbers

Unbundled Tariff Numbers are non geographic numbers starting with 084, 087, 090, 091, 098, or 118 which are used to provide a range of information and entertainment services and are charged to your telephone bill.

Charges for these services are made up of two parts, a Service Charge and an Access Charge and the total is added to your telephone bill. You will see the Service Charge advertised by the company providing the service alongside the number. Depending on the type of number called, the Service Charge can be up to £3.60 per minute, or £6 per call or per text (including VAT).

The Access Charge is retained by us, your phone company. Our Access Charge for calling Unbundled Tariff numbers is 8.00p. Unbundled Tariff numbers in the 084, 087, 090, 091, 098, or 118 ranges are not included in your monthly call minutes allowance.

Personal Numbers

Personal Numbers are numbers starting with 070. Calls to Personal Numbers are charged at the same rate as for mobile numbers. Calls to Personal Numbers are not included in your monthly call minutes allowance.

Controlled Premium Rate Services

Controlled Premium rate services (CPRS) are Unbundled Tariff numbers which cost 7p per minute or more. UKbased CPRS numbers are normally prefixed by “09” or “118”. Numbers starting 087 are also designated as Premium Rate numbers and subject to PRS regulation when they cost 7p per minute or more. Typical services include TV votelines, mobile ringtone downloads, technical helplines, charity fund-raising and adult entertainment. Calls to 118 services are capped at £3.65 for a 90 second call (including VAT) plus our Access Charge.

If you have a problem with Premium Rate Services, 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 01642 661800 for advice on this. We can give you a factsheet on PRS.

You can also ask for help from the Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) which is the industry-funded regulatory body for Premium Rate Services. PSA operates a Code of Practice that sets out standards for the operation of PRS. You can use the PSA website at www.psauthority.org.uk to check PRS numbers direct and find contact details for the company in question or to submit a complaint. PSA has the legal powers to require a provider of PRS to amend its service or promotional material (or both) and can also order refunds and impose penalties on service providers for breaches of the PSA Code. For other ways to contact Phone-paid Services Authority, see the “Useful addresses” section below.

If you are unhappy with the help you have received from us on a problem with PRS, please contact Andrew Middlemiss on 01642 661800 and by email post@odyssey-systems.co.uk who has responsibility for compliance with our code of practice for PRS. You may also complain using the complaints procedure set out in our complaints code including, ultimately, referring your complaint to Ombudsman Services.

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

Our Approved Alternative Dispute Resolution Provider :

The Ombudsman Services
3300 Daresbury Park, Daresbury, Warrington, WA4 4HS
T: 0330 440 1614
E: enquiry@ombudsman-services.org
W: www.ombudsman-services.org

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

Phone-paid Services Authority
40 Bank Street London, E14 5NR
T: 0800 500 212 or 020 7940 7474
E: info@psauthority.org.uk
W: www.psauthority.org.uk

Telephone Preference Service
DMA House, 70 Margaret Street, London W1W 8SS
T: 0345 070 0707
E: tps@dma.org.uk
W: www.tpsonline.org.uk

Federation of Communication Services (FCS)
The Grainger Suite, Dobson House, Regent Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 3PF
T: 020 7186 5432
E: fcs@fcs.org.uk
W: www.fcs.org.uk

Correct at time of printing, published November 2020