Town have quickly responded to criticism of the 0870 national rate Ticket Office phone number introduced ahead of the play-offs. The club say the new service will allow them to make improvements in the service the Ticket Office provides.

TWTD received a number of emails on the subject and asked the club to explain why they had made the change. A club spokesman told us: "The 0870 number will allow us to more effectively manage queuing by giving us the ability to allow more customers to hear messages.

"Currently the number of lines into the office (30) limits the number of people that can queue for an operator or listen to match information. Any subsequent callers after all lines are being used hear an engaged tone and are not able to hear even front-end messages which are used to provide vital daily ticket or event information.

"By switching to an 0870 system we effectively open up the information systems to an almost infinite number of callers who will be able to listen to vital daily information and use the menus for further information on home and away matches, and other events at the club.

"We will still have the same number of operators, but customers will have the information on call wait times to make an informed decision on whether they wish to queue or ring back

"The cost of 0870 calls is national rate so for many customers there will be no additional cost. For local callers the cost could be higher. However, with many providers for telephone services this may be marginal.

"More importantly, customers will be able to make more informed decisions on whether to hold or call later. On most days the average waiting time for customers should see little difference in charges, in some circumstances such as for very short calls they could even be less.

"The 0870 service does make a small amount of revenue for the club. This will be used to pay for the service and further enhancements to the systems.

"The first of these, which will allow supporters to buy home match tickets through an automated system giving 24/7 ticket sales cover, is planned to be available by the start of the new season.

"This will allow more calls to be answered during busy periods and obviously customers will be able to buy when the office is closed at off-peak call rates. This type of service is simply not feasible without the move to an 0870 service."

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