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iCS Ofcom Regulation

iCS Communications and all other UK communications providers are regulated under Ofcom’s General Conditions of Entitlement. These regulations apply to anyone who provides an electronic communication service or an electronic communications network.

A full list of the General Conditions of Entitlement for Phones Telecoms and Internet can be found here

General Condition C7 provides regulations on service migrations and home moves and General Condition C8 regulates how communications providers are able to market and sell mobile telephony services to customers. These General Conditions can be found here

Guidance on individual General Conditions can be found here

iCS Communications Regulatory Compliance Policy
It is our aim is to be compliant with all regulatory requirements for its industry. iCS Communications consistently works towards fulfilling these requirements by training and monitoring our people, auditing and updating our policies and processes so they reflect new and existing regulations.

iCS Code of Practice for Small Business Customers

Introduction to our Company and Services
iCS 1989 Ltd is an independent company that delivers communications services to both small and large business customers. ICS has been supporting customers with effective communication solutions since the business established in 1989. While we may not provide all the component parts of our services ourselves, we do take responsibility for the services delivered to you. 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, our domestic and small business customers, about our products, services, customer-care policies and where to find information about our charges and terms and conditions. Details of the specific conditions relating to your contract are set out in the documentation provided when you first subscribed to our services and are on our website icscomms.co.uk/terms-conditions/ or contact us as directed below.

How to Contact Us
Please contact our Customer Care Team using one of the following:
Phone: 08009778899 (opening hours: 9am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays)
Email: info@icscomms.co.uk
Letter: iCS 1989 Ltd, 3rd floor, 377-399 London Road, Camberley, GU15 3HL
Website: www.icscomms.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 Network Services Products and Services

  • Landlines and landline calls
  • CPS – Carrier Pre-Selection
  • WLR – Wholesale Line Rental
  • ISDN – digital telephone lines
  • Internet access via DSL, FTTC, LLU and Leased lines
  • Wide area data networks
  • VoIP and IP telephony services
  • Non-geographic numbers
  • Mobile telephone and data services

For more details on any of our products and services, or to place an order immediately, please contact our Sales Team on 01276 539333 or visit our website www.icscomms.co.uk.

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 (T&Cs)
When you subscribe to a service from iCS 1989 Ltd, we will provide you with a link to our standard Terms and Conditions and ask you to sign a contract. Alternatively we can send you a copy of our T&Cs upon request. If you have any questions about our T&Cs, please phone your Account Manager on 01276 539333. We may carry out a credit check as part of our assessment procedures.

Where applicable the minimum contract term for our services will be 12 months. We aim to provide services within the lead time we quote, 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
In the unlikely event that you should wish to cancel the service we provide, you should write or email us at the address below telling us what you wish to cancel and when you wish it to be effective. There may be a charge for early termination of your contract and this will be explained to you. Early termination charges are also set down in your Terms and Conditions documentation or on your monthly telephone bill and on our web site.

Please refer to the Termination Clause in our T&Cs. Any Termination must be received in writing at: cancellations@icscomms.co.uk.

Faults and Repairs
Please call our Service Desk Engineers on 01276539321 if you experience a fault with any of our services. We aim to have this investigated and respond to you as outlined in the Maintenance Service Agreement section in our T&Cs.

Compensation and Refund Policy
Our policy is to assess each claim on a case by case basis. We aim to investigate any claims and respond within 10 working days. Any refunds that are due will be credited to the next month’s invoice after investigation is complete.

Price Lists
Our pricing structure is available from our Sales Team on 01276 539333. We will write to you in advance, providing you with 30 days’ notice, if we change the pricing structure on your Network Services products and services.

Billing
We will bill you monthly in advance.

You can choose to pay us via a range of options including BACS and Direct Debit. These are agreed at the start of your contract. If you wish to change your method of payment at any time, please call our Finance Team on 01276 539340.

We provide electronic bills as part of our service. Paper copies are available on request, charges will be as outlined in your contract with us. We provide itemised bills as part of our service to you on request from our customer care team.

If you have difficulty paying your bill, please contact us on 01276 539340 and we will try to arrange a different method of payment. We will do all we can to help our domestic and 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 Office or Homeworker
Please call our account management team on 01276 539333 no later than 60 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
iCS 1989 Ltd 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 account management team on 01276 539333.

Directory Entries
You are entitled to a Directory Entry listing (including an entry in the Phone Book) for your fixed telephone numbers. If you do want your details included, please contact the account management team on 01276 539333.

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 obtain a copy of our Complaints Code free of charge and on request from our Customer Care Team on 0800 9778899.

Alternatively, copies are available free of charge and on request from our Customer Care Team on 0800 9778899.

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 older or who may have a disability:

  • Priority access to the Customer Service Team
  • Priority fault repair and assistance
  • Additional help and support if you have difficulty paying your bill

Copies of this Code are available in larger print on request.

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

iCS Code of Practice for Premium Rate Service (PRS) and Number Translation Service (NTS) Calls

Purpose of this Code of Practice
This code informs you, our domestic and small business customers, about our policies on providing information about Premium Rate Service (PRS) and Number Translation Service (NTS) calls and on our charging policy for calls to PRS and NTS 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” or “118”. Numbers starting 087 are also designated as Premium Rate numbers and subject to PRS regulation. Typical services include TV vote lines, mobile ringtone downloads, technical helplines, charity fund-raising and adult entertainment. It is also typical for calls to these services from for example, mobile phones, cable networks or public payphones will generally cost more that the advertised rate. Our charges for calling these services are available on request from out network services team on 01276 539399. 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 Network Services Team on 01276 539344 for advice on this. 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.

Number Translation Services
Number translation services (NTS) are based on numbers that are normally prefixed with either “08” or “03”. For example, 0800 and 0808 are used to provide freephone services (some freephone services are also provided on 0500 numbers). Numbers starting 084 are normally used for customer service helplines. 03, 084 and 087 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 from, for example, mobile phones, cable networks or public payphones will generally cost more that the advertised rate but communications providers must publish prices for calls to these types of numbers where these are higher than calls to geographic numbers Our charges for calling these services are available on request from out network services team on 01276 539399. If you are unhappy with the help you have received from us on a problem with PRS or NTS, please contact our Network Services Team on 01276 539344 and/or by email at networkservices@icscomms.co.uk. The Network Services Team have 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 including, ultimately, referring your complaint to Ombudsman Services. You can obtain a copy of our Complaints Code free of charge and on request from our Customer Care Team on 0800 9778899.

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. Software is available to detect this activity and we can help you to access this. The Phone-paid Services Authority has been given responsibility for policing this type of activity and you can contact them via www.psauthority.org.uk to ask for help or to report examples of this type of abuse. We can also help by barring calls to 09 numbers.

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. Software is available to detect this activity and we can help you to access this. The Phone-paid Services Authority has been given responsibility for policing this type of activity and you can contact them via www.psauthority.org.uk to ask for help or to report examples of this type of abuse. 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.

iCS Code of Practice on Complaint Handling and Dispute Resolution

iCS 1989 Ltd is an independent company which delivers communications services to 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. 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 Support Team using one of the following:

By phone: 0800 9778899
By email: info@icscomms.co.uk
By letter: iCS 1989 Ltd. 3rd floor, 377-399 London Road, Camberley, GU15 3HL

Please state clearly, or have to hand, your customer details including Company name, address and telephone number associated with your account.

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 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 Managing Director. 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:

Ombudsman Services: Communications
PO Box 730
Warrington
Cheshire
WA4 6WU
Phone: 0330 440 1614
Email: enquiries@os-communications.org
Website: www.ombudsman-services.org

Ombudsman Services/CISAS is an independent organisation which is approved by Ofcom to provide an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) service. Ofcom-approved ADR services sort out disputes between communications providers and their consumer and small business customers. Their job is to investigate complaints fairly by listening to both sides of the story. They look at the facts given to them before recommending any action that may be needed to put things right.

Alternatively, if at any time you are not satisfied with the progress of your complaint you can ask us to agree an early referral to ADR (i.e. that we issue a deadlock letter). However, we may decline to do so if we do believe we will shortly resolve your complaint and are taking active steps to do so.

Useful addresses

Ombudsman services
Adress: Ombudsman Services, The Brew House, Wilderspool Park, Greenall’s Avenue, Warrington, WA4 6HL.
Phone: 0330 440 1614
Email: enquiries@os-communications.org
Website: www.ombudsman-services.org

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

PhonepayPlus (formerly ICSTIS)
Address: Clove Building, 4 Maguire Street, London SE1 2NQ.
Phone: 0800 500 212 or 020 7940 7474
Email: info@phonepayplus.org.uk
Website: www.phonepayplus.org.uk

Telephone Preference Service
Address: DMA House, 70 Margaret Street, London W1W 8SS.
Phone: 0845 070 0707
Website: www.tpsonline.org.uk

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