Dial the beach and de-stress

Orange launches UK's first dedicated 'Relaxation Line'

From today stressed-out workers can ‘dial-a-beach’ as a pioneering new service from Orange launches in Britain – playing some of the UK’s most relaxing sounds.

Nearly seven in ten Brits (67%) found the sound of the sea lapping against the shore the ultimate calming environment to listen to, followed by a crackling log fire (47%), the sound of a forest (33%), birdsong (33%) and a typical English village green (18%). Now customers can listen to them for free on the Orange Relaxation Line, whenever they need some time-out in the run up to Christmas.

Given eight in 10 people in the UK crave some form of daily stress relief from work and family pressures, Orange travelled the length and breadth of the country to capture these tranquil sounds for people to listen to.

Orange customers can now dial 347 for free from their handset, or non Orange customers can call 07973 100 347 to the following soothing options:

• Woodland Forest
• Waves lapping on Brighton beach
• Traditional hubbub of an English village green
• Calming crackle of a log fire
• Restful hum of birdsong

The Orange Relaxation Line launched on the back of studies conducted by behavioural therapists which showed how soothing, calming sounds can help melt away stress and heighten overall well-being.

Richard Schoch, Professor of the History of Culture at the University of London and Author of The Secrets of Happiness, commented: “Recent studies** show that listening to recorded sounds of the ocean for just 12 minutes can lower both the pulse and blood pressure. We know certain sounds make us feel calmer because they slow down the body’s stress response: listening to the sounds on the Orange Relaxation Line can help inject a bit of calm into a frenzied lifestyle”.

Lara Molins Caplin, Spokesperson from Orange UK commented: “This time of year is particularly chaotic, so what better than dialling a free service that provides on-demand the calming sounds of an ocean? Relief from stress and strain is now just a phone call away.”

If you’re an Orange customer, call the Relaxation Line free by dialling 347 on your handset or head to the What’s Hot section of Orange World to download the bespoke sounds as calling tunes. Non-Orange customers can call 0207 050 6888 with standard network charges applying.

Ends

Notes to Editors

The research for Orange was carried out by Opinions Matter between 03/09/09 and 08/09/09 across a sample of 1414 UK Adults

The sounds were captured on the morning of 19th November at Brighton Beach, Brighton Nature Reserve, Open House and Canterbury Aviary

Richard Schoch is Professor of the History of Culture at Queen Mary, University of London and author of The Secrets of happiness: three thousand years of searching for the good life

*Free for Orange customers **Researchers at the College of Nursing in Seattle, Washington

About Orange

Orange is the key brand of the France Telecom Group, one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators. With 126 million customers, the Orange brand now covers Internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the Group operates.

In the UK, Orange provides high quality GSM coverage to 99% of the UK population, and 3G coverage to more than 93%. At the end of September 2009, Orange had more than 17 million customers in the UK – 16.11 million active mobile customers and approximately 900,000 fixed broadband customers.

At the end of 2008, France Telecom had consolidated sales of 53.5 billion euros (38.1 billion euros for the first nine months of 2009) and at 30 September 2009, the Group had a customer base of almost 190 million customers in 32 countries. These include 128.8 million mobile customers and 13.4 million broadband Internet (ADSL) customers worldwide. Orange is the number three mobile operator and the number two provider of broadband Internet services in Europe and, under the brand Orange Business Services, is one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational companies.

Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trade marks of Orange Personal Communications Services Limited.