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Query about answering machines on a digital phone line

george1507 — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 16:17:25 GMT

Hi, I moved into a new house in the summer. This house has fibre broadband. BT kindly set me a new home hub to replace the old ADSL hub. It works fine. There's also a socket on the Home Hub for the phone (in this case a phone with answering machine). That works fine too.

Here's the issue. The fibre termination point (and therefore the Home Hub) is in the garage. So if I want to check whether I have a message when I get home, I have to go into the house and then into the garage to check the answering machine.

Is there a phone and answering combo that works wirelessly, or does the answering machine always have to be connected by a cable?

My alternative is to buy new phones (I need three for the house) and use 1571.

Thanks to anyone who can help resolve my dilemma.

Re: Query about answering machines on a digital phone line

licquorice — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 16:28:15 GMT

Presumably this is a corded combined phone/answering machine as all cordless (DECT) systems display if there is a message on the handset as well as the base station.

Either go for BT's digital voice phones, in which case the Hub acts as a DECT base station and no physical connection is required or simply buy a cordless phone/answering machine that you can plug into the hub. The former option is clearly the best.

You should have been offered DV phones from the outset, it might be worth contacting customer services to obtain a DV handset.

Re: Query about answering machines on a digital phone line

george1507 — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 11:16:37 GMT

So there is no cordless answering machine then?

The idea here is that I don't have to go to the garage to to check whether I have messages, and play them.

Re: Query about answering machines on a digital phone line

Keith_Beddoe — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 11:37:40 GMT

@george1507

If you ask for the Digital Voice adapter, you can plug your existing phone system into that.

https://www.bt.com/help/user-guides/phones/digital-voice/digital-voice-adapter

It should be free.

Re: Query about answering machines on a digital phone line

licquorice — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 12:14:30 GMT

As I said previously, with all cordless systems incorporating an answering machine, the received calls are viewed on the cordless handset. There are countless options to buy. The BT digital voice system doesn't have a local answering machine, it relies on 1571.