This topic

Problems encountered with advent of Digital Voice

JohnMutley_65 — Sun, 26 Dec 2021 16:10:02 GMT

Having recently been transferred by BT to Digital Voice, (DV) I thought it would be a good idea to warn others of problems this has raised, as BT failed to notify of such consequences of the switch to DV.

1. We have had the BT 8600 cordless telephone Answering Machine System for well over a year(?) working without problems, all recorded messages awaiting for us when we returned home with flashing green light on base to notify us of said calls. Once we were switched to DV this facility was removed and we had no knowledge until family/friends contacted us by other means, (mobile phone etc) to query why we had failed to return their calls. MAJOR FAILURE BY BT! It is one of their own systems yet they failed to warn customers of this loss of facility/failure of their product.

2. Prior to DV we had the luxury of 4 phones in our home, 3 BT 8600 cordless phones located in (a) hall, (base station) connected to Openreach Box in hall, (b) living room, and (c) office upstairs, together with a landline in the bedroom which worked during power cuts, (quite a few of late) this gave great peace of mind. Since DV we have lost the landline safety back up, so a power cut means no phone!

3. Reduction in quality of service inasmuch that since DV there is an occasional hiss on line during conversation, also occasionally an echo of one's conversation whilst talking, like a mobile to mobile in poor area?

Hope the above is of some information to others so they are aware of potential reduction in service by BT!

Re: Problems encountered with advent of Digital Voice

imjolly — Sun, 26 Dec 2021 17:30:46 GMT

I already posted a solution to you message recording on your 8600 so have you tried that?

This problem has already been posted and the solution is as above

Did you get a free DV phone? If not I would phone CS 150 or 0800800150 from mobile and request a free phone

Re: Problems encountered with advent of Digital Voice

JohnMutley_65 — Sun, 26 Dec 2021 19:22:53 GMT

Thank you for your reply, and no, it did not work. It is obviously, one presumes, a fault on my part but we have had enough today, we will pursue the problem tomorrow perhaps.

You have also missed the point raised, I wished to inform/advise other customers that if they too have the same BT 8600 system in their homes that their answering phone system will no longer work when switched to DV. So, I am grateful to you (and others that may follow) with offering solutions to that problem caused by switching to DV, but I say again, BT FAILED TO ADVISE THEIR CUSTOMERS THAT SWITCHIING TO DV WOULD RENDER THEIR OWN (BT PRODUCTS) USELESS WITHOUT HAVING TO MAKE ADAPTIONS AND FAILED TO ADVISE WHAT THOSE ADAPTIONS WERE!

I rest my case.

Re: Problems encountered with advent of Digital Voice

JohnMutley_65 — Sun, 26 Dec 2021 19:26:31 GMT

Further to my reply just posted, I should hasten to ad that I do not live in a digital world, I live in a real world, I go online when it suits me, (I pay the bill!) so I am now logging off on my laptop, I may turn it on again tomorrow if I find the time but it may be Tuesday, however I am and always will be grateful for help/advice offered.

Re: Problems encountered with advent of Digital Voice

-Richie- — Sun, 26 Dec 2021 19:27:33 GMT

Not moving to DV will cause bigger issues mind, once the PSTN is switched off in a few years time, DV will be the only option or no voice service at all.
It has its pro's and con's, we'll all get used to it eventually, not every 3rd party device will work as it once did, BT will supply 1 Alexa device free or 2 Essential phones free for customers though.

Re: Problems encountered with advent of Digital Voice

imjolly — Sun, 26 Dec 2021 19:34:03 GMT

@JohnMutley_65 wrote:
Further to my reply just posted, I should hasten to ad that I do not live in a digital world, I live in a real world, I go online when it suits me, (I pay the bill!) so I am now logging off on my laptop, I may turn it on again tomorrow if I find the time but it may be Tuesday, however I am and always will be grateful for help/advice offered.

I don't know why solution worked for another customer and not you maybe when you find time you can try again ensuring DV is set to 10 rings and 8600 set to a lesser number

The digital world is already here

Re: Problems encountered with advent of Digital Voice

JohnMutley_65 — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 12:14:40 GMT

Situation is still status quo. We have sought assistance from neighbours (unfortunately not BT customers, they are virgin and sky respectively) but they are not impressed. Guess we will have to learn to live with this for the moment, we are currently viewing options to switching to another provider, plusnet currently seems to be the best value for money.

I have this morning tried to do online chat with BT because online message on my account states Broadband discount ending soon, so following online prompts it eventually comes up onscreen advising our account is currently fibre 2, (I wish it still was) so went onto chat to query this, I was 36 out of 40 in a queue being reviewed after every 2 mins, now down to 8 but am fed up with such poor service so logging off for a cuppa!

Re: Problems encountered with advent of Digital Voice

Keith_Beddoe — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 12:20:09 GMT

@JohnMutley_65

All providers have to cease the analogue phone service, and go digital, even Plusnet.

Re: Problems encountered with advent of Digital Voice

JohnMutley_65 — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 14:37:15 GMT

Thanks for that info, guess I'll have to dig my semaphore flags out of the loft but there will be no one to understand them.

Re: Problems encountered with advent of Digital Voice

JohnMutley_65 — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 14:40:39 GMT

Further to my earlier reply, still do not understand why BT tell me my account is fibre 2 when they switched me to DV on 15th December?

Re: Problems encountered with advent of Digital Voice

licquorice — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 15:19:43 GMT

DV and fibre2 are not mutually exclusive.

DV can be implemented on any broadband service.

Re: Problems encountered with advent of Digital Voice

-Richie- — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 15:28:37 GMT

@JohnMutley_65wrote:
Further to my earlier reply, still do not understand why BT tell me my account is fibre 2 when they switched me to DV on 15th December?

Fibre 2 is the name of the broadband package, the billing side shouldn't change as it has always stated broadband and calls, which applies if you have PSTN, FVA or DV

Re: Problems encountered with advent of Digital Voice

JohnMutley_65 — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 11:50:18 GMT

Thanks.

Re: Problems encountered with advent of Digital Voice

JohnMutley_65 — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 12:14:31 GMT

Thanks for your reply, another neighbour has been around since and we now have an answering phone facility back working again.

However, it was most gratifying to watch "Rip Off Britain" today on BBC 1, to see BT severely criticised in the programme for the way it has implemented the switchover from Analogue to Digital. I was beginning to think it was just me, but to the contrary there are hundreds of other BT customers who have encountered major problems since the switchover.

BT got its knuckles rapped and obviously have a long way to go to restore customer confidence. There has been insufficient research into potential problems that will be caused by the switch, it has to happen of course, but the "techygeeks" have failed in their assessment of the problem, as was clearly highlighted in the programme.

Re: Problems encountered with advent of Digital Voice

ChrisGee — Mon, 08 May 2023 11:30:11 GMT

I’m with you John. When things work as they should, digital voice should be fine. In the real world we’re not all young fit and ok should there be a problem for example power cuts when mobile signal is unimpressive. When you are a carer for someone who is physically disabled power cuts can be a worrying event. I have lost count over the years how glad to have a landline when the lights, heating and wireless phones have stopped working. When we were young and fit a power cut would not present a problem now they are a real problem due to the stress they cause (they happen in my area with monotonous regularity. However if BT provide a method of contacting family etc during a power cut (which i believe they have to do for vulnerable customers) then it may not be the end of the world.