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Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

kevin_hollands — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 11:09:18 GMT

BT upgraded my broadband to full fibre on the 4th Dec as part of the change to didgital voice. An order was raised on the 13th Oct without even telling me. I found out by looking at my account. Anyway an engineer upgraded me on the 4th Dec. Broadband working fine then discovered next day that friends had been trying to ring but were just getting continuous ringing at their end (nothing at my end). I could make calls no problem. I contacted BT via the online chat and they sent an engineer who thought he fixed it and was blaming my old phone. After he went I found out I could not receive calls. So I bought a new digital phone but still no joy. Then the following happened

18 Dec contacted BT. Said they would look into it and would phone me back on the 20th - No call received. Thought it must be being dealt with so left until after Christamas.

02 Jan - checked account still showed order was open. Phoned up and was told problem with porting my number and it had failed. BT said order was stuck so would open a new order. Then said they would phone back next day for update. Never phoned. Checked account and now showing 2 orders for same thing.

06 Jan - phoned again. Spoke to Janade. He said it had failed again and would pass to specialist teaam to clear jammed orders on database and not to worry it would all be working in 3 working days. Today is the 10th and I still cannot receive calls.

I not sure phoning up again is not going to get me anywhere. Does anyone know who I should contact to get this resolved?

I can't understand why there are no follow ups to the problems and I was also told I would get compensation for each day so this mounting up now as well.

Thank you

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

jac_95 — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 11:12:39 GMT

Hi kevin_hollands,

Thanks for the post and welcome to the Community.

This is an automated response as I can see you have a question about BT’s Digital Voice service. Rather than waiting for a response from the Community, you may find an answer to your question by using the search bar on the Community homepage. We also have a thread that contains a wealth of info related to BT’s Digital Voice, click this link to take a look, Digital Voice FAQs.

Got some questions or want to learn more about BT’s Digital Voice rollout? BT are running localised events as part of the regional rollout of Digital Voice - Click here to view the Digital Voice events

To learn more about the nationwide change to this Internet based voice service visit landlinesgo.digital

If you have already looked for the answer to your question and have not found anything that can help, then please ignore this message. One of our Community members will be along shortly to help you further.

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

Keith_Beddoe — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 11:17:54 GMT

@kevin_hollands

Is your phone, or the base unit for your digital phone system, plugged into the green socket on the back of the BT Smart Hub 2?

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

kevin_hollands — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 11:18:08 GMT

I have a digital phone, registered with the hub and it is working fine for outgoing calls

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

Keith_Beddoe — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 11:24:48 GMT

Assuming outgoing calls are presenting the correct number, then the issue is with the incoming routing. Were you a BT customer before the upgrade to full fibre, and was your number originally issued to you by BT?

Things can get complicated if your number was not originally issued by BT.

I assume your digital phone is one specifically designed for BT Digital Voice?

If that is the case, can you turn off multi-call.

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

kevin_hollands — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 11:26:51 GMT

Existing BT customer for over 30 years with same number. It is a BT advanced digital phone. BT keep telling me the porting process has failed.

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

kevin_hollands — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 11:29:03 GMT

It is in single call mode

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

Keith_Beddoe — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 11:42:23 GMT

Then the transfer from PSTN to DV is normally handled robotically, the same way as the forced changeovers to DV. As you can appreciate, all the normal incoming routes have to be migrated to the DV platform. Sometimes people can still receive some calls from BT customers, but not other providers or mobiles.

It does sound like this process has failed, and the incoming calls are still terminating on the local PSTN exchange. The caller would still hear ring tone, but as you no longer have a copper connection, they will not get any further. I assume the copper line was recovered?

You problem would have been passed to a specialist team, and are probably very busy, as each customer may have different issues.

You should be given updates from BT, once they have fixed the problem.

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

imjolly — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 11:47:00 GMT

is your new phone like this https://www.bt.com/help/user-guides/phones/digital-voice/bt-advanced-digital-home-phone

or like the advanced digital voice phone here https://www.bt.com/help/user-guides/phones/digital-voice/bt-advanced-digital-home-phone-with-alexa-built-in

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

kevin_hollands — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 11:50:36 GMT

I appreciate they are busy but they give me a time scale then it fails. At no point over the 5.5 weeks have they contacted me with updates. If they told me that they are working on it then I would be happy. But each time I ring it sounds like they are starting again. Hence my frustration

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

kevin_hollands — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 11:52:31 GMT

I have the advanced with alexa. Please note that I had the same problem with my original analogue phone after the fibre upgrade hence my digital phone purchase.

Cheers

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

Keith_Beddoe — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 12:02:49 GMT

So the analogue wired phone plugged into the BT Smart Hub 2 was exactly the same, outgoing but no incoming calls?

Its still worth leaving the analogue wired phone plugged into the hub, just in case it starts receiving calls, in fact I would try that, and call from a a mobile phone if you have one, and see if the phone rings.

If you just hear ringing tone, then lift the phone handset as if you are going to answer the call, and see if it connects.

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

kevin_hollands — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 12:08:11 GMT

Hi Keith, have tried that. I have omitted a few things from my post because I was really hoping someone could tell me where to go with this not a technical solution. I can ring my home phone from my BT mobile and I had a call from someone who is on digital voice. So it is analogue and other mobile providers that have the problem. Hence the porting failure

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

Keith_Beddoe — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 12:26:56 GMT

What you describe is fairly common, and I suspect its due to the way OLOs (Other Licenced Operators) were originally integrated into the BT Core Network at OLO interconnect exchanges.

I saw a lot of this when I worked for BT, and circuits were connected across digital frames. Many of the records then were on paper cards, and I often wonder whether they were kept up-to-date. Also all of those technicians would have retired a long time ago.

The job of identifying where the calls are entering the local PSTN exchange, sounds like a nightmare, plus all the other mobile provider`s calls. Its your problem amplified thousands of times. It must be a real headache for the teams involved, having to trace each 64Kbs routing.

I cannot really see any quick solution, until the team get around to looking at your case.

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

kevin_hollands — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 12:31:25 GMT

Thanks Keith.

Cheers

Kevin

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

chrisjp — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 16:58:45 GMT

"BT keep telling me the porting process has failed."

That can't be true, otherwise you'd not be able to make outgoing calls.
Why oh why do BT's telephone agents keep giving out such b*lls**t?
It seems their main ambition is to get the pesky customer off their call as soon as they can. Unless of course they can sell you something or "upgrade" your contract and thus earn themselves commission.

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

licquorice — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 18:00:56 GMT

It is true, the routing for incoming calls is entirely different to making outgoing calls.

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

Keith_Beddoe — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 19:30:52 GMT

@chrisjp

Outgoing calling is easy, one source, one destination, the core network.

Incoming calls, from multiple and diverse routes, from different providers, which originally terminated on the local exchange, being remapped to a single destination, far more complex.

The records for some of these incoming routes, may be missing or inaccurate, and is going to involve manually tracing the route using specialised test equipment.

An incoming connection from an OLO would appear as a 64Kbs timeslot on any of the 2Mb links into an exchange, each link carrying 30 channels. Then there is the separate signalling link on some of the older networks, which have to be matched with the voice traffic.

Imagine having to identify those failed calls, and then migrate them onto the DV platform, so they reach their destination. So you can see that the teams dealing with these porting issues, are going to be very busy.

Re: Awful Inhumane Service - New Fibre Service - No Landline for 1 week - Vulnerable adult

kevin_hollands — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 09:48:38 GMT

Hello Chris (moderator), sorry to contact you via another thread but I really need some help. I have seen you have been successful in solving problems on here. Did you see my post yesterday? See below. I would appreciate it if you could help me out. Thank you

Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

18 Dec contacted BT. Said they would look into it and would phone me back on the 20th - No call received. Thought it must be being dealt with so left until after Christamas.

I not sure phoning up again is not going to get me anywhere. Does anyone know who I should contact to get this resolved?

I can't understand why there are no follow ups to the problems and I was also told I would get compensation for each day so this mounting up now as well.

Thank you

Re: Since Digital Voice Upgrade on 4th Dec - Can't receive any phone calls - contacted BT 4 times!

kevin_hollands — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 09:51:39 GMT

Hi Keith, thanks again for your explanations. I was wondering, would the incoming routing problem occur if a caller is on my local exchange? One caller just literally lives round the corner but just gets continuous rings when they call me.

Cheers

Kevin