This topic

BT Voicemail (1571) text alerts and greetings gone.

marmitesandwich — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 21:28:07 GMT

When I first opened an account with BT for full fibre including digital voice (nearly 2 years ago, so the notice period is about to expire...), I set up voicemail with a greeting and mobile linking, so that I received text alerts whenever I received a message. Great features, which I rely on to present a professional image and which have been working fine.

Yesterday I missed an important call which I only discovered when I got home after being away. I discovered it only from the handset display - there was no SMS text. When I called myself to check it out, the voicemail greeting had gone and it was saying "the person you called..." - very embarrasing and very unprofessional.

I have reset the mobile link and greeting and tested them both which seem to be working.

Question: Why did the service fail, and how do I know when it will fail again? Do I need to regularly call myself to check that it is working? Or should I switch to another provider(s).

Yours hopefully,
Marmite

Re: BT Voicemail (1571) text alerts and greetings gone.

jac_95 — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 21:32:39 GMT

Hi marmitesandwich,

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: BT Voicemail (1571) text alerts and greetings gone.

marmitesandwich — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 08:55:09 GMT

Many thanks, @jac_95, for your automated response. I don't think the issue is related to Digital Voice, it is really about the Voicemail service and its reliability. Therefore I will continue to post to the community, in the hope that someone, including possibly a BT employee, can throw some light on the failure. They might not have the answer, but if I can get any indication about whether this is a widespread problem or not, it will help me to make my decision about whether to stay with BT for broadband/voice.
Cheers,
Marmite

Re: BT Voicemail (1571) text alerts and greetings gone.

marmitesandwich — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 09:06:55 GMT

OK, I have carried out more testing and the results are not encouraging. After leaving messages for myself, I did get text messages to my chosen mobile number, but with varying delays. The first few came within 2 or 3 minutes. The last 2 messages left at 21:54 and 22:10 were not received until 06:11 (both together). Delays of over 8 hours. On this basis, the text alert service (and therefore the whole voicemail service) is of no use to me.

Can anyone reassure me that the text alert service is more reliable than this, and that if the service is important to me, I should stay with BT for digital voice and its associated voicemail service?

Regards,
Marmite

Re: BT Voicemail (1571) text alerts and greetings gone.

iniltous — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 10:23:10 GMT

If your service is used for your business, bearing in mind it’s a residential product so not designed for business, and priced as residential , then you may want to consider a more business focused product from BT or a competitor …as fas as switching to another residential provider expecting better service than the service you are currently experiencing with BT , that’s going to prove impossible to know without actually switching….the additional features you use may not be offered by every competitor company, and if they do offer similar features you won’t know if they are better, worse or the same as BT until you move ….that may seem unhelpful, but asking for advice on a BT forum about competitor products isn’t allowed, you would need to research the alternatives yourself , possibly ask on their forums ( if they exist ) about that company’s products and if their customers are happy especially with these additional services , but ultimately it would be a leap of faith , and that’s a choice only you can make

Re: BT Voicemail (1571) text alerts and greetings gone.

marmitesandwich — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 10:55:37 GMT

Many thanks, @iniltous. I don't expect advice from the community on choosing an alternative provider. I am seeking assurance from existing users that my experience is not typical and that the voicemail service is generally more reliable than that described. Or alternatively, some suggestion about why the service failed completely. Your comment suggests that I should not expect voicemail to work promptly in the way it claims, since it is only priced as a residential service. Still waiting to hear otherwise form another user.

Re: BT Voicemail (1571) text alerts and greetings gone.

truCido — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 11:41:09 GMT

Did you setup the original greeting before November? There was a migration to a new platform and I received a letter informing me these things would be lost during the migration and would need to be setup again.

Re: BT Voicemail (1571) text alerts and greetings gone.

marmitesandwich — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 13:21:37 GMT

That is the most useful piece of information I have seen for a long time on a forum like this. Checking my emails in October, I did receive this advice. My apologies to the great BT for impugning their voicemail system. So, it seems unlikely that this apparent "failure" will happen again. I just need to decide now whether I can put up with 8 hour delays in receiving the alert texts.

Many thanks to @truCido .

Marmite