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Help with elderly relative's landline

jmarsden — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 14:25:34 GMT

I have an elderly relative who says his landline has been disconnected. I'm not sure if this is due to him being late paying his bill. When I call the number it still rings and then eventually it connects with the 1471 answer service. How can I find out what has happened and get him re-connected?

Re: Help with elderly relative's landline

imjolly — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 14:31:43 GMT

you can try message now on billing but you may find problems getting information unless you are account manager (not holder) or you have POA

https://www.bt.com/help/contact-bt/account-and-billing/broadband

Re: Help with elderly relative's landline

Christopher_G — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 14:34:41 GMT

Hi @jmarsden

I appreciate you trying to help your relative out with this. Are they in a position to be able to call our Customer Support team? Alternatively, if you're near them and can pop in, once they pass security they can authorise for you to speak with our support guides on that call.

Chris

Re: Help with elderly relative's landline

jmarsden — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 16:08:39 GMT

thank you

Re: Help with elderly relative's landline

Chris__S — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 07:43:53 GMT

You're welcome @jmarsden Let us know how you get on.

Chris S

Re: Help with elderly relative's landline

jmarsden — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 07:49:24 GMT

Actually, I've established that my relative hasn't been cut off. His line is still connected but the system needs resetting, which involves my relative being guided through plugging and unplugging various cables. This may be quite challenging for him as he is in poor health at the moment. Apparently BT won't arrange for someone to visit the home as it is not considered a fault as such.

Re: Help with elderly relative's landline

licquorice — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 09:43:03 GMT

I suspect he has been moved to Digital Voice, if so, it is simply a case of unplugging the phone from the wall socket and plugging it into the green socket at the rear of the hub instead.

Re: Help with elderly relative's landline

jmarsden — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 09:49:56 GMT

thanks - that's very useful. However, I wonder if it is necessary for him to have digital voice or if this can be rolled back.

Re: Help with elderly relative's landline

imjolly — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 10:10:39 GMT

from other posts once moved to DV there is no way back to previous phone setup

is your relative registered here

https://www.bt.com/help/here-for-you

Re: Help with elderly relative's landline

Peter_W — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 10:11:41 GMT

Good morning @jmarsden.

Welcome to the BT Community!

There's definitely a chance they've been moved to Digital Voice like @licquorice mentioned, as the analogue phone network is being gradually phased out.

Once this change takes place it's not normally reversible, but the setup is very straightforward like he highlighted above.

We appreciate different customers have different needs though, so do you know if your relative has registered their additional needs?
That way in the instance they contact us, we can take these into account and tailor the support available around them.

Peter

Re: Help with elderly relative's landline

jmarsden — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 10:37:32 GMT

Thank you for your reply. They won't have registered their additional needs but if it is something I can do on his behalf, I will do that.

Re: Help with elderly relative's landline

Peter_W — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 14:19:35 GMT

Thanks @jmarsden.

For any customer looking to register vulnerability, we recommend calling on the number listed here:

BT Vulnerability policy - Policies & reports - Responsible business | BT Plc

You can certainly give this a try on their behalf, but depending on how the account is set up we may need them on the line to complete security.

Peter