This topic

Digital Voice

Paradiddler — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 06:59:28 GMT

Hello - I'm trying to discover how the major ISPs deliver their digital landlines.

Do they tend to offer an ATA (or ATA in the router) and a standard BT-style socket, or do they sell IP phones?

I need to explain this to others and simply don't know the answer! TIA

Re: Digital Voice

Kimberlin — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 07:04:04 GMT

@Paradiddler

https://www.bt.com/broadband/digital-voice

Re: Digital Voice

licquorice — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 07:13:09 GMT

@Paradiddler why are you asking how other ISPs deliver VoIP on a BT forum?

Re: Digital Voice

Kimberlin — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 07:15:41 GMT

To be honest, all of the information the OP wants like many questions asked here, is easily found on a simple Google search.

Re: Digital Voice

iniltous — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 07:42:06 GMT

Digital Voice is the name BT gives to its own proprietary IP telephony service, it’s unfortunate in my opinion that some competitors use the same ‘name’ for their telephony offers , much like the old saying all Hoovers are vacuum cleaners but not all vacuum cleaners are Hoovers , others taking BT brand name DV and using it for similar products can cause confusion if DV simply becomes an alternative term for VoIP .

BT DV uses a standard UK telephone socket built into the BT router , other ISP’s can choose to offer telephony or not offer telephony ( most don’t ) , thise that do offer a bundled telephone service can choose if that telephony will be delivered via their router ( if it has a phone port ) , or provide telephony much like a third party VoIP supplier does , using an ATA or by providing a telephone with a built in ATA , but these questions are for the individual ISP rather than asking here ( afterall this is a just BT customer forum )

FWIW , the bigger ISP that offer telephony generally are similar to BT in that their IP telephony is designed to use a dedicated phone port on the router they supply, the smaller ones don’t offer a bundled telephone service, but with every ISP , the customer needs to find this out themselves before joining then , if telephony is important to them .