This topic

Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

Tim123 — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 22:21:25 GMT

Today I received the below in a letter in the post from BT, dated simply "April 2022":

Landline Calling Features -
Call Sign notice of withdrawal

Hello *FIRST NAME*,

We're moving to Digital Voice Services and because of this a landline Calling Feature you're subscribed to called 'Call Sign' will be removed on 30 September 2022. Your Calling Features package will be updated accordingly and you won't be billed for it after this date.

You don't need to take any further action. If you no longer use this calling feature and wish to remove it before it's withdrawn on 30 September 2022, you can find help on how to manage your Calling Features at www.bt.com/callingfeatures or log on to your My BT account.

Thanks
The BT Team

* * *

How bizarre. I thought migration to Digital Voice has been paused? Even if it has not, I see no reason why BT can't allow analogue customers to keep Call Sign until they are moved to the digital service - which, in my case, might not be for another three years. I'm a telephony-only customer, and BT have confirmed that we will be the last to be switched.

I can forgive BT's lack of respect in addressing me by my Christian name, and for not apologising for the inconvenience of discontinuing a feature I've come to rely on (though at least they are giving me five months' notice). But the anxiety that the mention of Digital Voice is causing me is another matter. They don't say that I'll be switched to digital any time soon, but nor do they deny it.

I would also have appreciated a brief explanation from BT about why they won't be carrying over Call Sign for Digital Voice customers who want it. Is there some technical reason that makes it incompatible with the new service, or can they simply not be bothered trying to make it work with the all-singing, all-dancing, Smart Hub 2?

Despite the inclusion of my Christian name, it must be a generic letter as I am not, in fact, billed for Call Sign - I get it free as part of my 'Home Phone Saver Plan'. I therefore surmise that the feature is being withdrawn nationwide on that date for all residential (and possibly business) customers who have it (though I can find no mention of this online, and BT's Calling Features User Guide PDF for residential customers, as well as the Business website, still refer to it). However, the fact that it's included for free with my plan (as an opt-in), rather makes a mockery of BT's bold claim that, when being switched to Digital Voice, "There's no change to your plan or bill".

(https://www.bt.com/help/landline/digital-voice-migration)

No point in phoning BT to query any of this. Most of their call centre staff are totally ignorant about calling features, many have never even heard of Call Sign.

So I've joined this forum, as I'm sure I'll get far more sense out of its knowledgeable members than from BT itself. I'm sad that it's come to this, but BT's customer service has been dire for many years.

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

jac_95 — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 00:00:25 GMT

Hi Tim123,

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.

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: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 05:57:53 GMT

@Tim123

The Call Sign feature was implemented within the existing physical PSTN equipment in the exchange. As this is being de-commissioned, that service is being ceased, and its not possible to implement a similar feature on Digital Voice, as the ringing current for physically connected phones, comes from the Smart Hub 2 on receipt of an incoming call.

The BT supplied phones, like most DECT phones, do not support it anyway, however for many phones, its possible to assign a different ringtone to specific incoming phone numbers.

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

Tim123 — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 23:29:15 GMT

Thank you for the explanation. From what you say, it appears that switchover from PSTN to VoIP will break the direct, "physical" connection from the telephone exchange to a subscriber's telephone number. This is why Call Sign will no longer work, and customers will have to dial full area codes each time as local dialling will not be possible. Landline telephone numbers will, in effect, become "virtual", much like mobile phone numbers. Also, presumably it will no longer be possible to call the Operator on 100 and ask them to "check a line", or call 17070 to perform a ringback or quiet line test.

Nevertheless, this doesn't explain why BT are withdrawing Call Sign three years early (even had they not paused migration to Digital Voice). And I'm sure they could integrate the feature into the Smart Hub 2 by installing a SIM card slot into the hub to carry the "second" phone number. The router would then work much like a dual SIM mobile phone, detecting that an incoming call is for the other number and generating the distinct (single) ring to connected phones - whether they are connected directly to the phone socket on the hub or to existing extensions (rewired at master level) around the house, giving an audible "Sign" that the call is intended for a different member of the household.

I know what you're going to say. Call Sign is an outdated feature, but then (let's face it) so is the home phone itself. Switchover to VoIP will show just how outdated it is and I expect many people who still have the service will cancel what will be, in effect, an inferior version of a mobile phone - with the same dropouts and power supply issues as mobiles, but limited to use around the house, without all the features of a mobile phone and roughly twice the monthly price of a mobile but without the internet data! I might keep my phone line for the nostalgia aspect, but I'll have to seriously consider dropping it to save money. All the things that make a home phone "special" will be gone.

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

jamesrbutler — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 10:33:52 GMT

I hope/assume there is an option to port my Call Sign number to another BT account or another provider account at least?

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

Keith_Beddoe — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 10:57:39 GMT

@jamesrbutler

No, they are "virtual" numbers and cannot be ported out.

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

jac_95 — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 11:17:07 GMT

To add to this, communication providers will want to withdraw features that were specifically implemented for the current industry wide PSTN technology that is used today as this is being withdrawn in 2025 with a nationwide stop sell in September 2023. So it's of no surprise that call sign is being one of them.

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

Keith_Beddoe — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 11:29:37 GMT

@jamesrbutler

As long as you inform people who use your other "virtual" number, that they will need to call your main number in future, it should not be a problem, which is why BT have given you plenty of notice.

As @jac_95 has said, it was a purely PSTN exchange function which modified the ringing current timing which was sent from the exchange line card. It has no digital equivalent.

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

iniltous — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 18:03:04 GMT

There are probably very few BT customers that use ‘call sign’ , it’s a little unrealistic to expect any time, energy , or expense to be spent on what at best is a niche feature being inter-grated into DV if it was hardly used in the PSTN network.
As already explained, with a PSTN switch , the caydence of the ringtone sent from the exchange (which is an alternating electrical current around 90v applied to the line ) changes depending on which number was called, normal ringtone …. ring-ring , pause , ring-ring , or ring,ring,ring,ring for the call sign number, the ‘sound’ the phone makes indicates which number was being called.

An optical network doesn’t have any voltage , the ‘signal’ for the phone to ring , is simply a digital signal that the device responds to.
You ask , as a telephony only customer , why is it being removed now , when you could potentially benefit from it until your individual traditional exchange is closed ?, but the fact is , it’s a facility that no provider has an obligation to provide, and BT have decided to remove it, giving you fair warning of its removal

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

Tim123 — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 18:44:50 GMT

@Keith_Beddoe - My understanding is that all landline telephone numbers will be 'virtual' post-switchover, i.e. not physically connected or tied to the exchange.

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

Tim123 — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 18:45:53 GMT

Sorry, duplicate post.

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

Tim123 — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 19:14:30 GMT

@iniltous - Obviously none of us have to do anything we don't want to, BT included. But the fact that those of us who have this feature have to come on a user forum to get answers to questions that BT should be answering without being asked, shows the level of contempt they now have for their telephone subscribers. "It's you we answer to" was their original slogan, but today they answer to no-one.

I still think a SIM card in the router would provide a viable workaround, but clearly they're not interested in developing such a feature.

Actually, Call Sign (at least in my exchange) generates a single ring - not as long as the American or French rings (the only two of which I have experience outside these shores), and with the same short pause in-between rings as the British double-ring; it therefore sounds just as 'urgent' as the British ring. I might make a recording of it before it disappears, as we will be losing a little piece of our telephone history.

Triple-ring is what you get with 'Ring Back When Free', which doubtless will also cease to work on Digital Voice.

BT are spinning this whole digital switchover as, "Don't worry, apart from having to use a router and provide your own mains power and not be able to call emergency services in a power cut, nothing about your service will change!" And that simply is not true.

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

iniltous — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 20:53:47 GMT

I wasn’t attempting to give a visual representation of the ringing current the PSTN switch delivers for a call made to a call sign number, I was simply trying to show what ringing cadence is…., suffice to say the phone instrument makes two different noises depending on what number was called ( the directory number or the call sign number ) something that some may not be aware of , as said , call sign was a pretty niche facility anyway, that many if not most would be unaware of.
Call facilities come and go , one that you find useful is not ( currently ) being retained in the change to a VoIP based phone system, if its removal were a deal breaker , obviously you could change provider that supports that facility ( if one exists )
I don’t recognise your assertion that BT have said ‘nothing will change’ with the advent of DV , there are many things that won’t exist when all telephony is VoIP , however , in its basic form, the ability to make and receive calls is unchanged with DV.

The fact that a facility is being removed ( something that could have been removed irrespective of the call platform , if BT decide it’s not worth continuing with ) is just business ….no company guarantees that every feature or product in their portfolio will be available for ever, and if it’s something not worth continuing with , then ( unfortunately ) that’s it, I don’t really know what other answer you expect.

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 11:29:31 GMT

My understanding is that all landline telephone numbers will be 'virtual'

What I mean by "virtual" numbers is that they would not have a real routing, as you cannot actually make any calls using them and they would not be re-allocated to another customer.

There are quite a few of these number ranges and they were used extensively on the old BT SmartTalk facility (now defunct), and some still show on peoples` bills, with zero calls. They can be configured to display any presentation number.

BT SmartTalk did allow outgoing calls, but they still routed using virtual numbers, but the receiving end received the CLI from the caller. It was quite complex, and that is probably why it was withdrawn.

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

Tim123 — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 23:25:41 GMT

@iniltous
"I don’t recognise your assertion that BT have said ‘nothing will change’ with the advent of DV , there are many things that won’t exist when all telephony is VoIP"

BT actually say on their 'Moving to Digital Voice' page that: "There's no change to your plan or bill."

https://www.bt.com/help/landline/digital-voice-migration

If one subscribes to calling features that are being discontinued as a result of the switchover, or gets them free as part of a special plan, then of course there will be changes to one's plan or bill. However, they are not stating this fact and many people will be confused as well as inconvenienced when they lose features upon which they rely. This is highly misleading and they should correct that.

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

Tim123 — Wed, 11 May 2022 16:30:14 GMT

@jamesrbutler - Have you also received a letter from BT stating that your Call Sign service will be switched off on 30th September 2022, or is it just me?

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

RIC9380 — Wed, 11 May 2022 19:21:03 GMT

Just to say that I got rid of the Call Sign service some years ago as the second assigned number came from an old NHS fax line so the phone rang at all times of the day and night and so was really annoying. An acceptable alternative for me was to set up a VOIP service from another supplier which comes through on another number of my choice.

RIC9380

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

tinman9898 — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 12:33:09 GMT

I also received the letter about Call Sign being withdrawn. I called BT and was advised by the first agent that it was being withdrawn as few people use it, which was not what was stated in the letter as it said that it was due to the switch to digital. I arranged for a more senior person to call me. They stated that quite a few people still use the service and it was due to the switch to digital not supporting the feature. I asked and was sent a deadlock letter after being advised my only option was to try and port the number to a second line but this would probably not work as the second numbers are virtual. the second line would also incrr extra cost. I sent the deadlock letter to the ombudsman after raising a complaint. The response from the ombudsman was such that BT were withdrawing the service and BT had advised me to opt for a second line. As I did not want to do this, due to incurring extra cost, then there was no action they could take. The only option appears to be changing all stationary, updating everywhere online and making people who already have the number aware that your number will be changing.

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

jamesrbutler — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 16:22:53 GMT

Surely that depends on whether you can actually move the number to a second BT line. If BT mention that but say it is unlikely to work then they are not giving you an option. I would be ok with the second line option.

Re: Call Sign - notice of withdrawal

jac_95 — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 17:52:54 GMT

@jamesrbutler wrote:

Surely that depends on whether you can actually move the number to a second BT line. If BT mention that but say it is unlikely to work then they are not giving you an option. I would be ok with the second line option.

If it was possible the second line would only be a stop gap as all fixed line voice services are moving off the PSTN by 2025.