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Question about Digital Voice

Jane2018 — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 09:49:14 GMT

When I get digital voice can I plug my phone in the new hub BT will apparently send ( we have two older hubs which will not work with it) even tough the phones around the house are not those ones you stick into a unit but are traditional corded phones (most of which do not have have digital or ay other displays)?

Second question Digital Voice marketing says it comes with some kind of call blocker. I don't want that. I want people who call me to see my number. Is that something I am going to have to remove from the service or would BT not change something as fundamental as that without my express consent?

As 1571 is included with Digital Voice will BT no longer charge me for that service on my two separate landlines?

Will I need to record my standard recorded message I have vie 1571 again or will it automatically transfer over?

Finally, if the service is now similar to broadband etc does that mean the charges per landline call will go and it will be free calls and we will just be charged for the telephone number/line rental and broadband?

Re: Question about Digital Voice

jac_95 — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 09:52:06 GMT

Hi Jane2018,

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.

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: Question about Digital Voice

iniltous — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 10:49:54 GMT

When on DV you do use the phone port on the SH2 router , your existing wired phones plugged into wired extension sockets won’t work unless you arrange to have your extension sockets incorporated into the new setup , called voice re-injection, you would arrange this yourself.

Your second question makes no sense , if you mean you want to see the number of the person or business calling you , DV still has CLI ( calling line information) and displays it on an appropriate phone with a display, if you enable some sort of call protect the phone may not ring with calls picked up by that service, you would need to read the instructions for that service, generally the numbers are shown so you can elect to block them or allow them to pass.

AFAIK, you may need to cancel your existing 1571 call minder service on your PSTN service, it’s not necessarily cancelled by migrating to DV . DV caller minder is included but it’s the standard version if you want the option to record a personal greeting etc that’s the premium version and chargeable.

The call charges are exactly the same as your existing PSTN calls plan , third party VoIP ( internet call providers ) generally are not free and still charge for calls ( don’t know where you got the idea they are free from ) they may have some call rates that are cheaper if you are PAYG with BT , but compared to the BT 700 mins or BT Anytime calls plan ( suitable for someone who makes a lot of calls ) there isn’t much difference, but if you want to use a third party for VoIP either instead of or as well as DV , you can do that .

Re: Question about Digital Voice

imjolly — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 10:44:41 GMT

@Jane2018

most of your questions are answered in the FAQ

do you have more than 1 phone line to your home?

line rental is included in your broadband package and will continue as you need a line whether that is copper or fibre to get your internet connection. if your package is broadband and phone the the homephone charges are exactly the same whether on PSTN or VOIP (DV) phone packages are PAYG, 700 or unlimited minutes

Re: Question about Digital Voice

gg30340 — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 10:48:08 GMT

Call blocker allows you to block incoming call numbers such as spam callers. It does not block/hide your number.

You will need to set up your voice mail message if you don't want to use the standard one. It is free on any Digital Voice line.

https://www.bt.com/help/landline/all-about-voicemail-for-digital-voice-

Your calls are charged at the same rate as your present call package or the rate of any call package you care to use.

Re: Question about Digital Voice

RIC9380 — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 10:51:25 GMT

Yes, you will be supplied with a new Hub for free. To continue to use your other phones around the house you can either rework your existing wiring or use Digital Voice Adapters which simply plug into a power socket and link to the Hub.

Unless you decide to withhold your phone number the people you call will see your number if their equipment has that facility.

1571 is a free service and comes as standard. You have the option to replace the "standard greeting" with one of your own.

For DV you need to opt for a Call Package. There's an abundance of information on BT's website.

In response to your post on another thread, the old analogue network that most home phones work on today is no longer fit for purpose. It's past its Use By date. The outdated network will be switched off for all phone providers by 2025. The reality is that Digital Phone lines will have no impact on how you use your home phone. You still have the same service, and your price plan and bills will stay the same. Don't believe all the scare stories that some publications/TV channels/man down the pub will tell you.

RIC9380

Re: Question about Digital Voice

licquorice — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 11:31:51 GMT

Let's get a few facts straight. Instead of plugging your corded phone into the current master socket, you just unplug it and plug it into your hub, the socket is identical. Simple as.

You don't need an engineer to do that.

Your internal wiring is your responsibility as it has been for several decades, service providers are not responsible for it.

A very simple option for multiple sockets is to simply use a number of DV adapters, they are simply portable phone sockets that just require to be plugged into a mains socket.

Re: Question about Digital Voice

Jane2018 — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 16:02:19 GMT

I realise the experts on this forum think people's queries are silly at times but it is a huge change. I have found the forum very useful already eg someone said with digital voice when you pick up the phone you hear a very different sound that the one we have had for 60 years + so even that would have worried mea lot had I not read it here. It is the kind of thing it would be useful to have on a list of differences from BT.

I am afraid I see today that those of us who are under 70 and in London https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12561449/BT-announces-regional-rollout-plans-digital-landline-switchover.html will have Digital voice by end of this year ie extremely soon which is already troubling me.

I hope the new hubs I have to have for each broad band account arrive in time so I am not left without telephone access even for a day. We do not have very good mobile signal here and I always try never to use the mobile. The internet often cuts out to even though we are outer London. I think I have been scarred by the trauma of the past - I had to raise £12k from neighbours about 10+ years ago in order to pay a third of the cost of getting the right power to the nearest BT box after years of trying to get broadband fast enough to watch TV on - we did manage it not least because I raised the money and my son managed to find an Openreach external consultant prepared to take on the issues with this. We are about 3 miles from the nearest exchange, no fibre optic cable and the telephone and internet comes over copper wires from the box which now has the power to give us broadband - which often has cut out once a day although at present seems okay.

My priority will be plugging the traditional landline for one telephone number into the new hub and hope that works.

Second priority is telephone numbers/lines 2 and 3 - and that is more complex - there are 2 numbers (my 2nd and 3rd current BT numbers) on that account. One is the landline number which rings on abut 6 extensions around the house and I think the traditional wires etc come in downstairs and that line has no broadband on it. The other on that second account are on a telephone line number which only has broadband on it and comes in 2 flights up (big house) where the router is and tends to be the wifi signal used by those on that side of the house upstairs.

So my question on that one I suppose is gosh this is so complicated...... So a landline number I must keep has no broadband on it and the 3rd line with no landline on has the broadband. I suppose that landline number with no broadband is in the same category as old people without broadband. May be that line I get some basic service on? I suppose we could transfer the 2nd broadband telephone number line to that calls only landline number although every time things change something massive goes wrong so I do not want to spend hours on the phone to India having someone read at me a script and not solve a problem.

Basically I would prefer to do nothing and it all then works. No change - it will be an utter nightmare once it comes.

Re: Question about Digital Voice

RIC9380 — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 17:39:20 GMT

It seems that you've completely ignored the reassurances of others in response to your initial query and have allowed yourself to be sucked in by yet another scaremongering story published today by the Daily Fail and other rags.

I suggest you reread the previous responses once again and start to chill out about any huge perceived problems that are unlikely to happen after the switchover. Just wait until you are notified by BT and then talk about your situation with a member of the dedicated Team. With Digital Voice you have the ability to make/take two calls at the same time so you may be able to ditch one of your lines and actually save yourself some money.

Oh, and Customer Services calls very rarely go through to India now and haven't for a good few years. You're far more chance of ending up speaking to a helpful Geordie in Newcastle than you are getting through to an Agent in Mumbai.

RIC9380

Re: Question about Digital Voice

Jane2018 — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 21:58:47 GMT

I am certainly worried and may be I am a fool to be so. I suspect I will have to spent more than 10 minutes of m,y very precious time on this, hopefully not and it will be 2 new hubs arrive, plug and play and off we go.

There is no way I will put myself on a call to BT - that would be a theft of at least an hour of my time, but we shall see if I am reduced to that.

I need two landline numbers into the house so will not be merging my 3 numbers into 2 or 1.

I assume B T will send two hubs - one for each broad band account/number. That leaves the 3rd number which does not have broadband on it but has a precious 25 year landline number on it I would not want to lose so presumably for that account I may be treated like someone who doesn't have broadband and get some kind of basic new modem for that 3rd non broadband line into which I plug that landline.

Let us hope it is as easy as people say. I have never had a landline problem and yet every day or two the broadband goes down so I am very very concerned the service will be worse than the analogue one as already the internet line is vastly less reliable than the landline. All the neighbours have had BT out again and again out here as the broadband is so bad - this outer London not outer Hebrides and at present it is okay so hopefully that will continue.

Re: Question about Digital Voice

Jane2018 — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 08:47:04 GMT

By the way for my list of tasks when the switchover happen,s does anyone know if the wifi passwords change when BT replaces my two old BT hubs with my new two free smart hub 2s? I would rather keep the passwords we currently use so that there is one less job to do.

Re: Question about Digital Voice

VeteranISPUser — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 08:48:49 GMT

Hi @Jane2018 Simply change the SSID and Passwords on your new Hubs to match the old ones.

Re: Question about Digital Voice

Addy — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 10:43:44 GMT

Not sure if this helps but....

I've recently recontracted for broadband and this included moving to DV. The SH2 arrived a few days after the order was placed. When viewing the order tracking I noticed service activation was on the following Monday 18th Sept with the text "Parallel Working" to the 25th Sept.

I didn't swap the hub until the 21st and upto that time the "old" landline worked. Once I connected the SH2 it seems to recognise this and I was automatically switched to DV and the land line had stopped working. I suspect after the 25th the "old" line would have stopped working even if I hadn't switched to the SH2.

I don't have a DECT phone so rewired the extension cabling to the green port on SH2. I guess I was without phone service for the time it took me to do the rewire.

Re: Question about Digital Voice

Jane2018 — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 11:11:23 GMT

Yes, but my aim is to have a list of only 2 tasks not to add to the list - so open new hub box, replace old hub with new, plug corded landline into back of new hub - end of tasks... perhaps later try to get back special recorded 1571 message. If I have to do "SSID and Passwords " things that will be hard. I have not dealt with a hub installation for probably a decade or more . In the kitchen we have a sticker with the wifi passwords BT gave us years and years ago and presumably our mobiles pick those up and lap tops etc or we set them with that. I don't think I have ever logged into the hub on a computer and that kind of thing. At least I now know that is another task on the list of post DV things to be done - new wifi passwords, telling everyone in the home etc etc

Re: Question about Digital Voice

iniltous — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 11:26:27 GMT

😔, if you change the SSID and passwords of the new routers match that of your current routers then the individual devices ( like mobile phones tablets etc ) will connect ‘automatically’ ( rather than having to enter the new log in credentials on each wireless device to connect to the new routers ),

I dare say if this is all too much , you could ask a friend, neighbour or relative that is a little more ‘au fait’ with WiFi to do this , or at a push employ someone to do it for you, but this migration isn’t difficult, it would be exactly what you would have to do if your existing router develop a fault , that required it to be replaced with a different router …TBH much of your angst seems on related posts , seems to be about using wired phones on DV , so it’s a little surprising that you use WiFi and not wired Ethernet for your internet access.

Re: Question about Digital Voice

imjolly — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 11:26:56 GMT

@Jane2018

when you get the new SH2 then if you intend to change SH2 SSID/wifi password to that of previous hub then I would do that before you connect it to the internet. you do not need internet connection for the change just an ethernet connection from pc/laptop to the new SH2. then turn SH2 on then go to hub manager and enter admin password from back of new SH2 then go to advanced settings then wireless, make the changes to SSID and password and then remember to save and exit

now when you disconnect existing hub and replace with SH2 then your devices will just connect to new SH2 as if old hub

Re: Digital Voice Essential Cordless Phone

Jane2018 — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 13:23:13 GMT

And hopefully just plug by corded phone into the back of the new hub BT will be sending me.

Re: Digital Voice Essential Cordless Phone

Jane2018 — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 13:59:18 GMT

I have no loyalty to the passwords on the existing two BT broadband lines for wifi as they are long awful ones set by BT. I just want to know and prepare for the switch over. I use wired internet as do my sons 2 and 3 flights up on another line as that is much better in this house but people do use wifi in the house in various other rooms (although in one room from which my daughter was working at one point last year the wifi was so bad to not be able to manage work Teams or Zoom calls - that room is not wired.

I am going to start my list of tasks.

1. Make sure BT send the 2 new hubs.

2. Remember the wifi passwords for each will be new ones so things like mobiles and lap tops and note in kitchen will need to be changed to new passwords when new hubs come. Remember the dial tone will not sound the same as it does now.

3. After a week or so check what is happening with my 1571 specific voicemail etc service as I want my own recorded messages on both landline numbers to continue.

4. On day I plug main corded landline in home office in back of the new hub and not in the wall socket. Probably something complex to be done to set up a new home hub

Then start working on the separate second BT account on which the other landline number and the broadband number with no home phone on it - that is a complication that is most concerning - a landline without broadband pus a BT number.ine with broadband without a telephone landline on it - ideally they would merge into one but I don't want anything to mean I lose that landline number so sorting out that may have to wait to a phase 2. I presume BT will count on that account me as someone without broadband on one line and might provide some kind of free third router or modem and for the broad band but no landline provide just the new router in the back of which I plug no corded phone. Weill leave the 6 landlines on that landline number around the house for my own phase 2.

I have a triage of priorities starting with 1 - internet must still work on both broadband accounts. 2. Main landline number must still work for a constant daily corded phone calls and be as good quality calls as now - clear as a bell and not broken down once in 20 years!! (beat that Digital voice if you can)....... 3. Other landline number not so much used must work on at least one home extension.

5. I make and receive international calls on the landlines. So for each of those it sounds like I need to do something rather than leave things alone - so yet another task for the list even though I just want everything to stay the same as now. " saw this useful post - his works, had digital voice as part of a new FTTP line and couldn’t call abroad, logged into my BT on the web (not the app) and eventually found the tab for “calling features” and un-ticked the box for “International and Premium Rate Call Barring”. You can also switch off the 1571 in the list of options too. "

I wish every single default were exactly what a customer had before Digital Voice so our list of tasks were fewer.

This is getting more real now and concerning. Yesterday and today Openreach men were going down the road putting wires through something or other under ground, presumably to bring fibre optic cable close rather than the very very far away box/exchange and copper wires we currently have.

This thread is my therapy over PTSD caused by future Digital Voice [ joking....]

In the garage I have some very complicated pre 1997 "Labgear" kit and have no idea what it does but hope that does cause problems. It is white boxes with wires coming out.

Re: Digital Voice Essential Cordless Phone

licquorice — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 14:16:31 GMT

This is getting totally ridiculous, you are not making a mountain out of a molehill, you are making a complete range greater than the Himalayas.

Stop fretting, stop crossing bridges way before you get to them and stop continuously posting on every thread you see and wait for the changeover.

Re: Digital Voice Essential Cordless Phone

Jane2018 — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 20:58:17 GMT

Just found another task for me when London is forced into Digital Voice in 2023 - apparently Call Waiting even though I don't have it now will be enabled. Therefore I need to remember to remove it.

"Because you have two lines, the Call Waiting function is pre-enabled. Call Waiting tells you when other callers are trying to get through, whilst you are on the line. You'll hear a discreet beep when someone is trying to get through to you while you're on the phone. You can choose whether or not to take the call. On most DECT handsets the R button can be used to answer the second call. To deactivate this function you will have to call BT or manage it via your BT online account by logging in and then click on My BT - Your Products - Digital Voice - Call Waiting. It is a zero cost option."

We are up to about 7 or 8 things so far I will have to do.

I am now trying to find out the legal position on refusing digital voice as long as possible. I think over 70s will not be forced into it immediately but I am not quite that age.

Another issue seems to be - I was assuming all corded phones simply will plug into back of the new hub BT wll be sending me. However it looks like I would need to work out if the landlines on my desk for our two different landline numbers are "MF" phones or not "the new BT system only works with tone (MF) telephones. If your telephone is press button then see if there is a switch on the base to change the way it dials out (marked LD or Pulse or MF). Choose MF if it is available. You can also buy devices that convert dial pulse to tone, so antique phones can still work."

I just turned both phones over but they have nothing saying LD pulse or MF on front or back.

I thought it was going to be plug and play but it sounds amazingly complicated.