This topic

Dad has received a letter stating that he will be moving over to digital voice and he is concerned

SuperFlyGuy — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 07:56:06 GMT

Good morning all,

My dad is elderly (88) and lives on his own. He has basic ADSL internet through Sky but his phone line is with BT. He's concerned how things will work when he's moved over to digital voice. His Sky router is upstairs in his office but it would be impractical to plug the main phone in there.

He has a phone downstairs in the lounge and also one in the kitchen as well as a phone socket in another bedroom.

How is all of this going to work as he's not a BT customer for his Internet? He doesn't want to lose the landline number he's had for over 50 years.

He's reached out to me to try and find out what's going to happen. His Internet usage is minimal and he's quite happy what he's paying Sky for that (as well as Sky TV).

Many Thanks

Re: Dad has received a letter stating that he will be moving over to digital voice and he is concern

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 08:04:48 GMT

Does he pay two separate bills, one to Sky and one to BT?

It can be confusing because Sky use Openreach lines, and people assume they are BT lines.

Sky have their own version of "Digital Voice", so I would expect that he would be moved over to that.

Who was the letter from?

Re: Dad has received a letter stating that he will be moving over to digital voice and he is concern

iniltous — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 08:30:45 GMT

If your dad pays BT for telephony and Sky for broadband separately, that is a pretty rare legacy arrangement called SMPF ( shared metallic path facility ) and will present problems regarding an IP telephone service like BT Digital Voice , in essence with ‘digital voice’ you cannot have two separate providers on the same ‘line’ one for broadband and one for voice, because the BT DV service is integrated with BT broadband

TBH , it’s unusual that anyone on this SMPF arrangement is being migrated to DV so early in the program, the complications involved suggested that these would be amongst the last groups to be moved onto DV , but if your dad has received a letter, presumably the change is imminent .

You would imagine that the letter has more information as it cannot be like the ‘ standard’ communication from BT for BT Broadband customers, that simply states to move the phone instrument from the socket on the wall to the socket on the BT ( SH2 ) router on the appropriate day, obviously if he is a Sky broadband customer , he won’t have a BT SH2 router , so the standard communication for BT Broadband customers will be of no use.

It ultimately will be a choice for him to make , join BT for both services ( leaving Sky ) or join Sky for both services leaving BT .

Just read the OP again , why did I think the OP father had received a letter from BT ?

Re: Dad has received a letter stating that he will be moving over to digital voice and he is concern

SuperFlyGuy — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 08:28:55 GMT

Thank you both for your replies.

He only rang me last night in a panic so I need to call round to find out exactly what the letter states and who it's from.

He does pay 2 bills. He has a direct debit to BT each month to cover landline and call packages and he then has a direct debit to Sky to cover his basic internet and TV package.

To be honest, he only went with Sky because at the time, it was offered for free. They do now charge a small amount each month for Internet but he's happy to pay that (and at 88, hates change!)

I realise it is quite rare these days to have your phone line with one provider and internet with another. I'll get more info later this week. I just thought I'd ask the question around how this might work.

Thanks again

Re: Dad has received a letter stating that he will be moving over to digital voice and he is concern

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 08:41:54 GMT

If the letter came from BT, then its most likely it will be BT providing the broadband and phone in future. I would imagine there would be some agreement between Sky and BT, for Sky to cancel the broadband without any penalty.

BT Digital Voice has a Digital Voice Adapter, which is free, so he can plug his phone in wherever it suits him, provided there is a mains socket.

I will see if a moderator has any idea what would happen in these circumstances, as there must be a lot of these type of arrangements still in use.

Re: Dad has received a letter stating that he will be moving over to digital voice and he is concern

JohnC2 — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 09:56:13 GMT

Hi @SuperFlyGuy, welcome to the forum and thanks for posting. I've got admit I've not come across any SMPF customers in the last few years so I'll ask around and see if I can find more information for you and post back.

If you get a chance to read the letter before then please do post and let us know what it says.

Cheers

John

Re: Dad has received a letter stating that he will be moving over to digital voice and he is concern

JohnC2 — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 12:53:37 GMT

Hi @SuperFlyGuy, I've sent you a Private Message so you can get in touch with the Mod team and we'll check this out for your Dad's set up.

Cheers

John

Re: Dad has received a letter stating that he will be moving over to digital voice and he is concern

SuperFlyGuy — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 13:03:35 GMT

Thank you @JohnC2

I'll know more when I manage to visit my Dad at the weekend. I'll reply to your message when I have enough information.

Many thanks

Re: Dad has received a letter stating that he will be moving over to digital voice and he is concern

SuperFlyGuy — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 16:14:13 GMT

Hi @JohnC2 ,

I've replied to your private message and hopefully provided all necessary information.

Regards

Guy

Re: Dad has received a letter stating that he will be moving over to digital voice and he is concern

SuperFlyGuy — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 07:45:30 GMT

Apologies for replying to my own post, but I found this article on the BBC news web site today.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67750235

Is there somehow I can register with BT that my Dad is vulnerable so that the switch can be delayed as long as possible while we try and work out the best way forward.

Re: Dad has received a letter stating that he will be moving over to digital voice and he is concern

Keith_Beddoe — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 07:52:18 GMT

@SuperFlyGuy

The problem in his case, is the split phone and broadband service.

Please keep @JohnC2 updated on your visit, so he can decide the best way forward.

Unless your dad has a care alarm or similar device connected to his phone line, he will not be subject to any delay.