This topic

Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

SilverVixen56 — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 12:37:21 GMT

Having just received email from BT informing me of the change to Digital Voice, I'm confused and absolutely appalled!

I've always thought of myself as a fairly intelligent person but having read through the email and links to Digital Voice FAQ's, I can see just how out of touch I am regarding technology. For instance, I don't know whether or not I have a Smart Hub 2 or whether or not I will need an adaptor. Doubtless I will manage to sort it out eventually (though at the moment I am totally confused and worried about the change) but I am so concerned on behalf of BT customers who have no internet connection and no mobile phones, as it seems that they will be completely left behind with no landline phones in an emergency or even to keep in touch with friends/family. My own mother is 89 years old and doesn't have (or want) a mobile phone or broadband connection as she doesn't understand these. What is BT doing to inform similar customers about the change to Digital Voice and ensure that they aren't left in the dark? What if they don't have a relative or friend to help them - will they fall through the gaps? Will they be able to get information easily, i.e. by talking to an actual real person at BT via their landline, as they won't be able to access the information provided online? I see that there are some pop-up events being held to explain and answer questions but many people are house-bound and unable to attend these. Are they just going to be abandoned and lose their only real means of communication with the outside world?

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

jac_95 — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 12:42:06 GMT

Hi SilverVixen56,

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: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

jac_95 — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 14:09:01 GMT

It's advised that you let BT know of your situation such as if you are dependent on your phone service or if you have any medical or care alarms so BT can provide the help and support you need for the migration to Digital Voice.

For those that only have a phone service today then a broadband connection will be supplied so the phone service will work or maybe offered hybrid phones that connects to the mobile network.

See https://newsroom.bt.com/were-expanding-our-trials-of-digital-voice-for-customers/

Also note BT won’t be proactively switching anyone who falls under the below criteria, where it has this information available to them:

• Customers with a healthcare pendant
• Customers who are over 70
• Customers who only use landlines
• Customers with no mobile signal
• Customers who have disclosed any additional needs

These customers can delay their migration to Digital Voice until later in the rollout to ensure they have confidence and that various stakeholders are prepared and ready for the digital switch.

It's best to have these discussions now to make BT Consumer aware and to help plan.

You will also want to start discussions with other stakeholders such as the providers of your care alarms or other devices that use the phone line today so they can too make sure those units are compatible or are upgraded

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

SilverVixen56 — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 18:07:49 GMT

Thank you so much for your replies. The info has been really useful to me. Won't hesitate to post more questions if I'm still confused.

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

licquorice — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 18:21:00 GMT

At the end of the day, anyone that currently uses a cordless phone will hardly notice the change. It will just mean a different handset and base station. Although if required, current base station and handsets can be used simply by plugging the base station into the supplied hub instead of the normal phone socket.

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

ama99 — Sun, 02 Jul 2023 22:35:18 GMT

My elderly parents (East Midlands) also received the same email and I found it severly lacking in detail, being written more like a marketing campaign.

- no mention that if your landline and Broadband are with different providers, you'll have to switch BB to BT. A big hassle for anyone who had previously chosen to separate the two services.

- no mention of protecting/helping vulnerable groups

- "[email] You'll still be able to use your own phone". So 20+ year old corded phones / standalone answerphone are going to be compatible then? (I'm very doubtful)

I contacted Customer Services (CS) to request that the household is excluded from being proactively switched over, due to having people aged over 70. They were unware of what I was describing or asking for. I asked if I could talk to the Digital Voice team instead, but was told there is no dedicated DV team (only staff who deal with DV technical issues).

I've read a couple of internet DV articles (Age UK, BT newsroom) describing BT "supporting customers with additional needs", but how does this work in practise when CS aren't aware of this policy?

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

c64z86 — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 01:04:09 GMT

Not sure about the rest of the email ama99, but I can confirm that corded phones work just fine with Digital Voice.

I have the BT Big Button 200 phone which is quite a few years old I think and it works perfectly connected directly to the smarthub, just as it did when it was connected to the master socket. And the 1571 light still works on it too.

The other older corded phone which is corded also works perfectly connected to the digital voice adapter that I have in another room(Right in a power socket near where the extension socket is, just to make things as similar to the old setup as I can, but you can have the adapter anywhere in your home). I have to use landlines because the mobile signal is pretty bad here 😕

So if it's not very ancient, it's likely to work. And by ancient I mean the rotary dial phones, I don't think they will work with digital voice, but I don't own one to try it though.

And i'm not sure about answer machines.

So, I hope this helps with at least some worries. 🙂

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

iniltous — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 07:55:16 GMT

The current migration of BT customers from PSTN to Digital Voice is those that already have BT broadband, so it’s simply changing where the phone instrument is plugged in , from the existing wall phone socket to the router phone socket , a new router supplied if necessary , complications like alarms , ‘emergency’ pendants etc, these providers know about the removal of PSTN and should be providing a solution if the existing kit won’t work on DV , the chances are it will work, things like UPS/battery back up for customers living in areas with frequent power outages and no mobile coverage have been widely discussed, indeed the rollout was briefly paused while these issues were reconsidered.

Landline only and the tiny nunber of SMPF customer , where BT provide the ‘line’ and another company provide the broadband and probably still 18 months away from being moved onto DV , and with SMPF , eventually those small number of customers will have to decide to either move broadband to BT or move the ‘line’ to their broadband provider as SMPF isn’t possible with DV

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

ama99 — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 13:43:22 GMT

Thank you [c64z86] for sharing your experience with older handsets working ok with DV, and to [iniltous] for your comments.

Just a pity that Customer Services couldn't provide me with positive answers on the rollout, to allay my concerns.

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

Tim123 — Sat, 22 Jul 2023 23:19:18 GMT

Landline only and the tiny nunber of SMPF customers, where BT provide the ‘line’ and another company provide the broadband, are probably still 18 months away from being moved onto DV, and with SMPF, eventually that small number of customers will have to decide to either move broadband to BT or move the ‘line’ to their broadband provider as SMPF isn’t possible with DV.

@iniltous
Who says the number of SMPF customers are a 'tiny number'? Where are the statistics? My parents fall into this category. They have phone with BT and broadband with EE (the latter beginning with Freeserve in 1999, which became Wanadoo, then Orange and finally EE). They will be forced to choose one provider or the other for both, and it's unclear which provider will 'lead' the change. Forcing consumers to have only one provider for voice and broadband is anti-competitive and a retrograde step. Not to mention the fact that BT and EE are now sister companies ('as one' and 'stronger together'), therefore I can see no reason why their routers should not be compatible with each other's voice and internet services.

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

iniltous — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 09:39:13 GMT

You may consider it anti competitive, but how is it ?, what competitor companies are demanding the retention of some sort SMPF system on an all IP network ?, if your parents pay EE for broadband and BT for line rental they are almost certainly paying more than if they used either EE or BT for both , and the major LLU providers, like Sky and Talk Talk ( that represent around 50% of the users on Openreach network ) many years ago gave their SMPF customers a choice , migrate to full LLU from SMPF ( so Sky or Talk Talk would provide both services ) or leave and find another provider that would provide a separate broadband on a ‘BT ‘ line .

Anti competitive ?, not even the regulator can make a provider stay in the SMPF market they don’t want to be in , unless that provider is BT, hence the few ( dispute that all you like ) consumers still on SMPF, FYI the only volume SMPF provider was BT anyway , BT line rental and someone else being the ISP , the Post Office for a short while provided line rental with the option for the PO customer to have someone else providing broadband, but it didn’t last long, all other major providers dumped SMPF as soon as the option to provide their own branded telephony was available , only BT we’re obliged to keep this arrangement.

The transition to an all IP network doesn’t lend itself to ‘line share’ , and it’s ridiculous to pretend that from a technology point of view that an all IP network is a retrograde step , it’s the exact opposite, and in your parents case , the pretty obvious step is to become an EE customer for both , the dialtone will sound the same , the calls will ( for now ) connect the same way , the billing will be simpler ( one bill date , one bill ) and almost certainly will save your parents some money , it will be seamless, the work done remotely, so no visit to the house , and when EE change to IP for their telephony there are no line share complications, and the finally irony, EE and BT are part of the same group anyway , EE is going to become the consumer brand for BT Group , BT becoming the business brand , so even if there were not the move to all IP , your parents would be presumably be on EE for both services anyway when BT rebrand as EE for domestic users.

As far as tiny numbers on SMPF , Ofcom have a wealth of information if you are really interested you could look it up , I don’t need to supply a link , you can disagree and claim that there are huge numbers still on SMPF using your sample size of 1 , it makes no difference, it’s happening with the regulator acquiescence anyway.

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

garybs29 — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 09:39:05 GMT

@Tim123 I've heard it all now. How is people having 1 provider which will be cheaper overall (having separate providers means they'll be paying full price line rental) anti-competitive?

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

Tim123 — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 17:52:34 GMT

I've heard it all now. How is people having 1 provider which will be cheaper overall (having separate providers means they'll be paying full price line rental) anti-competitive?

Anti-choice then.

My parents are on BT's ‘Home Phone Saver’ plan, which is specifically for customers who only take a phone service with BT - i.e. not broadband as well, although (unlike with 'Line Only Discount') they can have that with another provider. It’s a splendid package, full of normally expensive calling features (most of which will cease to exist on Digital Voice) and is also inflation-proof. If they move their broadband to BT prior to Digital Voice migration, will they be allowed to stay on Home Phone Saver? My bet is not. That plan and also 'Line Rental Plus' (which is far from inflation-proof) will probably be discontinued and those customers will be forced to move to one of the expensive “minutes” bundles, the price of which increases each year. They will also, no doubt, lose their free paper bills and means of paying by any payment method.

As for Line Rental Plus, that was brought in by BT as a clever way of disguising the much-criticised non-Direct Debit payment surcharge of £2 a month, by throwing in lots of inclusive calling features (mostly the same ones as Home Phone Saver), which again are normally very expensive. But as most of those features are being axed with Digital Voice (and the remaining ones will be free, except for Call Barring), its unique selling point will be lost.

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

iniltous — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 18:41:57 GMT

It pretty certain that your parents have not been contacted by BT yet about DV , at the moment it’s existing BT broadband customers being migrated , when this issue comes up it’s invariably someone complaining on behalf of someone else , incorrectly assuming that if they ( as a BT broadband customer ) are moving to DV , then ‘what about’ the poor telephony only customers and shared metallic path customers must also be receiving notification about DV , when the reality is both groups although eventually will be affected, it’s not imminent, December 2025 is still 17 months away .

No one knows yet what exactly will be offered to BT phone only customers, but it will be part of the IP network , the new terms on IP probably will be exactly the same as they are now on PSTN , the only difference is plugging the phone into a ‘box’ connected to the ‘line’ , so if they are on Home phone saver plan , provided it’s still available no doubt they will continue on those terms , although it’s currently technically possible to use home phone saver plan with SMPF broadband from other providers, given home phone saver only specifically precludes BT broadband , it’s probably against the spirit of the deal , which is aimed at phone only customers .

As far as call plans that are currently only available to SMPF customers , companies change their consumer offers all the time, no one could join EE broadband today on this basis , it’s the preserve of legacy customers , if your parents elect to stay with BT for home phone saver telephony when moving to DV and that means that they cannot have broadband from EE ( ignoring the rebrand of BT to EE ) or anyone else , because they will already be on BT broadband albeit a 0.5Mb service, that physical fact stops them from taking anyone else’s broadband then that’s unfortunate, but any change that is to their material detriment , they can leave penalty free , and have the choice of whatever is available in the marketplace , if that isn’t as good as they have now , that’s just too bad, no deal is guaranteed for ever , they will have the choice to stay with either BT , or more likely EE for both services, or leave and use someone else, or use BT ( or EE ) on DV with home phone saver and not use a network other than the Openreach network for their broadband needs.

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

ama99 — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 22:19:23 GMT

Re: [iniltous] to [Tim123] "It pretty certain that your parents have not been contacted by BT yet about DV , at the moment it’s existing BT broadband customers being migrated"

Iniltous, may I ask if you are perhaps a BT employee, so have some inside knowledge on these matters?

As previously mentioned (2/7/23), my elderly parents were emailed by BT about DV and they are not BT Broadband customers, only BT telephony. Whilst the email did not state specific dates, it gave the impression the migration was sooner rather than later. I have yet to find anyone in Customer Services who can assure me that my parents can be delayed in the migration (preferably winter 2025).

As to [Tim123] parents, whilst it may seem an unusual choice these days to have SMPF customers, years ago there were valid reasons to split between suppliers other than just cost-based, e.g. reputation, reliability of service, etc. In my parents case, they were happy with BT telephony (been with BT for 50+ years with the same phone number), but preferred a different BB supplier (O2/Sky BB since 2010).

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

Tel61 — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 10:54:34 GMT

My mother-in-law is 95 and only has a landline. She hasn't got a computer or broadband and wouldn't want it. She certainly isn't the only one in this county either. What happens when the big digital switchover happens next year?

This topic seems to have been covered quite extensively on this forum, but I haven't as yet seen a straight answer to what I thought was simple question.

So straightforward answers please.

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

licquorice — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 11:33:50 GMT

The straightforward answer is that landline only customers will be supplied with a new phone that will operate via VoIP and a low bandwidth line.

They will simply unplug their analogue phone and plug in the replacement device.

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

Tel61 — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 12:17:53 GMT

Hooray! Thank you.

I presume they will send her a letter about this in good time before the switchover?

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

HHGTTG — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 10:40:05 GMT

Plug into their existing socket? But I thought after the switchover these would be redundant/dead/defunct?

Re: Elderly/vulnerable customers without Broadband - Notification of new Digital Voice service

iniltous — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 11:05:18 GMT

You are in danger of conflating the FTTP rollout with the PSTN switch off ,

DV is required for BT telephony after the PSTN switch off , it doesn’t need FTTP , so in the simplest terms , someone without any broadband (ADSL/VDSL ) , that currently has a regular telephone plugged into a ‘phone socket’ , they will be supplied with a ‘box’ that plugs into that socket and their existing phone plugs into the supplied box ( the box will need to be also plugged into the mains ) the fact that the box is effectively broadband modem just for telephony is immaterial to the customer , in the background the customer will be converted to a low bandwidth (0.5Mb ) broadband service , in these cases the copper pair into the home is still used.