A method to transfer contacts from Google to Digital Voice handsets

[jevans3142]

Hello - not a question, but instead a potential solution for anyone who has a similiar issue. My mum has just been changed from a BT 8600 handset to a set of Digital Voice handsets on her BT Smart Hub 2. There doesn't appear to be a direct way of transferring contacts off the old handset or pairing it to the DECT base in the Smart Hub 2, so faced with typing in her many contacts from scratch I noticed the import .vcf function accessed through the web interface of the Smart Hub. I tried exporting a .vcf from her Google account contacts and importing, but found that while this would appear to be work, many of the numbers imported  nto the address book on the DV handset would actually fail to dial (after selecting the number in the address book there would just be a continous tone rather than the DTMF tones) and many contacts did not import at all. I found that the format of the .vcf Google and the SH2 use is different, and so have written a quick Python script to convert the file so it would import correctly. 

I've uploaded the script and some simple instructions on GitHub here , though if you don't already know your way around using Python and a shell/terminal on the computer this may not be helpful to you - but I hope it helps someone. 

I'm afraid I can't really offer any support or help with this, and can't guarantee this will work for you or anyone else, but I thought I'd put it out here in case it's helpful to anyone at all! 

[Keith_Beddoe]

@jevans3142 

Bear in mind she could have continued using the superior BT8600 handsets which have BT Call Guardian (called Virtual Assistant), which is not present on the new Digital voice handsets, by simply plugging the base unit into the phone socket on the back of the Smart Hub 2, or by using the Digital Voice adapter. BT seem to be ignoring this option, to promote their new handsets.

That would have saved the hassle of transferring the contacts.

She may find she gets more unwanted calls, as there is not option to screen incoming calls on the new phones.

[Andydriver53]

Many thanks. I have been struggling the past few days, since obtaining Digital Voice phone, to load a vcf that would work. With a basic export from mobile google contacts or straight from the google account only loaded 3 or 4 contacts. Which were visible and then not and an error message appearing. So many thanks for the script. It's a shame that you cannot load via bluetooth from a mobile, as you could with the Premium phone.