Re: Digital voice and power cuts. - Page 19

Slem · ‎07-02-2022

BT told me I had to plug the base unit of the phone into the hub, which is plugged into the Open Reach unit. There is no outlet anywhere else In the house this phone unit can be plugged into, so in order to keep the phone charged, it has to be in the closet.

licquorice · ‎07-02-2022

@Stevek1311 wrote:

I say again. Digital Voice is a good idea but BT are handling this appallingly with misleading information and seemingly no joining up between BT the communications supplier and BT Shop that they assume know what they are doing.

For once we are agreed, except for the word 'misleading', 'confusing' would be a better word.

BT are not alone, Microsoft call both their Email Client and Email service 'Outlook' but they are entirely different products.

licquorice · ‎07-02-2022

@Slem wrote:

BT told me I had to plug the base unit of the phone into the hub, which is plugged into the Open Reach unit. There is no outlet anywhere else In the house this phone unit can be plugged into, so in order to keep the phone charged, it has to be in the closet.

If you have a base unit, you don't have a Digital Voice phone, it is just an ordinary cordless system. A Digital Voice phone just has a charger unit that can be plugged into any socket in the house.

BT should have supplied you with a DV phone when they converted your line to DV.

Call customer services on 150 or 0800 800150 and insist they send you either 1 Advanced or 2 basic DV handsets.

Slem · ‎07-02-2022

The reason I got the Digital Voice phone is because I call family and friends in Canada a lot and it was costing me a fortune on my mobile. Then I discovered that even though the DV calls are really just Internet calls, BT was charging me by the minute for these DV calls. Now I pay £4/month to a service that connects my mobile phone to any international number and I can talk as long as I want with no further charge. I’ve been using the service some time, and never had a break in service. So the DV phone is never used now, so I will probably just disconnect it, since in a power cut it’s useless anyway. But a clear explanation of the options (and limits) for DV would have been helpful before I purchased the phone.

gg30340 · ‎07-02-2022

@Stevek1311 wrote:

@gg30340wrote: Yes it is. I am being moved at some point in the future and I have been offered either an adaptor or a DV Advanced phone free of charge. It arrives this week. The offer came via an explanation of what is taking place and how to set up my existing phone and or a DV phone.

Awkwardly for you your own advice in your preceding post shows that to not always be true

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

'Does my current phone need to be next to the Smart Hub 2?

If you plug your phone into a telephone socket that's not near to your Smart Hub 2, that's ok. You can either use an adapter to connect them, or get a Digital Voice home phone and remotely connect it to your smart hub.

You can order either an adapter or a Digital Voice home phone free from bt.com/DVequipment. Or text the word ADAPTER or HANDSET to 61998.'

'Order' meaning have to pay money.

I explained what happened in my instance so I have no idea why you should think it is "awkward" for me.

My advice was to read the links, I did not write the contents of them.

As regards "Order" yes I had to "order" them other wise how would BT know what I wanted unless you know of some other system that works differently.

The letter I received clearly set out the process for "ordering" the phone or adaptor and that it was FREE and while going through the order process I would be given a code to use that when entered it would remove the price of the phone/adaptor from the order at the check out.

Low and behold when I went through the ordering process I entered my telephone number into a section of the order page and it generated a code which I used at the end of the order process and it changed the payment from £44 .98 to £00.00 ie FREE so you comment about'"Order' meaning have to pay money". would appear to be 100% wrong in this instance.

I would add that I could have chosen a digital adaptor for FREE instead of the phone had I wished.

EDIT: I re read your comments and I noticed that you missed out the fact that what you posted does include that you can order the items for FREE and if you click http://bt.com/dvequipment the link it will open a page that will generate the FREE code for you to use.

You can order either an adapter or a Digital Voice home phone free from bt.com/DVequipment. Or text the word ADAPTER or HANDSET to 61998.'

'Order' meaning have to pay money.

Stevek1311 · ‎07-02-2022

@Slemwrote:
The reason I got the Digital Voice phone is because I call family and friends in Canada a lot and it was costing me a fortune on my mobile. Then I discovered that even though the DV calls are really just Internet calls, BT was charging me by the minute for these DV calls. Now I pay £4/month to a service that connects my mobile phone to any international number and I can talk as long as I want with no further charge. I’ve been using the service some time, and never had a break in service. So the DV phone is never used now, so I will probably just disconnect it, since in a power cut it’s useless anyway. But a clear explanation of the options (and limits) for DV would have been helpful before I purchased the phone.

I don't think that's BT fault. Numerous media outlets incl the BBC keep lazily repeating the false statement that Digital Voice is calls 'over the internet' It may use the same broadband conenction we use for the internet, it may use the same data transfer protocols but it's just VOIP using the OpenReach and connected infrastructures.

So no the calls won't be as cheap as some of the Voice over the internet services that are available

Slem · ‎07-02-2022

I was new to the British system of telecommunication options a year ago. It was so much more straightforward in Canada. It all seems to be more complicated here, with little information on all the options that appear to be out there. You live and learn. Can’t help feeling sorry for new immigrants and refugees coming here trying to navigate the systems. I’m not a new immigrant, just returning after a long time away. A lot has changed, and not always for the better, in telecommunications and other things.

globe1nh · ‎07-02-2022

Hi. I understand your frustration, but can you confirm a couple of things...

1. Leaving the phone itself aside for the moment, do you know if your BT landline has been switched to the BT Digital Voice service?

2. Do you still have a conventional BT 'phone socket on the premises, and if you plug your phone's base station into it (as opposed to into the BT Smart Hub) does it work?

If the phone has a base station (as opposed to a charging base), it isn't a BT Digital Voice phone.

If you can plug it into your BT phone socket and it works, your landline has not been switched to BT Digital Voice.

If you are on Digital Voice then the phone/base station will still work if plugged into the BT Hub, but what you really need is one (or more) BT Digital Voice handsets. The hub acts as a base station and the handsets connect to the hub wirelessly. The handsets can be placed anywhere there's a suitable 13A mains socket. Call blocking, answer machine services etc. can be set up via the handsets.

I can't help with the landline charges - All I can say is that if you have a BT Landline and it's switched to Digital Voice, BT is obliged to continue to charge on the same basis.

licquorice · ‎07-02-2022

If the OP hadn't been converted to Digital Voice, plugging the base station into the hub wouldn't work.

Simpson42 · ‎07-02-2022

Hi, do you have a mobile?