No caller display

[Supersocks]

Any advice welcome. I've been with bt for umpteen years. We have had caller display and until last year all was well. One of the main poles was hit by lightning and we were off for weeks (along with everyone else locally). Once the line was finally fixed we no longer had caller display. I've reported it, we've had an engineer out, I've re-reported it. Gave up in the end and cancelled the fault as no-one can sort it. I get umpteen nuisance calls so I really want caller display back. When you ring the special number *#234# it clearly states caller display is working. Any advice welcome! I've read through some of the other questions on here, and it seems/feels like its a fault on the line somewhere, but how do you get someone to take notice? The last engineer who came out was lovely, but said he had no idea how to fix it. I don't want call guardian, just caller display. Thank you!

[iniltous]

Perhaps your issue is related to the lightning strike, it is known that lightning strikes can cause an issue with caller display , but oddly enough it’s a broadband problem  although caller display is a telephone facility , this broadband fault  doesn’t directly affect the broadband service, in basic terms , the way telephony and broadband coexist on the line with ADSL and VDSL ( FTTC ) is  ‘telephony’ is passed in and out of the broadband port , apparently a  lightning strike can damage a broadband port in such a way that the CLI ( calling line info ) data is fine leaving the exchange but corrupted as it transits the broadband port ,  so it arrives in an unreadable state at your equipment ( your phone )

Reporting the issue seems to cause confusion, report ‘ no caller ID’   as a telephone problem , it’s checked at the exchange and it’s OK there, report as a broadband issue ( but broadband is working fine ) and broadband fault reception state CLI is telephony issue and are reluctant to accept it as a broadband fault.

Others have had success reporting a phone line problem , hoping to get a multi skilled engineer ( one able to deal phone and broadband issues )  the engineer, if they are unaware , are told of this ‘issue’ , and even though they  have been issued a phone line fault report, (not broadband)  they arrange a broadband ‘lift and shift’   (this changes the broadband port you are using ) which resolves the caller display issue 

[Supersocks]

Gosh, thats technical! But I do think I grasp what you are saying. So I need to report it again and ask for a multiskilled engineer.

Thank you so much for your answer. At least I can try to explain to customer services. 

[DavidM]

Hi @Supersocks and welcome.

@iniltous is spot on with this. We would raise these as a 'modem fault' at the exchange. If you get stuck when you're reporting this get back to me and I'll be happy to lend a hand.

Cheers

David

[Supersocks]

Hi @DavidM 

Thanks for your reply. I have rung customer services today, and because my broadband is working and there is no fault on the line, and caller ID is working at their end when they checked,  the lady I spoke to was at a loss of what to do. I tried to explain using the reply I was given from @iniltous , but that didn't seem to help at all. Open to suggestions of the next step please.

Kind regards

[DavidM]

Hi @Supersocks ,

Thanks for getting back to me, sorry you're still not having any luck. These can take some time to sort but I'll be happy to step in here. I'll drop you a private message now so you can get in touch.

Cheers

David

[Supersocks]

Thank you @DavidM

I've spoken to a lovely lad called Robbie who has tried to help, and since then been passed to Danny, Emma and Sam. Still no joy, despite a couple of texts saying it's sorted. I've missed 2 calls because they keep calling my mobile, despite me saying the signal is bad. I don't understand why the call centre don't ring my bt line. But heyho.  No one seems able to sort the issue. 

[Anonymous]

Hi, I notice you say Caller Display is a 'broadband' problem.

Caller Display has nothing to do with broadband because many BT customers like myself haven't signed up to BT Broadband and still  get caller display!

Our telephone line isn't compatible with broadband, it has very low VDSL, so wouldn't be suitable for a broadband connection yet we get Caller Display, so your theory that Caller Display works via broadband is wrong. 

[Anonymous]

Hi you telephone line that's connected to the green BT junction box near you probably needs tightening. Or maybe a line fault.

This is usually the problem when we have Caller Display faults.

The engineer checks the line all the way to the junction box. Often the connection in the box just needs connecting better. That is usually what happens. 

They should be checking your phone line like this and sending out an engineer.

Caller Display has nothing to do with BT Broadband because our phone line isn't compatible with broadband and we still get Caller Display. 

😀

[iniltous]

If you read and understood the explanation of how ‘broadband’ can affect CLI , you should grasp how broadband on a line can and does affect CLI, just because you can have CLI on a non broadband line is totally irrelevant, you obviously can have faults on CLI that are nothing to do with broadband, but as the OP states that there was lightning in the area shortly before the fault presented itself and the fact that is a known issue in the OR engineering community,  it seems a likely cause of the issue…your assertion that CLI is nothing to do with broadband just shows how little you know about the subject , no one said CLI is a broadband function but with a line that has broadband the CLI FSK data burst has to transit the broadband equipment on a line without broadband it obviously doesn’t.