BT Smart Controls service is changing

[Syates8]

Any idea on how to do this in practice?

[imjolly]

did you try the suggestion by @Leanne_T 

[Palfrey]

Rang this number.

Unfortunately there is NO option re New Customer.

So I picked one of the other options ( 1 I  think).

Lady there said there was no recourse. Your issue is with the product supplier(BT).

When I reiterated it is the BT App that’s the issue (as it is shortly shutting down). I was informed the issue is with them. BT ?

So no interest or responsibility in their product.

My 7 cameras are out of warranty anyway.

This is the second occasion BT have pulled their app for their security cameras.

Shame on you BT. You should have higher standards than this.

[Meaow]

These cameras were a costly mistake and they used the BT label to overprice them, who would have expected them to last less than a cheap unbranded  version from discount supermarket. The motion detection was hopeless, and memory cards all  needed constant reformatting after failing,  features were so limited, sound quality bad.  But now I have actually found a more static use for them it is ridiculous to now have to scrap these at short notice  and replace them at expense just because they only work with a proprietary BT app.   

[vix_collins]

So what are BT offering customers who currently use this service? 

This is appalling. 

We have been a BT baby monitor customer for over 6 years, owning three devices for our children. The screen stopped working a while ago but as we use the app it was a workable situation. Now to find out that the app service will stop working on 15th September is shocking!

The importance of the app in our daily lives and for the security of our children is paramount. Our eldest has a Cerebral Pasley affecting his mobility, we need to be able to keep an eye on him.

We have spent several hundred pounds on BT baby monitor devices and as our children are still young, we need them.

Can anyone from BT advise please? I've contacted the BT Smart Controls team but not heard in over six weeks. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Whilst it's always annoying when a product reaches end of life, is there anything in these monitors that can't be replicated with a £15 Wifi Camera like the TP-Link TC60 or similar?

[Jb111]

No idea - I don’t love shelling out hundreds for a camera then an extra £15 once its functionality (the Smart part of the Smart Monitor) is withdrawn. It’s not about end of life. This is every single item currently in use being made dumb on 15 Sept. 

[Meaow]

Yes , I’d agree with you  that TPLink  are far superior-  I wish I hadn't bought BT ones,  but I did and if the box had said useless in a few years as we’re not really committed to products then  I wouldn’t have bought them or at least would have returned them, which I considered doing at  the time.  
But to just obsolete them at short notice is certainly giving customers  a message.   
They want it claw back some money for their profits, well I’d like to claw back what I wasted on these.  Professional companies have a better schedule for eol.

[AndrewBu]

If BT doesn't want to maintain the app, why can they just not leave it running without updating it so our products still work? It would cost them nothing. As it is their reputation will be in tatters...

[Syates8]

I am not quite in the same situation but can sympathise with how this impacts your child’s needs and your anger as a parent.

my 3 y/o daughter was diagnosed with high risk neuroblastoma 6 months ago therefore we are in hospital for weeks at a time. Being able to check in on our 1y/o son sleeping brings comfort to my wife and I (whoever is on hospital duty with my daughter).

baby monitors are not just another piece of tech to us all as parents.