BT4600 Phone

[PMB2]

My wifes mother who is 87 with moderate dementia has a large button Motorola FW500 in her living room supplied by BT. This phone is plugged into a router to supply a digital phoneline. 

I am sick of the number of scam calls she is receiving causing confusion,  upset and worry.

To solve this  problem I am thinking about buying  a BT 4600 and putting it in her bedroom (never to be used as she is so used to the big button phone due to failing eyesight). I was going to programme to BT4600 with only the 10 numbers she dials thus only receiving these legitimate numbers.

My question is will the BT 4600 phone be compatible with the Motorola large button phone without the need to hardwire from the bedroon to the hub? And if so will  what I am suggesting above work?

[Andy005]

Hi @PMB2 

The BT4600 will need to be plugged into the hub or an extension in order for it to work. I have experience of the BT4600 for the same reasons as yourself but not the Motorola.

The BT4600 does have quite large buttons, my suggestion  would be to get a BT4600 twin set and un plug the Motorola. It's the simplest and easiest solution, your mother in law would lose the ability to call if there's a power/broadband outage but I would see this as a calculated risk that is worth taking. The ability to block nuisance calls would be my priority.

I can't understand why the Motorola does not have call blocking built in, considering the main segment of the population that it's aimed at that seems to be a major oversight.

If you were to use both makes of phone, I don't know how quick the BT4600 reacts to the incoming call ie would the Motorola still ring once/twice etc before the BT4600 blocks or asks the caller to announce themselves? A single ring on the Motorola could cause more confusion.

[PMB2]

Andy 005 Thamk you

[pddco]

Could the corded BT Decor 2600 be a better option? Has TrueCall and seems to have bigger buttons too. And would simply replace the big button phone you have now…

[PMB2]

Does the BT Decor 2600 phone work in the way we want it to i.e........
We want to set the 10 phone numbers in the memory of the phone that are acceptable (this is family and friends), any phone number outside of these 10 numbers are rejected.

[pddco]

@PMB2  Sorry no experience of the phone myself. But have had a TrueCall BT8500 ( an old cordless phone / answering machine ) for a few years now. And it stores a list of my contact numbers which are not challenged, so assuming other  TrueCall phones - I think BT called the feature “BT Call Guardian”  - do the same. If you do a search hopefully you’ll find a manual or at least a list of features. But it’s a great feature. Not been bothered by scam calls at all. Now mobile phones are another story… 

[pddco]

Just reading back, of course the Motorola  FW500 is a hybrid phone that’ll work as a mobile for backup should the power go off.

With the Decor 2600 plugged in as the main phone, as been said previously, you’ll probably find the FW500 will  ring once or twice before the 2600 “answers”. Which may be confusing.

The solution could be to switch the ringer off on the FW500. The phone would still be available during a power cut. But the downside would be that the phone would  be silent should someone ring in during a power cut. 

Regarding the confusing single ring…. In addition to my BT8500 cordless phone/ answering machine with the base plugged into the hub, I’ve also got the free cordless BT HD phone too.

So any incoming call will ring the HD phone once before the BT8500 does its thing.

To be honest I find it useful insofar as I hear a call coming in. If it’s a nuisance call the HD phone rings once and hear nothing further. If it’s genuine, and on the contact list,  or it’s an “Announced Call” the BT8500 will ring as normal.