Digital Voice - 999 in power cuts

[JohnGeddesWinster]

With the move to Digital-only imminent, can anyone tell me where we are on provision for emergency calls during a power outage, in locations where mobile signals will not support an indoor call to 999/112?

Ofcom "guidance" says "Providers should have at least one solution available that enables access to emergency
organisations for a minimum of one hour in the event of a power outage in the premises;"

BT say (of FTTP) "We believe that power back-up should be provided to allow a customer a minimum of one
hour".

But there are reports that such units as BT have supplied to FTTP customers (these) only power the ONT and not the router, so wouldn't allow a voice call without mains power. And there are reports that the units are not currently being supplied.

As to copper broadband, I can't find any trace of BT offering a Battery Backup Unit (BBU) at all. Have I missed something?

[jac_95]

Hi JohnGeddesWinster,

Thanks for the post and welcome to the Community.

This is an automated response as I can see you have a question about BT’s Digital Voice service. Rather than waiting for a response from the Community, you may find an answer to your question by using the search bar on the Community homepage. We also have a thread that contains a wealth of info related to BT’s Digital Voice, click this link to take a look, Digital Voice FAQs.

To learn more about the nationwide change to this Internet based voice service visit landlinesgo.digital

If you have already looked for the answer to your question and have not found anything that can help, then please ignore this message. One of our Community members will be along shortly to help you further.

[jac_95]

Have a read of

https://community.bt.com/t5/Home-phone-including-Digital/UPS-solution-for-ONT-and-SH2/m-p/2236314/hi...

There's 2 models, 1 for ONT and 1 for the BT Smart Hub 

[imjolly]

@JohnGeddesWinster 

is the poor mobile signal just your provider or have you checked a mobile coverage and maybe another provider does have some cover in your area?  remember you can make a 999 call on mobile and it will use whatever network is available not necessarily your own

[JohnGeddesWinster]

" remember you can make a 999 call on mobile and it will use whatever network is available not necessarily your own".

That bit is true. BUT...

It appears that if you reach 999 via another network, the emergency services cannot call you back. I can't get Ofcom to confirm this (they claim not to know, which is scary) but Derbyshire Fire and Rescue and Derbyshire Police have both confirmed this.

That means that if an ambulance team can't find your house, if you only placed the original 999 call via another network, then the ambulance service can't call you back to ask for more detailed directions, or to ask you to go to the front door to see if you can spot them. Not clever.

[yorkspark]

What was the response of your electricity provider when you queried what they are doing to mitigate power outages?

Are they providing a bbu for your fridge/freezer?

I cannot understand the faux drama about how everything becomes impossible because of a power cut and everyone miraculously suddenly needs to dial 999 

Anyway if you did happen to need to call 999 when camped on an alternative network, then just tell the call handler who would keep the call open until assistance arrived.

[iniltous]

If you have a genuine concern then presumably you would have already mitigated the risks , what do you currently do if your old fashioned landline developed a fault that made outgoing calls to 999 impossible, do you leave home for the duration of the fault , after all , with no ‘internal’ mobile service you are at the same risk as you would be on DV during a power outage and the BBU/UPS only lasting an hour ….

No point being anything less that honest with yourself , if you wouldn’t move out in those circumstances, you are overdramatising the risk from DV …..if your concern is justified , you could always provide yourself with a more robust back up service , in fact , as with all these complaints from people that allegedly live in areas where the power supply is extremely unreliable, why haven’t you already done something about that to keep the lights , heating , freezer etc going during these frequent, prolonged outages ?

[Saighdear]

Well I am new to this forum, but have an urgent request / statement to make based on experience.  We are rural and at the end of a Power line and telephone line.  Now in the past , with winter storms and   / or prolonged dry periods with a sudden rain storm, we have suffered  both Minor and Major power cuts.   Being a t the end of the line, the system was not always Aware of the situation, even after an hour or so.
QUESTION: with the current ( as of recent years) the POLICE do not like people phoning 999 for what should be a non-urgent call . I've had abuse from them before  because I don't know what the other number is -used to be the local station on 2222 or such variations.     now  101, 121, or whatever I dunno.   and since our MObile has very poor reception - getting worse when we don't have 2G, shortly, I believe, ....   what to do.    This is WORSE than the call for EVs by 2030.
As for "then just tell the call handler who would keep the call open until assistance arrived."     As I'vesaid above  - and this makes me soooh angry with the system: They don't want to be told!

[iniltous]

So are you saying your power is unreliable because of the weather ( storms etc ) yet somehow your current telephone service is resilient to the same weather conditions  ?, the chances are it isn’t.

If your power supply is so unreliable, why haven’t you mitigated that already , by having some sort of backup power already , it always puzzles me that people who claim that their power supply is always ‘off’ , these people are presumably happy to stay in a home with  , no mains powered devices, no lights , no heating , no TV , the food in the freezer going off but are content to stay put , provided the landline phone has a dialtone when they lift the handset ( ignoring the fact that the event that takes the power off likely has also taken the conventional phone line down too )

If your situation is that when converting to DV you are deemed by BT to be vulnerable and you genuinely have no mobile service then you may be provided with a BBU , but if you were genuinely concerned why wouldn’t you have already would done something about your unreliable power supply yourself , by not doing anything   suggests that you need is not really that great , and you are overreacting.

If your power goes off frequently, ask yourself honestly how many times during those outages did you need to use the phone to contact 999 with a genuine emergency.

[Saighdear]

Oh Mannie,   What / how to say it:  I've left off a reply until now, hoping someone else ( non "beginner" would have come up to the plate.
We've had SEVERAL power cuts since I first wrote on here.  Does the "Guru" not realise that Telecomms lines are mostly UNDERGROUND whereas Powerlines are AERIAL -  no surprise that aerial lines are subject to DOWNING       - simple laws of Physics .
Last night was the cream on the cake for Prize Idiots in the Essential Services CallCentres. After waiting around a minute to find that the power wasn't going to "blink" back on, I phoned 105.    Had to listen to pre-recorded waffle and how I could find MORE waffle online,   ...   ONLINE  Online, I ask you,   ONLINE ?     FFS The power's just gone OFF  ( that means to most people- ( I thought ) that the Router would not function and our screens would go dead      - DEAD! )    Around 10 minutes later and as I was about to put the phone down, it was answered by a REAL person ( think so) and after the usual precursory pre-amble, I got to tell him ( it/they) that we'd experienced another power cut .    Had had several blips earlier 30 hrs where the Desktop PC ONLY had suddenly shut down and I had considered there was a fault with the PC         ...  obligatory pull to bits to investigate ....   No-oh!  I don't do things like that anymore - even when running Windows ...  treated like our machinery - inherently stable.
And then to reinforce the point of THIS THREAD and losing contact, the person COULD NOT GRASP the notion that IF / WHEN I had ONLY FIBRE broadband and using the new system ( DATA only) I would not be able to contact them. ( Nobody else had bothered to call - no instances on his screen)   What a faff to explain to the Gonk that Signals via Fibre are Optical and cannot transfer POWER.   "OK so what's the problem if it is fibre - the power loss won't affect it the? .." was HIS take on it.    Intelligent I ask myself.  How does the router work and allow a VOIP call if there is no electricity to power it all.
I cannot argue with Idiots, my level of whatever I no longer know, for their level of whatever I no longer know's experience,  is miles ahead of me/ us.   
So in conclusion, MOST people I discuss this issue with, have literally NO IDEA what they're talking about. We will have NO Comm's with outside world to tell the outside world that we have no electricity to tell the outside world and that my EV has a flat battery and when I go outside somewhere on horseback ( Shanks's Pony ) to get a Signal with my Mobile, I find the Cold battery has died after having to listen to the Preamble waffle.     Intelligent Technology ?  It'sso artificial.