Digital voice answer service switch off?

[Richard66]

Hello all. 

Is it possible to switch off the digital voice mail service without having to raise a new order?I can work around it ,but my elderly mum doesn't really want it. Thanks in advance Richard. 

[jac_95]

Hi Richard66,

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 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Richard66 

Hopefully the info here should help:

https://community.bt.com/t5/Home-phone-including-Digital/Digital-Voice-How-to-disable-voicemail-func...

[viton]

My 97 year old mother cannot access the internet and 150 doesn't work from her house since digital voice was installed. I rang 150 from our house on her behalf but they wouldn't speak to me. Mother is terribly deaf so it' impossible for her to have a proper conversation on her phone. So where do we go from there? Why can the messaging service not be turned of by dialling a certain number on her phone? Digital voice is a nightmare for the elderly , differently abled or those without internet connection.

[chrisjp]

If your mother is deaf then presumably she cannot use the phone. So I don't understand why you are concerned about any differences between DV and the old analogue phone service.
In fact, having an automatic voicemail service would be a useful thing, because, having set it up and armed with a PIN, anyone can access the voicemails on a number from any other phone. So you could periodically monitor any voicemails left for your mother when she wasn't able to answer her phone.

[viton]

She isn't 100% deaf ad the phone is her only lifeline. You should be ashamed of yourself for making such a comment. Just wait until you get old!

[chrisjp]

I wasn't casting any aspersions on your Mother and I'm sorry if it came over that way. I was merely trying to establish facts so that I might be able to add something useful.
Ohh....and by the way I AM old - and going a bit deaf also.
Have you explored my suggestion of using the DV voicemail service to allow you to remotely access messages left for your mother?

[Tim123]

My 97 year old mother cannot access the internet and 150 doesn't work from her house since digital voice was installed. I rang 150 from our house on her behalf but they wouldn't speak to me. Mother is terribly deaf so it' impossible for her to have a proper conversation on her phone. So where do we go from there? Why can the messaging service not be turned of by dialling a certain number on her phone? Digital voice is a nightmare for the elderly , differently abled or those without internet connection.

@viton- 150 is simply the short version (which works only for BT customers) of 0330 1234 150 or 0800 800 150.
If 150 doesn't work with Digital Voice (which I haven't heard before), try one of those instead. Phone them in your mother's presence (so she can tell them she is happy for you to talk on her behalf), tell them she doesn't want it and they should be able to remove it for her. Don't bother trying to do it for her online (if she has a My BT account), as many people on here have said that's an absolute nightmare.

[Tim123]

My 97 year old mother cannot access the internet and 150 doesn't work from her house since digital voice was installed. I rang 150 from our house on her behalf but they wouldn't speak to me. Mother is terribly deaf so it' impossible for her to have a proper conversation on her phone. So where do we go from there? Why can the messaging service not be turned of by dialling a certain number on her phone? Digital voice is a nightmare for the elderly , differently abled or those without internet connection.

@viton- 150 is simply the short version (which works only for BT customers) of 0330 1234 150.
If 150 doesn't work with Digital Voice (which I haven't heard before), try that one instead. (There is also a freephone version, which I cannot post in this message as it automatically triggers spam post deletion!)
Phone them in your mother's presence (so she can tell them she is happy for you to talk on her behalf), tell them she doesn't want it and they should be able to remove it for her. Don't bother trying to do it for her online (if she has a My BT account), as many people on here have said that's an absolute nightmare.

[Tim123]

0800 800 150