Elderly over 90 years old

[brian_thorogood]

First of all everywhere on BT it is hopeless finding out where to find help for elderly people.

In=laws are over 90 years old and have no idea what to do about the upcoming phone switch.  I have looked around and can see that if BT know a customer is over 70 then the phone will not be switched.   BUT nothing anywhere in the various help topics, who to ring etc tells you who to call to inform BT about the issue...   standard helpline has nothing in the selection of where to go by pressing various 1,2,3 etc.... What number do you ring and what selection do you make to get to the correct person that can do something?

[Carlusha]

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@brian_thorogoodwrote:

 standard helpline has nothing in the selection of where to go by pressing various 1,2,3 etc...

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Oh, tell me about it! I am deaf. almost 80, so the press 1, 2 or 3 lark is as much use to me as a chocolate teapot! Oh, I do like chocolate though.

[imjolly]

You can register here. https://www.bt.com/help/here-for-you

[licquorice]

The phone WILL be switched to Digital Voice at some point, it may be later rather than sooner but it will be switched.

Do they have broadband as well as phone?

[brian_thorogood]

Yes but there are issues regarding where phones are in the house and there is no option for 1 being near the broadband box

[iniltous]

When converted to DV , if the consumer had various wired extensions/ phones they want to keep ‘live’ , that’s possible but needs a wiring rearrangement so the sockets are in effect ran from the phone port on the router ( called voice re injection )  neither BT nor Openreach are responsible for those sockets currently and after the change to DV are not responsible for reconnecting them to the hub , it’s not a particularly difficult thing to do most DIYers should be able to do this , or employ a tradesperson to do it .

BT , in certain circumstances,  provide one or more DV adapters that convert an ordinary wired phone into a DECT phone , that can connect to the routers built in DECT base station, so in most cases the extension wiring isn’t needed anyway, the extension phones simply connect in a different way rather than into an extension socket , into the DV adapter which connect via DECT .

[licquorice]

It is not difficult to utilise the existing wiring to provide phone capability. I appreciate it may not be possible for them to do it themselves but it isn't rocket science.

[brian_thorogood]

Just wish someone would answer the question

[brian_thorogood]

Wish I could do a thumbs down.... Just wish someone would answer the question

[licquorice]

The question has been answered, it's going to happen. There are multiple solutions as have been posted. Despite what you may think, it isn't the end of the world.