Since switching to BT Voice I am not receiving text messages on my landline to authorise payments

[CarolUK]

Since I switched over to BT Voice I am no longer receiving the spoken text messages which give authoristion codes for online payments through my landline. As I am in an area with no reception for mobile phones I do not want to give my mobile number to my bank as an option. The bank fraud department which I had to use to authorise my last payment thinks that BT may be blocking the type of number that sends these authoristaion coades and I may need to get it unblocked. I can't find any way to contact BT about this and speak to an actual person. Any help or advice greatly appreciated.

[licquorice · Accepted solution]

Unfortunately, the text service doesn't work with Digital Voice.

[Paul608085]

@CarolUK 

Who is your mobile phone service with, and do you know if they support WiFi Calling?

What mobile phone do you have, and do you know if it is compatible with WiFi Calling?

WiFi Calling is a facility that routes mobile calls, (and texts I believe?), via your home broadband - or any WiFi network that you connect to.

[gameinn1]

Can you give more info on how wifi calling would help in this regard? If you mean in the sense that the op could enable wifi calling on the phone then sure but that's simply a band aid. One of the few reasons to have a landline number is this exact scenario.

[Paul608085]

@gameinn1 

My reply was a suggestion as to how to possibly solve the symptom of the issue that @CarolUK is experiencing: that they can no longer receive "spoken text messages" from their bank etc since moving to Digital Voice.

By setting up WiFi Calling, the OP could then change the number registered with their bank to their mobile number, and then receive SMS text messages for the authorisation codes.

AFAIK, WiFi Calling routes SMS text messages via the internet, as well as voice calls?

WiFi Calling works well for me - I don't see it as a "Band Aid". Why do you say that it is?

[gameinn1]

It's a band aid because you have to jump through like 3 hoops just to continually receive the same service as you did previously.

With something like digital voice it should at the bare MINIMUM allow the exact same functionality as previous but with extra features. Here it's even worse.

[licquorice]

I wonder what percentage of the BT customer base use text on their landline? It might possibly be as high as 0.0001%

[iniltous]

Text to speech on a BT landline was never charged for , so if it’s removed, the consumer has not been financially disadvantaged , removing free stuff isn’t something that can be complained about.

[gameinn1]

By that logic receiving a call was never charged for, so the consumer should never complain if they can't receive a call and are also not financially disadvantaged. You can still make calls so all is good.

Getting 2fa codes or similar on an "always on" landline is pretty common. Especially in op's case when mobile coverage is spotty.

[Tim123]

@iniltous 
Text to speech on a BT landline was never charged for , so if it’s removed, the consumer has not been financially disadvantaged , removing free stuff isn’t something that can be complained about.

Text-to-speech for inbound messages still works on Digital Voice. It's outbound text messaging that doesn't work on Digital Voice. 

See Moderator's responses here and here.

I'm sure people who bought high-end BT phones capable of sending text messages (paying 10.5p per message sent) won't be happy. It's a backward step, particularly for hard-of-hearing customers who value this facility. It can't be technically impossible to implement on a VoIP-based system, so axing it must be a commercial decision from BT.