Thanks for explaining the techy bit.
While it might sound counterintuitive to have 2 phone services, there are third party VOIP providers who offer a more comprehensive service than BT (eg online contact book so that saved numbers are not lost if the handset plays up, umlimited call duration - BT is only up to an hour) and are cheaper.
BT doesn't offer broadband without a landline option, but moving to another broadband provider is a hassle as it would involve a new router etc and prices are comparable to the BT most basic package anyway.
So all in all, it would be cheaper for my mum if we could simply renew the BT broadband (including the phone, even though we don't want it), and to then take out a VOIP contract with a different VOIP provider, and she'd have a better phone service than she has now. It would mean having a new phone number, with the BT one essentially dormant.
However, it only makes sense if we can use the same handset as buying new phones cancels out the savings. But it sounds as if that isn't possible from what you've said, and having also spoken to the potential VOIP provider.
The key thing I really want is for the numbers saved in my mum's BT handset to be backed up somewhere as she keeps having problems with the phone and the only option that BT can offer is to reset the handset which means all the numbers are lost and we have to re-enter them manually which is very laborious and time consuming. This will be the second time this year we have had to do this, hence thinking about moving away from BT for the phone side of things.
