What happens to analogue phone line when switching to Digital Voice?

[pottyperson]

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@Angelica30 wrote:

What they don't realise is that us old age pensioners who don't have mobile phones cannot call 999 if there is a power cut or Internet goes down.

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That's not helpful to the several long-term contributors here who are aged 70+ and continually have to call out less mature individuals who blame age as the default for many technology issues. If you value an emergency backup try a pay-as-you-go, age-proof basic mobile phone which can be had for £20 or less.   

[Bob1001]

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@pottypersonwrote:

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@pottypersonwrote:

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@Angelica30wrote:

What they don't realise is that us old age pensioners who don't have mobile phones cannot call 999 if there is a power cut or Internet goes down.

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That's not helpful to the several long-term contributors here who are aged 70+ and continually have to call out less mature individuals who blame age as the default for many technology issues. If you value an emergency backup try a pay-as-you-go, age-proof basic mobile phone which can be had for £20 or less. 

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Some of us OAPs answer questions that are asked by younger people who do not seem to have a clue about anything technical, I seem to be providing IT/sattelite/TV support for the whole of our estate.

What amuses me more than anything else is when someone I am helping on line says, "it is alright for you youngsters" I was about 20years older than the last person who said that.

[BLaZiNgSPEED]

@Angelica30Actually on checkout there were 3 options, to select Digital Voice, remain on the old Analogue Line.

If you clicked on the Analogue Line then of-course, you'll remain on the old system. I decided to opt for the Digital Voice service as that also offers me the free Alexa phone.

Btw, you're meant to click to select either the free Alexa Phone or the DV Phone Adapter, if you don't, you won't receive it. Does your tracking order show...

Equipment Serial number

Alexa Advanced Home Phone	-
Smart Hub 2	-

I'm awaiting dispatch Equipment delivery  Awaiting Dispatch Dispatch date:  - Estimated delivery date:  16 Jul 2022

You can still get an old type of mobile phone. In fact Amazon offer Senior Mobile Phones! 

For around £20 you can get a basic Nokia. It is like old Nokia 3330 or 3210 but simply upgraded to a modern colour screen. Then you can get Pay As You Go.

Actually for 999 emergency calls you don't even need a sim card. The phone will let you call for free.

They don't mention in the contract that phone needs to be plugged in the router, you're right. I found out by watching their instructional guide PDF document as well as YouTube.

[Bob1001]

@BLaZiNgSPEEDThat is new although my phone was delivered over copper (FTTC) I did not get the option to remain on Analogue. I was just told we are changing very shortly before it happened.

[imjolly]

@BLaZiNgSPEED 

you need to delete the amazon link as not permitted on forum - or mods will

[BLaZiNgSPEED]

@Bob1001Maybe it's a new change? I could've taken a screenshot, but it's too late now. When I ordered BT Home Essentials 2 (Social Tariff) as I'm on Universal Credit. On checkout where there is an option for Alexa Phone, 2 Handsets, DV Adapter, scrolling down at the bottom of the screen there was an option to remain on existing Analogue line. But of-course selecting that option meant that you don't get the free Digital Phone. So I opted for Digital Voice instead. Even though my vintage traditional phone may not work, at least I can keep it as a souvenir.

@imjollyDidn't know Amazon links weren't allowed. I tried the option to edit my post, but these forums don't let you edit posts after a few minutes of posting. So I'm unable to remove the link or the post.

If a Mod wishes to remove the link from my post, fair enough. I simply wanted to guide the poster above that there are cheap simple handsets for elderly people in case they need emergency calling in event of power cut.

[BLaZiNgSPEED]

Just went live with the service on the 18th of July and I have to say I am really, really impressed with the phone service!!!😃

I received the Smart Hub 2 as well as Alexa Digital Phone. The only problem I had was that at around 5am a couple of days ago, I was woken up by the phones beeping high pitch sound indicating low battery every 30 seconds. At first I thought it was the router and was thinking it was due to overheating due to hot weather. Then I realized the phone was on low battery, this caused me some stress as I didn't know whether it was the router or the phone initially. It turned out the handset was causing this high beep like a smoke alarm due to low battery as soon as I charged it, the problem went away.

Sound quality is quite impressive, there’s no audio delay like with other VOIP services like Skype or Facebook. It's instant. I was chatting to my parents when they were out. It's a great privilege to be able to phone them with this service for free as my mobile phone is on Pay As You Go! So finally after many years, the home phone now has its valuable use again! 🙂

I can also confirm that the old vintage traditional phone also works and rings when plugged into the router as tested just now! I was pleasantly surprised and that also works fine for both incoming and outgoing calls. Though I have removed it as the ringing is quite loud. So I will use the Alexa Digital Phone as it is better and I can mute the ringer! I'll keep the vintage phone as a souvenir.

Indeed, this is basically like SOGEA. There’s no dial tone if you plug normal traditional telephone line into the master/faceplate socket phone port.

Also I can confirm it hasn't been triggering internet disconnections!! This is great news! Since analogue line is turned off and there's no dial tone through master socket, this eliminates the interference on the line, which would cause disconnections when phone rang or when plugging and unplugging phone wire. Super relieved about this, this will definitely improve the reliability of the connection.

Also have access to the free BT WiFi hotspots. So in case the connection did go off you can use the BT WiFi internet from the phone. I'm lucky to have BT WiFi hotspot signal in my area and that's working fine too!

Overall I think Digital Voice is a blessing. Analogue phone is really problematic as has been causing problems with the internet connection for years when plugging and unplugging or when it was ringing (sometimes). I wished I had this DV service earlier, couldn't be happier!😃

[licquorice]

Digital Voice is not free, the call charges and packages are exactly the same as the analogue phone service.

[BLaZiNgSPEED]

Actually, you're mistaken! The Fibre Home Essentials 2 package I am on gives you free landline and mobile phone calls for Digital Voice Service! I'm on Universal Credit and BTs packages slightly differs from the main ones. I have verified this from usage history as well as on the account product description.

I'm also on the 12 month contract, which normally is a 24 month contract.

If you go to the BT Home Essentials website and enter any postcode. It will show for Fibre 1 Essential Plan

700 minutes

a month to call UK landlines and mobiles

And for the Home Essentials 2 plan.

Unlimited minutes
a month to call UK landlines and mobiles

Under my account Products, this is what shows as copied and pasted... I have bolded the first bullet point and of-course removed my phone number.

Welcome to Digital Voice

You’ve switched to Digital Voice for HD-quality calls and great features included for free.

Your number:

Unlimited minutes

Talk whenever you want, without the worry

• Make unlimited calls to any landline number or mobile, day or night
• You can change your calling plan every month
• Divert nuisance calls with Call Protect

And here's my usage history. 

Total usage so far: 00:32:02

Based on my phone calls to UK mobile so far from 21-24 July shows as £0.00 under all the call durations.
Total cost of £0.00. Showing 1 - 7

At the bottom indeed, it's showing as £0 spent. And btw, these are phone calls I've made from my end.
Now this is for UK mobile and landlines. Most likely international calls will not be free even under my plan.

This social tariffs offer, I believe is an incentive that BT offers to jobseekers to be able to freely call employers as part of their job search. That's why they are offering this service for free. 

[licquorice]

Actually I'm not mistaken, call packages are exactly the same whether analogue or DV.