The UKs Cheapest Home Phones Solution Article Discussion Area

Mum of 5,

You're paying £14.50 (after VAT is added) for BT line rental. That sounds like £11 plus 2 x £1.75 'extras'. What are they? Do you need them? You do know you can get Caller Display almost free now don't you?

Your broadband is £17.99 (after VAT is added) - so it's BT Total Broadband Option 1. Adequate for your needs and, if it's like mine, very reliable. OTOH, if you agreed to an 18 month contract, you could get the price down to £14.99/month.

The 'HERE' link in my signature below might help you make some decisions with regard to your telephone calls. Certainly, using 18185 for calls to mobiles is, IMHO, a must (5p connection and 6p/minute weekdays, 2p/minute weekends).

An Orchid LCR dialler might help too (one certainly helped my daugher manage her 5 kids' use).

JILLYBILLY wrote:

An old lady I know has asked me to find the cheapest phone provider for her and although i'd love to help her I've looked at the relevant site and it all looks very complicated for the amount of time i can spare (I dont even have enough time to check them out for myself!) so if anyone can give me a quick answer for her I'd be grateful. She said her present supplier is terminating her service at the end of the month (I didnt like to ask why!) She has a BT landline and i think most of her calls will be made in the evening to her daughters(Dont even ask why they cant sort this out for her) I dont think she will make many mobile calls but one of her daughters lives in France. Can anyone give me any quick help.

It might be just that she uses Powergen at the moment - and they are pulling out of the telephony market.

If it wasn't for the 'old lady*' part, I'd suggest the easy option would be:

(1). BT Together Option 1 line rental - paid by Direct Debit;
(2). A 18185 account so each of her UK 01/02 calls only costs 5p and calls to France only cost 5p connection plus ½p/minute;
(3). An Orchid V2 (£8.79 after MSE 20% discount when bought online) - to automatically route most calls via 18185.

The saving (over BT prices) on each weekday daytime UK 01/02 call would be at least 1p for even the shortest call - and potentially much more for long calls (BT charges 3p/minute, 18185 charges 0p/minute).

The saving on each evening/weekend UK 01/02 call is smaller - only ½p for calls lasting up to an hour but more for longer (BT charges 3p/minute for each minute over an hour, 18185 charges nothing).

* 18185 offers only online only account management.

Could a UK-based daughter manage a 18185 account online for her?

JILLYBILLY wrote:

Thanks for that but unfortunatley her daughters dont give her any time let alone manage anything for her! So I think it just needs to be back to BT dont you?

Yes, I was afraid that was how you'd have to reply.

I find that very sad.

Mum of 5,

Please click on the 'HERE' link in my signature below - most of what you'll need is there.

BTW, CPS means that, although you have a BT landline and your incoming calls still arrive on BT (so Caller Display, 1471 and 1571 work normally), you will have opted to have the BT exchange programmed so that, by default, (nearly) all your outgoing calls are sent via the CPS provider (and BT don't even 'see' the calls even though they carry the first leg).

The 'default' part of that sentence is the key to CPS. It means that, if you want, you can use a prefix to send an individual call via another provider (i.e. override the CPS programming for a single call). For example, using just a 1280 prefix will send that call out via BT, using just a 18185 prefix (not 128018185) will send that call out via www.18185.co.uk and so on.

In other words, CPS allows you still to pick the best carrier for your calls even though you've opted, normally, to use one provider (in this case, Primus Saver Option 2).

They make money (or think they will) from your 'not included' calls (i.e. although they give you free evening and weekend UK 01/02 calls for nothing, they hope you'll also make your other calls via them - you won't though [but don't tell them]).

Hi

Thanks for explaining how it works. Just a note, i changed my package with BT yesterday to their cheapest, £12 including VAT. When i asked about Broadband at £14.99 as you mentioned they said that was their option 2 broadband and was only £14.99 for 3 months then £22.99! I thought i'd pass it on. Looks like i'm stuck paying £17.99 for broadband as i can't find it cheaper other than talk talk which seems too unstable for me. Any other suggestions anyone?

Mum of 5