Home Telephone Tariff - discussion area

Garret

If you work for Talk Talk perhaps you could solve a problem for us. How much are calls to 0800, 0845 and 0870 numbers? And how much are calls from Fresh phones to these numbers? I personally have had hugely varying figures given to me by assorted members of your company.

Garret

System

You can use BT with CPS by dialling 1280, that will force the call throught BT
With regards to call divert, Telco offer this and the call will actually go through Telco.
I cant undersatnd why Telco never got a mention in the article, they are a serious and longstanding player in the telcoms industry.

I've just signed up with Ontel and am wondering about cancelling and going to TalkTalk. Is there a way of disbling carrier pre-select so the call could go through BT? I suppose I could sign up without carrier pre-select, but that would mean plugging in those little boxes to every phone in the house and unplugging them when calling via Telediscount which is a pain. This seems to mean that it is rather hard to get the "cheapest multi-provider solution" as set out in Martin's article, at least with CPS anyway. Perhaps substituting TalkTalk for Onetel is the answer.

TalkTalk say that you can have call diversion with them, but the call goes via BT so you have to pay their extortionate rates for that bit of the call.

Garret
[/quote]

System

Martin,
I'm afraid to say some of the companies can't be compared. NTL charges £1 per month for voicemail which B.T. give free with Answer. Also they charge a 5p surcharge on each 08 or 07 number dialled for some people that can add up to a lot. They also need to lay underground cables from the road to your house obviously impractical for people with landscaped gardens, in rented accommodation, flats or with a very long front garden.
SIMON

System

Try this.Its not the best , but should be considered and I,d wecome any Ideas .I have been using BT and ONETEL for years. (so need to update my combination.) I use two phones and a double adapter to phone socket in the wall. One is BT and the otherONETEL has a ONETEL phone pal or box between ONETEL phone and double adapter to the phone socket.So I use either phone as I wish,this means no CPS and/or override numbers.This works in a desk location so may not be ok for some.I,m now considering talktalk but have to use their CPS therefore losing BT unless I use a override number. Which I consider a pain. I hope the double adapter Idea helps someone ,you can get triple adapters as well ,so possibly another Ph company on another Ph with aanother box. I have had no billing trouble. But ONETELS intructions on setting up Ph pal should be retained. At this point It looks like BT ONETL and Telediscount would be a good combo .

Tight_arse

Ok can somebody give me advice on the following:

I get G&E through Atlantic
Phone line through BT - just paying the £9.50pm
Calls routed through an NTL box as i pay £15 pm and receive £15 back in calls and unlimited internet access.

I want the cheapest G & E (fam of 4/big victorian house)
Can only get BT or King com in E-Yorks for line rental
Need v.high or unlimited internet access
Use £10-£15 in local, national and v.few mob calls pm

Can anyone advise on the best solution.
I dont mind using boxes or overides, i just want the cheapest solution.

It may be worth noting that my husband would at some stage like broadband, so suggestions on this would be helpful as well.

System

I, like the contributor above, wonder why Telco were not included?

I used the uswitch site just yesterday and they came out way ahead of BT for my usage, which is a fairly low number of calls but mixed local, national and mobile. They have apparently been voted the best supplier, according to their web site.

Martin?

MSE_Martin

They were included. They just weren't on the chart. I compared over 100 providers, i couldnt print all of them. Telco aren't cheaper than Talk Talk - especially on mobiles, that's where it falls down.

Martin

Danjo_2

Martin,

I am not sure whether you have heard or seen anything about this before. I have just received a letter through the post from Telecom Plus with the title 'Reducing your BT or CABLE telephone bill - with a PIG’. Basically it is offering me a box that’s in the shape of a pig that plugs into your phone socket. When I make calls it routes it through this pig and apparently it finds the cheapest route as a opposed to a cheaper route and it should give me greater savings on my calls. It is programmed with up to 15 different ‘carriers’. You can’t buy these boxes, but telecom plus will send me one free of charge. You pay a one-off call-charge deposit of £10, which will appear, on your bill as a £10 call credit. It reckons it could save me between 35-45%.

I did a search on the Internet and found a testimonial.

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Telecom_Plus__Review_5338351

Your advice on this subject would be greatly appreciated because I am very tempted to take this offer up.

Best Regards
Danjo

System

PPS If I use a carrier pre-select service and call diversion, who does the diverted call go through? Bt or the new call carrier?  I called Onetel who said that call divert is just not compatible with carrier pre-select and I called Powergen who said it is, and the re-routed calls would go with them.


- simple answer depends on the carrier infrastructure being used, and whether their switch can support a function called LDLI - i.e. when your home phone is diverted to your mobile and someone calls your home phone - then the switch needs to be able to recognise the CLI from your home phone which is used to charge your account for the diverted leg of the call. Rather than picking up the CLI of the calling party, and trying to charge that account which might not even be a customer of there's.

Clearly onetel cannot support LDLI and thus "it's not compatible" but the network behind "powergen" can and thus "it's compatible" - hth greg

System

I have recently been canvassed by NTL who are offering an alternative scheme for non cable customers that links in with you using them as an ISP. For a fixed £15 a month they offer £15 worth of calls at a of 3p,2p,1p but also unlimited internet access (http://freedom.ntl.com). Clearly they benefit from the fixed income and that the contract is for 12 months, but are there any other catches?? ???

Ive been a customer for 18 months now. Internet access is usualy good, with 1st time connection, and ok speeds. Watch for 2 hour connection limit, although you can re dial straight away. Also consider a) 5p connection charge on TOP of you phone call. Very high charges to mobiles.