Talktalk and 1571

soreilly

Good Evening,

I'm hoping someone can help me. First off I can't post this at the proper Talktalk forums as I am posting on behalf of my grandparents and I don't have the account number to hand so I can't complete the registration process.

My grandparents have a BT line and quite a while ago switched to Talktalk for the calls due to the cheaper line rental. All has been fine until a few weeks ago when we discovered (long story that I won't post as it's not relevant) that 1571 was cutting in instead of the answerphone on my grandparents phone.

We spoke to Talktalk on my grandparents behalf to get 1571 removed from the line in the hope this would mean they could use their answerphone. We were told this would take 24 - 48 hours (in reality it took 12 days! - we know this because we checked each day).

Anyway, with 1571 apparently now gone, we configured my grandparents phone to ring for the maximum number of rings (9) before their answerphone cut in. When we tested it, after about 7 rings a recorded message is heard stating that the "called party does not have voicemail and to please hang up".

Outraged at this I got back onto Talktalk customer support and politely explained to two customer service reps (one in the TT Broadband Helpdesk who I got put through to), that when we asked for 1571 to be removed, we expected to line to just "ring and ring".

The guy in the TT Broadband Helpdesk said he understood the requirement (and to his credit even called the number to hear the recorded message), but explained that the Talktalk system is configured "system wide" to only allow users a maximum of 7 rings. He even said that there were "other Talktalk users in the same situation" however he couldn't do anything.

My grandparents are now in the same situation as before and we've had to set their answerphone to answer at 6 rings in order to prevent the recorded message kicking in. My grandfather is recovering from a broken leg and my grandmother is hard of hearing so 6 rings isn't really long enough.

Question - Is it possible for a Talktalk customer to get this 1571 recorded message removed from the line completely and let the line "ring and ring" until it is either answered or the customers own answerphone kicks in?

Many thanks in advance,

Stuart

DVardysShadow

Good grief. This is pure technical incompetence. I think you need to go into writing over this, plainly it will be beyond a call centre droid to sort out. I would suggest you have a word with Ofcom first - it is a Technical Standards issue and I don't think TalkTalk should have the discretion to impose this 'feature' on all of their customers. Ultimately however, I think your only option would be to move the service.

Heinz

Sorry, I've always been wary of Talk Talk so have never studied the details. How much cheaper than £11.54/month is Talk Talk's line rental?

BTW, as long as they're out of contract, the good news is going back to BT via the 'return to donor' process would be f.o.c. (although a minimum 12 month contract for line rental would apply).

Sooler

May be best to consider moving away from TalkTalk as soon as your out of contract.

soreilly

At the moment I don't want to move my grandparents away from Talktalk (there have been no complaints bar this issue with 1571). All I want is to try and find out if Talktalk are breaking any regulations by dictating (if that isn't too strong a word) how many times a phone will ring before the voicemail system kicks in. I have a "pure" BT line at home and if I turn off my answerphone phone, the line will "ring and ring" for quite a while before BT systems terminate the call. If BT can let the line "ring and ring" why can't Talktalk?

I also understand that some Talktalk staff frequent this forum and I would like to hear their view on the issue.

I will phone Ofcom tomorrow for some advice on the situation.

Regards,

Stuart

Heinz

I dumped 1571 some time ago but, IIRC, BT's version of 1571 allows the phone to ring 7 times before answering (except, of course, when the callee is already on a call - when it kicks in immediately and without warning).

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=3666273&postcount=3

TalkTalk

Hi Soreilly,

We are aware of this issue affecting isolated lines across the network. This does not affect all non voicemail lines (we tested it here by removing voicemail from our test line and the issue did no occur, we also have members on the forum reporting no issues with ring length)

When raising this to our network they advised they have identified the cause but this cannot be fixed in bulk. Rather they are able to resolve individual issues raised to them by making adaptations ot the network equipment in the exchange.

If you can get the account holder to register on the members forum we are aware of this issue and the process to resolve this, so once we have completed relevant security checks we can implement this for you.

Regards

Mark

soreilly

TalkTalk_Company_Representative wrote: »

Hi Soreilly,

We are aware of this issue affecting isolated lines across the network. This does not affect all non voicemail lines (we tested it here by removing voicemail from our test line and the issue did no occur, we also have members on the forum reporting no issues with ring length)

When raising this to our network they advised they have identified the cause but this cannot be fixed in bulk. Rather they are able to resolve individual issues raised to them by making adaptations ot the network equipment in the exchange.

If you can get the account holder to register on the members forum we are aware of this issue and the process to resolve this, so once we have completed relevant security checks we can implement this for you.

Regards

Mark

Hi Mark,

Thanks for your reply. I have now posted over at the TT Forums after receiving all the required information from my grandparents. Please note that my grandparents do not have a computer so I am doing everything for them with their permission.

I am posting over at the TT Forums under the same username and have posted in this thread:

http://www.talktalkmembers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49484

Please advise either here or in the above thread what the next steps are.

Many thanks,

Stuart.

TalkTalk

Hi Soreilly,

An OCE will addres the threads in due course.

We do advise however that you start your own thread in the relevant section this will ensure clarity on the forum.

Regards

Mark