sky talk with 1899

barjam_2

if i use sky talk am i still able to use 1899 as normal as i still use a bt line, and also will i still be able to keep caller display via bt or will i lose that

Heinz

barjam wrote:

if i use sky talk am i still able to use 1899 as normal as i still use a bt line, and also will i still be able to keep caller display via bt or will i lose that

Both the 'free'* Sky Talk Freetime and the £5/month Sky Talk Unlimited packages are CPS (Carrier PreSelect) services and that means that you continue to pay BT for your line rental (£10.75/month by DD with online only billing) but can continue to use the likes of 18866, 1899, 18185 etc.

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, Sky Talk Freetime or Sky Talk Unlimited).

* Sky Talk Freetime is not free because you have to maintain a Sky TV subscription in order to have it.

For standard telephony money-saving, I'd suggest THIS instead.

barjam_2

cheers right i understand that:beer: i'm only mentioning sky as i'm thinking of going with the sky surf talk package hence the question of the sky talk but i still want to use 1899 etc..... i know i can opt out of the talk on sky, but what i also want to know is because i still have bt line but will i still have the caller display thru bt

BexTech

barjam wrote:

cheers right i understand that:beer: i'm only mentioning sky as i'm thinking of going with the sky surf talk package hence the question of the sky talk but i still want to use 1899 etc..... i know i can opt out of the talk on sky, but what i also want to know is because i still have bt line but will i still have the caller display thru bt

As mentioned above Sky Talk is only a CPS service - it ONLY affects your out-going calls.

Your line rental and incoming calls are still with BT. As Sky Talk is only applied on out-going calls, it has no affect whatsoever on your incoming calls, they are still handled by BT. Caller Display is an incoming service, it displays to you who is calling you, not who you are calling, so as your line rental is with BT, caller display is still a BT service (one you can get free, if you put two calls per month over BT).

Sky Talk is for outgoing calls only, it has no affact on your incoming service (BT).

You pay BT for line rental and get free caller display.
You pay Sky for Sky Talk (within you subscription) and your outgoing calls then go by Sky Talk unless you bypass Sky talk.
Incoming calls are not handled by Sky as your line is with BT.

You will still have caller display through BT unless you phone them to tell them you don't want it.

Heinz

barjam wrote:

cheers right i understand that:beer: i'm only mentioning sky as i'm thinking of going with the sky surf talk package hence the question of the sky talk but i still want to use 1899 etc..... i know i can opt out of the talk on sky, but what i also want to know is because i still have bt line but will i still have the caller display thru bt

Yes, as I said, "....(so Caller Display, 1471 and 1571 work normally)....".

Remember, though, that you'll still have to make 2 calls per month via BT to get (nearly) free Caller Display. I'd suggest using the 1280 prefix for a couple of evening or weekend 01 or 02 calls - 5½p each.

However, remember you can mix and match parts of Sky's See/Speak/Surf package so, if another CPS voice telephony offering is better for you, you don't have to take either of the Sky Talk packages.

hansi

Can you use 1899 with Virgin Phones too, as it's not a BT line?

utilitybroker

hansi wrote:

Can you use 1899 with Virgin Phones too, as it's not a BT line?

I assume you are talking about Virgin Cable. Yes you can use 1899/18185/ etc but you have to use their 0808 freephone access number to avoid paying Virgin Cable,s wopping 6p connection charge per chargeable call,therefore different rates apply as opposed to normal 1899 use.

See : http://www.call1899.co.uk/mobilerates.php

hansi

I've just been having a oook throught Virgin's call features and they don't seem to have 1571 although they do offer a free voicemail service. How do you retrieve the voicemail?

BexTech

hansi wrote:

I've just been having a oook throught Virgin's call features and they don't seem to have 1571 although they do offer a free voicemail service. How do you retrieve the voicemail?

By dialling 1571.

hansi

That's what i would expect, except they don't mention 1571!!

BexTech

Free Voicemail

The FREE messaging service that’s always on. You simply need to call
us to get this service.

Free Voicemail is easy to use and…
Allows you to store your most important messages
Lets you know there’s a message with an intermittent dial tone

Setting up Free Voicemail
Once you’ve called Customer Care it should take less than 24 hours before
Free Voicemail is available for you to use.

To listen to your messages Press 1571

How long are messages stored for?
If you have not listened to a message it will be stored for 18 days. If you have listened to it, and not deleted it, it will be kept for 3 days.

Checking your messages
If you’ve got a message, you’ll hear an intermittent dial tone when you pick
up the phone. Next, dial 1571 and follow the instructions. Your messages will
be played automatically in date and time order.

To listen to a message again press 7
To save a message press 5
To delete a message press 3

Keeping your messages
Your saved messages will be stored for 3 days. After that, if the message isn’t
re-saved, it’ll be deleted
You can save up to 10 messages at any one time
Any unplayed messages will be saved for 21 days, then deleted

http://help2.virginmedia.com/help/getContent.jspx?page=help_phone&category=portal&app=helpphone