New Home Phone - with call blocker

N_R

Thanks, but gone for the quad pack from Ligo, Cashback via topcashback too. Got the BT8500, had no problems with BT phones in the past, and didn't see the point in paying an extra £30 for the 8600.

eddddy

Ironically, I just got an automated recorded call that was trying to sell me a phone with call blocking - to stop nuisance calls.


Perhaps it was a kind of blackmail - "we'll keep making nuisance calls to you, until you buy one of our phones that stops nuisance calls."

Stompa

N_R wrote: »

Thanks, but gone for the quad pack from Ligo, Cashback via topcashback too. Got the BT8500, had no problems with BT phones in the past, and didn't see the point in paying an extra £30 for the 8600.

Hmmm, I wonder how the BT8600 differs from the BT8500?

The software on the BT8500 is rather poorly designed and buggy IMO, perhaps they've sorted out the problems in this later model.

cajef

What bugs and problems would they be?

Stompa

cajef wrote: »

What bugs and problems would they be?

Well so far:

1. For some inexplicable reason they decided that it would be a good idea to have a quick way of turning the ringer off (a long press of the * button). This has now happened to us twice by accident, it then takes you some time to figure out why you're not getting any phone calls. Another long press of the * button is supposed to re-enable the ringer, and indeed a message does appear on screen to confirm that. However, the ringer still doesn't work, and the only fix I know of is to briefly remove and the re-insert the handset batteries.

2. An icon showing you have missed calls can appear on screen, underneath this it shows the number of missed calls. On one occasion I had the word 'FULL' appear rather than a number. The only fix I could find was to briefly disconnect the power to the base unit.

3. If a caller rings for long enough the phone insists on answering with a message saying something like "Your call cannot be taken at the moment and you cannot leave a message". This seems completely pointless as the caller could figure that out for themselves if the call went unsanswered. As a result of this feature (which it appears can't be disabled) the caller may incur a call charge.

4. With my previous Panasonic phones, if a call was in progress then all the other handsets would display 'In use' on their screens. The BT does have a green light on the base unit which flashes when a call is in progress, but it's barely visible. The only other way to determine if the line is in use seems to be to actually attempt dialling.

5. The Call Guardian software is rather limiting. You have a 'Blocked' list and an 'Allowed' list, but you can't actually view the numbers on either list.

6. Presumably as a consequence of (5), your ability to edit the 'Blocked' list and 'Allowed' list is very limited, the only options being 'Add number' and the rather drastic 'Delete all'.

7. It looks as if the Call Guardian software has been crudely bolted on to some existing phone software. They appear to use slightly different algorithms to determine if an incoming number is in the 'Contacts' list. Some of my contact numbers include prefixes, the phone itself correctly identifies these as contacts because it displays the correct name. Call Guardian however does not, and makes the caller go through 'Announce' mode.