BT call protect problems

philip456

BT Call Protect may be very useful for preventing nuisance calls, but it can also block legitimate callers. For instance, patient bedside phones at the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh are blocked when calling a phone with Call Protect turned on. Either BT or the Royal Infirmary need to sort this out - I have reported it.

TadleyBaggie

Suspect the number being presented is withheld, hence the block.

philip456

No, number is given so you can dial back (at high rates). BT treats particular number as suspect and diverts to voicemail box (useless)

Valli

philip456 wrote: »

No, number is given so you can dial back (at high rates). BT treats particular number as suspect and diverts to voicemail box (useless)

Then maybe the numbers are being blocked because of the premium rate? Surely the dialling code will identify them as such?

Buzby

Since the cost of calling from/to these parasitic services is so high, a mobile handset will save a fortune. Just a further nail in these services. The Glasgow hospitals mostly ditched these 'services' as the contracts expired.

Ian011

These are Personal Numbers starting 070. Their use for hospital patient lines is a rip-off.

philip456

Outward calls in Edinburgh hospitals are free - but most people use their own mobiles

Ian011

The scam is that people in hospital can call landlines at no charge, but the unsuspecting mark then calls back at an expensive rate and likely passes the 070 number on to other family members and friends who are also ripped off by the premium rate charges.

070 numbers are call-forwarding numbers where the caller pays all of the additional call-handling and call-forwarding charges. The charges are similar to those for 09 numbers but without the transparency of declared Access and Service Charges making clear where the money goes. The numbers are easily confused with mobile numbers, which for most people incur no per-minute call charges.

The final part of Ofcom's long running "simplifying non-geographic numbers" project - covering numbers starting 055, 056, 070 & 076 - is awaited.

Purbeckfossil

Having spent time setting this up, it's no good for me. I get about 2 scam calls a day, either "Number Withheld" or "International". So, I followed the instructions from BT, answered a scam "International" call & finished the call, dialed 1572 and got a message that that type or call could not be barred.

Went on to BT web-site - it appears you can send types of call to Junk Voicemail but it would appear, but is not explicit, that you need BT's 1571 service, which I assume is an extra cost.

I have vowed not to pay BT one penny (old or new) to do something that I feel should be provided free to their clients. With all the modern technology out there, surely these scam calls CAN be identified and managed more effectively.

Net-Net, having spent at least an hour online, I have no better service than before & this was after BT sent me an email saying my costs would be going up but they were providing great facilities for their customers - Some Hope

- Just glad I sold my shares at £4.30 last year while they now languish at £3.30 after the "Italian Fiasco" and that's not a gourmet dish - P**s*d off Again!

Ian011

A trueCall plug-in unit or the BT 8500 or 8600 series Call Guardian handsets with trueCall built in will eliminate all unwanted callers irrespective of CLI or not whilst giving all genuine callers the chance to get through.

Charlie_Repton

I get many nuisance calls with spoofed nembers. The BT service 1471 can spot them since you are not offered the option to return the call. However the BT Call Protect does not spot these calls even with the unrecognised number facility switched on. So, for example I received three calls today, all with different numbers, all with invalid numbers if you try to call the given number. Grrr.