All incoming international calls blocked

Cardew

I have BT Call Protect on my BT landline. I find it of little use now because the International Scam artists('I am from BT and your phone is to be cut off etc') now have found a way of purporting to come from a UK number.


My son is currently in the Far East and whilst we normally use Skype to Skype free calls, he does sometimes call my landline. When trying to call me on my landline he gets a message that I have requested that certain calls are blocked/barred and he cannot get through. I haven't made any such request.



He has also tried to contact his Mother in Law's landline who also has BT Call Protect - but not Skype - and gets the same message.


I have tried to call both landlines with my Skype and get the same message.



I called BT and the operator confirmed that all international numbers to my landline had been blocked AT MY REQUEST. She said she had no idea why the calls were blocked if I hadn't so requested, but would remove the block immediately.



Fast forward 48 hours and the same situation persisted - international calls blocked. I rang BT and was again told the situation was at my request! However they would fix it.


The next morning I had the following Email:

We're stopping the services below. If you don't want them to stop, get in touch with us on 0800 800 150 as soon as you can. The sooner you call us the easier it is to change things.


What's happening


This is the service that's stopped:

• BT Call Protect

I can now receive incoming international calls!


I wonder how many people are, like myself and Mother -in - Law, unaware that all international calls barred?

brewerdave

I've got Plusnet Call Protect which ,I suspect, is the same as BT Call Protect!

According to the bumph I have re the service, I can block ALL International numbers (by request?) but then add specific required International numbers back via a "VIP" list.

Haven't got anybody overseas currently so can't test but that would seem to cover your situation ??

Cardew

The bumph on BT call protect is here: http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/56986/~/bt-call-protect---how-to...-guide

BT Call Protect - 'How to...' guide




BT Call Protect helps to prevent unwanted nuisance calls. By managing your settings, you can decide which calls you want to send to a junk voicemail. It’s free for BT customers.
If you haven't already, you can easily get BT Call Protect online. (You’ll need a BT ID to log into My BT. But don't worry if you don't have one; you can register online for a BT ID)

• BT Blacklist - We've identified a list of nuisance callers who we'll send to your junk voicemail, significantly cutting unwanted calls. We’ll turn it on automatically when you get BT Call Protect.
• Personal Blacklist - You can add the last call you answered from your home phone, or any other phone number at www.bt.com/mybt - Inclusive extras to your own blacklist. This means that any future calls from those numbers also go to your junk voicemail. This feature will also be automatically switched on, but won’t have any numbers until you add some
• Individual Call Types - You can choose to send all calls from certain categories to your junk voicemail. The three call types are:
  
  ✓ International numbers
  ✓ Withheld numbers
  ✓ Unrecognised numbers (shown as 'unavailable' on caller display or on 1471)

Once you've got it, you can manage all your settings online via www.bt.com/mybt or from your home phone by dialling 1572, which is free.

Click on the links below to find any help you need:

My brother and some friends live in the USA so I get international calls from time to time; so I certainly haven't chosen 'to send international calls to my junk voicemail' Indeed I haven't bothered with Call protect for a long while.


It would appear that there is a glitch in call protect that had diverted all international calls, and myself and son's mother in law were unaware that had happened. It is a fair bet that it has happened to others without their knowledge.


If I call a UK landline using Skype(from anywhere) it appears as an international call. Since call protect was removed I can now ring my own landline and test it is working.

brewerdave

This is the bumph on PN Call Protect:-


Plusnet Call Protect

Plusnet Call Protect catches nuisance calls on your landline and sends them straight to junk voicemail, where they belong. You can:

• Catches all calls from Plusnet’s list of known nuisance callers, which is updated regularly to send as many of those pesky nuisance calls as possible to junk voicemail
• Create your own personal list of up to 100 nuisance numbers that you can select and maintain
• Choose to divert specific types of numbers to junk voicemail, such as international numbers, withheld numbers and unavailable numbers Additional features
• VIP list. This allows you to select up to 50 numbers to override your diverted list. For example, if you’ve blocked international numbers but have family abroad, you can add them to your VIP list, so they’ll still get through to you.
• Do Not Disturb (DND). This means that all calls will either be sent to your normal 1571 voicemail or your 1572 junk voicemail if they feature on your diverted list. For those times when you really want some peace and quiet! If you don’t have 1571 activated, callers that don’t feature on the diverted list will receive a DND message and will not be diverted to voicemail.

Using Plusnet Call Protect

Call Protect Menu Dial 1572 Main Menu

1. Press 1 to add the last answered call to your diverted caller list.
2. Press 2 to remove the last entry from your diverted caller list.
3. Press 3 to listen to your 1572 messages.
4. Press 4 to change your personal options including –
   Plusnet's diverted list
   Your diverted list
   Diverted call groups
   VIP list
   DND settings
   Or hold to hear these menu options again

So no VIP list with BT??