Should i opt to accept ‘Digital voice’ option?

RogerBareford

wild666 said:

What about the systems connected by phone to report a problem to them so they can phone a family member, if they have one, or emergency services? If the internet goes down then that service will not be able to monitor the system they have and phoning to ask why it isn't working will be unanswered. I was without such a service and they called my daughter who then called them to explain that my internet was down, even though the phone was still copper wire it was also down, and the connection wasn't expected to be working again for another 7 days. 
BT haven't thought about that and the elderly who don't want a mobile phone. 

People need to move with the times and not wanting a mobile phone doesn't mean you might not have to get one.

giraffe69

I suspect BT have thought about that and decided that the cost of keeping an old system going alongside a new one is going to be prohibitively expensive both in terms of cash and manpower. As for people not wanting mobile phones then that's up to them but at some point they will have greater difficulty.

Those systems which rely on a phone line (e.g. alarm systems or pendants for the elderly) are adapting. I get my pension, live in an area with no mobile signal and have a device which will cover any short term power loss. Not perfect but if I think back over the last seven years I can't remember a time when the electricity was off more more than an hour. And if the worst did come to the worst I'd walk up the road to where there is a signal (I can still do that). And if your pendant alarm or similar doesn't work connect it temporarily to the back of the modem/hub and contact them to find out their process for resolving the problem. By way of example one provider(Telecare) have produced a version that uses the mobile network which will solve problems, although admittedly not for the small minority who decline to have a mobile because "they don't want to"

matelodave

Keeping old telephone equipment going is a bit like trying get these or starting handles for old cars - https://www.ebay.co.uk/b/semaphore-trafficators/bn_7024805459

Still available if you are going to cannibalise old equipment or find a specialist who is prepared to make the parts but it becomes scarcer and more expensive to do as time marches on.

As others have said, a lot of exchange stuff is probably 30-40 years old by now and its getting much more difficult to find some of the old components that they were manufactured with. Especially as all the UK manufacturers like GEC, Plessey, Nortel and STC have all evaporated so you'd have to find a manufacturer - China possibly, coz that's where all our capability went.

onomatopoeia99

matelodave said:

Especially as all the UK manufacturers like GEC, Plessey, Nortel and STC have all evaporated so you'd have to find a manufacturer - China possibly, coz that's where all our capability went.

Of course.  People here are expert moneysavers so know it's cheaper to get things made in China, where they don't have a minimum wage, democracy or human rights, than in the UK.  Everyone wants to get a good deal on their broadband and if the routers and all the ethernet infrastructure were made in the UK, people would complain about broadband contracts being more expensive.

Richard_T_

The big problem with Digital voice is that it doest work during a power cut making calls for help either to emergency services or friends/family impossible.

 Stick to the copper line if you can

RogerBareford

Richard_T_ said:

The big problem with Digital voice is that it doest work during a power cut making calls for help either to emergency services or friends/family impossible.

 Stick to the copper line if you can

Then you simply get a UPS or have a mobile phone as a backup.

matelodave

Richard_T_ said:

The big problem with Digital voice is that it doest work during a power cut making calls for help either to emergency services or friends/family impossible.

 Stick to the copper line if you can

The intention is that the PSTN will be closed down by 2025 so even if you've got a copper line to deliver broadband from the cabinet, the phone service will be delivered over the internet. In which case the line power for a phone will have to come from your router and not from the exchange or cabinet as it does now.

There is no other way of powering your phone if you've got Fibre to the Premises so there's not much you can do about it but make some provision for that eventuality.

It's much like banks closing down everywhere due to the increase in on-line banking and greater use of ATM's.  TBH the slow demise of the use of cash during the pandemic is likely to reduce the provision of ATM's as well. If they aren't cost effective then they'll be removed.

It's called progress and you have to accept and adapt to it. There's no advantage in being a Luddite as you'll just get isolated and left behind.

Richard_T_

No issues with online banking etc, as that wouldn't be a life or death situation, however in a power cut , particularly a longer power cut its impossible to call emergency services such as fire, ambulance etc, or even call for help.
The whole system needs looking at for resilience .

PTSN was built with several layers of back up, including back up power, with VOIP/digital Voice all of this at present doesnt exist.

The simple fact is no power, no phone calls, no ability to call for help

matelodave

This is Ofcom's guidance on VoIP and emergency access Guidance: Protecting access to emergency organisations when there is a power cut at the customer’s premises (ofcom.org.uk)

The gist of it all is that providers should ensure that there's at least one method of contacting the emergency services for the duration of a one hour power cut and should recognise that certain vulnerable people may need additional help, advice or equipment and that they should provide that help.

However in most cases people will be adequately served by the mobile phone network. probably because there are more an more people shunning the use of landlines, so the number of people who will be genuinely disadvantaged is probably pretty low.

RogerBareford

Richard_T_ said:

No issues with online banking etc, as that wouldn't be a life or death situation, however in a power cut , particularly a longer power cut its impossible to call emergency services such as fire, ambulance etc, or even call for help.
The whole system needs looking at for resilience .

PTSN was built with several layers of back up, including back up power, with VOIP/digital Voice all of this at present doesnt exist.

The simple fact is no power, no phone calls, no ability to call for help

Well currently most people i know use wireless telephones which need power to operate or have no landline phone at all.

So in the event of a power cut they wouldn't be able to use their landline even with PTSN anyway.

Anyone who wants a backup can get a mobile phone and they don't even need pay anything to be able to call 999.

If someone refuses to get a cheap mobile phone and just wants to live in the past then that is their problem and shouldn't hold back progress.