Ability to make emergency calls

Contemplation

Hello everyone.

I've just moved to a house with very poor mobile signal and so it is important to get a reliable line for emergency calls should they ever be necessary.

There is a BT master socket in the house, but can I just get a line for emergency calls without having to pay for an otherwise unused line?

Thanks.

iniltous

No , why on earth would you think that ?,

la531983

Can you not make calls over Wifi? AFAIK any half decent phone and mobile operator allows this.

comeandgo

Have you tried to make an emergency call on your mobile phone?  The emergency number uses all the networks available, not just the one you are tied to.  When the call is answered just say you were testing as you live in an area with bad coverage.

southsidergs

I've heard it all now, tie up an emergency line with a "test call" what a stupid idea

Neil_Jones

Contemplation said:

Hello everyone.

I've just moved to a house with very poor mobile signal and so it is important to get a reliable line for emergency calls should they ever be necessary.

There is a BT master socket in the house, but can I just get a line for emergency calls without having to pay for an otherwise unused line?

Thanks.

Why?

Just use your mobile.  It'll use the strongest signal it can find regardless of what you're with or what network it can see.

You can text 999 as well, though you have to register for this in advance, so probably not a good idea to do this if your house is on fire or something:

https://www.apmountaineering.co.uk/register-for-999-text-service
(this example for up a mountain but the principle is the the same)

Contemplation

When I say poor mobile signal I mean all networks. I need a landline alternative, but didn't want to pay £26pcm just for an emergency service.

I have no knowledge of how to make a wifi call to 999 on my mobile. Can you let me know what I'll need or link me to something that will explain things further, please? I don't know how reliable our wifi is at the moment- it's a special countryside operator- but hopefully it will prove reliable, although I see posts from other residents about it going off fairly frequently so am dubious it is a reliable solution.

Thanks everyone.

Neil_Jones

Contemplation said:

When I say poor mobile signal I mean all networks. I need a landline alternative, but didn't want to pay £26pcm just for an emergency service.

I have no knowledge of how to make a wifi call to 999 on my mobile. Can you let me know what I'll need or link me to something that will explain things further, please? I don't know how reliable our wifi is at the moment- it's a special countryside operator- but hopefully it will prove reliable, although I see posts from other residents about it going off fairly frequently so am dubious it is a reliable solution.

Thanks everyone.

Doesn't matter how poor the mobile signal is, the phone will do what it can when it needs to when you make the call.  You may be surprised.

As to wi-fi calling that depends on a) your phone and b) your provider as to whether you can do it or not.  You problably can.

Solution then is either cough up £26 a month for something you may never use or even ever need, or take your chances on a decent signal when the proverbial balloon goes up.  Your choice.

Devongardener

Contemplation said:

When I say poor mobile signal I mean all networks. I need a landline alternative, but didn't want to pay £26pcm just for an emergency service.

I have no knowledge of how to make a wifi call to 999 on my mobile. Can you let me know what I'll need or link me to something that will explain things further, please? I don't know how reliable our wifi is at the moment- it's a special countryside operator- but hopefully it will prove reliable, although I see posts from other residents about it going off fairly frequently so am dubious it is a reliable solution.

Thanks everyone.

On iPhones go to Settings scroll to Mobile Data where you will see information about your provider and it will show if WiFi calling is available.   I’m on Tesco Mobile (O2) and it’s only been available for a few months.   I think most providers have the facility now.

brewerdave

I've just been testing out various networks as our mobile signal strength was very poor. I've settled for the moment with ID Mobile on the 3 network as they offer wifi calling with a low cost tariff. Other low cost networks either don't have wifi calling or "coming soon"

Rodders53

brewerdave said:  Other low cost networks either don't have wifi calling or "coming soon"

Lebara is another (Vodafone).

Only fairly recent phones have WiFi calling capability.  My Nokia did not.  Current Samsung does.