Digital Voice Disadvantages.

petersy

So under Digital Voice, your phone service is cut off in the event of a power cut and you have to pay to have extension phones re-cabled back to the router.

And BT call this an upgrade?

Neil_Jones

petersy said:

So under Digital Voice, your phone service is cut off in the event of a power cut and you have to pay to have extension phones re-cabled back to the router.

And BT call this an upgrade?

Pardon?

If your phones are all connected to the router, they'll all go off and should re-establish connection when the power/internet comes back.  You shouldn't have to do anything cable wise.

You can buy (or may be able to obtain) a backup battery.that will keep the router itself going and any phone that is physically connected to it is my understanding, but don't think that applies to anything on an extension (and obviously won't if the phone is using an adaptor and runs off main power in the first place)

iniltous

Lots of alternatives to BT , don’t like BT and DV , use someone else .

southsidergs

Posts like this yet people are happy to have cordless phones which don't work in power cuts anyway

Desmond_Hume

southsidergs said:

Posts like this yet people are happy to have cordless phones which don't work in power cuts anyway

Much easier to rant about something you don’t actually understand than take a breath, and spend 10 minute researching it. 

jbrassy

Firstly, most people use a mobile phone instead of a land-line these days which should still work during a power cut. Second, even if you insist on using a landline, BT offer a power pack which will ensure there is still power to the phone, even during a power cut.

Yes - Digital Voice is an upgrade on the copper lines which have been used since the Victorian age. A lot of other European countries have also been switching away from copper lines to Internet based landlines. 

JSmithy45AD

It's down to Open Reach anyway, not BT. Although ultimately it's the government I suppose. You can always cry to your MP.

bunnygo

lot of clueless city types here.

1) it is for ALL landlines, the copper network has to be decommissioned so no choice by December 2025.

2) the upgrade is very badly planned by clueless city types. It assumes everyone has reliable electricity and reliable mobile signal. A large percentage of the Uk population do not have both of these.

3) anyone with a brain has been keeping a corded phone for use in a power cut, when cordless phones do indeed stop working. This backup no longer works once 'Digital voice' is in place. A UPS is sometimes offered with a princely 1 hour of power.

4) if the power goes out, a digital voice landline will stop working. If the customer is in an area with no mobile signal, they are cut off.

5) Digital Voice DOES NOT WORK with fall alarms or similar devices. These are now available with inbuilt roaming SIMS, but again it  needs signal from at least one network and power.

6) after switchover, the concept of 'local calls' dies for good. All landline phones with memories will need reprogramming to add the area code.

the upgrade was stalled for a while due to these issues, but has now resumed with no changes made.

elderly people with no support will have big problems with this. Fend it off as long as you can.

littleboo

So if we ignore the hyperbole, we're left with, "it needs local power and so doesn't work in a power cut" 

jbrassy

Clueless city types 😂

I grew up in the Cotswolds and I can't remember having loads of powercuts. Like I mentioned, BT are offering a device which ensures the landline will keep working during those rare powercuts. 

I strongly doubt "a large percentage" of the population live in houses with poor mobile signal AND regular power cuts. The majority of people in the UK live in towns and cities, and even those who live in the country don't live out in the wilderness. 

If there are folks that use fall alarms etc, if they had a brain (to use your wording), they would live in an area that is close to a hospital and not in some area with no mobile signal and an unreliable electricity supply. I would assume that the vast majority of people who require fall alarms are already living in somewhere with mobile reception (like the majority of the population).

JSmithy45AD

jbrassy said:

Clueless city types 😂

I grew up in the Cotswolds and I can't remember having loads of powercuts. Like I mentioned, BT are offering a device which ensures the landline will keep working during those rare powercuts. 

I strongly doubt "a large percentage" of the population live in houses with poor mobile signal AND regular power cuts. The majority of people in the UK live in towns and cities, and even those who live in the country don't live out in the wilderness. 

If there are folks that use fall alarms etc, if they had a brain (to use your wording), they would live in an area that is close to a hospital and not in some area with no mobile signal and an unreliable electricity supply. I would assume that the vast majority of people who require fall alarms are already living in somewhere with mobile reception (like the majority of the population).

Ignore him, he's just a clueless country type