Are speech/phone lines being phased out or not ?

MouldyOldDough

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82094765#Comment_82094765

It seems that once you transfer to FTTP on TalkTalk - you get transferred to Utility Warehouse - which I don't want to happen - but TT themselves have told me absolutely nothing about the change.

MouldyOldDough

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82094450#Comment_82094450

I don't mind how my phone is connected - I just need a handset to work (must/all of the time) - beit DIGITAL or ANALOGUE I don't mind - but some of these ISP's don' t mention speech at all - or any optional ANYTIME contracts !

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82095315#Comment_82095315

any number can be ported to VOIP and you can both get phones designed to be work with VOIP or you can plug your existing phone into the router and both will look and feel like a normal landline with the only possible difference being the tone you hear after picking up the handset before dialing the number.

just to caveat that not all providers will offer to port numbers but its their loss if you want that as a condition of selecting them.

When I first started using voip it was for a combination of business and personal reasons but we still had a landline. Our first phone could do either, a quick tap of the call button sent the call via telephone line, a long press sent it via VOIP. The second time the Mrs ran up a £200 bill for a single call back home after she hadnt pressed the call button long enough I disconnected the phone line and ported the number to VOIP. No caller has any idea if I am at home in outer london as our number would suggest, talking from my computer in central london where I work or on my mobile talking from a beach in the med and theres no change in cost for them or me (assuming I've got data roaming on my mobile)

elsien

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82095322#Comment_82095322

I have kept my broadband with plusnet but migrated to voipfone for calls, primarily because they have good customer service. They have various packages where you can either pay per minute or get a certain number of minutes included, or unlimited minutes.
I have used my dect cordless phones that I already had. I have had to buy an adaptor to plug into the router so they still work. I got my adapter from voipfone as it was already set up to plug and go. You can buy the adaptor cheaper if you are happy to play with the settings yourself - I decided it wasn’t worth the hassle.

if you want to guaranteed service. Because the digital services obviously won’t work a power cut, then you will need to also buy a backup battery in case the power goes off. How much you spend on that will depend on this system that you choose and how many hours you want it to last for. I haven’t bothered with the battery because I do have my mobile. The landline is primarily say my mother can get hold of me at night as in an emergency, that is the number she will remember
I ported my landline number over. The only difference I noticed was that I now have to use the area code for local numbers.

There was a bit of a blip initially with things not being quite right but I emailed them and they replied within a couple of hours and got things sorted. You can also contact them on the phone Monday to Friday off hours.

Other similar providers are available.

elsien

if Internet goes down then so will your phone service

iniltous

Its really not that complicated , the publicly switched telephone network PSTN is being retired , replaced by an all IP network, this for most (with broadband) will require any landline service they have to be delivered via the broadband router ….the exception potentially is TT , they don’t use PSTN telephony, and are currently making something of a virtue of offering telephony that doesn’t need to be connected to the router , there is no guarantee that this will always be the case , but for now , the closest thing to a separate telephone and broadband service on the same ‘line’ for now at least, is with TT , assuming it’s FTTC and not FTTP .

No communication company apart from BT (ignoring Hull as that’s different) has to offer telephony, so Plusnet are free to be a broadband only company if that’s their choice, there are still plenty of CP’s (communication providers) , BT , EE, Vodafone, Sky and others will supply telephony with their broadband if it’s wanted , and there are third party (standalone) VoIP suppliers so you don’t need to take broadband and telephone from the same company, obviously all these are dependent on having broadband so , no power , no broadband, no telephone, but you can get BBU (battery back up) UPS uninterruptible power supply that keep the router going during power outages .

JSmithy45AD

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82095322#Comment_82095322

Pro tip, if they don't mention a phone line or calls package, don't pick them.

BT, Sky, Virgin, Now or Vodafone (plus perhaps smaller niche ISPs) all do BB & phone packages.

dnpark38

I'm coming across others who are trying to get rid of landline numbers and this is the NHS.

I use NHS systems on line and have to enter many details including phone number and it says "mobile Phone" you cant input "landline number". The mobile number as to be input you can't leave blank so you got to have a mobile phone.

brewerdave

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82096144#Comment_82096144

Actually had the opposite problem the other day with a financial institution - tried to remove the landline number from contact details but it wouldn't let me ! When I deleted the number it showed as a "fault" and re-inserted the old landline number.

Contacted their support via chat, when I was assured that they would update - but it's still listed in my account !!