The saved phone numbers is held on the router not the phone. You need to download the phone number file to tablet computer etc as if the router is reset the numbers will be lost. Should that happen you then can upload the file back
Thank you for this, I am having great trouble with this phone, just setting it up. When I phone my number from a mobile, it does not ring sometimes. It just makes a little noise. I don't know whether to leave the phone on the stand or not. I want to deactivate voice mail and can't. If you could demonstrate a simple demonstration showing this, it would I'm sure be a great help, to me anyway. I don't know what you mean "if you go to a device connected to your smart hub" . Hope you can help and thank you.
The low volume ringer can hopefully be fixed by going into Settings >>> Sounds >>> Ringing. Unfortunately the Volume setting is "hidden" because it is off the bottom of the screen so you need to scroll down by tapping the silver ring at the 6o'clock position several times. When you are on the Volume setting tap the silver ring at the 9o'clock or 3o'clock position to scroll right and left through the different volume settings. The loudest setting is "Ringer boost". If you are not familiar with the phones menus and don't know how to access Settings >>> Sounds >>> Ringing then watch this video th-cam.com/video/ZTGRMPMM8aQ/w-d-xo.html At the 50seconds point in this video tap the silver ring at the 6o'clock position to move down to the Volume setting. The phone can stay on the stand all the time or you can take it out and move it around your house with you. The battery charges when it is on the stand so if you do take it off the stand you will need to put it back on to recharge the battery from time to time. I have done this video about voice mail settings and how to change the settings from either BT's website or from the handset. Unfortunately I don't believe the voice mail can be deactivated but the video shows how to change the settings so that BT's voice mail is effectively disabled. th-cam.com/video/FsENJr6Py04/w-d-xo.html I have read that some people have phoned BT and BT's customer services can disable the voicemail service. I have not tried this so I don't know if this will work or not ... but it may be worth a try if the work around in my video doesn't work for you. "if you go to a device connected to your smart hub" ... I mean go to a tablet, laptop, desktop or a mobile phone that is connected by wifi to your BT Smart Hub. Then in the app that you use to access websites type 192.168.1.254 to access the Smart Hub 2 manager. I hope this helps 😊
If you don't want the voicemail service call 150 and ask them to turn it off. I had it done as I have a cordless phone with answer phone built in. Much prefer it to 1571.
I love my BT Digital Voice, calls are so much clearer and now you can have free voice mail, or paid voicemail with longer messages, and do not desturb and only VIP numbers get through on this service. I of course went with the paid.
I am glad you like BT Digital Voice service. I liked my Digital Voice landline but I use my mobile all the time and my landline was never used. The only calls I received on it were scams!!! I have therefore cancelled my Digital Voice service and I no longer have a landline ... this saves a little bit of money each month 💷👍 th-cam.com/video/IdTuJ07C0YM/w-d-xo.html
The back does come off the handset, but it is very tight. I used my thumbnail to gear a small gap. Then I used a fine electrical screwdriver to open the gap some more, a second screwdriver would have been helpful. But between my thumbnail and the screwdriver I worked my way around the back of the handset. Until the back came off. This is a bad design. Where a battery cover where the batteries are. Would have been a better design. Once you change batteries. That back snapped back on. I hope you find this helpful. And use it in an upcoming video.
Thanks for the tip but I have already produced a "change the batteries" video. I also used a screwdriver to get the back off but I think I found an easier place to start opening the back... th-cam.com/video/dUe93JHvgpA/w-d-xo.html
The batteries which are rechargeable are accessed if you need to replace them by either using your nails or something not to damaging to get the back of the phone. Once done once it gets easier once done and then if needed you can change the rechargeable batteries.
Fantastic ... thanks for the tip on how to change the batteries. I will make a video to show how to change the batteries. I don't think there is a rush to make this video because the handset and the batteries are still very new and should not need replacing for some time!
Unfortunately I dont believe that the BT Digital Voice handset wil work with your new Virgin line. BT's Digital handsets only work with BT's Smart Hub router. More detailed information community.bt.com/t5/Home-phone-including-Digital/Digital-Voice-FAQs/td-p/2207485
I only want the BT / Openreach fibre optic broadband data service; is it possible to remove or cancel the "Digital Voice" service and get a discount off of the bill?
Openreach have just contacted me to discuss getting fibre into the shared building where I own one of the properties. When fibre is in the building I can then contact BT or any of the telecoms suppliers in my area to buy a fibre broadband product. Because fibre hasn't been installed to my building yet I have not looked at the details of the fibre broadband products. So this is a long way of saying that I don't know the answer to your question ... however what I would say is don't just look at BT's fibre products. If BT do not supply the product that you want without digital voice then look at other telecoms providers as well. This Openreach page will provide details of all the fibre broad providers for your postcode www.openreach.com/fibre-broadband/fttp-providers
A couple of months ago I was surprised to discover that BT are no longer supplying a free Digital Voice handset when you are migrated to Digital Voice. I was lucky to get a free handset because I was migrated very early in the migration ... I think BT should continue to supply a free handset. Thanks for the comment because it has made me think that I should change the title of the video.
NO. I got mine free when I got digital voice in 2022. Then, a few months ago, I had a fault in my digital voice. They sent me out 2 new handsets free as mine were over 2 years old. But the handsets have EE on them, not BT. My friend's just been upgraded but hasn't taken a handset at they wanted £44 for 2.
I was also migrated to Digital Voice early in 2022 - at this time the handsets were free ... unfortunately as your friend has discovered anybody who is being migrated to Digital Voice in 2024 has to pay for the handset. Pity ... it was a good insensitive to migrate. Even though they are cheap handsets when you multiply this by the millions of landlines that are being converted by BT to Digital Voice the total cost to BT is a lot of money!
So phone does not have to be plugged into back of BT smart hub? Can you disable the voicemail service for free? Knowing BT probably a charge to do this.
The free handset supplied by BT does not need to be plugged into the back of your Smart Hub. It just needs to be within WiFi range of your Smart Hub. I don't know if BT's Customer Service can disable the answerphone service but as a user the only thing that you can do is change the amount of time before a call diverts to the answer machine. I have made a video which shows how to do this from either the BT website or the handset: th-cam.com/video/FsENJr6Py04/w-d-xo.html
Will this phone work with other voip providers and a 3rd party router with an adaptor, I have BB with BT but plan to upgrade the router to ASUS and get a voip service for cheaper elsewhere?
I believe that BT's Digital Voice Handsets will only work with BT's Smart Hub. And if you want to use BT's Digital Voice Service then you need to use a BT Smart Hub. You can buy broadband only from BT. I cancelled my BT landline a couple of months ago because I never use my home landline and I save a few pounds per month. I still use BT's Smart Hub because included in my broadband service is I get BT's Hybrid Connect and this requires BT's Smart Hub to work. th-cam.com/video/oXxsUcdlCbQ/w-d-xo.html You could put another router on your BT Broadband and you could then get a VOIP service from another provider but you cannot use the BT Digital Voice handset with another providers VOIP service. Have a look at this web page ... its a long article but contains a lot of useful information. britishtelephones.com/btdigitalvoice.htm And another discussion on BT's website which may be interesting community.bt.com/t5/Archive-Staging/Digital-Voice-with-different-Router/td-p/2095493
I have just checked and my handset ringer volume was only on Level1 and that is loud enough for my house. There is also Level 2 to 5 and then Level Boost!!! ... so it can go pretty loud. To change the volume ... Menu >>> Settings >>> Sounds >>> Ringing >>> scroll down to the bottom to see Volume (volume is not visible unless you scroll down) You can purchase BT Digital Voice handsets from the BT shop. I am pretty sure that BT Digital Phones will only work with a BT Smart Hub and therefore BT Broadband. I don't believe BT Digital handsets will work broadband from other companies.
You need the BT Smart Hub 2 as shown in the video at 2min 15sec for Digital Voice. So long as you have a Smart Hub that looks like this then Digital Voice and Alexa should work. If you have got an older Home Hub then BT will send you a Smart Hub 2 when you upgrade to Digital Voice. This page shows what the different types of smart / home hubs BT have sold look like .... www.bt.com/help/broadband/learn-about-broadband/different-types-of-bt-hub I am a bit confused because I think it is the Home Hub 5 that has a type A and a type B. I don't think that the Smart Hub has a type A and Type B. So I think it is possible that you do not have a Smart Hub ... you have an older Home Hub which will not work with Digital Voice or Alexa. I don't have Alexa so I have just done a quick bit of Googling and found this page ... www.bt.com/help/user-guides/phones/digital-voice/bt-advanced-digital-home-phone-with-alexa-built-in The interesting thing is that there is a note highlighted towards the top of the page which says ... "If you have upgraded to a Smart Hub Plus, Digital Voice Alexa handsets will only work as Digital Voice handsets and will lose the Alexa functionality." So bizarrely if you have the latest Smart Hub from EE then Alexa will NOT work. This must have been a mistake by an engineering team somewhere in BT that did not test if Alexa works with the Smart Hub Plus before it was released !!!!
The BT handset has 15 ringtones. Press the left hand button to select "Menu". Then press the silver ring around the OK button at the 3o'clock position 3 times. The screen should now display "Settings" and a cogwheel. Press the left hand "Select" button. Select the "Sounds" option at the top of the list by pressing the OK button in the centre of the silver ring. Now select "Ringing" by pressing the "OK" button again. You can now select the ringtone that you want by pressing the silver ring at the 3o'clock or 9o'clock position to move left or right through the 15 different options. When you find the ringtone that you like press the left hand "Save" button.
OK ... no problem I will do a quick video :) I will do it in the next day or so and send you the TH-cam link in a reply to this comment on this video :)
I have just uploaded a video that shows how to change the ringtone on the BT Digital Voice handset th-cam.com/video/ZTGRMPMM8aQ/w-d-xo.html I hope this helps you to change the ringtone.
Skipped the wiring up the hub. Straight forward to do, at least it would be if I had a JR11 male to JR11 male cable, which don't seem to exist.. They gave me the size cable (cat5e male both ends) that fits an ethernet female. Err, any suggestions? Bare in mind the hub's phone female is JR11 too. It's connected to the internet fine, Alexa on it works too, meaning I can call from Alexa. I just can't receive calls as it's not plugged in at the wall to the hub..
Watched your full video and realised if I plug the old phone back into the wall, it rings. Either way the digital phone is connected to the hub and alexa works, but it won't ring.
If your old phone still rings when you plug it into the wall then I think BT have not converted your phone line to Digital Voice yet. Have you had an email from BT telling you when they will convert your phone line to digital voice? I think the cable you are referring to is an RJ11 cable. However, I am slightly puzzled because if you have got the same digital phone that I have got then you do not need an RJ11 cable to connect your phone to your router. You new digital phone connects to the router using WiFI .. no cable is required. If you have got the same digital phone that I have got then I have got nothing plugged into the green phone socket on the back of the Smart Hub.
Somebody left a comment about a year ago "The batteries which are rechargeable are accessed if you need to replace them by either using your nails or something not to damaging to get the back of the phone. Once done once it gets easier once done and then if needed you can change the rechargeable batteries." I have just had a look at my phone and tried to remove the back with my finger nails but my nails are too short to remove the back completely. I can see the back move a bit ... so the back is removable. I think I will need a small screwdriver or something similar to gently lever the back off the phone. I will try this at some stage and make a video ... hopefully I will make the video before your drop your handset in your dog's water bowl :)
Is your new phone saying "Register this handset to the hub" as shown in the video at 2min2seconds? If the registration process is failing ... is there an error message on the screen?
A question I have, do you have any experience in moving the phone when the SSID of the hub changes? I'm doing some internal homelab stuff and I'm moving to a pfSense router inside a DMZ with the hub (because Smart Hub 2 doesn't seem to support bridge mode) and I want to add an AP that has the same details as my existing hub but set it up with a new SSID for the phone only. Just wondering if you've done this and know how it would work?
BT's Digital phones are DECT phones which therefore do DECT registration with BT's Smart Hub. I have limited knowledge in this area but I don't think that SSID of the Smart Hub is part of DECT registration process ... so I don't think that changing your Smart Hub's SSID will be a problem. The following two web pages may provide you with some useful information for your setup... (1) britishtelephones.com/btdigitalvoice.htm (2) community.bt.com/t5/Archive-Staging/Digital-Voice-with-different-Router/td-p/2095493
Hi, you have accidentally put the caller onto your personal blacklist (this is part of BT's Call Protect service). There are a couple of ways to delete numbers from your personal blacklist: From your handset: Just above the silver circular thing on your handset you will see a button in the centre of the handset which has a red cross on it. Press this button and this will make a phone call the BT's Call Protect service. This is a voice service ... I think it is option 2 to manage the numbers on your personal blacklist. I haven't tried this but I assume there will be an option to delete the number from your blacklist. From a computer or tablet: Go to bt.com/mybt and login to your account. Under "Your Products" click "Manage". Then under "Digital Voice" click "Manage". Then under "Call Protect" click "Manage". Then under "Your Blacklist" click "Manage". There is nobody on my blacklist but I assume that there will be a number listed on your blacklist on somewhere on screen there will be the option to delete the number off your blacklist. Personally I tend to prefer doing things like this on my computer or tablet.
@@Helpful-Stuff Thank you very much for taking the trouble to answer my question. I did actually get into Call Protect and tried option 2 as you suggest. Perhaps I made a mistake after that, but it did not work. I would try again following your instructions, but it was actually my very elderly neighbour's phone. She had arranged to change from a Virgin TV and Phone package to BT. She had a harrowing 2 day experience during which she was expected to connect up her new phones and TV box. She thought she would get help and was so stressed out by the experience that she has cancelled the contract. Anyway, thank you again for the advice - perhaps someone else may benefit.
I am really sorry that your elderly neighbour has had such a stressful time trying to move from Virgin to BT and that has ended up with her cancelling the contract. BT should offer a lot more help and support !!!
@@Helpful-Stuff Thanks again. To be fair, they did apologise when she contacted them and offered to arrange a full installation, (which they said was the usual procedure), but by that time she was exhausted and worried, so she chose to cancel. Possibly it was a one off mistake, so other people may have much better experiences.
Really helpful guide, thank you. We currently have Virgin Media broadband, and an analogue BT landline. We're interested in the BT Advanced Digital Home Phone. Can we use our Virgin Media broadband to enable BT Digital Voice? I realise this is a daft question, but we're not IT techy, and don't want to switch our broadband provider. Thank you in advance!
I believe that the BT's digital voice handsets can only connect to a BT Smart Hub. If you only have a BT analogue telephone line and do not have BT broadband then I assume that you do not have a BT Smart Hub. So I don't believe that there would be any point in you buying a BT Digital Home Phone ... because you do not have a BT Smart Hub for it to connect to!!! The migration to digital voice basically means that voice calls will be converted to data that is transmitted over your broadband connection. Since you have Virgin broadband I think you need to investigate adding a landline to your package from Virgin. I am guessing that you still have an analogue BT landline (as well as Virgin broadband) because all your friends & family know the number and you do not want to change your home phone number. It is be possible to move your landline from BT to Virgin and keep the same number. I think this should also work out cheaper because you will get both landline & broadband from Virgin. I have never been a Virgin customer so I have no personal experience of how their broadband and landline services work ... I am not sure if the landline will be analogue or digital when you move your landline to Virgin. However, ALL operators have to migrate ALL customers to digital voice by end 2025 so whether your landline is with BT or Virgin it will be digital by end 2025. The big question you have raised for me though is for customers who only have a BT landline and do not have broadband from BT or Virgin or anybody else ... how will they be converted to digital voice? I have Googled but I can't find an answer to that question!!! I guess the answer will be that the analogue landline will be terminated and the landline only customer will need a (cheap) broadband service.
@@Helpful-Stuff oh thats not good, that means the handset will have to be nearby or you wont be able to hear it! my old phone's base and handset rang so it was handy to hear the base ringing if you left the handset in other rooms if you know what i mean
You could buy a ringer unit which would give you a bell in whatever room it is located. These normally have a very loud ring so you should be able to hear the phone ringing wherever you are located. I have Googled to try and find a ringer unit for BT's digital voice ... however I cannot find one. The only units I can find are analogue ringer units that need to plug into an analogue telephone socket. You could buy one of these and plug it into the telephone socket on the back of your BT Smart Hub. If the Smart Hub is not in a convenient location then you could buy a BT Digital Voice adapter and plug the analogue ringer unit into it. The cost of a ringer unit + the cost of a BT Digital Voice adapter is probably going to be close to the cost of buying a second Digital phone handset! So it may actually be better to invest in a second handset and have the benefit of having two phones connected to your digital landline. With two phones connected to your digital landline you can then make two totally independent phone calls at the same time ... or if you are already on a call then the other handset can receive a call while you are still on the call on the other handset :) Although then I guess the problem is that you end up leaving both handsets in the same room and you don't hear either of them if you are in another room!!!
@@Helpful-Stuff if i had 2x handsets and someone calls, do they both ring? If so then Yes that would be good as i could leave one handset on the base and have one handset around the house with me, thankyou for helping 👍
I haven't got to phones so I can't test this but yes both handset should ring. A couple of scenarios where the phone may not ring ... (1) If you are already on a call and you receive another call then I believe that only the handset that is not busy will ring. So it is possible that if you are on a call you will not hear the other handset ring in the other room. (2) If somebody accidentally turns the ring volume down on one of the handsets.
It would be incredibly expensive to send an engineer to every household with a BT landline. The vast majority of households will not require an engineer because there will be a techie person or a teenager(!) who can get the new Digital Voice handset working. However, I do agree that since only a small percentage of households would benefit from an engineer visiting it would be nice if BT could send an engineer if requested.
I've just had one of these digital phones yesterday, the BT app is giving me green ticks for outgoing calls, incoming calls and HD calls, but the hub is still grey. Have I got to wait for the email you are talking about for it to work?
I have just had a look at my Hub's management port. Frustratingly BT seem to have changed the colours since I recorded this video. All the boxes are grey until you hover your mouse over the box at which stage it turns a blue-green colour. So I think it is best to check the text rather than the colour. In the box on the left of the screen with a handset symbol ... - if the text in the box says "Not configured" then you have not been migrated to digital voice yet and you will need to wait for BT to contact you - if the text gives your landline number then BT has migrated you to digital voice.
@@Helpful-Stuff yeah mine still says not configured. I now have all the BT sport and now entertainment channels on my package, it's just the phone I'm waiting for
I believe that BT have something like 10 million customers to migrate to digital voice before 2025 ... so they will migrate your landline to digital voice ... just not sure exactly when that will be but it should be before 2025. Keep fingers crossed that it is sooner rather than later :)
A BT Engineer should set up the new digital system for free. Pensioners will find this a nightmare to install and many will not bother to have a telephone at all and that is a disgrace in today's world.
While I agree that there are some households (eg pensioners) that may need more support to upgrade to Digital Voice the vast majority of households are more than capable of upgrading to Digital Voice with the assistance of videos like my video. My personal view is that BT should have supported vulnerable user a lot more in 2 areas: - digital voice does not work in a power cut so BT should provide vulnerable users a free backup power supply for the Smart Hub - old personal & security alarms which only work on the old PSTN The rollout of digital has been stopped and restarted several times because of these issues. BT is working on a potential solution (SOTAP for Analogue) which will allow BT to continue to provide a service very similar to the old analogue telephone. This is a temporary solution for a few years to allow customers a few more years to migrate to digital voice.
I'm not sure if I'll actually be using these instructions, but thanks for the video at any rate, as my new account with BT went live the day before yesterday. I wasn't impressed with the fact that they don't supply a phone plug to go in the Digital Voice socket if that's supposed to be part of the service and it was only by chance that I had an additional phone plug to make the connection with the line in and there weren't specific instructions how to do that, leaving it up to one's own guesswork, which fortunately in my case was correct.
Have you had a look at the Smart Hub 2 manager page as shown in the video at 3m17s ... is the Phone box still grey and saying "Not Configured"? - if it is then you have not been upgraded to DV yet. If you have had an email from BT which says you have been upgraded to DV but the Smart Hub 2 Manager is showing "Not Configured", it is probably worth contacting BT to let them know that your upgrade to DV has failed. If the Smart Hub 2 manager is not grey then you have been upgraded to Digital Voice, so it may be necessary to switch your router off for a minute then switch it back on again. Leave the Hub for a few minutes to reconnect to broadband then try again using the WPS button on the Smart Hub to connect to your phone. I hope this works :)
I wonder if you have accidentally turned the volume down. When you are on a call you need to tap the silver ring around the OK button at the 12o'clock position ... press it multiple times until the volume is at the required level. The maximum level is some sort of amplify level which I guess is extra loud for people with a hearing problem.
I didn't get this handset as part of my BT package. I got this free handset when my home telephone line was changed from analogue to digital about 18 months ago.
From memory, the link to order the free handset was in the emails that notified me that home telephone line was being changed from analogue to digital. If you have deleted these emails you could try phoning BT to see if you are still entitled to the free handset. You can buy the latest version of this handset can be bought from the BT shop store.ee.co.uk/products/bt-advanced-digital-home-phone-with-alexa-built-in-101806-G9YX.html This latest version has got Alexa built in. Mine has not got Alexa. You can only use this handset with digital telephone lines ... if your home telephone line hasn't been converted to digital yet then this handset will not work on an old analogue telephone line.
Have BT converted your telephone line to digital voice? Until BT have converted your home landline to digital this phone will not receive any phone calls.
Frustrating!!!. Try this .... Go to MY BT website and login. Click YOUR PRODUCTS "Manage" >>> DIGITAL VOICE "Manage" >>> CALL PROTECT "Manage" >>> YOUR BLACKLIST "Manage". At the top of this page under "Your Blacklist" is a red button that says "SWITCH OFF". I haven't tried it but this may solve your problem and disable call blocker. Worth a try ... I hope it works.
Hi, I am glad the video was helpful. I have read that BT are "pausing all further Digital Voice switch-overs for customers who don’t want to move to the new technology straight away". Personally I was very keen to move to the new Digital Voice service and it sounds as though you are as well so hopefully your handset will be delivered and you will be switched to Digital Voice. FYI This is the full BT press release about the pause ... newsroom.bt.com/were-pausing-our-digital-voice-plans-for-consumers-while-we-work-on-a-more-resilient-rollout/
I've now on digital voice and connected the router to an extension socket instead a phone. All my old phones still work and the bells ring okay - BT won't tell you that!
In the video at about 4m50s I show how my old analogue phone did not ring after I had been converted to digital voice. So I am very surprised that your old phones still work ... from a technical perspective I am not even sure that it is possible for old analogue phones to work after you have been converted to digital voice. The best way to check if BT have enabled digital voice on your line is to check your Smart Hub Manager as shown from 3m15s in the video ... - if the digital voice phone icon is greyed out (as shown at 3m30s) then digital voice is NOT enabled - if the digital voice phone icon is purple (as shown at 4m0s) then digital voice is enabled on your line
@@Helpful-Stuff Thank your for your reply. Well, BT informed me of the Digital Voice switchover and cut the signal to my phone last Friday even though I was still using the original router. Anyway, I disconnected this and set up the Smart Hub 2 router and plugged in a phone as instructed - this phone then worked but none of my other phones did (I have 7 plugged into extension sockets). So, by a process of experimentation and trial and error I discovered that if I connected the router to the nearest extension socket all the other sockets were now live and the phones worked - both incoming and outgoing and all would ring (except a couple which I had turned the ringer off). I used a double adapter on the router so that I could also use the phone plugged into it. On previously phoning BT not one engineer said I could do this and had insisted that the extension sockets were redundant and that I would need an adapter for each phone but refused to supply me with any unless I was prepared to pay for them all - hence why I had resisted complying with the switch over but when they disconnected me I had no choice. So, how does fibre to the property pass the phone signals along my internal copper-wired extension sockets allowing the analogue phones to work? I've no idea. I have checked the Smart Hub Manager and none of the panels are purple but are all the same dark grey but light up bright blue when I highlight each panel including my landline phone number which shows the status as service ready. So, have I done something I should not have done or have I stumbled upon a successful solution to the problem?
I worked in telecoms for about 20 years and I agree with the BT engineers ... what you have done shouldn't work ... but obviously it does work!!! The comment I would make is that this may be a fluke that is something to do with the transition from analogue voice to digital voice. It may stop working at some stage. The fact that your Smart Hub Manager is not showing a purple phone icon makes me think that BT's network is seeing your line as analogue and not as a digital. I guess that since you have got a working BT phone line (that I suspect is still analogue) you should keep using it for as long as it works....
@@Helpful-Stuff Ah yes, thanks for that - I did wonder if the phones would indeed suddenly cease to function so I guess I will wait and see. Yes, mine are all analogue and the Phone Status in Smart Hub Manager whilst saying Service Ready also shows a request for me to Start Registration for my handset - so I won't be doing that just yet! What annoyed though was the fact that five years ago I paid BT £500 for five additional extension sockets on a new-build property - nobody told me that these would only last five years or else I would not have had them put in! And as for Digital Voice they must have known this was coming but declined to warn people! I am surprised they were able to convince Ofcom their service is safe so why is it in the event of a power cut now no phones will work at all - what happens should I need the emergency services?? Not everybody has a mobile phone....
Back in March 2022 BT had to pause the rollout of digital voice because the UK suffered from a couple of storms and people suddenly realised that if they lose power they lose their digital voice service because the router has lost power. The digital voice rollout seems to have started again. I am not aware of a solution to the problems a power outage causes for the digital voice service. I have just had a look at the Ofcom website ... there is guidance from Ofcom together with responses from BT, Virgin etc. Unfortunately I don't have time to read them at the moment .... As an ex-telecoms engineer I must admit my view is that if the UK does not move to digital voice then we will not have world class voice and data telecoms services in the UK. However, I also accept that it is a problem that in the event of a power outage then the digital voice service will not work. I am just not sure that there is a commercially acceptable solution. I think Ofcom is trying to walk a very difficult line because Ofcom knows that the UK must have a digital voice service and infrastructure but also knows that customers need their landline to work in an emergency. This is a challenge for Ofcom!!!
We are having trouble with our phone suddenly it's on mute have tried to unmute it with the right button still on mute went online last night was on 2 hrs .
Do you mean mute on a call ... so that the person who has called you can no longer hear your voice because your microphone has been muted? If so, then it should be possible to just press the right button again to switch mute off. If you end the call and make or receive another call then the new call should start unmuted so that the they can hear your voice. Or do you mean that the handset has been muted and is no longer ringing when somebody calls you? If so, then MENU >>> SETTINGS >>> SOUNDS >>> RINGING Volume may be set to RINGER OFF ... change this to whatever volume level is required. I hope this helps 🤞
Just received mine today. Paired it with my hub via WPS. The phone then told me that I can't send or receive phone calls, because there is no service, even though it's paired to my hub, which is great if there's a house fire, scene as I won't be able to contact emergency services on my SMART phone...
I think that your phone is connected to the Hub but your landline hasn't been migrated to digital voice yet. In the video at 3m20s it shows you how to check the status of your landline by checking the Hub's management port. If the rectangular block with a handset symbol says "Not configured" this means that your landline is still analogue. So you can still use your old analogue telephone to make or receive calls.
If I have found the right bit of the video ... at 3m 10s "OK" is at the bottom left of the screen which indicates that the button just below the bottom left of the screen is the OK button. I guess its possible that you can also use the OK button in the middle of the silver circle ... but at the time I pressed the button at the bottom left of the screen which was labelled "OK".
@@Helpful-Stuff …. I haven’t got mine yet , but I don’t want the answer machine enabled (it comes already on) you don’t know by any chance how to disable it ? There is nothing on BT website. Cheers …. Jon
It looks like the only way to disable the answer machine is to phone BT Customer Services and ask BT to disable it. I assume that BT can disable but as a user the only thing that you can do is increase the amount of time before a call diverts to the answer machine. You can change the amount of time before BT's answer machine answers the call by pressing the answer machine button on your new DV handset and then select option 4. Alternatively you can also do this from the BT Website ... My BT >>> Your Products - Manage >> Digital Voice Manage >>> Voicemail Essentials Manage >>> Select the option Long 10 rings (30seconds) and Save If you have your own answer machine then you almost certainly have it setup to answer before 10 rings so this will effectively disable BT's answer machine because your answer machine will always answer before the BT's answer machine.
If BT has not sent you an email to give you a specific date (or 48 hour window) when your service is changing to Digital Voice then I am almost certain you are still connected to the old analogue PSTN voice service ... so your new digital handset will not work. If you have got the free digital handset then you are obviously going to be converted to Digital Voice ... at some stage in the (hopefully) near future :)
I have just had an email from BT because my BT package is a about to expire and I need to renew it. I have migrated to digital voice but I don't use my landline so I had a look at the "Broadband Only" packages. I would lose my landline and the telephone number but ... I would save £zero !!! The price for the broadband only package is exactly the same as the broadband+landline package. So you won't save any money by cancelling your landline. I have made this video which explains why BT are migrating everybody to Digital Voice th-cam.com/video/yVPdMoj095I/w-d-xo.html Ofcom states that: "If you rely on your landline - for example, you don’t have a mobile phone, you’re unable to use a mobile phone or you don’t have mobile signal inside your home - your provider must make sure you are able to contact the emergency services during a power cut. This could be in the form of battery back-up so your landline will continue to work, or giving you a basic mobile phone to use in this situation." I believe that BT do offer a battery backup unit for those who need it.
god these things are a nightmare....ive just pressed that wps thing on the side of my router...and it kept asking for an 8 digit pin...I was like wtf...so messaged bt chat...they tried giving me a phone number to call...I said I have not got another phone!!!!But finally it worked!!! Told the chat person, and they asked me what did I do as they would make a note so they could inform others...lol...hmm well.
Glad you got it working. The WPS button should mean that you don't need a PIN so not sure what happened ... but the good news is that the technology sorted itself out and you are now using Digital Voice :)
BT do so little to relieve all the confusion surrounding their digital service. It's as though they have no experience of liaising with customers and Bell has just invented the digital. Any customer could offer guidance to a marketing department that seems divorced from reality. Will my old analogue phones work so do I have to but MORE phones as I don't live in the 19th century and phones are usually to be found in more than one room? The digital phones are clunky and shrill, not well engineered. There are a lot of IT savvy children coming up for O Levels who could do a better job for BT.
Back in March 2022 BT apologised for the disruptive impact of the upgrade to digital voice and paused the rollout. The UK had just suffered from severe disruption following two major storms which made people aware that if you lose power you are unable to make calls, including 999 calls, using BT's Digital Voice if your home has no power. The other problem is that there were a lot building alarm systems, remote medical monitoring systems and many other systems that only worked with the old analogue telephone lines. These would not work with BT's new digital voice service. As an ex-telecoms engineer my view is that it is inevitable that the UK will move away from the old PSTN system to modern VOIP and we must not stop BT from migrating customers to digital voice otherwise the UK's telecoms networks and services risk getting left behind the rest of the world. I think that BT focussed on the internal engineering challenge of the migration ... almost completely forgetting the customer impact of the move to digital voice. I say almost completely because I have a free digital voice handset supplied by BT when I migrated to digital voice. From a personal perspective the migration didn't cost me anything ... other than a bit of time to setup the new digital phone. My new digital phone is not the best phone in the world but it was free ... so for the price its pretty good :) In March following the storms I think BT became aware that they had forgotten the customer impact of the migration to digital voice. BT apologised and I hope that they are now considering the customer impact much more carefully. I must admit I have not been following the news of the migration ... so I actually don't know if BT are being more successful at managing the customer impact of the migration.
BT seem to think all our hubs and present phones are sat on one of those 1970s min telephone tables in the hallway with a copy of the yellow pages and a telephone directory tucked away on it's shelf.
Your comment triggered a few memories of sitting in the hall (usually in the cold) to make a phone call. Its no wonder the calls were much shorter back then!!!! My name is J R Hartley ... if you understand that comment then like me you remember the 1980s :)
The fact BT are not sharing with customers is that these phones can make you sound like a Dalek as the speech frequency range is so limited compared to an old analogue phone
I think that the vast majority of BT's customers use their mobile as their primary telephone number and therefore never or only very rarely use their landline. If you don't want to use the new Digital Voice service and are happy to use your mobile phone all the time then you don't need to use BT's router.
I was lucky I got the phone when it was free. When something is free I can forgive a lot ... but they are no longer free and I am not sure I would want to pay for this handset.
My digital voice handset is the free handset that BT supplies when they migrate you to Digital Voice and it doesn't support Alexa so I am more than happy to have it sat in my lounge. I don't subscribe to conspiracy theories ... most can be debunked very quickly and easily ... but they are good fun :)
Absolute crap service on all fronts! This is not an improvement, it's a backward step BT!! Biggest negative is that during a power cut you've no landline!! I don't have any mobile signal at home so I'm well and truly fucked! Add to that the delay meaning natural flowing conversation becomes impossible then the breaks meaning you have to ask the person to 'repeat' all the time! Listen to BBC Radio 4 interviews if you want to know how bad telephone comms have become!
Perhaps you should listen to BBC Radio 4 more carefully and learn how to make your point with the strength of your argument and not the strength of the expletives that you use to make your point.
If you have no mobile signal, they will provide you with a free battery backup. Also most phone calls on Radio 1 sound quite high fidelity to me, either they are using a mobile phone with HD calling or they are using WhatsApp.
Pointless if you have kids & pets, especially cats as its like a banana balanced on an eggcup, threw mine away eventually, gone back to plug in normal phone from argos that sits on the sideboard
I am really surprised that you prefer a fixed cable phone to a wireless handset. The charging stations only needs to plug into a mains plug and it has a 3m cable so you can locate the charging stand on a shelf somewhere out of the reach of cats and kids. Another alternative is to move the charging stand to another room because it only needs WiFi coverage and a mains plug.
The saved phone numbers is held on the router not the phone. You need to download the phone number file to tablet computer etc as if the router is reset the numbers will be lost. Should that happen you then can upload the file back
Thanks for the information ... that's useful to know. I have pinned your comment so that other people can see your comment.
Yours is the clearest most concise video on this subject. Clear photos, no excess chat. Excellent. Many thanks 👍
Thanks for the fantastic comment :) I am very pleased that you found the video helpful.
Thank you for this, I am having great trouble with this phone, just setting it up. When I phone my number from a mobile, it does not ring sometimes. It just makes a little noise. I don't know whether to leave the phone on the stand or not. I want to deactivate voice mail and can't. If you could demonstrate a simple demonstration showing this, it would I'm sure be a great help, to me anyway. I don't know what you mean "if you go to a device connected to your smart hub" . Hope you can help and thank you.
The low volume ringer can hopefully be fixed by going into Settings >>> Sounds >>> Ringing. Unfortunately the Volume setting is "hidden" because it is off the bottom of the screen so you need to scroll down by tapping the silver ring at the 6o'clock position several times. When you are on the Volume setting tap the silver ring at the 9o'clock or 3o'clock position to scroll right and left through the different volume settings. The loudest setting is "Ringer boost".
If you are not familiar with the phones menus and don't know how to access Settings >>> Sounds >>> Ringing then watch this video
th-cam.com/video/ZTGRMPMM8aQ/w-d-xo.html
At the 50seconds point in this video tap the silver ring at the 6o'clock position to move down to the Volume setting.
The phone can stay on the stand all the time or you can take it out and move it around your house with you. The battery charges when it is on the stand so if you do take it off the stand you will need to put it back on to recharge the battery from time to time.
I have done this video about voice mail settings and how to change the settings from either BT's website or from the handset. Unfortunately I don't believe the voice mail can be deactivated but the video shows how to change the settings so that BT's voice mail is effectively disabled.
th-cam.com/video/FsENJr6Py04/w-d-xo.html
I have read that some people have phoned BT and BT's customer services can disable the voicemail service. I have not tried this so I don't know if this will work or not ... but it may be worth a try if the work around in my video doesn't work for you.
"if you go to a device connected to your smart hub" ... I mean go to a tablet, laptop, desktop or a mobile phone that is connected by wifi to your BT Smart Hub. Then in the app that you use to access websites type 192.168.1.254 to access the Smart Hub 2 manager.
I hope this helps 😊
If you don't want the voicemail service call 150 and ask them to turn it off. I had it done as I have a cordless phone with answer phone built in. Much prefer it to 1571.
I love my BT Digital Voice, calls are so much clearer and now you can have free voice mail, or paid voicemail with longer messages, and do not desturb and only VIP numbers get through on this service. I of course went with the paid.
I am glad you like BT Digital Voice service. I liked my Digital Voice landline but I use my mobile all the time and my landline was never used. The only calls I received on it were scams!!! I have therefore cancelled my Digital Voice service and I no longer have a landline ... this saves a little bit of money each month 💷👍
th-cam.com/video/IdTuJ07C0YM/w-d-xo.html
Thanks. Anyone miss the days where you just plugged in a phone and it just worked?
The back does come off the handset, but it is very tight. I used my thumbnail to gear a small gap. Then I used a fine electrical screwdriver to open the gap some more, a second screwdriver would have been helpful. But between my thumbnail and the screwdriver I worked my way around the back of the handset. Until the back came off. This is a bad design. Where a battery cover where the batteries are. Would have been a better design. Once you change batteries. That back snapped back on. I hope you find this helpful. And use it in an upcoming video.
Thanks for the tip but I have already produced a "change the batteries" video. I also used a screwdriver to get the back off but I think I found an easier place to start opening the back...
th-cam.com/video/dUe93JHvgpA/w-d-xo.html
The batteries which are rechargeable are accessed if you need to replace them by either using your nails or something not to damaging to get the back of the phone. Once done once it gets easier once done and then if needed you can change the rechargeable batteries.
Fantastic ... thanks for the tip on how to change the batteries. I will make a video to show how to change the batteries.
I don't think there is a rush to make this video because the handset and the batteries are still very new and should not need replacing for some time!
Thank you, this was clear and to the point. I'm now leaving BT and I was hoping to use this handset with my new Virgin line.
Unfortunately I dont believe that the BT Digital Voice handset wil work with your new Virgin line. BT's Digital handsets only work with BT's Smart Hub router. More detailed information community.bt.com/t5/Home-phone-including-Digital/Digital-Voice-FAQs/td-p/2207485
I only want the BT / Openreach fibre optic broadband data service; is it possible to remove or cancel the "Digital Voice" service and get a discount off of the bill?
Openreach have just contacted me to discuss getting fibre into the shared building where I own one of the properties. When fibre is in the building I can then contact BT or any of the telecoms suppliers in my area to buy a fibre broadband product. Because fibre hasn't been installed to my building yet I have not looked at the details of the fibre broadband products. So this is a long way of saying that I don't know the answer to your question ... however what I would say is don't just look at BT's fibre products. If BT do not supply the product that you want without digital voice then look at other telecoms providers as well.
This Openreach page will provide details of all the fibre broad providers for your postcode
www.openreach.com/fibre-broadband/fttp-providers
@@Helpful-Stuff Thank you. You are correct; Vodaphone / "City Fibre" is competing with BT in my neighbourhood.
Thanks, very helpful..... mine arrives next week and i will use this video during set up! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks for the nice comment. I hope your migration goes smoothly next week :)
Do bt still supply this handset free, 08/08/2024 ?
A couple of months ago I was surprised to discover that BT are no longer supplying a free Digital Voice handset when you are migrated to Digital Voice. I was lucky to get a free handset because I was migrated very early in the migration ... I think BT should continue to supply a free handset.
Thanks for the comment because it has made me think that I should change the title of the video.
NO. I got mine free when I got digital voice in 2022. Then, a few months ago, I had a fault in my digital voice. They sent me out 2 new handsets free as mine were over 2 years old. But the handsets have EE on them, not BT.
My friend's just been upgraded but hasn't taken a handset at they wanted £44 for 2.
I was also migrated to Digital Voice early in 2022 - at this time the handsets were free ... unfortunately as your friend has discovered anybody who is being migrated to Digital Voice in 2024 has to pay for the handset. Pity ... it was a good insensitive to migrate.
Even though they are cheap handsets when you multiply this by the millions of landlines that are being converted by BT to Digital Voice the total cost to BT is a lot of money!
So phone does not have to be plugged into back of BT smart hub? Can you disable the voicemail service for free? Knowing BT probably a charge to do this.
The free handset supplied by BT does not need to be plugged into the back of your Smart Hub. It just needs to be within WiFi range of your Smart Hub.
I don't know if BT's Customer Service can disable the answerphone service but as a user the only thing that you can do is change the amount of time before a call diverts to the answer machine. I have made a video which shows how to do this from either the BT website or the handset:
th-cam.com/video/FsENJr6Py04/w-d-xo.html
@@Helpful-Stuff Thanks for the info.Appreciated.
Will this phone work with other voip providers and a 3rd party router with an adaptor, I have BB with BT but plan to upgrade the router to ASUS and get a voip service for cheaper elsewhere?
I believe that BT's Digital Voice Handsets will only work with BT's Smart Hub. And if you want to use BT's Digital Voice Service then you need to use a BT Smart Hub.
You can buy broadband only from BT. I cancelled my BT landline a couple of months ago because I never use my home landline and I save a few pounds per month. I still use BT's Smart Hub because included in my broadband service is I get BT's Hybrid Connect and this requires BT's Smart Hub to work.
th-cam.com/video/oXxsUcdlCbQ/w-d-xo.html
You could put another router on your BT Broadband and you could then get a VOIP service from another provider but you cannot use the BT Digital Voice handset with another providers VOIP service.
Have a look at this web page ... its a long article but contains a lot of useful information.
britishtelephones.com/btdigitalvoice.htm
And another discussion on BT's website which may be interesting
community.bt.com/t5/Archive-Staging/Digital-Voice-with-different-Router/td-p/2095493
What sort of volume does the ringer have please.? ansd can a handset be purchased alone from BT?
I have just checked and my handset ringer volume was only on Level1 and that is loud enough for my house. There is also Level 2 to 5 and then Level Boost!!! ... so it can go pretty loud. To change the volume ... Menu >>> Settings >>> Sounds >>> Ringing >>> scroll down to the bottom to see Volume (volume is not visible unless you scroll down)
You can purchase BT Digital Voice handsets from the BT shop. I am pretty sure that BT Digital Phones will only work with a BT Smart Hub and therefore BT Broadband. I don't believe BT Digital handsets will work broadband from other companies.
Hi - I have the BT Smart Hub Type A (a few years old now). I suppose that's not advanced enough for the Digital Voice Phone with Alexa?
You need the BT Smart Hub 2 as shown in the video at 2min 15sec for Digital Voice. So long as you have a Smart Hub that looks like this then Digital Voice and Alexa should work.
If you have got an older Home Hub then BT will send you a Smart Hub 2 when you upgrade to Digital Voice. This page shows what the different types of smart / home hubs BT have sold look like ....
www.bt.com/help/broadband/learn-about-broadband/different-types-of-bt-hub
I am a bit confused because I think it is the Home Hub 5 that has a type A and a type B. I don't think that the Smart Hub has a type A and Type B. So I think it is possible that you do not have a Smart Hub ... you have an older Home Hub which will not work with Digital Voice or Alexa.
I don't have Alexa so I have just done a quick bit of Googling and found this page ...
www.bt.com/help/user-guides/phones/digital-voice/bt-advanced-digital-home-phone-with-alexa-built-in
The interesting thing is that there is a note highlighted towards the top of the page which says ...
"If you have upgraded to a Smart Hub Plus, Digital Voice Alexa handsets will only work as Digital Voice handsets and will lose the Alexa functionality."
So bizarrely if you have the latest Smart Hub from EE then Alexa will NOT work. This must have been a mistake by an engineering team somewhere in BT that did not test if Alexa works with the Smart Hub Plus before it was released !!!!
For those wondering why the 4am activation, bt systems register changes for the day to happen the next 4am window hence the 24-48 hour warning
Thanks for the information. It useful to know how BT systems work.
Do the handsets have other different ringtones to choose from and how do I select one of them?
The BT handset has 15 ringtones. Press the left hand button to select "Menu". Then press the silver ring around the OK button at the 3o'clock position 3 times. The screen should now display "Settings" and a cogwheel. Press the left hand "Select" button. Select the "Sounds" option at the top of the list by pressing the OK button in the centre of the silver ring. Now select "Ringing" by pressing the "OK" button again. You can now select the ringtone that you want by pressing the silver ring at the 3o'clock or 9o'clock position to move left or right through the 15 different options. When you find the ringtone that you like press the left hand "Save" button.
Can you upload a video of all the ringtones?
OK ... no problem I will do a quick video :) I will do it in the next day or so and send you the TH-cam link in a reply to this comment on this video :)
I have just uploaded a video that shows how to change the ringtone on the BT Digital Voice handset th-cam.com/video/ZTGRMPMM8aQ/w-d-xo.html
I hope this helps you to change the ringtone.
Skipped the wiring up the hub. Straight forward to do, at least it would be if I had a JR11 male to JR11 male cable, which don't seem to exist.. They gave me the size cable (cat5e male both ends) that fits an ethernet female. Err, any suggestions? Bare in mind the hub's phone female is JR11 too. It's connected to the internet fine, Alexa on it works too, meaning I can call from Alexa. I just can't receive calls as it's not plugged in at the wall to the hub..
Watched your full video and realised if I plug the old phone back into the wall, it rings. Either way the digital phone is connected to the hub and alexa works, but it won't ring.
If your old phone still rings when you plug it into the wall then I think BT have not converted your phone line to Digital Voice yet. Have you had an email from BT telling you when they will convert your phone line to digital voice?
I think the cable you are referring to is an RJ11 cable.
However, I am slightly puzzled because if you have got the same digital phone that I have got then you do not need an RJ11 cable to connect your phone to your router. You new digital phone connects to the router using WiFI .. no cable is required.
If you have got the same digital phone that I have got then I have got nothing plugged into the green phone socket on the back of the Smart Hub.
Any idea how to open it to replace the batteries when the handset falls into the dog's water bowl...................?
Somebody left a comment about a year ago
"The batteries which are rechargeable are accessed if you need to replace them by either using your nails or something not to damaging to get the back of the phone. Once done once it gets easier once done and then if needed you can change the rechargeable batteries."
I have just had a look at my phone and tried to remove the back with my finger nails but my nails are too short to remove the back completely. I can see the back move a bit ... so the back is removable. I think I will need a small screwdriver or something similar to gently lever the back off the phone. I will try this at some stage and make a video ... hopefully I will make the video before your drop your handset in your dog's water bowl :)
Help just received the phone but the pairing keeps failing is that cos my hub hasn't changed over yet I'm so confused
Is your new phone saying "Register this handset to the hub" as shown in the video at 2min2seconds?
If the registration process is failing ... is there an error message on the screen?
No error message just says failed try again bt now said it's cos service isn't live till tomorrow
OK. If your service is live tomorrow .. try again tomorrow. If you have any problems leave a comment and I will try and help ...
Burt can I ask if the new digital phone kept your old home analogue phone number …thanks👍🏻
Yes - you keep the same telephone number. Its only the technology that delivers your landline that changes.
@@Helpful-Stuff many thanks 👍🏻
A question I have, do you have any experience in moving the phone when the SSID of the hub changes? I'm doing some internal homelab stuff and I'm moving to a pfSense router inside a DMZ with the hub (because Smart Hub 2 doesn't seem to support bridge mode) and I want to add an AP that has the same details as my existing hub but set it up with a new SSID for the phone only.
Just wondering if you've done this and know how it would work?
BT's Digital phones are DECT phones which therefore do DECT registration with BT's Smart Hub. I have limited knowledge in this area but I don't think that SSID of the Smart Hub is part of DECT registration process ... so I don't think that changing your Smart Hub's SSID will be a problem.
The following two web pages may provide you with some useful information for your setup...
(1) britishtelephones.com/btdigitalvoice.htm
(2) community.bt.com/t5/Archive-Staging/Digital-Voice-with-different-Router/td-p/2095493
Thanks for this. i have registered my phone, but I then accidentally blocked a caller and I can't see how to unblock them. Could you tell me how?
Hi, you have accidentally put the caller onto your personal blacklist (this is part of BT's Call Protect service). There are a couple of ways to delete numbers from your personal blacklist:
From your handset:
Just above the silver circular thing on your handset you will see a button in the centre of the handset which has a red cross on it. Press this button and this will make a phone call the BT's Call Protect service. This is a voice service ... I think it is option 2 to manage the numbers on your personal blacklist. I haven't tried this but I assume there will be an option to delete the number from your blacklist.
From a computer or tablet:
Go to bt.com/mybt and login to your account. Under "Your Products" click "Manage". Then under "Digital Voice" click "Manage". Then under "Call Protect" click "Manage". Then under "Your Blacklist" click "Manage". There is nobody on my blacklist but I assume that there will be a number listed on your blacklist on somewhere on screen there will be the option to delete the number off your blacklist.
Personally I tend to prefer doing things like this on my computer or tablet.
@@Helpful-Stuff Thank you very much for taking the trouble to answer my question. I did actually get into Call Protect and tried option 2 as you suggest. Perhaps I made a mistake after that, but it did not work. I would try again following your instructions, but it was actually my very elderly neighbour's phone. She had arranged to change from a Virgin TV and Phone package to BT. She had a harrowing 2 day experience during which she was expected to connect up her new phones and TV box. She thought she would get help and was so stressed out by the experience that she has cancelled the contract. Anyway, thank you again for the advice - perhaps someone else may benefit.
I am really sorry that your elderly neighbour has had such a stressful time trying to move from Virgin to BT and that has ended up with her cancelling the contract. BT should offer a lot more help and support !!!
@@Helpful-Stuff Thanks again. To be fair, they did apologise when she contacted them and offered to arrange a full installation, (which they said was the usual procedure), but by that time she was exhausted and worried, so she chose to cancel. Possibly it was a one off mistake, so other people may have much better experiences.
I am glad they apologised. Lets hope they learn from this poor customer experience and arrange a full installation for future customers.
Really helpful guide, thank you. We currently have Virgin Media broadband, and an analogue BT landline. We're interested in the BT Advanced Digital Home Phone. Can we use our Virgin Media broadband to enable BT Digital Voice? I realise this is a daft question, but we're not IT techy, and don't want to switch our broadband provider. Thank you in advance!
I believe that the BT's digital voice handsets can only connect to a BT Smart Hub. If you only have a BT analogue telephone line and do not have BT broadband then I assume that you do not have a BT Smart Hub. So I don't believe that there would be any point in you buying a BT Digital Home Phone ... because you do not have a BT Smart Hub for it to connect to!!!
The migration to digital voice basically means that voice calls will be converted to data that is transmitted over your broadband connection. Since you have Virgin broadband I think you need to investigate adding a landline to your package from Virgin.
I am guessing that you still have an analogue BT landline (as well as Virgin broadband) because all your friends & family know the number and you do not want to change your home phone number. It is be possible to move your landline from BT to Virgin and keep the same number. I think this should also work out cheaper because you will get both landline & broadband from Virgin.
I have never been a Virgin customer so I have no personal experience of how their broadband and landline services work ... I am not sure if the landline will be analogue or digital when you move your landline to Virgin. However, ALL operators have to migrate ALL customers to digital voice by end 2025 so whether your landline is with BT or Virgin it will be digital by end 2025.
The big question you have raised for me though is for customers who only have a BT landline and do not have broadband from BT or Virgin or anybody else ... how will they be converted to digital voice? I have Googled but I can't find an answer to that question!!! I guess the answer will be that the analogue landline will be terminated and the landline only customer will need a (cheap) broadband service.
does the base ring too as well as the handset? or is it only the handset that rings? thankyou
The base unit does not ring. The base unit is just a stand for the handset with a connection to the power supply.
@@Helpful-Stuff oh thats not good, that means the handset will have to be nearby or you wont be able to hear it! my old phone's base and handset rang so it was handy to hear the base ringing if you left the handset in other rooms if you know what i mean
You could buy a ringer unit which would give you a bell in whatever room it is located. These normally have a very loud ring so you should be able to hear the phone ringing wherever you are located.
I have Googled to try and find a ringer unit for BT's digital voice ... however I cannot find one. The only units I can find are analogue ringer units that need to plug into an analogue telephone socket. You could buy one of these and plug it into the telephone socket on the back of your BT Smart Hub.
If the Smart Hub is not in a convenient location then you could buy a BT Digital Voice adapter and plug the analogue ringer unit into it.
The cost of a ringer unit + the cost of a BT Digital Voice adapter is probably going to be close to the cost of buying a second Digital phone handset! So it may actually be better to invest in a second handset and have the benefit of having two phones connected to your digital landline. With two phones connected to your digital landline you can then make two totally independent phone calls at the same time ... or if you are already on a call then the other handset can receive a call while you are still on the call on the other handset :)
Although then I guess the problem is that you end up leaving both handsets in the same room and you don't hear either of them if you are in another room!!!
@@Helpful-Stuff if i had 2x handsets and someone calls, do they both ring? If so then Yes that would be good as i could leave one handset on the base and have one handset around the house with me, thankyou for helping 👍
I haven't got to phones so I can't test this but yes both handset should ring.
A couple of scenarios where the phone may not ring ... (1) If you are already on a call and you receive another call then I believe that only the handset that is not busy will ring. So it is possible that if you are on a call you will not hear the other handset ring in the other room. (2) If somebody accidentally turns the ring volume down on one of the handsets.
So it's going to be DIY 'BT Digital Voice' setup then. No engineer will call round like in the 'good old days'. Thanks a lot BT!
It would be incredibly expensive to send an engineer to every household with a BT landline. The vast majority of households will not require an engineer because there will be a techie person or a teenager(!) who can get the new Digital Voice handset working. However, I do agree that since only a small percentage of households would benefit from an engineer visiting it would be nice if BT could send an engineer if requested.
I've just had one of these digital phones yesterday, the BT app is giving me green ticks for outgoing calls, incoming calls and HD calls, but the hub is still grey. Have I got to wait for the email you are talking about for it to work?
I have just had a look at my Hub's management port. Frustratingly BT seem to have changed the colours since I recorded this video. All the boxes are grey until you hover your mouse over the box at which stage it turns a blue-green colour. So I think it is best to check the text rather than the colour.
In the box on the left of the screen with a handset symbol ...
- if the text in the box says "Not configured" then you have not been migrated to digital voice yet and you will need to wait for BT to contact you
- if the text gives your landline number then BT has migrated you to digital voice.
@@Helpful-Stuff yeah mine still says not configured. I now have all the BT sport and now entertainment channels on my package, it's just the phone I'm waiting for
I believe that BT have something like 10 million customers to migrate to digital voice before 2025 ... so they will migrate your landline to digital voice ... just not sure exactly when that will be but it should be before 2025. Keep fingers crossed that it is sooner rather than later :)
@@Helpful-Stuff
Ridiculous situation I've had the ruddy thing for a year and not set up to connect yet!🤬🙄
A year!!!! ... I can't believe that BT have delayed your migration to digital voice that long. I hope they get around to migrating you soon :)
A BT Engineer should set up the new digital system for free. Pensioners will find this a nightmare to install and many will not bother to have a telephone at all and that is a disgrace in today's world.
While I agree that there are some households (eg pensioners) that may need more support to upgrade to Digital Voice the vast majority of households are more than capable of upgrading to Digital Voice with the assistance of videos like my video.
My personal view is that BT should have supported vulnerable user a lot more in 2 areas:
- digital voice does not work in a power cut so BT should provide vulnerable users a free backup power supply for the Smart Hub
- old personal & security alarms which only work on the old PSTN
The rollout of digital has been stopped and restarted several times because of these issues.
BT is working on a potential solution (SOTAP for Analogue) which will allow BT to continue to provide a service very similar to the old analogue telephone. This is a temporary solution for a few years to allow customers a few more years to migrate to digital voice.
I'm not sure if I'll actually be using these instructions, but thanks for the video at any rate, as my new account with BT went live the day before yesterday. I wasn't impressed with the fact that they don't supply a phone plug to go in the Digital Voice socket if that's supposed to be part of the service and it was only by chance that I had an additional phone plug to make the connection with the line in and there weren't specific instructions how to do that, leaving it up to one's own guesswork, which fortunately in my case was correct.
My handset will not pair with the hub no idea why
Have you had a look at the Smart Hub 2 manager page as shown in the video at 3m17s ... is the Phone box still grey and saying "Not Configured"? - if it is then you have not been upgraded to DV yet.
If you have had an email from BT which says you have been upgraded to DV but the Smart Hub 2 Manager is showing "Not Configured", it is probably worth contacting BT to let them know that your upgrade to DV has failed.
If the Smart Hub 2 manager is not grey then you have been upgraded to Digital Voice, so it may be necessary to switch your router off for a minute then switch it back on again. Leave the Hub for a few minutes to reconnect to broadband then try again using the WPS button on the Smart Hub to connect to your phone. I hope this works :)
I find I have problems with incoming calls I can't hear what they are saying they can hear what I am saying, no problems with my hearing.
I wonder if you have accidentally turned the volume down.
When you are on a call you need to tap the silver ring around the OK button at the 12o'clock position ... press it multiple times until the volume is at the required level. The maximum level is some sort of amplify level which I guess is extra loud for people with a hearing problem.
i didn’t get this handset with my new bt package
I didn't get this handset as part of my BT package. I got this free handset when my home telephone line was changed from analogue to digital about 18 months ago.
@@Helpful-Stuff is it possible to get it still
From memory, the link to order the free handset was in the emails that notified me that home telephone line was being changed from analogue to digital. If you have deleted these emails you could try phoning BT to see if you are still entitled to the free handset.
You can buy the latest version of this handset can be bought from the BT shop
store.ee.co.uk/products/bt-advanced-digital-home-phone-with-alexa-built-in-101806-G9YX.html
This latest version has got Alexa built in. Mine has not got Alexa.
You can only use this handset with digital telephone lines ... if your home telephone line hasn't been converted to digital yet then this handset will not work on an old analogue telephone line.
I have this bt phone and I can’t receive any calls been struggling to get anyone to call? Can anyone help me
Have BT converted your telephone line to digital voice? Until BT have converted your home landline to digital this phone will not receive any phone calls.
Hi can you permanently disabled call blocker,my parents have this phone and they keep pressing the bloody red button
Frustrating!!!.
Try this .... Go to MY BT website and login. Click YOUR PRODUCTS "Manage" >>> DIGITAL VOICE "Manage" >>> CALL PROTECT "Manage" >>> YOUR BLACKLIST "Manage". At the top of this page under "Your Blacklist" is a red button that says "SWITCH OFF". I haven't tried it but this may solve your problem and disable call blocker. Worth a try ... I hope it works.
@@Helpful-Stuff that's so helpful thank you
Thanks.. looking forward to have my new handset
Hi, I am glad the video was helpful.
I have read that BT are "pausing all further Digital Voice switch-overs for customers who don’t want to move to the new technology straight away".
Personally I was very keen to move to the new Digital Voice service and it sounds as though you are as well so hopefully your handset will be delivered and you will be switched to Digital Voice.
FYI This is the full BT press release about the pause ... newsroom.bt.com/were-pausing-our-digital-voice-plans-for-consumers-while-we-work-on-a-more-resilient-rollout/
I've now on digital voice and connected the router to an extension socket instead a phone. All my old phones still work and the bells ring okay - BT won't tell you that!
In the video at about 4m50s I show how my old analogue phone did not ring after I had been converted to digital voice. So I am very surprised that your old phones still work ... from a technical perspective I am not even sure that it is possible for old analogue phones to work after you have been converted to digital voice.
The best way to check if BT have enabled digital voice on your line is to check your Smart Hub Manager as shown from 3m15s in the video ...
- if the digital voice phone icon is greyed out (as shown at 3m30s) then digital voice is NOT enabled
- if the digital voice phone icon is purple (as shown at 4m0s) then digital voice is enabled on your line
@@Helpful-Stuff Thank your for your reply. Well, BT informed me of the Digital Voice switchover and cut the signal to my phone last Friday even though I was still using the original router. Anyway, I disconnected this and set up the Smart Hub 2 router and plugged in a phone as instructed - this phone then worked but none of my other phones did (I have 7 plugged into extension sockets). So, by a process of experimentation and trial and error I discovered that if I connected the router to the nearest extension socket all the other sockets were now live and the phones worked - both incoming and outgoing and all would ring (except a couple which I had turned the ringer off). I used a double adapter on the router so that I could also use the phone plugged into it.
On previously phoning BT not one engineer said I could do this and had insisted that the extension sockets were redundant and that I would need an adapter for each phone but refused to supply me with any unless I was prepared to pay for them all - hence why I had resisted complying with the switch over but when they disconnected me I had no choice. So, how does fibre to the property pass the phone signals along my internal copper-wired extension sockets allowing the analogue phones to work? I've no idea.
I have checked the Smart Hub Manager and none of the panels are purple but are all the same dark grey but light up bright blue when I highlight each panel including my landline phone number which shows the status as service ready. So, have I done something I should not have done or have I stumbled upon a successful solution to the problem?
I worked in telecoms for about 20 years and I agree with the BT engineers ... what you have done shouldn't work ... but obviously it does work!!! The comment I would make is that this may be a fluke that is something to do with the transition from analogue voice to digital voice. It may stop working at some stage.
The fact that your Smart Hub Manager is not showing a purple phone icon makes me think that BT's network is seeing your line as analogue and not as a digital.
I guess that since you have got a working BT phone line (that I suspect is still analogue) you should keep using it for as long as it works....
@@Helpful-Stuff Ah yes, thanks for that - I did wonder if the phones would indeed suddenly cease to function so I guess I will wait and see. Yes, mine are all analogue and the Phone Status in Smart Hub Manager whilst saying Service Ready also shows a request for me to Start Registration for my handset - so I won't be doing that just yet!
What annoyed though was the fact that five years ago I paid BT £500 for five additional extension sockets on a new-build property - nobody told me that these would only last five years or else I would not have had them put in! And as for Digital Voice they must have known this was coming but declined to warn people! I am surprised they were able to convince Ofcom their service is safe so why is it in the event of a power cut now no phones will work at all - what happens should I need the emergency services?? Not everybody has a mobile phone....
Back in March 2022 BT had to pause the rollout of digital voice because the UK suffered from a couple of storms and people suddenly realised that if they lose power they lose their digital voice service because the router has lost power.
The digital voice rollout seems to have started again. I am not aware of a solution to the problems a power outage causes for the digital voice service. I have just had a look at the Ofcom website ... there is guidance from Ofcom together with responses from BT, Virgin etc. Unfortunately I don't have time to read them at the moment ....
As an ex-telecoms engineer I must admit my view is that if the UK does not move to digital voice then we will not have world class voice and data telecoms services in the UK. However, I also accept that it is a problem that in the event of a power outage then the digital voice service will not work. I am just not sure that there is a commercially acceptable solution.
I think Ofcom is trying to walk a very difficult line because Ofcom knows that the UK must have a digital voice service and infrastructure but also knows that customers need their landline to work in an emergency. This is a challenge for Ofcom!!!
We are having trouble with our phone suddenly it's on mute have tried to unmute it with the right button still on mute went online last night was on 2 hrs .
Do you mean mute on a call ... so that the person who has called you can no longer hear your voice because your microphone has been muted?
If so, then it should be possible to just press the right button again to switch mute off. If you end the call and make or receive another call then the new call should start unmuted so that the they can hear your voice.
Or do you mean that the handset has been muted and is no longer ringing when somebody calls you?
If so, then MENU >>> SETTINGS >>> SOUNDS >>> RINGING
Volume may be set to RINGER OFF ... change this to whatever volume level is required.
I hope this helps 🤞
Just received mine today. Paired it with my hub via WPS. The phone then told me that I can't send or receive phone calls, because there is no service, even though it's paired to my hub, which is great if there's a house fire, scene as I won't be able to contact emergency services on my SMART phone...
I think that your phone is connected to the Hub but your landline hasn't been migrated to digital voice yet. In the video at 3m20s it shows you how to check the status of your landline by checking the Hub's management port. If the rectangular block with a handset symbol says "Not configured" this means that your landline is still analogue. So you can still use your old analogue telephone to make or receive calls.
Thanks for this video. Have saved it. Cheers mate
Thanks for saving the video .... it will be helpful when BT switch you to Digital Voice :)
Do BT know HOW to communicate to customers? They dump stuff on you and hope that you'll get the hang of it yourself.
I agree & that's why I made the video ... It's currently my most watched video. So my video is helping a lot of people :)
At 3min I think you touched the wrong ok button ( should have used the big ok button in middle of photo)
If I have found the right bit of the video ... at 3m 10s "OK" is at the bottom left of the screen which indicates that the button just below the bottom left of the screen is the OK button.
I guess its possible that you can also use the OK button in the middle of the silver circle ... but at the time I pressed the button at the bottom left of the screen which was labelled "OK".
Excellently done 👍🏻
Thanks .... its always good to get feedback that a video was helpful :)
@@Helpful-Stuff …. I haven’t got mine yet , but I don’t want the answer machine enabled (it comes already on) you don’t know by any chance how to disable it ? There is nothing on BT website. Cheers …. Jon
It looks like the only way to disable the answer machine is to phone BT Customer Services and ask BT to disable it. I assume that BT can disable but as a user the only thing that you can do is increase the amount of time before a call diverts to the answer machine.
You can change the amount of time before BT's answer machine answers the call by pressing the answer machine button on your new DV handset and then select option 4.
Alternatively you can also do this from the BT Website ... My BT >>> Your Products - Manage >> Digital Voice Manage >>> Voicemail Essentials Manage >>> Select the option Long 10 rings (30seconds) and Save
If you have your own answer machine then you almost certainly have it setup to answer before 10 rings so this will effectively disable BT's answer machine because your answer machine will always answer before the BT's answer machine.
@@Helpful-Stuff appreciate your detailed reply 🍺🍺🍺
Just won't connect being trying for ages
Just rang BT they said not due to go online until 2025😮
I know BT have got a lot of customers so the rollout is going to take a long time ... but 2025 ... that's a very long time :(
jume 2023 its already online
I tried this 2 days ago and still no email
If BT has not sent you an email to give you a specific date (or 48 hour window) when your service is changing to Digital Voice then I am almost certain you are still connected to the old analogue PSTN voice service ... so your new digital handset will not work.
If you have got the free digital handset then you are obviously going to be converted to Digital Voice ... at some stage in the (hopefully) near future :)
Thank you my friend I will let you know if any changes thanks again 👍
If I have a power cut my phone doesn't work. Another great technology revolution, loosing the phone-line meh
I have just had an email from BT because my BT package is a about to expire and I need to renew it. I have migrated to digital voice but I don't use my landline so I had a look at the "Broadband Only" packages. I would lose my landline and the telephone number but ...
I would save £zero !!!
The price for the broadband only package is exactly the same as the broadband+landline package. So you won't save any money by cancelling your landline.
I have made this video which explains why BT are migrating everybody to Digital Voice
th-cam.com/video/yVPdMoj095I/w-d-xo.html
Ofcom states that:
"If you rely on your landline - for example, you don’t have a mobile phone, you’re unable to use a mobile phone or you don’t have mobile signal inside your home - your provider must make sure you are able to contact the emergency services during a power cut. This could be in the form of battery back-up so your landline will continue to work, or giving you a basic mobile phone to use in this situation."
I believe that BT do offer a battery backup unit for those who need it.
I think this causes wifi issues
Using the BT Digital Handset hasn't caused me any problems with WiFi. What sort of issues are you getting?
Thank you, much preferred my trendy handset ☺️: disappointingly ugly.
I agree ... it does a job and its free but it certainly isn't a good looking phone.
Why is the analog phone system is dying in 2025?
I have made this video to explain why BT are migrating all landlines from analogue to digital
th-cam.com/video/yVPdMoj095I/w-d-xo.html
I literally love it so much
god these things are a nightmare....ive just pressed that wps thing on the side of my router...and it kept asking for an 8 digit pin...I was like wtf...so messaged bt chat...they tried giving me a phone number to call...I said I have not got another phone!!!!But finally it worked!!! Told the chat person, and they asked me what did I do as they would make a note so they could inform others...lol...hmm well.
Glad you got it working. The WPS button should mean that you don't need a PIN so not sure what happened ... but the good news is that the technology sorted itself out and you are now using Digital Voice :)
@@Helpful-Stuff I know I have not got a clue what that was, but yes glad to be moved to digital voice now.
BT do so little to relieve all the confusion surrounding their digital service. It's as though they have no experience of liaising with customers and Bell has just invented the digital. Any customer could offer guidance to a marketing department that seems divorced from reality. Will my old analogue phones work so do I have to but MORE phones as I don't live in the 19th century and phones are usually to be found in more than one room? The digital phones are clunky and shrill, not well engineered. There are a lot of IT savvy children coming up for O Levels who could do a better job for BT.
Back in March 2022 BT apologised for the disruptive impact of the upgrade to digital voice and paused the rollout.
The UK had just suffered from severe disruption following two major storms which made people aware that if you lose power you are unable to make calls, including 999 calls, using BT's Digital Voice if your home has no power.
The other problem is that there were a lot building alarm systems, remote medical monitoring systems and many other systems that only worked with the old analogue telephone lines. These would not work with BT's new digital voice service.
As an ex-telecoms engineer my view is that it is inevitable that the UK will move away from the old PSTN system to modern VOIP and we must not stop BT from migrating customers to digital voice otherwise the UK's telecoms networks and services risk getting left behind the rest of the world.
I think that BT focussed on the internal engineering challenge of the migration ... almost completely forgetting the customer impact of the move to digital voice.
I say almost completely because I have a free digital voice handset supplied by BT when I migrated to digital voice. From a personal perspective the migration didn't cost me anything ... other than a bit of time to setup the new digital phone. My new digital phone is not the best phone in the world but it was free ... so for the price its pretty good :)
In March following the storms I think BT became aware that they had forgotten the customer impact of the migration to digital voice. BT apologised and I hope that they are now considering the customer impact much more carefully. I must admit I have not been following the news of the migration ... so I actually don't know if BT are being more successful at managing the customer impact of the migration.
BT seem to think all our hubs and present phones are sat on one of those 1970s min telephone tables in the hallway with a copy of the yellow pages and a telephone directory tucked away on it's shelf.
Your comment triggered a few memories of sitting in the hall (usually in the cold) to make a phone call. Its no wonder the calls were much shorter back then!!!! My name is J R Hartley ... if you understand that comment then like me you remember the 1980s :)
The fact BT are not sharing with customers is that these phones can make you sound like a Dalek as the speech frequency range is so limited compared to an old analogue phone
Having to use their trash router is a huge pain in the backside.
I think that the vast majority of BT's customers use their mobile as their primary telephone number and therefore never or only very rarely use their landline. If you don't want to use the new Digital Voice service and are happy to use your mobile phone all the time then you don't need to use BT's router.
That phone looks so dated and huge! No doubt BT got them cheap.
I was lucky I got the phone when it was free. When something is free I can forgive a lot ... but they are no longer free and I am not sure I would want to pay for this handset.
I hope you're OK with Amazon listening to everything you say on your BT phone, I put mine in a drawer and will never use it
My digital voice handset is the free handset that BT supplies when they migrate you to Digital Voice and it doesn't support Alexa so I am more than happy to have it sat in my lounge.
I don't subscribe to conspiracy theories ... most can be debunked very quickly and easily ... but they are good fun :)
Absolute crap service on all fronts!
This is not an improvement, it's a backward step BT!!
Biggest negative is that during a power cut you've no landline!! I don't have any mobile signal at home so I'm well and truly fucked! Add to that the delay meaning natural flowing conversation becomes impossible then the breaks meaning you have to ask the person to 'repeat' all the time! Listen to BBC Radio 4 interviews if you want to know how bad telephone comms have become!
Perhaps you should listen to BBC Radio 4 more carefully and learn how to make your point with the strength of your argument and not the strength of the expletives that you use to make your point.
If you have no mobile signal, they will provide you with a free battery backup.
Also most phone calls on Radio 1 sound quite high fidelity to me, either they are using a mobile phone with HD calling or they are using WhatsApp.
Pointless if you have kids & pets, especially cats as its like a banana balanced on an eggcup, threw mine away eventually, gone back to plug in normal phone from argos that sits on the sideboard
I am really surprised that you prefer a fixed cable phone to a wireless handset. The charging stations only needs to plug into a mains plug and it has a 3m cable so you can locate the charging stand on a shelf somewhere out of the reach of cats and kids. Another alternative is to move the charging stand to another room because it only needs WiFi coverage and a mains plug.