New digital phone line and new hub and being unable to use answering machine

[bizzey]

DM had a new hub put in ....as she panicked over something that was not clear in the letter they sent her !

She took it upon herself to organise this

Since then her answer machine has not been picking up messages.

It just goes to 1571 (BT)

Person on phone said that the new digital service does not connect to answer machines .

I have got engineer coming out tomorrow to her house ... while I am there ...

But has this happened to anyone else ?

DM is an 85 year old ...and can't manage 1571 ...she likes to see the answer machine flashing (!) to know she has got messages .

She can't even hear the difference between ring tones to know she has a message !

How can I help her please .

Thanks.

Just bumping in case anyone sees it now .

No idea OP so bumping this up again.

Assume it's part of the shitshow where personnel alarms won't work either. Hopefully the engineer is helpful.

Dm was converted to digital despite her protests of vulnerability and our subsequent complaints. She now has voicemail but can at least access it. They provided a new hub and an engineer to fit it. She also got a back up phone which bypasses the hub and back up battery in case of powercuts - might be worth asking.

I think all the old landlines are going to be changed to digital. I read about this months ago. I worry about elderly people who are not going to be able to cope.

They are supposed to have paused the roll out to look for ways to support the vulnerable. A lot of emergency personal alarms are incompatible, so possible an answerphone etc might also be.

If it is with BT I believe you can sign into your account online and change the number of rings before the calls goes to 1571 that way it would reach her physical answerphone first.

Thank you all.
It is BT .

I have rung the phone while there and answer machine doesn't connect.

But her dial tone changes on her phone , so she would then have to do the 1571 .

It is all touch for an 85 year old to do !

Social services wanted to but anew phone in for her today with extra volume...and that wouldn't work either !

You will really need to fight BT to tell them VOIP is not appropriate in this situation. For many people, not just the elderly, this switch is totally unacceptable. BT are riding roughshod over peoples needs.

Not sure if I am allowed to post a link but if you Google 'BT switch off 1571 voicemail' you should find instructions.

We haven't had an answerphone for years, just rely on 1571. However, I'm the only person in the house who ever notices there are messages. There is a flashing symbol on our phone in the display window which shows you've missed a call, but if someone rings from a withheld number the symbol doesn't flash even if they've left a message.

I don't know what the solution is but I feel your pain. This whole analogue switch off is going to cause no end of problems to the most vulnerable.

Ohh thank you !
Off to check them out now.

It is the " physical" (if that is the right order for a machine!) presence of an answer machine he needs .

People are leaving her messages to change meet ups and stuff ...but she is not getting them because they are not on her machine flashing.

She is partially Deaf....and would not notice the different ring tones in the phone to know there was a message !

Is there anything BT can do ?

I know engineer is going to be from "out reach " and so say nothing to do with them !

The upgrade to all digital lines is a complete shitshow. We were upgraded by BT despite being told we would be delayed and apparently we can’t go back. We now have no working landline - which means that DM refuses to call as she won’t call mobile numbers due to it apparently costing £1 a minute.

Oh, and we have regular power cuts here and when the power goes, the mobile signal (already weak) goes within a couple of hours. The old copper landline would keep going even in a 3 day power cut but with digital it goes immediately. It’s absolute crap.

Interesting about the phone charges.

DM had an extra £7 put on her bill ( monthly)

I think that must have been the 0300 numbers I was ringing from her house to the bank when her card was stolen.

I made some from my landline as well....I need to check if I was charged 🤔

Her monthly bill has gone up by £10 ...even though they told her it would be reduced with this new hub thing 😕

So can the answer machine be attached to her phone /phone line ?

Dm was left for two days without a working phone when they switched her over. Despite her age and vulnerabilities. No refund as it was not a '"fault" Yes the engineer was from Openreach and even though owned by BT they do not coordinate or accept responsibility for each other.

This should help @bizzey

1571 answering service is enabled by default with DV, therefore if using an answering machine, 1571 should be set to maximum number of rings and the answering machine to a fewer number to allow the answering machine to cut in before 1571.

You should be able to increase the number of rings by accessing Voicemail by dialing 1571. In the menu select 4 and this should give you the option to increase the number of rings.

@Theteapotsbrokenspout that is really useful. DM often cannot reach the phone before vm cuts in.

Everyone is being so helpful and I can't think everyone 😔.

But she doesn't want 1571 ...she wants her machine that the phone charges on /base to pick up the messages .

If she is in she answers the phone ....or hers someone start to leave a message...

If she is out ...she won't know anyone has left a message ....unless she actually listens to the dial tone .

So is the consensus is that it is because she has unwittingly/unknowingly switched to digital and that is why her answering machine ...the one that flashes messages and how many ...is not working ?

My 87 yr old Dad had same issue but BT were able to resolve it. I have a feeling they sent him something he had to plug answerphone in. But he had to call and harass them to resolve it.

I am wondering now if the extra charges were for the 1571 calls !