Telephone issues - partly on topic

My BT line has a fault that's making a bad crackle and it looks like BT Openreach won't be able to fix it.   I have Virgin cable broadband - if I add a phone on this how easy is it to wire it into the existing BT wiring round the house, assuming I dump BT?   And I make a lot of international calls and have calls billed through ICUK - is it possible to do this on a cable phone line or are you forced to take Virgin's call packages? 

I am trying Skype but it dropped out during an international call the other day.

I have asked BT if they can run another line from a much nearer pole across the street but they have refused (the current one goes across back gardens and then underground, which is where the problem is).  

If I order a second line though what would they do? I doubt there are spare wires on the existing line as it's very old and if there are they may already have tried swapping them to try and fix the fault.

By the way I'm in central London (N1) - hardly a remote location.

E.

Reply to
eastender
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In article , eastender scribeth thus

Virgin may well do you a decent deal for phone you can "port" your number from BT to them..

But as you don't need to have a phone line to bring the BB in on go VoIP with a decent supplier like VoIPfone and look forward to reduced phone costs.

We did just that around a year ago and its been excellent ever since. Should your BB ever go down you can set your diverts in the VoIPfone system divert calls to a mobile if you want to . Calls are around 1 pence per minute with no setup call costs.

And you can port your existing number to them as well...

I rather suspect that VoIP is in much the same charge area..

Well do they really deserve your business..

Reply to
tony sayer

Given that voice quality is the only thing that they DO have to provide, why aren't they fixing it? It's what you're paying them for. Keep complaining!

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

Why not? It's their job.

Very. Disconnect from the BT master, connect it to the VM master.

Reply to
Chris Bartram

OpenReach pretty much have to fix it if they are providing your supplier with a line for you, so moan at your provider and tell them you want it fixed or you are leaving them.

Are you 100% sure it isn't your wiring or phone? If you have an NET5 socket Like this -

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have you taken the bottom part off (as shown in the picture) and tried more then one phone in the socket behind?

Another cheaper option would be to go VoIP (proper VoIP, not Skype) with a provider like Sipgate, Gradwell, or a number other providers. if your broadband is reliable (Virgin via cable usually is)

I have personally used both Sipgate and Gradwell for incoming calls, and haven't had problems with either - Sipgate are free (There is a one-off charge to port your number)

If you get a mulit-line VoIP phone, you can then use a separate provider for outbound calls - I would suggest

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as I have used them, and mu cousin uses them for his business, with no problems.

An example phone would be a Grandstream GXP1200 (2 lines)

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If you only use outbound, then you would only need an outbound provider like VoIP Cheap and a single line phone.

Reply to
Toby

"1 penny a minute"

:-)

Reply to
Frank Erskine

Tim, and others, the fault has been traced to an underground part of the line that has now been built or paved over in a gated mews. So far, BT Business/Openreach have not found anyone to approach to get permission to dig it up, and I fear this could either take months or be abandoned.

E.

Reply to
eastender

They are trying - see my post above.

Thanks - i'll look into this - I'm trying Skype with variable results. I do need to record some calls (with permission) - do any of the VOIP handsets link to a computer or to a digital recorder - I think maybe plugging in an analogue phone to a VOIP box would be the best bet as I can intercept between the handset and base. It's easy to record calls with Skype of course but I'm just listening to a call I made to New York and the callee drops in and out in volume a lot.

E.

Reply to
eastender

You can also use a softphone, like 3CX (Free) I believe this can record calls too

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You will be best using this with a headset or a USB Phone, rather than speakers and a open microphone - did you use a headset for Skype?

Reply to
Toby

Think the OP has a BT Retail line but yes BT Openreach have to fix it (for no charge) as the line is already provided. You don't get much (aka any) say in how the service is provided, if BT decided it was cheaper for them to put in FTTP and conversion kit to POTS that is what they would do. Asking for a certain pole or chamber will require your to pay for any extra works...

Once a line has been provided BT Openreach are contractually obliged to fix it within the terms of the contract and your service level. If that fix requires them to open up two miles of trench, relay ducts, pull in new cable then that is what they will do and no charge to you. They might not make the within four working days for a residential line target if they had to do that though. B-)

Worth a few tests like that just to ensure that the crackles are within the BT network, if they come out and the fault is with your wiring or equipment there is a £99 charge...

Just done that myself, ported a couple of BT numbers to Sipgate. Works well with a Gigaset N300 PSTN/VoIP/DECT unit. As we have no choice of telecoms provider I've also added "Total Care" to the residential POTS line that brings in the ADSL. Total Care means that they aim to fix faults within 24 hrs of the report (fix is within working hours, something like 0800 to 1800 365 days/year). Worked last week about 10 days after applying Total Care, reported fault just before 1700 Thursday, fixed about 1100 Friday. B-) A side effect of Total Care seems to be that you can't report faults online, you have to speak to Bangalore. Total Care on a residential line costs £4.00/month.

Sipgate are free in that there is no regular monthly fee for the service, calls are still chargeable... But considerably less than BT, the *minimum* charge for a daytime call landline to landline via BT is 23p.

I considered that but decided that I'd rather support Sipgate properly by using them for calls. Their web interface, options and voicemail (notification by (chargeable) SMS, email with/without the recording attached) on the "free" service is very good.

You can access voicemail via the web as well and I think set (chargeable) diverts but you need internet access to do that. So if your net connection is down... Of course you could use a smartphone just to set the diverts.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

I don't think you need any permission to record the calls to which you are a known party.

Reply to
polygonum

through

It would be worth shopping around various VoIP providers for international calls, different ones tend to cater for different call patterns. Some will offer very cheap calls to Asia but relatively pricey to the Americas/Far East etc.

If the OP is dialling a prefix to route calls via ICUK then just check that Virgin allow that prefix, TBH I don't think they can bar any carrier prefixes. They might no offer the carrier pre-select service, where you tell the line provider that by default you all calls to be routed and charged by carrier X not them.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Yes, I rushed out and bought a Sennheiser USB headset - it works fine but the input from the callee is not great on Skype and during one call the connection broke, which was embarrassing. I also bought Audio Hijack (it's a on Mac) which records any audio from any app.

But I really need a business grade 'solution'. Looking at Sipgate now.

E.

Reply to
eastender

I've gota BT Business contract - the fault has been traced (about 3 weeks ago) to an underground part of the line that has now been built or paved over in a gated mews. So far, BT Business/Openreach have not found anyone to approach to get permission to dig it up, and I fear this could either take months or be abandoned.

Just looking at Sipgates's site now.

E.

Reply to
eastender

That's their problem, not yours. Keep complaining!

Andy

Reply to
Vir Campestris

So what was public land has now become private? If the land is still public BT don't have to ask they just dig... The land registry will know who owns the land, presumably who ever bought it didn't know the BT duct was there but there are normally access rights for all services crossing private land to the owners of those services. It gets tricky if the service is not being taken by the land owner and is only serving 3rd parties though. The service provider would need a wayleave... and yes it could take a long time to sort out. Might speed things up if you did some digging and found the right person in your local BT structure to pass what you find on. The latter bit will be the hard bit...

As for Skype, it's crap, at least from my experience of it, poor quality, hefty delays, drop out, awful. All the calls I've had over VoIP have been excellent quality, minimal delay (much less than a mobile phone) and solid. Chalk and cheese really.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

There's no price advantage though in using voip when compared with low cost landline operators such as ICUK - the calls are almost the same, and ICUK also has no fees (no call set up, per second billing, and no contract). Of course there is the line rental but you have to pay an ISP with voip.

On balance, I'd rather make a circuit-switched call for business critical calls which is why I'd like to get my landline fixed.

E.

Reply to
eastender

Agreed, with with VoIP you can choose to take landline calls when you are elsewhere - either on a mobile phone via IP, or on (say) your laptop.

Reply to
Bob Eager

Bull. Sorry but it is, if a telecoms company cant sort out the problems you describe they'd have gone out of business in year 1.

its straightforward. A filter might be needed, other than that just disconn ect and connect.

I'm not familiar with icuk. From using 3rd party international call compani es I do know that the access codes they use are free on BT, and pricey on v irgin. Virgin dont like people using other cheaper companies.

Check your T&Cs. Like any service, if its not provided then in principle yo u can withhold payment indefinitely if they fail to provide an adequate ser vice. The T&Cs will modify this, but only to a limited degree, they cant gi ve you an unusable line and still expect 18 months of payment.

Also do make sure its not in your wiring or phone.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

Can you show "loss of earnings/business" if so BT will compensate. If you've taken the option to divert calls to another number I think the loss aspect will have gone out of the window but you ought to be able to press for not paying or getting a refund of the rental whilst the problem is on going.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

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