I received a letter from BT saying that their dropping my 1471 Extra from 18th April 2007. I'll be on Virgin Media by then anyway but why are they doing this?

No idea but, of course, most DECT handsets and stand-alone Caller Display units store many more than 1471 Extra's 'Last 5 calls' anyway.

Maybe they want you to pay extra for Callminder as that does the same.

No more free caller display now you\'re moving to VirginMedia (I take it you are moving to the cable service as you live in a cable area) and also now have to pay sky high prices for calls to mobiles and international even with their additional Talk Mobile and Talk International options. If you have chosen one of their VIP packages, then yes you\'d need their phone line, but otherwise phone is best left with BT if you plan to use the phone to make calls.

I'm getting Talk Evenings and Weekends in for no extra charge so its not worth me staying with BT.

Whats 1471 Extra....is that just the 1471 service?

Its the last 5 callers

I've used BTs 1471 Extra as part of their premium services for years and I'm really going to miss it.
I run a small business from home and it was real handy coming in from a night out and dialling up to find who called when you were out.
As my BT Freestyle 1025 cordless phone and separate handset in my garage/workshop is now starting to give trouble I'm thinking of replacing them with a more modern DECT type or a caller display type...what are the advantages of a DECT phone over the BT Freestyle model I have?
To use a DECT phone must you pay BT for the caller display service on it...or is this part of the DECT standard anyway...or am I getting mixed up?

You are a little mixed up.

DECT phones have vastly superior sound quality to analogue cordless phones.

Most DECT phones these days have Caller Display (mine stores the last 20 numbers and the date and time a call was received - or missed).

On a BT residential landline, Caller Display is almost free - you have to make 6 chargeable calls each quarter (or 2 each month if you're billed monthly) - so 6 x evening or weekend UK 01/02 calls of less than an hour will be sufficient (33p).

To switch free Caller Display on, call 0800 916 5544 and follow the voice prompts.
Last edited by Heinz : 13-03-2007 at 21:47

Thanks for the info and clarification.
So as long as I buy any DECT phone with caller display and phone that no to activate the caller display I'll only be paying the price of the phone?
As a matter of interest what make/model do you use?
Are BTs own-brand DECT phones okay/good value for money?
I don't want a tiny mobile-type phone but something big and chunky with an easy-to-read display (my eyesight isn't what it was), an extra handset and wall-mountable would be a bonus.

Alternatively if you want the last five callers then maybe Callminder is an option? As that lets you know everyone who has left no message as long as they reach the voicemail.

I have just moved my phone to VM, I agree that their call prices are expensive, however they did give me free Caller Display and told me that the charge for Evenings & Weekends is to drop to £14.95 (incl. Line Rental) from 01/05/07.

I plan to make any chargeable calls using my VOIP line.

Hmm.

Assuming the cost of line rental is £11 (well, that's BT's basic price), VM will be charging £3.95 for evening and weekend calls (the same as BT Together Option 2's 'free' evening and weekend calls package).

Both are £3.95 more expensive than Primus Saver Option 2!
Last edited by Heinz : 15-03-2007 at 20:58

I agree totally that Primus is a better deal, however overall the VM package is better for me, especially as I intend only to use my VOIP line for chargeable calls.

If you added Called ID via BT Privacy and hardly make any numbers - i.e. BT have started to charge me - is calling my mobile and letting voicemail kick in twice a month to get "free" caller id again?

I reckon that'd work.

I dumped 1571 ages ago for reasons I've stated before but find Caller Display very useful. I therefore just keep an eye online on my 'Latest Calls' and stop using the 1280 prefix for the occasional evening or weekend UK 01/02 call when I see I've made the necessary 6 calls each quarter.

I hardly use my landline for voicecalls (I only have it for ADSL) so have caller ID to screen the fax/auto dialer, but allow my parents though - 1571 is only there for people who withhold there number - e.g. EDF (I use my line so often I only found they had called us regarding an overdue bill 4 weeks later, 3 weeks after I had paid )

My BT Broadband Talk (geographical) number is the one I give to utility companies, banks etc. and I leave anonymous call reject switched on permanently on that (I bet that annoys a lot of cold callers).

I leave 1571 switched off on that too though - too much hassle picking up messages I know are only firms trying to sell me more of their products.

If I'm in, I use the Caller Display to decide whether to answer or not but, if I answer and it's not a call I'd want again, I just make a note of the number and ignore it next time.
Last edited by Heinz : 17-03-2007 at 17:25

I've recently changed my phone deal. I was with BT for rental and calls, and Virgin for Broadband. I changed 2 months ago to Virgin Media Bundle Three which reduced my Broadband charge from £17.99 per month to £9.99. On this deal, I get the Virgin Media telephone service, but I also get free evening and weekend calls thrown in. I keep paying line rental to BT. Unfortunately, Virgin Media now seem to have dropped Bundle Three for new customers as there is no sign of it on their website, so maybe I was one of the last to get it.

I use 18185 for all mobile and (if I have to phone them) 08 numbers at all times, using my Orchid dialler. 09 and 118 numbers are barred via Orchid, as are 1471 calls to prevent the kids using BT's very expensive '3'. Our phones list the last 20 calls to us.

Our answering machine is set to 8 rings before switching in, so friends and family can hang up before then if they don't want to leave a message.

18185 also does our landline calls Monday to Friday 8am-6pm.

I use Virgin Media only for the free calls.

I also get free caller display via BT, so will have to make 2 calls via BT each month.

PS. This month, I've persuaded 2 people to drop BT's 1571, after explaining to them to con it really is. I think we should all try to persuade one person per month to drop 1571, and get everybody else to try likewise.

Nice setup poppasmurf.

As you use an Orchid, I don't know whether you might want to consider a few more routing rules (amongst other things, I've just added a bar on 1571 on mine - it's not shown in that link because some people still use it - to stop anyone just dialling it and switching it on again).

Nice to hear you're now one of the DUMP 1571 Club.
Last edited by Heinz : 21-03-2007 at 12:23

I have Free Voicemail on Virgin Media and wouldnt get rid of it most people these days either use a mobile phone with inclusive minutes or has unlimited calls to landlines when their calling so I dont bother.

I ended up buying the BT Synergy 4500 Quad and I am pleased with it so far.
There is just one small irritation with it.
The base/answering machine keeps flashing "0" which at first I thought was just the clock needing set, but it isn't that.
Reading the user manual as far as I can see it's flashing the zero meaning there are zero messages stored...even though the answering mode is set to "off"
Does anyone know a way to stop this flashing?

Leave yourself a dummy message?

Thanks for the suggestion, I'd thought of that myself and tried it but all it does it flash 1 instead of 0.
It will stop the flashing if it's set to answerphone on, but the minute you switch it off it reverts to flashing again.

In which case it's the black insulating tape over the display trick then (I use that on my C&W DECT TAM which, although it doesn't flash all the time, does have horrendously bright 'POWER' and 'CHARGING' LEDs (so the GL tells me anyway).