I was with BT and then recently transferred to another provider. I was told that everything I had with BT would be transferred across and it was, including Caller Display. I cannot remember having paid for Caller Display previously on my BT account but today, upon returning to them, I was told that there would be a charge unless I had enrolled on BT Privacy.

Is Caller Display free with BT or not? Do you have to enlist with the Telephone Preference Service in order to receive it and, if you had enlisted with them when you were with BT previously (and this has been less than three months that I've been away before returning), surely it is the *number* that is registered with the TPS so it would automatically carry over? I'm a bit confused, have just come off BT's Customer Services and I'm sure I've spoken to a woman I've spoken to before who I know didn't have a clue... All guidance appreciated.

Caller display is not free with BT unless you take the BT privacy option. If you are already registered with the TPS when BT send your registration through you'll just get a letter saying that this number has already been registered and caller display will be free.

Note that your registration with the TPS automatically expires after 12 months and then you have to re-register. If a number is on the TPS list it is not removed when you change provider AFAIK.

Oh BTW you can check if caller display is active on your line by dialing *#234# if you want to turn it on dial *234# and to turn if off dial #234# though obviously these options won't work unless BT have enabled caller ID at the exchange.

The lady I spoke to said it should be on tomorrow. It was just a bit of a surprise when I got a call through and it just said 'Call'. Great advice, thanks very much. (It does, however, beg the question of why BT charges for this and yet other companies seem to be able to provide it for no additional charge but hey-ho )

BT's Caller Display is only available if you still pay line rental to BT and, then, is only free(ish) if you ALSO make 6 chargeable calls per quarter on BT (2 per month if you're billed monthly).

The '(ish)' bit above is because making those required calls will cost you at least 5½p each (i.e. 11p/month or 33p/quarter).

TPS registrations do not expire after 12 months (or at all).

Easier still, dial 17070 and select ringback - when the ringback call is received (immediately), a BT 0800 number will be displayed if Caller Display is active.
Last edited by Heinz : 06-03-2007 at 19:59

Doesn't ringback cost pennies, though?

This (17070) is the BT engineers' ringback and quiet line test facility - not chargeable.

Sorry, I should've written, "Dial 17070 and select option 1 - when the engineering ringback call is received (immediately), the BT number 08003289393 will be displayed if Caller Display is active."
Last edited by Heinz : 06-03-2007 at 21:07

Ah, I was a bit confused - the text below is from http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/faq/#sixteen

16. Do I need to renew my subscription with the TPS?

If you have registered a residential number or a number belonging to a sole trader or (except in Scotland) partnership, you do not need to renew. However, if you have registered a number on to the Corporate TPS belonging to a Limited company, Plc or other large organisation, you are required to renew annually. In this case TPS will send you an e-mail each year to notify you of this. Failure to renew will result in your number(s) being removed from the CTPS data file. Please be aware that if you change your telephone package, obtained broadband or change telephone line service provider for example, we may receive notice from your current/old line service provider that your line has been made inactive. In this case your number would be removed from the file as the service is only intended for live numbers.

I am being charged for Caller Display now, does anyone know how to make a chargeable call with BT? I am on the Tiscali package.

Dial 1280 before calling out and the call will go through BT.

If you make sure the calls are less than an hour, are to 01 or 02 numbers and are made after 6pm during the week or any time at the weekend, they'll cost 5½p each - so Caller Display (and 1571 if you still use it) will cost you a total of 33p (6 x 5½p) per quarter.

So, is http://www.tpsonline.org.uk the correct place to register for the telephone preference service? Does http://www.callpreventionregistry.co.uk do anything different, or are they just charging for a free service?

The latter - a nice little earner!.