Hi, I wonder whether anyone can answer any of these questions before we decide to move back to B.T.

Firstly, when the engineer comes to reconnect (and we will defo need an engineer), will he only be able to connect up the old old bt socket fom ages ago? or will there be a bit of flexibility where I have my master socket?
(bear in mind, the phoneline is underground, you dont even see any cabling)

also, if we decide to use the BT line for broadband, does the modem have to be connected to the master socket? or can it be on an extension (albeit with slightly slower speed)

finally, what about this business of having to make a chargeable call once per month? how do I get around this if i use sky talk for my calls? I wont be making any chargeable calls to BT, as ill be paying sky for them.

I think thats it. thanks for your time.

Hi there,

From what I gather, if the old old BT socket is not one of the new style ones that has a removable faceplate so that you can add extra extensions in your property yourself then BT will replace your old socket for a new one. If that is the case then you should be able to tell the engineer where you want the socket placing, any existing wiring could be extended, but there may be an extra charge for this. It would be best checking with BT first.

You can run an ADSL modem from an extension to the master socket, however you may suffer slight signal loss and thus a slower download speed.

As for one chargeable call per month, I have never heard of this. If you select Sky Talk, then no call charges will be levied by BT as far as I am aware.

I'm sure other members of this forum may be able to help further, but this is just my understanding. Hope it helps.

See Note 2 - http://www.productsandservices.bt.co...BT_Pricing.pdf

Of course you need to make 2 calls per month to qualify for BT's 'free' Caller Display and/or 1571 otherwise you get charged £1.75/month and £1/month respectively.

...Well you learn a little every day. Thanks for that - it makes no difference to me as I pay my call charges to BT, but definately worth remembering for the future. Thanks for that

Cheers for your help.

yes, the old BT socket isnt a modern NTE5 with the removable front. It just looks like a plain socket, mounted flus to the wall. The actual cable is inside the wall, so I dont know how they will go about extending the wire?

So if we use sky talk for cheaper calls (while still using BT for line rental) how do we ensure we make 2 chargeable calls? or do we just have to pay the extra £1.75 (which wouldnt be the end of the world)

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Last edited by chrisjr : 11-03-2008 at 16:18

The 1280 prefix will send individual calls via BT after your CPS provider goes live.

Brilliant. Thanks for advice.

Well that's one question I needn't ask

Can I assume that the company to which you pay the line rental are the ones responsible for ensuring you have a serviceable line (up to the house of course)?

I've just received the sneakily worded letter from BT about the rate increases. Hidden away on page 2 no less.

I'm seriously thinking now of just keeping paying my line rental to BT but looking around for a better deal elsewhere for calls. For various reasons I want to stay with them as the people responsible for my line upkeep - if that's what happens.

What features will I lose by doing that? Possibly, finding out who last rang?

Are there any site that go into this in some detail? Information on different service providers.

It's not much use using another provider if when you need to ring one of the emergency services the phone goes up the spout.

Thanks for anyone who takes the trouble to help me.

good point fortytwo.

maybe you will have to dial 1280 999?
what about other services like caller display, 1471? will these be retained?

Im assuming they will if you still pay line rental to BT. apparently its not a very good idea to put your line rental with another company.

we just gave them a call to have our line set up, but one of their systems was down.... so will try again tomorrow.

If you leave your line rental with BT but, by default, opt to route your calls via another provider, it's call Carrier PreSelection (CPS).

CPS means that, although you keep your BT landline, pay 'line rental' to BT (BT Together Option 1 is the minimum) and your incoming calls still arrive on BT (so Caller Display, 1471* and 1571* work normally), you will have opted to have the BT exchange programmed so that, by default, (nearly) all your outgoing calls are sent via the CPS provider (and BT don't even 'see' the calls even though they carry the first leg).

The 'default' part of that sentence is the key to CPS. It means that, if you want, you can use a prefix to send an individual call via another provider (i.e. override the CPS programming for a single call). For example, using just a 1280 prefix will send that call out via BT, using just a 18185 prefix (not 128018185) will send that call out via www.18185.co.uk and so on.

In other words, CPS allows you still to pick the best carrier for your calls even though you've opted, normally, to use one provider (e.g. Primus Saver Option 2 because of the free evening and weekend UK 01/02 calls).

If you don't have to make many weekday daytime UK 01/02 calls (and the few that you do make are made for 5p each, regardless of duration, using 18185), it reduces your call costs to almost nothing.

* Don't dial 3 after checking who called on 1471 or dial 0 after checking a 1571 message (even though that nice BT lady's voice invites you to do so and it seems like the easy way to return the call). If your do, BT will charge you 7½p regardless of whether the call is connected or not.

Please have a read of my '6-steps' to reducing costs for BT residential landline subscribers too.

thankyou Heinz. very helpful.

Seconded.

Some useful info. there, and I've printed your 6 steps so I can read and hopefully digest it offline.

one more thing..............
we are taking BT up on half price installation offer, and one of the clauses is..........

2. Customers must make at least 30 chargeable or inclusive calls every three month period or 10 chargeable calls or inclusive calls per month if you are billed monthly.
see here

Im assuming this wont include calls mad using the Sky Talk CPS.

So we will have to use the 1280 prefix and make a BT call at least 10 times per month. hard to remember to do! and how long will we have to do that for? 18 months?

what will they do if we fail to make 10 BT chargable / inclusive calls? double charge us for installation? will we get a warning letter or anything?

You're right, calls via your CPS do not count as chargeable (BT) calls.

OTOH, assume ten very short calls during the day to UK 01/02/03 numbers - 6p connection + 4p for the first minute = 10p each. So, 10 such calls will cost £1 and and, assuming it is 18 months, that's £18 you'll have to spend. As you're saving £62.50 on the installation, that's still a pretty good saving (if you fail to make those calls, I think they'll just add £62.50 to you next bill).

I only have to make 6 chargeable calls per quarter (to qualify for 'free' Caller Display) so I have my local Indian takeaways' number programmed into one of my DECT handsets with a 1280 prefix. That means I easily make the required number of calls without even having to think!

good point. It actually says "chargeable or inclusive" calls. so Im assuming that includes weekend calls, as part of BT option 1. So in theory it wouldnt haven to cost us any extra.

It just prevents us from going to sky talk for CPS.

Thanks for your time, we will have to have a think about whats best to do.

I'm not sure it should.

I'm on BT Together Option 1 but have used a CPS (Primus Saver Option 2) for some time (for the free evening and weekend UK 01/02/03 calls of up to 90 minutes).

I've just programmed my Orchid to send weekend UK 01/02/03 calls via BT. The GL and I just have to remember that the per call time limit reduces to 60 minutes at weekends.

Fingers crossed those weekend 'inclusive' calls count.

yeah, as far as I can see, the weekend inclusive calls will count because they are routed through BT. It specifically says "chargeable calls or inclusive calls", so you should be ok

If you want a number to call to ensure you make the required 10 calls per month on BT you could dial 020 7043 1320 - which is a speaking clock.

thanks, ill keep it handy.

chances are we will probably make enough calls anyway. I cant see them just wacking an extra 60 odd quid onto my bill without giving me as much as a warning first, even if we didnt.

It's taken a while but I have finally looked through and decided to register for Primus Saver 2. I have a couple of questions if someone (Heinz perhaps?) to answer if possible.

What information will I have to have on hand when I ring them up?

If I've read it all correctly Primus would only seem to get any money from me from weekday daytime calls. If I then register with 18185.com and use it for the above calls how do Primus get any money?

Is it worth getting an Orchid LCR if I'm hardly much more than a fairly light user?

1. Name, address, postcode, BT phone number; bank sort code and account number;
2. They don't (well, not from me anyway);
3. For the sake of less than £20, I'd say get an Orchid because call routing will then be automatic.

However, it is possible to dial prefixes where necessary (1280 for calls for which BT is cheapest, 18185 for short calls to mobiles but no prefix - Penny Mobile 2 - for calls to mobiles of up to 20 minutes for 20p and so on).

How's your memory?

I can't remember

Thanks for the information you've provided.

I wonder how many people just looked at the first page of the letter giving changes to pricing and terms and conditions and saw the price cuts but never looked any further?

I rang BT for a printed copy of their T&Cs since they kept referring to changes to them. After 15 mins I finally managed to get across to some lady in India what I wanted. We went all round the houses 4 times before it finally clicked.

I've been fairly supportive of BT in the past but these price increases plus the business about PHORMS and their history of spyware surfaced I'm going to look at my broadband contract too.