cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
ALARA
Advocate

Telephone handset

As a new customer is a telephone handset provided? We have a BT digital (via broadband) handset at the moment. Thanks.

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
Jayach
Elite 3

Not the BT digital handsets, they connect to the BT router (via DECT), without the BT router they will be useless. (unless they can be paired with another DECT base station, which I doubt)

Jayach_0-1674936608832.png

 

View solution in original post

11 REPLIES 11
redchiz1
Champion 2

Nobody provides handsets any more. Your existing one will carry on working just fine.  🙂

Jayach
Elite 3

@redchiz1 wrote:

Nobody provides handsets any more. Your existing one will carry on working just fine.  🙂


Not if it's digital voice it won't.

redchiz1
Champion 2

How not? Any modern handset will work on any service. 

Jayach
Elite 3

Not the BT digital handsets, they connect to the BT router (via DECT), without the BT router they will be useless. (unless they can be paired with another DECT base station, which I doubt)

Jayach_0-1674936608832.png

 

gavs82008
Legend 5
Legend 5

@ALARA 
See the post from @redchiz1 As far as I can recall this is something that NOW has never offered.

FYI that I do not work for NOW, just a NOW customer trying to help
Jayach
Elite 3

I'm not entirely sure what a BT digital handset is, but it appears to be a DECT phone that connects to a DECT base built into their router, and as such won't work with another router.

Edit: however it could be an actual VoIP handset.

If I'm wrong and anyone has more information, please let us know.

Is it this one? What is Digital Voice and how can I get it? | BT Help

 

Jayach
Elite 3
chilli2
Elite

@ALARA 

 What package are you on with BT?

 What equipment do you have in the property?

 It sounds like you could be on FTTP and have a BT smart hub2 ( or similar) that is connected to a white "openreach" box with some green lights on (typically labelled as  power, los, pon, lan) and you have a phone that connects to the smart hub, or plugs into the back of it.

 Does that describe your set up?

RoyB
Legend

@ALARA @chilli2 @Jayach @redchiz1 @gavs82008 

Here’s an interminable thread from the BT Community on this topic:-

https://community.bt.com/t5/Home-phone-including-Digital/Digital-Voice-with-different-Router/td-p/20...

Those with more motivation than me might want to read the whole thing, but up to the end of page 2 the consensus seems to be that a BT Digital phone won’t work without the Smart Hub 2.

So even if DECT is in use here, the phone can’t be paired with any other DECT hub. (Or maybe it can - but at the very least, to use it with something else, that something else will have to be a physical or virtual DECT hub somewhere).

We have FTTP, but wanted to keep our existing snazzy designer phones (Panasonic KX-TGK220s) on both aesthetic and cost grounds. So BT gave us a Digital Voice Adapter, which you plug the telephone connection cable from the master Panny into, and this then chats wirelessly to whatever is supporting VOIP in the BT Hub. So no option for the DECT Panny to link up directly with the DECT(?) in the Hub.

Dropping from BT FTTP will certainly save you some money, but here is something else I think you will have to forego, besides speed, reliability, and resilience.

Set a Payment PIN on your account so that no-one but you can buy memberships on it. Check your bank accounts monthly for any other unexpected payments to Now. That way you can at least nip them in the bud, while you and Now figure out whose fault they are.