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MSGlow's avatar
MSGlow
On our wavelength
1 month ago
Solved

Bang & Olufsen Beocom 2 and 6000 not working

Following our landline switch over to the Virgin fibre digital service last Thursday our B&O cordless phones can make outgoing calls but prevent any incoming calls. They do not ring and any incoming call fails without being diverted to voicemail. The Virgin engineer who did the switchover did a good job cabling to the upstairs router but was at a loss to explain the fault. Another engineer who subsequently attended was also unable to help. Because of age and health concerns we are classed as ‘vulnerable’ yet Virgin have been singularly unhelpful to date; they have left us with no cordless phones and never highlighted this risk prior to the switchover.

Can anyone help with getting our phones working?

fault
home phone
Landline
Phone
voip
  • MSGlow's avatar
    MSGlow
    1 month ago

    Good news. I sent the BeoLine Base Station and one of our Beocom 6000's to the Vintage Telephony guy (https://www.vintagetelephony.co.uk) and he dismantled the base station and apparently played around with it by inserting a resistor and after a process of tuning to the right impedance he got it to work. I've plugged in the BeoLine, connected all three B&O Beocoms and the BeoLine to the wired Tel1 VM socket box and they all work! He did a great job and I thoroughly recommend him.

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  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    1 month ago

    My concern with the B&O phones is their age, buy now the rechargeable batteries must have needed replacing several times, I did not see the type used to see if they remain available.

    The Beocom 2 (quite a piece of art) and the Beocom 6000 are both described at DECT phones.

    Could the B&O DECT handsets be re-paired to say a current BT DECT cordless base unit ? 

    https://beoworld.org/beocom-2/

    https://beocentral.com/beocom6000

    • MSGlow's avatar
      MSGlow
      On our wavelength
      1 month ago

      Thanks for your input. I don’t know the answer to the repairing idea. We’ve had the phones since about 2009 and never needed to change the rechargeable batteries - they seem to be as good as new. They are, or were, excellent reliable phones. As with all B&O kit they were expensive and beautifully designed; the Beocom 2 in particular not just a phone but a talking point!

      • goslow's avatar
        goslow
        Alessandro Volta
        1 month ago

        Most modern cordless phones should be 'GAP compatible'.

        https://support-uk.panasonic.eu/app/answers/detail/a_id/4034/~/what-is-gap-compatibility-on-dect-telephones%3F

        which means that different handsets can work with a particular base station.

        AIUI though, the GAP functionality only covers basic features so, if you paired the Beocom handsets with a different base station, you may only be able to use basic features of the phone.

        If I was trying to get the Beocom phones working again, I think I would be investigating the adapter device mentioned above if it was priced at a realistic sort of cost and the supplier offered some sort of guarantee on functionality. The report from SDM123 sounds encouraging and is the only report I can recall on here that describes a reliable fix for the Beocoms.

  • MSGlow's avatar
    MSGlow
    On our wavelength
    1 month ago

    Oh dear i never realised and the Virgin operatives I've had dealings with just shrug their shoulders. With no prior warning the result is we are left with no working cordless phones. This has been a shabby service from Virgin.

    • goslow's avatar
      goslow
      Alessandro Volta
      1 month ago

      At one point in the past, there were quite a few topics about this on the forum (sadly now gone into the forum dustbin/archive) so there are no useful topics to refer back to.

      The Beocom phones are now 'vintage' and, based on what I can recall from the past discussions, I think they were designed specifically for the line conditions and signalling that would be found on a traditional BT exchange line from that time period. I assume that the electronic device mentioned above takes the incoming phone signal from the VM hub and converts it to a format that the Beocom phones can recognise.

      I would suggest that you should make contact with the firm mentioned to investigate prices for the device mentioned if you want to continue using the Beocom phones.

      Alternatively you could look at a modern cordless system to use with the connection from the VM hub.

      In the meantime (if you need something to use on a temorary basis) you could pick up a cheap corded handset until you can sort out some sort of cordless replacement or a fix for the Beocoms. You can get a cheap corded phone for around £10 or maybe a friend, family member or neighbour can lend you a phone while you work out a permanent resolution.

      VM has just been fined £23.8 million by OFCOM for failing to ensure the switchover was carried out appropriately for vulnerable users.

      Do you have access to mobile phones? If not, VM should offer to provide you with a suitable (corded) backup phone which also has the ability to make calls in a power cut.

      A VM person should reply to our topic (usually within a few days, or sooner if someone flags it). They won't be able to get your Beocom phones working but they should not have left you in a position with no working cordless phones and no explanation of other possible options.

      • AndyPink29's avatar
        AndyPink29
        Tuning in
        1 month ago

        I am confused!  If the digital switchover has already happened what's the point of getting a corded handset for backup?