Landline Switchover Nonsense

[george57l]

Re the VOIP switchover (aka 'let's make more profit for shareholders by not bothering to maintain the copper network any more, and let's make customers pay for all the inconvenience it causes) I have just had a telling conversation with VM customer services.

I made it clear that

1. My hub and my phone's base station are not in the same room and neither is going to be relocated. (I also have wired extensions elsewhere in the house, wired from where the base station sits today).

2. I am not having a VM technician run unsightly surface cables to connect the two (over skirting, boards, door-frames, etc.)

3. I am not having a VM technician lift carpets and floors to run cables, which in any case would need to emerge from floor voids and terminate by running new cables up walls, etc.)

So a technician is booked, and I've made it clear that unless they find a solution that does not need one of the above the chances are I may send the technician away with no work done.

If the only solution is that I must have a phone base station by my hub, then my position is VM must cover the cost of the extra/new handsets I will need so as to have a base station by my hub, and charged cordless handsets where my phones are today. Which of course they won't do - we can bet on that.

I also asked what happens in a power cut when the local mobile masts may also be affected, preventing mobile calls being made. They had no idea. (Presumably mobile masts do have local UPS/battery backup to carry on working in power cuts. ???)

But they did say something that implied I could continue to use the fibre optic network with my phone in the event of a power cut, for emergency calls. Presumably, this means even (or only) in the event of a network (software) failure? I.e. calls can be made using fibre cables without the 'network' being up (unless it is a hardware failure such as underground cable being cut). Somehow I don't think they meant that - and in any event, if I can use the fibre network for emergency calls in a power cut, why can't I use it to make any call at all to any number during a power cut, just like I an with the copper network? Or are they keeping that benefit quiet?

Anyway, I refused to answer the question as to whether I have a mobile phone ('that is none of your business and is personal information I have no intention of giving you') so now it seems that perhaps the technician - once there is a base station for my landline positioned next to the hub - will provide a battery backup device so I can still use the optic fibre network for emergency calls during a power cut.

So, if it helps anyone else out there who does not otherwise qualify for such a device to get one, just refuse to tell them whether you have a mobile phone or not.

Meantime, I'll be trying yet again to contact the Executive Complaints Team to register my complaint that as VM could have found other solutions but chose not to for reasons of cost/profit (shareholder returns) then it is reasonable of me to expect not to be out of pocket of over this and I need VM to pay for - at the very least - an additional handset to connect wirelessly to my to-be-relocated base station so I can continue to have a phone where the base station currently lives.

I'm not sure what happens to the other, older handset that is connected to the extension wired back to the master phone socket where my base station currently sits. I guess I'll have to get another additional wireless handset for that and the old phone will have to be thrown away.

This whole thing is an excuse to increase BT/Openreach/VM profits. I fear the whole country will regret the loss of the incredibly robust copper network at some time in the future, when it turns out that relying on an internet connection just cannot always be done.

[goslow]

Whatever the motivations for the phone switchover (answers may depend on who you ask) all suppliers are doing it

https://www.futureofvoice.co.uk/

so there is no avoiding the change just trying to work around it as best as possible.

VM does offer an 'emergency backup line' (EBUL) to vulnerable customers which is basically a corded phone with a SIM card inside it. This works in conjunction with the landline. If the landline goes down the connection switches to the EBUL and mobile (pages 38 and 39 of the phone guide)

https://assets.virginmedia.com/resources/pdf/Your-VM%20Phone-Guide.pdf

Originally this made calls only to 999. Some more recent topics have describe the EBUL being modified to behave as a normal phone and seemingly behave in the same way as the landline (charges as per the landline package and the outgoing number presents as the landline number). But I am not clear if this is by design or how widespread this is as some recent topics have presented conflicting info. referring back to the original 999 mode only.

The success of the technician visit might depend on the skills/knowledge/attitude individual technician who turns up and how much time s/he has been allocated for the task. How much rewiring is involved depends on your existing layout of cables and your own view on what changes are acceptable.

Nothing to stop you trying for a pay-out for replacement phones but probably set your expectations to quite a low level when asking!

[george57l]

My expectations could not be lower whenever dealing with VM. So I have no real expectation that I'll get them, to pay for the extra phone I now need only because of their decision to save money and in doing so move as much of the cost of switching to its customers. But that's the only reason I need another handset, and someone will be getting asked, if only to make a point!

[Akua_A]

Hi @george57l 

Welcome back to our community forums and sorry to hear you are unhappy with the process of the landline switchover.

As mentioned by @goslow the change to VIOP is one being made by many internet service providers. This is because the old cooper system will not be in use in the near future https://www.futureofvoice.co.uk/ To accommodate this change, we can arrange for a technician visit so we can find the best possible resolution for a setup in your home https://www.virginmedia.com/help/digital-voice-switchover 

As mentioned by our team, we can also set up an Emergency back up line in case your internet goes down https://store.virginmedia.com/content/dam/eSales/Downloads/Phone%20User%20Guide.pdf

Please let us know if you need any further help with this and we will do our best to assist.

Thanks,

[george57l]

Oh - I have an engineer booked. They will want to run visible cables along my skirting boards etc or lift my carpets / floors, etc, as I noted originally. Not going to happen. But we'll see what they say. Who knows, I might be surprised.

Really, I only booked the visit because it was the only way to get past customer service telling me I had no choice in this matter. Ultimately the 'fix' will be me spending more money on a new handset so I Can wire my master handset to the router, leaving the handsets in place I actually use still in places where I actually want to use them.  

And stop apologising for me being unhappy! It is not an apology at all and is something nobody at VM is in the least bit sorry about. The switchover - and the process it entails - is not popular at all and you apologising for it does not improve matters

[Akua_A]

Thank you for letting us know. Our engineer on the day will do their best to resolve this issue while respecting your wishes. They will also let you know if a new handset is required after the switch. Please let us know how the appointment goes and if you need any further help.

Thanks,

[nodrogd]

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@george57l wrote:

My expectations could not be lower whenever dealing with VM. So I have no real expectation that I'll get them, to pay for the extra phone I now need only because of their decision to save money and in doing so move as much of the cost of switching to its customers. But that's the only reason I need another handset, and someone will be getting asked, if only to make a point!

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You are no more likely to get VM to pay for your new phones than my elderly neighbour had trying to get the BBC to pay for a new TV set when their TV services went from analogue to digital a few years ago. When technology changes it is always the customer who has to pay to get the technology required.