Moving Landline Phone to VOIP

[a.twiddler]

But since landlines are being dumped by Openreach anyway it makes no odds. Soon everyone will on mobile or phone over broadband but no copper landlines. Think broadband will go down with the powercut just as much as mobile.

Hobson's Choice!

 

[Fastpedaller]

We've given up on the landline and made a monthly saving. We realised how little we used the landline (maybe 2 calls a month), and it will go eventually anyway. I can appreciate the concern if an emergency call needs to be made, and although we live in a rural area with fluctuating mobile signal, if there is a need to make a 999 call, the phone connects to any of the 4 suppliers' networks.

 

[geocycle]

But since landlines are being dumped by Openreach anyway it makes no odds. Soon everyone will on mobile or phone over broadband but no copper landlines. Think broadband will go down with the powercut just as much as mobile.

Yes this is true. I was reluctant to move from the old copper wire network but had no choice. Our area was without power for a week in 2015, no broadband or mobile as the masts were all down. Fortunately the ancient phone we kept for such situations worked and all the neighbours shared it to let folk know what was happening. It does reduce resilience in emergencies.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

@Alien8 I did a short stint during lockdown working for a BT call centre.
I never learned how to do number porting lol, but I remember clearly that there are numbers allocated to providers according to exchange locations.
If you move in an area within a different exchange box (which is not a box, but a building) your number cannot be ported.
About VOP, I know that you must get a new number.
I know this because when I switched to Sky for ISP, they automatically assign you a socket for a phone, even if you have no phone!
Sky said if I wanted to plug in a phone the number is already allocated.
I forget now how to find out your new number, because I only use my mobile, but I guess it would be in your contract.

 

[briantrumpet]

We did the same a few years ago with BT. There was further confusion because open reach forgot to switch off the old copper wire so for a while we had two lines. We now have moved to EE on a broadband only contract and just use the mobile with Wi-Fi calling. Wi-Fi calling works great and is essential because we have no mobile reception in the house.

A good friend of mine is only holding onto his landline because his wife's mother likes calling the landline number, despite having a mobile herself. Old habits, and all that.

 

[briantrumpet]

But since landlines are being dumped by Openreach anyway it makes no odds. Soon everyone will on mobile or phone over broadband but no copper landlines. Think broadband will go down with the powercut just as much as mobile.

It's a recognised problem with getting rid of the copper network, but landlines will soon only go via fibre, with no choice. It's exactly the same in France, despite the worries about emergency calls during power cuts, if mobile masts also go down when the power goes.

tl;dr Having a landline will be exactly the same as mobile via wifi very soon - pretty much exactly the same system except for the landline the VoIP box relies on power too.

 

[briantrumpet]

About VOP, I know that you must get a new number.

I kept my old number when going to VoIP, but wasn't moving to another 'STD' code area.

Still miss my first home number, Tedburn St Mary 223 (in 1985).

 

[tyred]

Hypothetically let’s say you currently live in Glasgow and have a phone number starting 0141, and are moving to Edinburgh who’s telephone numbers start 0131 it would be misleading to callers as your number indicates you are in a different geographical area than you actually are.

It's been a while since I worked in telecoms, and I programmed the office systems mostly rather than deal with the lines too much. However, I do remember towards the end of my time as VoIP was becoming more of a thing, most phone numbers could be ported on to the cloud and then programmed to go to wherever.

It even happens in my current job for a US based company where the number assigned to my phone is a US number even though I'm 4,000 miles away.

 

[kynikos]

I think having a 'wrong' STD code is probably disallowed because it's a bit like using a false address, misleading callers about your location. Also, don't exchanges rely on the STD code to determine the call charge?

There's never a "right" STD...

 

[Pblakeney]

You will have to let all the scammers know your new number.

😂😂😂😂
Look at it as a positive.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

There's never a "right" STD...

We all share the same STD round here. A friendly bunch.

 

[Alien8]

I think it's probably a case of whilst the technology can cope, the users can't, so a new number it is.

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

If OP is forced to change their number one aspect to remember for many many years is you won't be able to update everybody and it can cause a lot of grief.

I stopped my landline over 10 years ago, discontinuing the number and BT took the number back into their pool and I switched to only using mobile for voice.

Recently I opened a new bank account with Lloyds (current account) and gave them my details including my mobile number (no landline) and they texted me on my mobile next day "Your application has been approved ...".

Then 1st use of debit card online and their security pops-up and says "We'll call you on *****123" to give you a OTP code". My mobile doesn't end in 123 but my 10+ year old landline did.

Lloyds telephone support "we can't change it, you must use online banking to change it" except to register for online banking they call your phone number registered with them to prove you are who you claim. So today I travelled into city and then spent 45 mins in a branch with 2 forms of ID, card, etc. trying to get my phone number corrected.

Trying to work out why, only way they could have got my number was from a Halifax saving account with Halifax closed 14 years ago or from some credit reference agency (ie a source I couldn't update). I can't even remember the number and had to turn our really old BT bills when they showed me the last 3 digits they had recorded.

 

[presta]

@nogoodnamesleft I changed the email address on my Lloyds account last year, now they send half their emails to the new account whilst the other half still go to the old one.

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

I have changed my number with AMEX but MFA codes still get sent to an old one. Their IT lot are stumped and don’t know why. Thankfully there is a backup email address that I still use.