BT is axing traditional landlines in a huge shake up of the country’s network and dozens of areas are set to switch over soon.
Millions of phone users will be moved to digital landlines as the firm continues to withdraw older landlines.
BT customers worried about its Digital Voice system can ask for help in one of more than 100 advice sessions
It is part of the telecoms giant’s plan to migrate all of its customers from copper landlines to digital phones by January 2027.
The Digital Voice changeover plan will mean that all households will need to have an internet connection in order to make telephone calls.
Customers are being invited to switch to the digital service on a region-by-region basis.
Some areas of the country such as Salisbury, Mildenhall, Yorkshire and the Humber already made the move last year.
The South West of England is the final region where Digital Voice will be rolled out.
All other areas of the UK have been contacted by BT and have already begun the process.
As part of the programme BT has partnered with Neighbourhood Watch to share information about how the switchover will work with customers.
A pilot of around six advice sessions were held in Cumbria last year and following their success the project was rolled out to a further five regions.
In the next four months the telecoms company will hold advice sessions in more than 116 locations in the South West, South East and Wales before these areas are switched over.
The sessions will be held at 22 locations in the South East, 61 in the South West and 33 in Wales.
These events will run from September until January 2025.
During the sessions customers will be able to ask BT staff or Neighbourhood Watch members questions about why the change is necessary and what it means for them.
They will also be given printed information which they can take home.
You do not need to pre-book a slot and can just turn up on the day.
Advice sessions in a further seven regions in England are already scheduled to run from this November until July 2025.
Events will begin in London in November and December, East Anglia in January, the East Midlands in February, Yorkshire and the Humber in March, the North East in April, North West in July and West Midlands in September.
BT has already visited 340 towns and cities across the country and met 25,000 customers face to face to raise awareness of the digital switchover.
BT is introducing Digital Voice on a region-by-region basis, which means the date you will be switched will vary depending on where you live.
Salisbury in Wiltshire and Mildenhall in Suffolk were used as pilots for the scheme and households in these areas started to be moved across to Digital Voice in December 2020.
Customers in the East Midlands were next and were contacted by BT in July 2023.
Households in Yorkshire and the Humber and Northern Ireland were spoken to by BT in August and September respectively.
Meanwhile, last Autumn customers in the North West and London were moved to Digital Voice.
In the Spring of this year the West Midlands, South East, Wales and East Anglia were contacted by BT to move to Digital Voice.
The North East and Scotland were some of the last regions to move across to the new system.
BT spoke to residents in these areas this Summer.
The South West of England is the final region in the UK where Digital Voice will be rolled out.
It will be visiting every area of the UK throughout 2024-25 and will publish new dates for all regions on its website.
Digital Voice or Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) connects your home phone through your router and uses your broadband connection to let you make and receive calls.
As a result any new BT customers will no longer be offered traditional phones.
BT launched the Digital Voice programme back in 2019 but the plans were deemed controversial.
This is because everything that is connected to phone lines will need to be reviewed, including door entry systems and alarms.
Some of these systems do not work with the new Digital Voice technology, which may mean that they do not work in a power cut or if the internet goes down.
For most customers the move to Digital voice will simply involve connecting a landline phone to a broadband router.
BT said that more than 99% of handsets are compatible with its digital home phone service.
The company will contact all customers at least four weeks before they are due to switch to make sure they are ready to move to a digital landline.
In April BT was forced to pause the Digital Voice rollout after concern that health pendants worn by vulnerable customers would stop working when older landlines were switched off.
Around 1.8 million customers use health pendants, which are emergency alarms worn around the neck.
If these pendants are connected through broadband rather than a landline then they may stop working during a powercut or if the internet fails.
As a result, the Digital Voice rollout has been postponed from the close of 2025 to January 2027.
If you have used your landline in the last year, identify as vulnerable, have additional needs or have contacted an Alarm Receiving Centre in the last 24 months you will not be switched to the new system this year.
From next Spring BT will start to contact customers who identify as vulnerable or have additional needs about the switch.
Engineering appointments will be made before switching and additional support will be given on the day of the move to ensure that vulnerable customers still have a working telecare device.
If you are a vulnerable customer and want to speak to BT about Digital Voice then call 0330 123 4150.
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