VoiP and the PSTN switch-off

[wetken]

I'm a customer getting my broadband over copper, so of course I have a landline and an analogue handset. I have this connected to a DECT base station with DECT handsets around the house. From what I can see looking at this forum, when I am offered FTTP the copper will go away and Vodafone will provide me with a new fibre router and a Viop service with my current number, by the simple expedient of having an analogue phone socket on the router. With the right RJ11 to BT adapter (not always supplied, according to forum posts) I can connect this to my DECT base station and nothing else needs to change.

However, as I understand it, and there is no information on the official Vodafone website that I can find, this isn't a VoiP service of the kind that is offered by specialist VoiP providers; no call forwarding, call on hold, etc. etc. It'll just allow one to use VoiP as if it were a BT landline.

There is no information on call charges either, even though to all intents and purposes VoiP calling is if not free then very low cost because it's all broadband-based. And once the PSTN is switched off, telecomms providers won't even have the costs of switching equipment to consider. (And vodafone never had this anyway.)

Whether Vodafone intends to become a VoiP provider with proper VoiP phones is a mystery.

I was investigating moving to Voip now, but there are problems with doing that.

- Because my copper landline is tied to a PSTN number, I apparently can't migrate my existing number to a VoiP provider and keep my Vodafone broadband.

- I would either need to buy kit (around £50) to provide VoiP connectivity and a BT socket (or £150 for a VoiP to DECT solution, which btw wouldn't be compatible with my existing DECT handsets)

- in either event I'd need to sign up with a VoiP provider (minimum £6 to £9 per month plus VAT).

I know what is going to happen - PSTN will go away - but Vodafone are so secretive it's impossible to make a properly informed decision.

[CrimsonLiar]

Your existing router whether it's the THG3000 or HHG2500 has VOIP capability built-in, even if the ports are hidden under a sticker!  If a landline is a part of your service and the PSTN service is withdrawn in your area, Vodafone should be either enabling the VOIP ability on the router or removing any charge they currently make for that service.  If VF chooses to make the VOIP service available to you, they should be supplying whatever adapter is required in order to make your existing equipment work with the router (it's usually a small cheap adapter cable).

If your phone number is with Vodafone they should be capable (emphasis on should and capable) of porting the PTSN number they hold for you, to the VOIP service they switch you to.

It all should just work for the majority of customers, with little to no cost involved.  The biggest issue is going to be for customers with wired phone extensions, where these will need to be disconnected from the master phone socket before being connected to one of the phone sockets on the router!

[WelshPaul]

Minimum £6-9 a month??? Where did you get those prices from? Sipgate basic is FREE, AAISP £1.20 (I use these) and the average price per month is around £2 per month plus calls. Also note that there are no minimum term contracts to sign and no credit checks either!

There are other benefits to not using a landline supplied by your ISP... You can use your own router and you have access to additional calling features (at no cost) such as call recording, call transfer, call waiting, caller display and voicemail to name just a few. Oh, another benefit is that when switching broadband providers, there is no need to arrange porting of said landline number reducing the risk of something going wrong or losing the number entirely.

[wetken]

Thanks for the reply WelshPaul, but it looks as if we're not comparing apples with apples.

First, the rates I quoted were with a UK number in my area from a UK provider with standing, and also (tellingly) with a call package of e.g. 100 UK landline minutes. I accept I could get a VoiP connection and a UK number and no calls for as little as £2/mo.

More important, all the VoiP features only come with a Voip handset; I have a couple of these, including a very nice Cisco SPA303, but they're just that - free-standing handsets (with all the Voip stuff, of course) that you have to answer when it rings in the room it's in. You've ignored the fact that I don't really want to go this way because, for a house phone, DECT means I can answer it from anywhere, on the handsets I already have.

My purpose in posting was to try to stir VF to be more transparent. It appears they are going to offer a simple VoiP replacement for one's landline, not a proper VoiP service with all the added features.

And, finally, if I want to keep my number I can't do anything until the copper goes away. I might, though, follow up on looking for a sticker hiding a phone port on my router ...

[WelshPaul]

I have been working within the VoIP industry since 2004 and I have owned, maintained, and run the only UK based VoIP support forum for the past ten years. So, I like to think I know a thing or two about VoIP. 😉

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@wetken wrote:

the rates I quoted were with a UK number in my area from a UK provider with standing, and also (tellingly) with a call package of e.g. 100 UK landline minutes..

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Who would that be and are they a member of ITSPA? If they are wanting to charge you the best part of a tenner for up to 100 minutes of landline calls, then their best avoided IMO. Voiptalk offer 1000 international and landline minutes for just £4.99 per month and Sipgate offer unlimited calls to landline and mobile numbers for just £9.95 per month!

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@wetken wrote:

More important, all the VoiP features only come with a Voip handset

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It's true that some features such as caller display do indeed require compatible hardware but this was also the case for traditional POTS lines. Features such as "Call Recording", "IVR", "Group Hunt", "Voicemail" and "Call Forwarding" (to name but a few) do not.

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@wetken wrote:

Cisco SPA303, but they're just that - free-standing handsets (with all the Voip stuff, of course) that you have to answer when it rings in the room it's in. You've ignored the fact that I don't really want to go this way because, for a house phone, DECT means I can answer it from anywhere, on the handsets I already have..

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The Cisco SPA303 is a basic corded SIP based telephone. However, you do know that you can purchase an Analogue Telephone Adapter (ATA) or DECT based SIP phone too, right? So, I don't understand why you think one needs to go back in time to the 1980's if using a third-party VoIP provider? 

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@wetken wrote:

if I want to keep my number I can't do anything until the copper goes away.

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Copper isn't going away, just the PSTN side of things. Copper will remain for those that cannot have FTTP due to various reasons and so those customers will continue to receive services over copper via FTTC.

[wetken]

So, I have two main options.

To keep the 'house phone' I have now but insulate myself from issues with the PSTN turn-off, all I need to do is get VF to change my service to use the Tel1 socket on my router, get the RJ11 to BT adapter, and set up some sort of UPS for the router and the DECT base station (in case of local power cuts). I don't get all the snazzy VoiP features (unless VF decides to provide them when it gets its act together) but I do get to keep my 01xxx number. And I'll have to abandon the 'phone sockets around my home (which I've effectively done anyway by using DECT handsets).

If I want all the features Voip offers (cheaper calls, call waiting, call forwarding, etc. as outlined by WelshPaul) then it doesn't appear VF is going to offer this, at least not in the short term, so I'm stuck with a third-party Voip provider and a new number (because I can't port my 01xxx number until I get fibre, which will be a year or two). And also either I spend £50 on a Voip to BT-socket box, or £150 or more on a Voip to DECT solution and a set of new DECT handsets.

[Jayach]

Firstly Vodafone are not going to use the TEL sockets on the routers, unless you are on FTTP (at least not in the short term, who know what will happen in the future)

Also why do it all now, if you wait things may change as we get closer to the PSTN switch off. (It could be another 3 years)

Prepare yes, but no need to jump yet.