BT is set to increase the reach of its VoIP based Digital Voice service which uses the internet instead of traditional landline. The move comes on the back of favourable feedback from early trials.
This week, BT will start contacting all full fibre customers and a smaller group of broadband users who haven’t yet switched to the digital voice service.
The next stage of Digital Voice implementation will kick off in the summer.
The rollout will cover region by region, with the East Midlands, Yorkshire & Humberside, and Northern Ireland being the first in line. To help ensure readiness, BT will notify customers in these regions about the upgrade at least a month beforehand.
If customers wish to move to Digital Voice sooner, they are welcome to get in touch with BT at their convenience.
The regional roll-out will be accompanied by broad awareness campaigns and ads using the local and regional media outlets, with the goal of clearly outlining the easy steps to switch to Digital Voice.
That said, BT is not hurrying some customer groups to switch. These include healthcare pendant users, those over 70, landline-only users, those with no mobile signal, and those with other specific needs. This cautious approach is taken to provide a smooth switching and to build trust in the new Digital Voice solutions.
In addition, BT is developing new hybrid phones that can operate on both VoIP and mobile networks. These phones will have a built-in battery, providing a solution for power outages.
Existing customers with specific needs, like healthcare pendant or those without mobile coverage at home, can avail free additional support. This aid could be in the form of free battery backup units, engineer-assisted installations, or hybrid landline phones.
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