BT tells Swindon senior citizens about switch to digital landlines

BT’s campaign of reassurance for elderly and vulnerable people over a major shift in landline provision reached Swindon.

Speakers at the Spring Open Meeting of Swindon Seniors Forum, held at Pinetrees Community Centre in Pinehurst, included Sodhi Dhillon, Engagement Manager for Digital Voice.

In addition to explaining the changes, he addressed concerns including potential opportunities for scammers and provision for people using special services such as pendant healthcare alarms.

There have been reports from various locations already converted, notably about people without mobile phones being left completely cut off because of power cuts. The Swindon meeting was one of many throughout the country to which BT has sent representatives in a bid to offer reassurance.

BT has pledged that initially it will not be proactively switching anyone in certain criteria when it has the necessary information available. The criteria are customers with a healthcare pendant, customers who only use landlines, customers with no mobile signal and customers who have disclosed any additional needs.

The company says on its website: “BT will take extra time and will provide additional support to customers who are over 70 and are ready to make the switch.” 

BT’s publicity material also seeks to reassure people concerned about the implications of power cuts: “We understand that for many, particularly those with additional needs, the landline is a lifeline. We want to make sure everyone remains connected. We’ve been working to make battery back-up units available to those that need them.

“Customers with additional needs such as health pendants or without mobile signal can take advantage of free additional support, on request.”

Digital Voice is BT’s new home phone service, powered by broadband connection, and the firm promises: “For most customers, the switch to Digital Voice will be as simple as connecting your home phone handset to a router rather than the phone socket on the wall.

“From the Summer, BT will invite customers to switch to its digital home phone service on a region-by-region basis.”

That region-by-region rollout began last Summer with the East Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber and Northern Ireland, and reaches the South West this Summer.

Sodhi Dhillon explained why the change was needed: “It's the technology behind the telephone that makes it work, and unfortunately it is now out of date. It's 30 or 40 years old, we can't get spares anymore, and even though it's working for you, there are a lot more faults on the old telephone network.

 

"So it's not going to go away, but the way it works is going to change. Do some of you remember the digital TV switchover? It's a similar kind of thing. We're not stopping the service, we're just changing how it works.

"This change is happening all over the world, so we're not the only ones doing it. Lots of other countries are going through the same change, and some have already completed it.

"We're moving the phone service over to a digital network, and once we're on a digital network it will be much more efficient - it will use a lot less power. It's also more reliable, with fewer faults.

"This is a once-in-a-generation change; the current telephone network is about a hundred years old, and some of the basic equipment is thirty-odd years old.

"When the change is made we'll have a much, much better service for everybody.”

According to BT, over 99 percent of landline handsets are compatible with the new digital service, and for most customers the transition to digital voice involves no home installation. Customers can keep their current landline numbers, although Mr Dhillon pointed out that once the new system is in place, customers will be obliged to dial the full number, complete with national code, when making an outgoing call. They are also advised to add the necessary codes to their contacts.

BT also claims Digital Voice prevents the majority of scam calls, provides clearer call quality and allows calls to be easily diverted to customers’ mobile phones when they are away from home.

On the subject of scam calls, one forum member pointed out that whenever there was a major technological shift by a utility, there seemed to be an uptick in the number of scammers calling people, pretending to represent that utility and coning them out of sensitive information. Mr Dhillon said BT would do what it could to alert customers to such scams and advise on how to avoid them.

The members of Swindon Seniors Forum who gathered for the meeting were sanguine about the change, perhaps because, as the organisation’s Patron, High Sheriff of Wiltshire Pradeep Bhardwaj, explained, older generations are already the veterans of an array of technological changes.

"These transitions are always disruptive, but change is inevitable,” he said. "But most of the people in this room including myself - I am in my late fifties now - have seen a lot of change in every domain.

“We have seen the end of black and white television; I work in the mobile industry and I've seen all the generations - 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G and now we're working on 6G.

"There will be challenges but I think these changes will be for the better because technology opens up a lot of opportunities. 

"There will be a lot of benefits in it, especially for the elderly community, such as in healthcare, so I think we have a lot to gain from it.

"Sessions like today's are very, very important in helping us navigate through those changes and make the most of what is on offer."