Questions and answers
Q: When I move to Advantage Telecom, can I keep my existing number?
A: Yes. You will always keep your existing number.
Q: Can BT still provide the equipment I have?
A: Yes of course. Your BT equipment will remain unchanged and will continue to be supplied and charged by BT Retail.
Q: Can Advantage Telecom provide new lines?
A: Yes. Advantage Telecom can provide and arrange the installation of new lines and services through Openreach.
Q: Will there be any disruptions?
A: No, none at all. The only things that will change will be a reduction in the cost of your bill and an improved level of customer service.
Q: How long does the process take?
A: It will take 14 days for the switch to take place and the reduced rates will be applied to your account.
Q: How do I know that we can start making calls on the cheaper rates?
A: We will contact you with a go live date for this service. This is the date you will start paying the new Advantage Telecom Tariff for your calls and line rentals. You will also get a final bill from your current service provider, i.e. BT Retail.
Q: How much can I expect to save?
A: Advantage Telecom offers guaranteed savings of 50% on your first years line rental when compared to BT standard business rates and up to 90% savings on your UK calls, when compared to BT standard business rates. With competitive purchase rates from Tier One carriers, Advantage Telecom can pass on a significant price reduction to its customers.
Q: Can you offer me other BT services?
A: Yes, Advantage Telecom can also provide most of the usual select services which are currently provided by BT.
Q: What happens if there is a technical fault with the service?
A: As soon as your lines are transferred to Advantage Telecom, we will be the point of contact for all your needs - we will arrange for an Openreach engineer to call and deal with any faults or service issues.
Select services...
What are select services? Select services are the various additional features you have asked BT to install on your line. These are services such as Call Minder 1571, Call Waiting and Ring Back which we also offer but at a 33% discount compared to BT. You will be asked to indicate on the application form which services you wish to include for each line.
Click below on any chosen service to see description.
You can choose to
stop certain types of calls. For example, international or Premium
Rate Information calls (but not 999/112 or 151). You can also restrict
numbers calling into your phone. A PIN number is provided for security
purposes.
With Call Waiting,
a gentle beep tells you another call is coming in. You can then
finish your original call, swap between both calls, or continue
with your current call. In the latter case, the caller will be asked
to ring back later. You can then use Call Return '1471' to find
the second caller's number.
If you hear an engaged
tone, just press '5'. An announcement will tell you if the network
is able to accept your request for Ring Back. The busy number will
then be monitored by the network for up to 45 minutes until it becomes
free. When it does, your phone will ring with a special distinctive
ringing tone. Just pick it up to be connected. Up to five Ring Back
requests can be in place at any one time. The Ring Back service
is not available on every type of outgoing call.
Anonymous Call Rejection
is a network based service that allows you to block calls from people
who have withheld their numbers. ACR is controlled by you. Callers
who have withheld their number will receive the following announcement:
- "The person you are calling is not accepting anonymous calls,
please re-dial without withholding your number". The caller is not
charged for this announcement...It must be noted that ACR will block
ALL calls that have their number withheld. This will include calls
from switchboards and other organizations not releasing their number.
This service answers
calls and records messages on no reply or engaged similar to Answer
1571, but with an additional remote access functionality: answer
up to 2 calls at once and take messages when you are on the phone.
store up to 30 messages; 5 minutes per message; 15 minutes total
time.
- When a message has been recorded, Call Minder calls the home
number at 10-minute intervals up to 60 minutes to notify you
of recorded message.
- accessed from the home line or remotely to retrieve messages
and to change any service options.
Call Diversion enables
you to divert all your calls to another number - anywhere in the
UK, most overseas destinations or a mobile phone...you can choose
to; divert all calls, divert on no reply or divert when the line
is busy. A message is given to the caller when diverting on no reply,
in case the divert-to number returns an engaged tone. Call Diversion
with Remote Control is also available. Calls can be redirected to
another telephone number remotely.
A phone with a display
is required for customers to benefit from this service. Instructions
are specific to the appropriate apparatus...To suppress outgoing
telephone number identity, key 141 before dialling out. To release
an outgoing telephone number when permanent withholding exists,
key 1470 before dialling out.
Allows customers to
speak to two other people at the same time even if one of them is
abroad. You can include or exclude either party at any time during
the call.
This service enables
you to bar the telephone number of the last answered incoming call.
Inputting access code 14258 followed by ** will activate barring,
following termination of the call. You can also input specific telephone
numbers manually. Up to 10 telephone numbers can be stored within
a personal data store, the eleventh entry will cause the oldest
telephone number saved to drop out of the list. The other numbers
will then drop down, adding the new entry to the top of the data
store. For security purposes a PIN (default 1234) is required to
access the data store. This should be changed on first use.
Callers from numbers that have been barred using the service will
receive a network announcement, which advises 'The person you are
calling is not accepting calls from you'. They will not be charged
for the call. Note: only Incoming Call Barring and Anonymous Call
Reject take priority over Choose To Refuse.
Whether you are out,
on another call or on-line, Answer 1571 will take your messages
for you. Callers can record messages of up to 2 minutes, and it
can store up to 10 messages. Once you have listened to a message,
it is saved for 20 days. A stutter tone will alert you to new messages.
A recording will tell you when the mailbox is full. Messages cannot
be accessed remotely and customers cannot change or personalize
the Answer 1571 greeting.
Customers need to dial from their home phone, using a touch-tone
phone and not have their number withheld. Answer 1571 is not available
to customers on some exchanges in a small number of remote rural
locations.
You can set your
phone for a single Alarm Call or, on a System X exchange, for a
series of regular Reminder Calls using the 24-hour clock. Most single-lines
have the Reminder Call service as part of your normal package (see
notes).
Call Sign allows
you to distinguish between incoming calls on the same line. An Alternate
Number (AN) is provided to your existing Telephone Number. When
somebody dials the AN, the telephone on that line will ring with
a different cadence to the normal ringing. You can thus determine
whom the call is for, or who the caller is, before they answer the
phone.
Just dial '1471'
to hear the number of the last person who called, together with
the time and date (unless withheld or from an exchange where the
Calling Line Identity is not available).. To call them back, just
press '3' and the number is automatically dialled for the normal
call price.
There are some types of calls where the number cannot be stored
- see 'Notes'. Callers can suppress their number by keying 141 before
dialling out. You should be encouraged to use this rather than opting
for 'permanent number withholding' as this latter service devalues
the '1471' product. Where 'permanent number withholding' exists
you can release their number by keying 1471 before dialling out.
