On Mon, 16 Mar 2026 at 10:01, Chris Bell via GLLUG <[email protected]> wrote: > > Your analogue phone number will not be converted to VOIP unless you > specifically request that, in advance, because it takes around two weeks. >
I don't really understand the problem people have with switching from analogue phone to VoIP. When the switch happens, the provider, BT, Zen etc. give you a box that has an FXS / Pots port on it, so you can plug your old Analogue phone into it. I have Zen Internet, and their "FRITZ!Box 7530 AX" that they provide has: 1) FXS / Pots phone port - Links to legacy phone handsets. 2) Wifi 3) DECT - Links to legacy wireless home Phones. 4) VoIP hub function - You subscribe to one phone number with the VoIP provider (I use https://www.voipfone.co.uk/ and ported the number from analogue to VoIP) The Fritz box, when an incoming call happens, rings all the phones, POTS, DECT and VoIP. Similarly, you can dial out on any of the phones to make an outgoing call, all using that single VoIP phone number. What is more, you can dial out on multiple phones at once and you can do internal calls between phones. You can program the Fritz box with common phone numbers -> name, so that when a call appears it says the name of who is calling, and not just the phone number. So, better than analogue phones in that respect. That being said, I don't actually use a lane line phone any more. I just use my mobile phone. If there is a power cut, the phones go off, but I have just put a Jackery portable power station next to it, so my phones keep working for days of powercuts. If your house has solar panels with batteries, then that will sustain them during power cuts also. I think BT can provide the battery also, but their one only lasts a short time. Things to watch out for: 1) The FXS / Analogue phone adapters can have problems with analogue answering machines. I just use the VoIP provided one instead. The problem with answering machines centers around them not being about to detect ring / hangup. Or detect ring, but fail to detect hangup. Some phone adapters (ATA) are better than others here. For example the Fritz box FXS port fails at the hangup part. If people have legacy analog devices that might have problems, I would suggest upgrading those devices to be VoIP compatible (best solution) or find a known good ATA adapter compatible with them. 2) I have friends who are disabled in some way, so have mobility alarms in case they fall, or are knocked out while falling. It automatically rings the health center / 999 for them. For all those, the recommendation has always been to change the alarm for a VoIP compatible one, but there are ATA adapters that work fine with them. The Internet connected ones (VoIP) also have extra features whereby the health center can monitor them, e.g. checking that their battery is not getting too low etc. -- GLLUG mailing list [email protected] https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug
