New FTTP ISP with Landline and Voicemail

Good Morning,

I am looking for a new ISP for my Mum who is in her 80's. She is currently on an FTTC service with Vodafone which has come to the end of it's 24 month minimum period and we are looking to move her to a new ISP, one of the important requirements (which maybe strange for some) is to have a voicemail service on her landline, ideally one that's accessed via 1571.

She now has FTTP available so that's going to be the option to move to from her sub 35Mbps FTTC connection.

I have checked and both EE/BT offer this, as does coop broadband and Community Fibre.

EE/BT are, for what they offer, very expensive which I am not over shocked by and coop is the next cheapest, Community Fibre comes out cheapest and with symmetrical 35Mbps an option as well.

Does anyone have any thoughts on any of the providers I have mentioned, or any other suggestions?

We don't want to go down the VoIP route or have another number to have to access for voicemail, it needs to be as simple as possible.

Thanks in advance.

Confusion in terms. The phone connection will be down the VoIP route (Voice over Internet Protocol). The phone connection may be provided natively by the ISP you select but it will still be VoIP.

In reply to a post by GonePostal:

Confusion in terms. The phone connection will be down the VoIP route (Voice over Internet Protocol). The phone connection may be provided natively by the ISP you select but it will still be VoIP.

Hi GonePostal, apologies my request was meant to indicate an included VoIP solution not a separate/standalone one. I am aware new services are now all going digital.

Zen, Vodafone & Sky offer a VoIP / Digital Voice service. TalkTalk did but are not offering it whilst they migrate their customer management platform, and given their other issues probably best avoided.

I know the Zen offering uses the voicemail service built into the Fritz!Box router, and uses **600 for access. Not sure if the other providers do or not, or if they use different access codes either. A workaround for the latter if the phone(s) have the functionality is to program a speed dial button with the voicemail number.

Sadly despite Vodafone assuring us they offered voicemail they don't, hence the move away. Zen was a contender until I found out the odd option to access Voicemail. Not checked out Sky tbh, I'll have a look.

Does your Mum dial 1571 or use a button on the phone to call voicemail? IIRC there have been other forum threads and some models of phones allow their dedicated voicemail button to be programmed with a different number from the default one.

To my knowledge the phone does not have a dedicated button to program, she'd have to dial 1571

You could try Andrews and Arnold and ask them what they could do for you.

In reply to a post by CJT:

To my knowledge the phone does not have a dedicated button to program, she'd have to dial 1571

Is that a non negotiable requirement - that is would she be averse to something like a big button phone that had a single (reprogrammable) button to dial voicemail?

In reply to a post by CJT:

To my knowledge the phone does not have a dedicated button to program, she'd have to dial 1571

Looking at the Sky help https://www.sky.com/help/articles/about-internet-calls states 'Our call features are the same for all our Sky Talk customers, with Talk features when making or receiving a call, Sky Voicemail and Sky Talk Shield all available.' and details the Voicemail service https://www.sky.com/help/articles/using-sky-talk-voi...

As Vodafone don't offer a voicemail option and Zen use a different access number that just leaves the expensive BT/EE option of the large combined broadband and voice providers.

Migrating broadband and voice to different providers is more complex but would offer more choice, given the existing setup (PSTN + FTTC) the recommended method is to install a new FTTP broadband service leaving the existing service as-is, i.e. not a switch, then port the phone number to a voice provider which will cease the original phone and FTTC broadband service.

A quick search shows some voice providers offer voicemail using 1571 for access, e.g. Voipfone.

The AAISP service only provides a voicemail service which emails recordings of the unanswered calls received.

In reply to a post by CJT:

Sadly despite Vodafone assuring us they offered voicemail they don't, hence the move away. Zen was a contender until I found out the odd option to access Voicemail. Not checked out Sky tbh, I'll have a look.

Check again re Vodafone voicemail. Their website, faqs and current terms document say it is available. You have to phone to request it. Their customer service can be very variable and if the person you speak to doesn't know something they'll fob you off. If they persist, tell them you will have to leave as they don't have it.
We don't use it as we have a phone system with it built in.

Edited by Bushy2025 (Sun 23-Aug-26 08:03:30)

That is at odds with this statement on their site then

https://www.vodafone.co.uk/help/broadband/what-is-di...

Digital Voice doesn't work with Vodafone voicemail, conference calls, call diversion, or call management features (like anonymous caller rejection).

You can still use voicemail on phones that come with built-in answer machines.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Is that a non negotiable requirement - that is would she be averse to something like a big button phone that had a single (reprogrammable) button to dial voicemail?

Hi Pheasant, pretty much. She has 4 (I think) BT 2000 cordless phones which she is used to using. Having an extra phone with a dedicated button may be too much. Plus it's where to put it as the cordless base station sits with the current router

Good Morning tdw42,

I will certainly look into SKY as an option.

I had no idea they used the same number.

In reply to a post by Bushy2025:

Check again re Vodafone voicemail. Their website, faqs and current terms document say it is available. You have to phone to request it. Their customer service can be very variable and if the person you speak to doesn't know something they'll fob you off. If they persist, tell them you will have to leave as they don't have it.
We don't use it as we have a phone system with it built in.

I triple checked when they had the forum and was directed to the link jpm shared and they don't provide it on Digital Voice. I assume it's their own product restriction.

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

You could try Andrews and Arnold and ask them what they could do for you.

As wonderful as A&A are they are not a suitable solution for Mum's situation sadly.

Just a quick follow up,

I believe Community Fibre apparently use an ATA device for their voice service which introduces another device and the need for another plug (she has limited sockets already).

I have just had a look at Sky and they are advertising their 75Mbps service at £24 plus £18 for the phone so if we found a cashback offer that maybe an option.

Thanks for all the input and advice

Only a little less than EE (£26/mo for Full Fibre 74Mbps + £18/mo for unlimited calls to UK landline & mobile numbers last I looked a couple of months ago) so may be worth looking for offers from them too.

The BT2000 by default has 1571 programmed into speed dial 1 but you can reprogram it (page 30 in the user guide) if that is being used to access voicemail

In reply to a post by CJT:

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Is that a non negotiable requirement - that is would she be averse to something like a big button phone that had a single (reprogrammable) button to dial voicemail?

Hi Pheasant, pretty much. She has 4 (I think) BT 2000 cordless phones which she is used to using. Having an extra phone with a dedicated button may be too much. Plus it's where to put it as the cordless base station sits with the current router

Got it. Presumably she prefers / is used to manually dialling 1571 instead of holding down a speed dial button like “1”?

A late interection vis a vis Phone Coop. (PC)
I used Phone Coop until about 10 years ago. Their were totally useless proving a phone service.
A contractor dropped a bundle of phone cables in a man hole by the local exchange and damaged all the pairs. A hundred or two I was told later. I reported line down. PC took me through the palaver of tested everything in the property. Replace handset, removing wall socket cover. A week later I heard what the problem was in a chance conversation. PC did nothing to communicate with me or advance the problem to OR.
Three weeks later no movement at all. In desperation I called in a favour of a family member who worked for OR in a different region and asked them for their help. Their spoke to their counterpart in our region and the line was fixed within the next 48 hours. NO compensation, no apologies. I think I could be waiting today for PC to act.

In reply to a post by tdw42:

Only a little less than EE (£26/mo for Full Fibre 74Mbps + £18/mo for unlimited calls to UK landline & mobile numbers last I looked a couple of months ago) so may be worth looking for offers from them too.

The BT2000 by default has 1571 programmed into speed dial 1 but you can reprogram it (page 30 in the user guide) if that is being used to access voicemail

I did have a look at EE and I think it was much the same, however Sky did not seem to suggest (at least up front) of any price increases where as BT/EE do state it will be increased. Maybe worth me ringing them.

OH I was never aware that was an option. I guess if needed that's an option and she then just has to press 1.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Got it. Presumably she prefers / is used to manually dialling 1571 instead of holding down a speed dial button like “1”?

She preferred to dial 1571, however I was never aware the speed dial option was available let alone it could be changed!

Something to think about.

Having read their reviews on Trust Pilot I am feeling they are not one to be considered sadly.

I don't need to be sent around the houses trying to deal with issues miles from the source

In reply to a post by CJT:

I did have a look at EE and I think it was much the same, however Sky did not seem to suggest (at least up front) of any price increases where as BT/EE do state it will be increased. Maybe worth me ringing them.

The large providers have all gone for fixed annual increases, EE is £4/mo each April (£2 for broadband, £2 for phone service), Sky is the exception so they notify you of the increase in February and you can leave the contract within 30 days with no cancellation fee https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/guides/sky-increas...

Apparently the price rises don't apply to Sky customers who are vulnerable (you'll likely have to talk to them to see what they class as vulnerable), or on a social tariff (eligibility for these includes receiving pension credit)

Sky according to their Ts&Cs can increase your charges in contract at any time. They use the old method where they will tell you that they are increasing it in 30 days and allow you to cancel your contract without penalty.

Other providers mostly now bake in an annual set price rise and do not give the option of breaking the contract without penalty as they told you when you took the contract out.

The 'essential digital voice phone' from BT has a dedicated 1571 voicemail button. As does the advanced model

https://www.bt.com/help/user-guides/phones/digital-v...