Telephony

So what about my telephone?

B4RN are, from October 2023, offering a telephone service called "B4RN Voice" to new and existing customers which utilises their fibre infrastructure. It is a "one stop shop" solution for those customers who want to continue making and receiving telephone calls using their existing landline telephone number without paying for an expensive landline. For a modest monthly fee, added to your B4RN bill, of £9 per month (October 2023), you can make unlimited calls to UK landline and mobile numbers, and even some calls to international numbers.

The B4RN User Group recommends  B4RN Voice for those who want a simple, no hassle solution to meet their telephony needs.

More information, frequently asked questions and application forms can be found on the B4RN website at www.b4rn.org.uk/get-b4rn/b4rn-voice

There are circumstances, however, when this service may not be ideal; for example, those who make few if any calls on their landline, preferring instead to use inclusive mobile phone packages, but wish to retain their landline number for incoming calls. In this case it can seem expensive to pay a monthly inclusive package fee. 

B4RN Voice makes use of a technology called "VoIP", and the same technology is utilised by many other telephone service providers, so you have a choice. The downside of using alternative providers is that you will need a basic understanding of the technology, and most likely the ability to make configuration changes to your router or other equipment. That is what the rest of this article is about, so read on if you want to know more.

Introduction to VoIP

Now you’ve got your B4RN fibre internet, you may start to wonder why you’re paying for two connections to your house (one for phone calls and one for Internet), and if you can use your B4RN connection for both?

Many customers just dispense with the landline and use their mobiles.

But, it is possible to use your B4RN connection to make and receive telephone calls in a very similar way to your existing “land-line” connection and potentially save money at the same time.

The technology used to make phone calls over your B4RN connection is called “VoIP” (pronounced as one word, like “voyp”); it stands for “Voice over Internet Protocol”.

Setting up VoIP may initially appear to be intimidating, and this document attempts to describe what is involved, and refers to other documents which will walk you through the technical details.

I’ll try to explain any technical terms as I go along, and there’s a very good glossary here;

https://www.voipmechanic.com/glossary.htm

An important question answered


Yes, you can keep your old “land-line” phone number.

This is called “porting” your number.

Do not cancel your existing BT (or other) telephone or broadband service yourself if you wish to keep your telephone number.

Your new VoIP provider controls the porting process - follow their instructions carefully. If you cancel your existing service prematurely you will lose your number. 

After porting, callers will not be aware they are calling a VoIP service, rather than a traditional “land-line”. The only difference is that you and your callers will generally have to dial the local code as well as the number, just as you do with a mobile call.

Once you have set up VoIP and ported your number, you will get or can request a final bill from your telephone provider (generally BT in the case of most B4RN customers) and stop using (and paying!) for it.

Main features of VoIP

There are many providers of VoIP services which you can use, but, in general, these are the main features:

But beware...

Although VoIP can be used just like your existing telephone service, the underlying technology is very different, and special care needs to be taken in some circumstances:

VoIP Service Providers

Important note: if you intend to port your existing telephone number to a VoIP provider, make sure you follow the provider's instructions and do NOT cancel you existing service prematurely, otherwise you will lose your telephone number.

There are many VoIP providers. They each have different pricing models and features. Here is a short list of providers with which we are familiar and we know work, to illustrate the wide range available:

Other considerations

If you have a traditional land-line, the power to operate it is provided by the exchange, and if there is a power cut, your phone will continue to work, allowing you to make calls including emergency calls (note that this is only true for phones that do not require a separate power supply - if you have wireless phones, for example, these will not work anyway).


VoIP does not work this way. If there is a power cut, the router and any other hardware (ATA, network adaptors and so forth) in your house will stop working and you will be unable to make or receive calls.


There are two solutions to this problem;

If you are vulnerable or otherwise want to ensure you can make emergency or other calls during a power cut, please ensure you implement a solution. Contact your VoIP service provider if you have any concerns.

All of the above assumes that you have one phone that you’re going to plug into the ATA or router. However, this is often far from convenient, depending on where the router is, and most people have multiple phones in their houses. It is possible to connect these to your VoIP service, depending on what kind of phones they are;

Some Mobile Network Operators (MNO), e.g., Vodafone, offer a service called “WiFi Calling”, where your mobile phone makes calls over a WiFi connection instead of using the cellular network.

Although technically this is also VoIP, it is not what we are talking about in this document. It is only provided by certain suppliers on certain phones and usually has to be enabled in the phone settings. It is designed to provide coverage in mobile phone “black-spots” and calls are billed using the same tariff you have already signed up for with your MNO.

Your mobile phone has two different means of connecting to the Internet;

If you install a VoIP app on your phone, the app can make calls using either of these connections. If you are not connected to WiFi and you make a VoIP call, the data that call uses will be taken from any mobile data allowance you may have, and you may be charged for that data by your MNO, depending on what tariff you have.

It may be worth making sure you have a WiFi connection before making VoIP calls, especially if you are abroad.

Help with VoIP

You should note that VoIP is not formally supported by the B4RN Helpdesk (except for "B4RN Voice" which, of course, is fully supported).

Or you could come along to the B4RN User Group either on a Friday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm. Most meetings are online, but they now have a meeting on the first Friday of every month at the Melling depot.

Not only can you get some great advice and information, it can be good fun. Just email itclub@b4rn.org.uk to receive a link to join the Zoom meeting.

The User Group also has a Facebook page, which can be accessed here;

https://www.facebook.com/groups/b4rnusergroup


Acknowledgements

Produced by B4RN User Group with input from Hugh Davies, David Johnson, Phil Stone and Chris Conder. 

This is not an official document of Broadband for the Rural North Limited

Document History

V1

27 Sep 2021 – First draft - hjed
29th Sep 2021 - cc
30 Sep 2021 - ps
1 Oct 2021 - hjed
1 Oct 2021 - dj
3rd oct 2021- cc
11th oct 2021 cc
15th oct 2021 cc

V2
17 Oct 2021 - sort out summary table - hjed

V3

22 Feb 2023 - rewrite after demise of free Sipgate service

V4

4 Oct 2023 - new introduction and minor amendments for B4RN Voice.

V5

4 Jan 2024 - simplifications and change of document structure to assist navigation.