[Asterisk-Users] Advice on BT ISDN Services (UK)

[Jon Fautley]

On 26 Aug 2004, at 17:48, Nick Barnes wrote:

>
> Benjamin asked:
>> I don't have a problem setting this up under Asterisk (that's
>> the fun part) but what I need is advice on what to ask for
>> from BT so I don't get the wrong lines / services and so that
>> it all works smoothly!
>
> OK. You need one of the following:
>
> Home Highway
> Business Highway
> ISDN2e
>
> I can confirm that * works happily with all three - my office lines 
> are (for
> various reasons, none of which apply any more!) on Business Highway.
>

Heh, good old BT. I've never tested voice over Business Highway, as 
every BT engineer/support/sales person I've spoken to swore blind that 
it wouldn't work - and in BT's eyes, if they say it won't work, it's 
unsupported, therefore, if it breaks - you're on your own.
Also, I don't believe you can get the full range of 'BT Select 
Services' or whatever they call them today on the Highway lines (things 
like Call Deflection, and even caller id on the home highway lines, I 
believe)

TBH, If the line is used for voice, and you don't want the other 
analogue lines that come with highway, go for ISDN2e - it's a full ISDN 
service, and you won't get moaned at when you use it for voice.

> If you want sequential numbers, then you'll have to argue like mad to 
> get
> them as MSNs (I managed to get a block of 5 sequential MSNs, but it 
> was hard
> work!). DDIs are issued in blocks of 10 and are usually sequential.

DDI's are ALWAYS sequential - it's the main thing BT push about them - 
and they'll also try and sell you DDI's based on that fact when you 
want to order MSN's. Depening on the department/person you speak to, 
you may/may not be able to get sequential MSN's, although BT state that 
for seq. numbers you MUST have DDI's.

> The other thing to watch out for when you order the lines is which 
> rental
> option you take out. BT offer three different options ('start up', 
> 'call
> plan' and 'low start') each with different installation costs, rental
> charges and call allowances - if you don't specify which one you want,
> they'll pick one for you (and probably at random).

BE CAREFUL! The calling plans sound quite attractive, but irrespective 
of what sales say - the call allowance ONLY covers local and national 
calls, NOT non-geo, mobiles, or international calls. I've just had a 
huge row with BT High Level Complaints (we deal with them so often now, 
we just skip the standard complaints department and call them directly) 
- the salespeople will tell you it covers every sort of call you make 
on the line - they're talking out of their lower hole...

HTH,

Jon