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1-5-7-1 is the name of a family of calling features in the United Kingdom, for residential and business telephone lines and for mobile telephones, that are provided by BT Group and several other telephone service providers. The family is named after the telephone number 1571, the special service number that is used to access it.

Land lines

The 1571 feature was introduced by BT Group to the UK after planned in the 1990s after they digitalized all the telephone exchanges . But, as of 2006, several other telephone service providers in the United Kingdom also provide 1571 answering services, including One.Tel[1], Platinum Telecom[2], Kingston Communications, and Manx Telecom[3]. Most such providers rely on a local loop that is owned by BT Group. However, it is also available from providers that have their own local loops, such as Virgin Media.[4]

In 2001, BT Group launched its Answer 1571 service as a free service, available at no extra cost to its existing telephone line customers. In 2007, a charge of £1 a month was introduced for customers who do not make two chargeable calls during the month (this might apply, for instance, to people who have Carrier preselect with another telephone company)[5]. The Answer 1571 service, a cut-down version of BT Group's Call Minder service, allows a calling party to leave messages when the called party is engaged or does not answer within a fixed number of rings. The system allows for the storage of up to 10 such messages, each of which can be up to 2 minutes long, for up to 20 days. To indicate to called parties that they have waiting messages, the exchange sends an interrupted dialling tone to them when they take their telephone off-hook. The called party can retrieve the messages by dialling the number 1571.[6][7]

One advantage of Answer 1571 over an answering machine is that an answering machine cannot record messages when the called party is currently engaged on another call. This was seen to be a considerable advantage over an answering machine to those who had dial-up access to Internet, because dial-up connections can often involve long periods when the line is engaged.[7]

Two disadvantages of Answer 1571 are that it can cause problems for computer telephone line modems, which are unable to recognize the interrupted dialling tone as a dialling tone and which will thus refuse to make outgoing calls, reporting being unable to detect a dialling tone; and that it costs the calling party the minimum connection charge to discover that the called party is engaged, even if they do not wish to leave a message, whereas obtaining the engaged tone incurs no connection charge. The Gosport & Fareham branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, as well as several others, recommends as a tip for saving money when making telephone calls to "count six rings and hang up before the expensive voice starts charging you".[8][9]

On top of the free Answer 1571 service, BT Group provides additional services at an extra charge, such as the 1571 Text Alerts service, which sends a text message to a designated mobile telephone number whenever a calling party leaves a new message, and 1571 Online, which allows customers to retrieve their stored messages via the World Wide Web.[10][11]

A problem with the 1571 Text Alerts system that BT's website fails to point out at this date (7/6/07) is that if you have retained your mobile phone number and transferred it from another provider to either Virgin or T-mobile, the alert system will not work. In other words, you may have messages on your landline, but you will not be texted to inform you of the fact. This makes the system virtually useless for such users.

Mobile telephones

To its mobile telephone business customers BT Group provides a 1571 Voicemail service, which is similar to the service provided to landlines. Calling parties can leave messages when the mobile telephone is switched off, when it is in an area of reduced coverage, when it is on another call, or when the call is not answered within a fixed number of rings.[12]

References

  1. ^ "OneGuide" (PDF). One.Tel. 2005-10-31. p. 8. {{cite web}}: |chapter= ignored (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "Questions and answers". Platinum Telecom.
  3. ^ "Access Codes and Short Codes (convention B11)".
  4. ^ "Other telephone features" (PDF). Telephone price guide. NTL. 2006-10-20. p. 3. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Section 2:Call Charges & Exchange Line Services Part 21:BT Messaging Services Subpart 3:BT Answer 1571" (HTML). BT Price List. BT. 2008-01-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Tim Richardson (2001-06-29). "BT to offer free voicemail from Monday". The Register. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b sit2020 (2006-07-15). "Nothing in life is free". dooyoo.co.uk. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "What does the error "No dial tone detected" mean?". BBC Webwise: Ask Bruce. BBC.
  9. ^ "Tips and Benefits". The Gosport and Fareham branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. 2009-07-26. Archived from the original on 2009-07-27. Retrieved 2009-07-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "BT 1571 Text Alerts". BT Calling Features. BT Group.
  11. ^ "Free Features". BT At Home. BT Group. {{cite web}}: |chapter= ignored (help)
  12. ^ "How do I use Voicemail 1571?". BT Business Shop. BT Group.

Further reading

  • "BT 1571". BT products and services. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
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