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Old 6th Sep 2011, 8:13 pm   #21
teetoon
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

Hi everyone, as I seem to have thrown a cat amongst the pigeons, I rang TALK TALK and after some 20 minutes of being transfered to various departments, listening to clips of songs at various volume levels and announcements of how important my call is etc etc...... I was told that they do not support pulse dialling and have not done so for over a year! I also asked if this was countrywide and again, they said they do not support this type of dialling anywhere.
I thought it only changed earlier this year but then, time passes so quickly it's hard to remember when I last used my dial phone to check 1471. It's in my shed and is mainly used to answer when I'm in there working on something.

Is there no one else to have noticed this, or are there no talk talk customers who are forum members with old phones ?
David.
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Old 6th Sep 2011, 8:26 pm   #22
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

Hi,
It still seems odd that Talk Talk do not support pulse dialling as, surely their service is provided via BTs network (unlike Virgin Media's which is a totally separate fibre/copper network up to the customer premises) so the dialling and speech signals would have to, at some point, be presented to a BT switch (Exchange)

One answer to this would be that the equipment that Talk Talk have installed at the BT premises prevents the use of pulse dialling.

I thought, perhaps incorrectly, that the only equipment installed by other service providers at BT exchanges was to deal with ADSL/Broadband and not voice traffic. Another theory would be that Talk Talk are actually exploiting the VOIP capabilities of their broadband product and offering that as a telephone service.

Andrew
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Old 6th Sep 2011, 8:40 pm   #23
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

Hi Andrew, makes you wonder. They have done a lot of work in the exchange over the last couple of years. I have had breaks in service in the early hours of the morning when the line goes completely dead. Other times when broadband stops and there's just a hiss on the line but no dial tone. It always comes back on after a short while and they do seem to have done most of the work now. I contacted them before to make sure that it was work being done and not a fault.
I suppose the lack of pulse dialling is what they call progress
Re the VOIP capabilities, I've noticed when I'm on the phone to someone, if they stop talking and there is no other noise from their end, the sound cuts off like there's a threshold. It's wierd as though the line has been cut off. Maybe this is how they do it ?
David.

Last edited by teetoon; 6th Sep 2011 at 8:48 pm.
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Old 9th Sep 2011, 10:28 am   #24
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

If B.T ever get the next generation 21CN telephone exchanges to work on voice as well as broadband I have a feeling that will be the end of pulse dialling as I doubt if it would be a feature designed into the MSAN (Multi service access node ) that will take the place of the line card on the old system X and Y exchanges but hey you never know ?

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Old 9th Sep 2011, 10:41 am   #25
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

Surely there must still be a whole load of 700-series (and maybe older) phones out there, hard-wired to the line, from the days when people used to rent a phone from the GPO.

Or did BT make one huge final push to get NTE5s installed everywhere?
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Old 9th Sep 2011, 12:26 pm   #26
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

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Originally Posted by ajs_derby View Post
'Surely there must still be a whole load of 700-series (and maybe older) phones out there, hard-wired to the line...'
There are three such circuits not thirty yards from where I type this reply. OK, then, there's one 711 wall-mounted instrument on a ΒΌ" 4-pole plug No:420 and three hard-wired bell-sets, but hey!

Nor do I know any pressure on those who still enjoy a hard-wired line to change to NTE5 either. I'm guessing it'll be an 'as-and-when' conversion, or there'll be a nationwide campaign a-la Digital Switch Over on the telly, to 'nudge' customers (mustn't call them 'subscribers') over, perhaps by placing more and more reliance on 'Star Services' and 'push 1 for this; 2 for that...' sort of things.
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Old 9th Sep 2011, 1:09 pm   #27
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

Until relatively recently (four or maybe five years ago) my mother still had a hard wired 700 series instrument. As deafness caught up with her, she wanted a new 'phone; one of those special ones with an amplifier option for the receiver. Only then, at her request, did BT come and modernise her installation.

So it does seem to be on an 'as and when' basis which suggests BT, at least, have no urgency to discontinue pulse dialling - as pretty much confirmed in other posts.
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Old 9th Sep 2011, 2:45 pm   #28
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

Hi, I am unable to contact my friend who once worked for BT but I seem to recall him mentioning that BT would only do a conversion from hard wired to plug and socket wiring if a fault call was raised that required a visit to the customer premises, so, effectively, on an "as and when" basis as has already been suggested.

I suspect that there will still be a few "legacy" hard wired circuits still in use but these will now be in the minority.

I also suspect that there is a service level agreement written somewhere that requires BT (at least), as a provider, to continue to support pulse dialling for the near future, if not longer.

While exchanges are still pulse capable one problem that can now occur as a fault is the "accidental" dialling of the 112 service (which I think is now for air sea rescue) due to intermittent short circuits on the line caused by a faulty drop cable or similar; the short timeout window on some exchanges, which gives the impression that pulse dialling is no longer accepted, may be have put in place as an attempt to prevent the 112 scenario.

Regards
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Old 9th Sep 2011, 3:30 pm   #29
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

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Originally Posted by AndiiT View Post
I also suspect that there is a service level agreement written somewhere that requires BT (at least), as a provider, to continue to support pulse dialling for the near future, if not longer.
A bit like the 'parliamentary' train service, where sometimes it's cheaper for the train operators to continue to run a loss-making service rather than go through the consultation process to close it.

Long may these little quirks survive!
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Old 9th Sep 2011, 5:19 pm   #30
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

Quote:
Originally Posted by AndiiT View Post
While exchanges are still pulse capable one problem that can now occur as a fault is the "accidental" dialling of the 112 service (which I think is now for air sea rescue)
To quote the European Commission "112 is the European emergency number, reachable from fixed and mobile phones, free of charge, everywhere in the EU". It will indeed get you air sea rescue but it will also get you all the other emergency services.

Of course, none of that alters the fact that the number is so short that an intermittent short might cause exchanges to incorrectly register an emergency call.

Last edited by Stockden; 9th Sep 2011 at 5:19 pm. Reason: spurious e removed
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Old 10th Sep 2011, 12:25 am   #31
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

I would be interested to hear from some of the international members of the forum as to whether pulse dialing is still supported wider afield. Im not sure what the position is in NZ where I live...I do have an old pulse dial phone somewhere so will try it...but first I have to find it as it still hasn't emerged from the packing box 9 months after the move.
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Old 10th Sep 2011, 7:04 am   #32
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

When I had a phone line go faulty last year the engineer who came out to fix it said he hadn't done a change over to a NTE from fixed line in years now, according to him they are very few and far between.
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Old 10th Sep 2011, 7:47 am   #33
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

Well, since I posted the question, we do not seem to be overwhelmed with folk whose telecom provided does not support pulse dialling.

I am interested to hear that David (teetoon) seems to have managed to find someone at Talk Talk who could answer the question, and a bit disturbed that this might be the start of a trend. I think I am justified in thinking that if pulse dialling does start to fall away, so will the interest in vintage telephones. I am sure that the falling prices of iconic radios is due, in part at least, in the loss of receivable broadcasts. I firmly believe that folk give things house room if they can tell themselves that the item is useful, regardless of whether they actually use them or not!

It does seem odd, however, that other forum members have not reported a problem with this provider. Is it really the case that no other member is on Talk Talk with a vintage dial telephone? If you are on Talk Talk and your dial telephone does work, please post!

Thanks to all
Chris
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Old 10th Sep 2011, 8:00 am   #34
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

Quote:
Originally Posted by BakeliteBear View Post
I think I am justified in thinking that if pulse dialling does start to fall away, so will the interest in vintage telephones.
A wee bit perhaps. What mght happen is a pick-up of interest in Rotatones, custom computer driven devices (see AJS Derby's posts) and small office PABX telephone exchanges that support LD instruments (but are compatible with DTMF lines), in much the same way as those '405 liners' use standards converters and video equipment to enjoy their old tellies.

An interface will have to be sought, in other words, between one's LD telephone and the PSTN, adding (or forcing!) a whole new aspect to one's hobby.
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Old 10th Sep 2011, 8:59 am   #35
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

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Originally Posted by AndiiT View Post
Hi,
It still seems odd that Talk Talk do not support pulse dialling as, surely their service is provided via BTs network (unlike Virgin Media's which is a totally separate fibre/copper network up to the customer premises) so the dialling and speech signals would have to, at some point, be presented to a BT switch (Exchange)

One answer to this would be that the equipment that Talk Talk have installed at the BT premises prevents the use of pulse dialling.
I'd agree, (I work for a telecom company so I should know .. but I don't!) I think a number of companies have 'un-bundled' BT exchanges where they have done this they will have their own MSAN (newer version of the DSLAM) which provides PSTN and DSL over the local copper. Where TT have done this (on net) I can understand that they would not support LD but where they haven't (off net) it would just be a BT resale which has a better chance of supporting LD. I don't think anyone has un-bundled all exchanges we've done around 800 but we only do business not residential.
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Old 10th Sep 2011, 12:05 pm   #36
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

That makes things somewhat clearer. I have a BT line but used to have my calls through TT; I dumped the latter very recently and my 'phone is now all-BT (I also have a Virgin line).

I could always use pulse dialling when with TT though, so stitch1's post seems to explain the likely reason some people can pulse with TT whilst others can't.
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Old 15th Sep 2011, 11:21 pm   #37
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

Even with the new "21CN" (21st century network) stuff AFAIK BT will support "legacy" equipment on copper lines for the forseeable future. HTTP and internet phone of course might be a different matter.
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Old 6th Mar 2012, 2:03 pm   #38
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

My Mum is on Talk Talk and intermittently she can use her 746 (01908). I'm on BT in same area and can use pulse (tried my 704 Linemans unit).

Not sure why my mums line sometimes works though, sometimes whilst dialing it just returns to ring tone after complete dialled number, and sometimes ringtone is there behind all dialled digits.
I'm no telecomms engineer, but have a small collection of telecomms equipment as I find it interesting.
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Old 6th Mar 2012, 3:54 pm   #39
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

A pulse dial phone sometimes working and sometimes not working sounds like the dial timing is marginal. The easiest way to test it is with a digital storage oscilloscope.
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Old 6th Mar 2012, 4:55 pm   #40
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Default Re: Does your telecom provider support pulse dialling?

Or he could, being in the same area, take his mum's 746 home and try it on his BT line. If the problem's still present the answer is then obvious.
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