Moans on telephones

Having a telephone used to be so simple.  You got one from BT – and it was already in the house when you moved in.  That was it.   Now things are very different.  You can buy your telephone in all shapes and sizes from companies of all shapes and sizes – and even rent lines from people you have never heard of like Swiftcall.

So if like me you have moved to a house that is not even connected to a telephone line where do you start?  Well I started where I have always been – and got in contact with British Telecom. 

That may or may not have been a mistake – as it took age to get someone to call and make the connection.  Then they went next door by mistake and simply left.  They did manage to come again slightly quicker – and connected a broadband service so slow it was worse than dial up.

Which is a good lesson to check out just how bad the phone lines are where you are planning to move in.  However, then the fun really starts.  If like me you work from home you can work your way through the complete office systems that include both standard telephones and cordless phones.  Even when you have narrowed your choice to a single brand (in my case Panasonic KX phones) you still have a lot of choices to make.

Do you want call logging?  Very handy if you are trying to budget your business, make conference calls – or keep tabs on your offspring!  Then you just have to decide who to use for the actual calls.  Sticking with BT is almost boring now.  There are plenty of telecoms companies to choose between – even if you live out in the country.  And I am still thinking of using Sky – to get my free satelitte television as part of my telephone service.

 But I will say one thing for BT – their back up service is good.  So as yet I have not switched.  But my annual contract is up– so it is a decision not to be put off much longer…AND the Ashes is about to start.