BT Cloud Voice Express - Additional Handsets

[DCO896]

I recently took out BT Business Broadband which came with Cloud Voice Express (including a Yealink base station and 1 handset). I purchased a couple of additional handsets from ebay and try to configure them. The ebay handsets register to the base no problem. However, you can't make calls from them.

I followed the base reset process and then registered the handsets, ebay handset first, then BT handset. They both registered but this time, the BT handset (i.e. second registered) couldn't make calls.

I called BT and they said that the reason why the BT handset wasn't working was because the ebay handset had "taken the slot" that otherwise been used by the BT handset. He offered to talk me through the fix to reset the base and register the BT handset only. Other than that, he refused to offer any additional help as the additional handsets were not purchased from BT.

Has anyone else had this problem? Has anyone managed to get additional handset working that were not purchased from BT?

 

[Mark.J]

IP phones are much more complicated things than the dumb handsets and base stations of old:

Security Issues for Owners of BT's Cloud Voice Handsets and Other IP Phones

Businesses that decide to sell their unwanted BT Cloud Voice handsets on eBay need to take extra care because some models, such as the Yealink W60P phones, may

www.ispreview.co.uk

Suffice to say, it's generally wise not to order these things off eBay.

 

[Phil2021]

I recently took out BT Business Broadband which came with Cloud Voice Express (including a Yealink base station and 1 handset). I purchased a couple of additional handsets from ebay and try to configure them. The ebay handsets register to the base no problem. However, you can't make calls from them.

I followed the base reset process and then registered the handsets, ebay handset first, then BT handset. They both registered but this time, the BT handset (i.e. second registered) couldn't make calls.

I called BT and they said that the reason why the BT handset wasn't working was because the ebay handset had "taken the slot" that otherwise been used by the BT handset. He offered to talk me through the fix to reset the base and register the BT handset only. Other than that, he refused to offer any additional help as the additional handsets were not purchased from BT.

Has anyone else had this problem? Has anyone managed to get additional handset working that were not purchased from BT?

Just a few things to check, are the handsets the same type? Is it the Yealink W60P package you have?

The handsets themselves as far as I know are agnostic to who supplied them, and the DECT handsets are not customised in anyway for BT Voice, this all happens only on the base station.

A couple of things are likely happening:

1) The additional handsets have different firmware on them, you can check the firmware on the handset using the info icon on the menu and selecting Handset. If the firmware versions are mismatched this can give rise to some funny issues. Post back if they are different.

2) They need configuring correctly, but lets check the firmware versions first.

 

[Meatball]

The BT provided Yealink base was recommended for businesses requiring 1-4 lines. It could be that you have a contract for a single business line and the Yealink auto provisioning only allows a single handset to associate with each line/licence rather than multiple handsets on the same line/licence in contrast to residential products where you can have multiple handsets/phones on a single voice line.

This may not be a technical limit rather a BT imposed one for business as each handset would normally be a separate number with all the transfer functionality etc. The handsets may be generic DECT 6 but its the firmware/config that will determine how they are used.

It is my understanding that this particular BT branded kit remains the property of BT and should be returned to BT when no longer used. Certainly their processes would not support additional products from other sources. BT Business has other products where businesses can use their own equipment.

I also note that BT now appears to promote a single business line as a Smart Hub 2 and normal DECT handset like Digital Voice. The Yealink appears to have currently disappeared so there may be a product change occurring.

 

[DCO896]

Just a few things to check, are the handsets the same type? Is it the Yealink W60P package you have?

The handsets themselves as far as I know are agnostic to who supplied them, and the DECT handsets are not customised in anyway for BT Voice, this all happens only on the base station.

A couple of things are likely happening:

1) The additional handsets have different firmware on them, you can check the firmware on the handset using the info icon on the menu and selecting Handset. If the firmware versions are mismatched this can give rise to some funny issues. Post back if they are different.

2) They need configuring correctly, but lets check the firmware versions first.

Hi @Phil2021

Yes, it's the Yealink W60P package, supplied by BT and then W56H handsets purchased on eBay.

Looking at the firmware between the BT-supplied handset and eBay-purchased handset, they are the same:

Model: W56H
Hardware: 61.0.0.11
Handset Firmware: 61.85.0.22

Interestingly, when you select the Line Status option on the handset, both handsets show the last 4 digits of the phone number. However, the non-working handset shows an icon of a red phone and red "no entry" symbol. This seems to indicate that the handset knows what line it's connected to via the base, but that it's not allowed to make calls.

Making intercom calls on between handsets works fine. So I really do feel that the handset is properly registered to the base.

Looking at the BT online portal used for managing the CVE service, it shows the number of devices (handsets) as 1. There is no ability to change that. It shows the 1 device and gives you the ability to change the name of the device. There is no ability to add devices in the portal.

My gut feeling on this is that BT (at their end) have the ability to limit the number of devices connected to the base AND can make calls through that base.

 

[Phil2021]

Have you tried on the second registered handset going to: Settings -> 7. Telephony - > Default Line (make sure this is set to your single line) then...

Settings -> 7. Telephony -> Incoming lines - enter base station pin (default should be 0000) select the new handset and make sure it is set to Accept for your single line.

Maybe that will do it.

 

[DCO896]

Have you tried on the second registered handset going to: Settings -> 7. Telephony - > Default Line (make sure this is set to your single line) then...

Settings -> 7. Telephony -> Incoming lines - enter base station pin (default should be 0000) select the new handset and make sure it is set to Accept for your single line.

Maybe that will do it.

So, for Default Line, the second handset says "No Outgoing Line". And for Incoming Lines, it says "Ignore" but there's no way to change either of these settings.

Bear in mind that what I'm calling the second handset is the BT-supplied handset. If I de-register the handsets and re-register them BT handset first, the BT handset will work and the other one won't.

I keep thinking back to what the BT agent told me.... "the reason why the BT handset isn't working is because the eBay handset has taken its slot"! It points to BT being able to limit the number of handsets that can be used to make and receive calls.

 

[Phil2021]

So, for Default Line, the second handset says "No Outgoing Line". And for Incoming Lines, it says "Ignore" but there's no way to change either of these settings.

Bear in mind that what I'm calling the second handset is the BT-supplied handset. If I de-register the handsets and re-register them BT handset first, the BT handset will work and the other one won't.

I keep thinking back to what the BT agent told me.... "the reason why the BT handset isn't working is because the eBay handset has taken its slot"! It points to BT being able to limit the number of handsets that can be used to make and receive calls.

So to confirm then for an incoming line you can't scroll left or right to change Ignore to Accepted? If that is the case they have locked it down so that handset one is line 1, handset 2 gets line 2 (if you had one) and so on.

 

[DCO896]

For the incoming line, you can scroll to the right/left to see Accept or Ignore, but you can't change it from Ignore to Accept. There's no OK button to save it. That's the case on both handsets.

 

[Phil2021]

Does appear they've locked it down then, on mine (not tied to BT) it will save on clicking OK or the Save soft key. I initially had the same issue on adding a new handset in that it defaults to line 2 and so didn't work as there was no line 2, so just took a change to those settings to get handset 2 to work normally like 1. What they will have done is set the base login (when you enter the pin) so that you only have restricted permissions, and that has either deliberately or accidentally locked you out of those particular options.

Can you get to the web interface in case that gives you the options you need? Again they've locked you out of the admin pages but you do some options to change, to login I think you can enter the username as user and password as just password, or try the password as user.

If you can log in, see if you can get to Accounts and Number Assignment.

 

[DCO896]

Does appear they've locked it down then, on mine (not tied to BT) it will save on clicking OK or the Save soft key. I initially had the same issue on adding a new handset in that it defaults to line 2 and so didn't work as there was no line 2, so just took a change to those settings to get handset 2 to work normally like 1. What they will have done is set the base login (when you enter the pin) so that you only have restricted permissions, and that has either deliberately or accidentally locked you out of those particular options.

Can you get to the web interface in case that gives you the options you need? Again they've locked you out of the admin pages but you do some options to change, to login I think you can enter the username as user and password as just password, or try the password as user.

If you can log in, see if you can get to Accounts and Number Assignment.

Looks as though they've changed from the default password. I've tried user-password, user-user, admin-admin (the default according to Yealink). Looking on other forums (including the BT forum), loads of people are having the same issue and wanting to login to the base!

 

[DCO896]

Looks as though they've changed from the default password. I've tried user-password, user-user, admin-admin (the default according to Yealink). Looking on other forums (including the BT forum), loads of people are having the same issue and wanting to login to the base!

The question I have is if you do buy an additional handset from BT, how do they facilitate it to work. Do they remotely login to the base and facilitate a second handset? Or is it something at their end?

 

[Meatball]

They will add a second line/licence to your account. However I have found this:

" Once all available numbers are paired to a handset, any additional handsets will pair to the first number on the service automatically​

Use My Account > Cloud Voice Express > Handsets to set up which handsets ring on any number - you can also set the default number for each handset"​

It infers that you can add handsets as extensions to a line. Its just that the handsets are not known to the BT auto provisioning (possibly MAC address or something".

 

[DCO896]

They will add a second line/licence to your account. However I have found this:

" Once all available numbers are paired to a handset, any additional handsets will pair to the first number on the service automatically​

​

Use My Account > Cloud Voice Express > Handsets to set up which handsets ring on any number - you can also set the default number for each handset"​

It infers that you can add handsets as extensions to a line. Its just that the handsets are not known to the BT auto provisioning (possibly MAC address or something".

@Meatball. A second line/licence means a second number and second base, and an additional monthly cost.

What I'm talking about is an additional handset working on the same line. Both handsets connected to the same base. Both capable of making and receiving calls. BT charge a 1-off £75 for that. They send you the additional handset, and I believe they make some changes to allow a second handset to work. What they do is the bit that is the question to me.

 

[Phil2021]

The question I have is if you do buy an additional handset from BT, how do they facilitate it to work. Do they remotely login to the base and facilitate a second handset? Or is it something at their end?

They will update a configuration setting which your base station pulls down. I doubt very much it is based on the handset itself, i.e. they can just as easily enable one bought from Ebay as one supplied from themselves just they aren't willing to. It will just be a configuration setting they need to change to say handset 2 attaches to line 1, it doesn't matter where handset 2 originates from, it will just allow any handset that is second registered to access line 1. This is why you can register the Ebay bought handset first and it works fine, but the original one, when it becomes handset 2 then doesn't work.

On unlocked Yealink's you have access to a menu that sets all this up in a couple of clicks, but without access to that, it's under BTs control using the remote configurable file to change the settings the UI has locked you out from.

 

[DCO896]

They will update a configuration setting which your base station pulls down. I doubt very much it is based on the handset itself, i.e. they can just as easily enable one bought from Ebay as one supplied from themselves just they aren't willing to. It will just be a configuration setting they need to change to say handset 2 attaches to line 1, it doesn't matter where handset 2 originates from, it will just allow any handset that is second registered to access line 1. This is why you can register the Ebay bought handset first and it works fine, but the original one, when it becomes handset 2 then doesn't work.

On unlocked Yealink's you have access to a menu that sets all this up in a couple of clicks, but without access to that, it's under BTs control using the remote configurable file to change the settings the UI has locked you out from.

Yes @Phil2021, agreed. It's quite clear that any handset can work, it's just the number of handsets allowed for the line that they're controlling. This was my immediate thought when I was able to get the eBay handset working.

I have made a complaint to the Ombudsman that this is unreasonable and restrictive practice. BT invited me to make that complaint. And now I've made the complaint, BT have now questioned whether such a complaint falls within the scope of the Ombudsman!

 

[DCO896]

They will update a configuration setting which your base station pulls down. I doubt very much it is based on the handset itself, i.e. they can just as easily enable one bought from Ebay as one supplied from themselves just they aren't willing to. It will just be a configuration setting they need to change to say handset 2 attaches to line 1, it doesn't matter where handset 2 originates from, it will just allow any handset that is second registered to access line 1. This is why you can register the Ebay bought handset first and it works fine, but the original one, when it becomes handset 2 then doesn't work.

On unlocked Yealink's you have access to a menu that sets all this up in a couple of clicks, but without access to that, it's under BTs control using the remote configurable file to change the settings the UI has locked you out from.

@Phil2021 Based on the theory that the base downloads a configuration setting from BT, it's conceivable to think that even if I can log in to the base and tell it to allow the additional handset(s), if the base is powered off, it may go and download the BT settings again on power up. What do you think?

 

[Phil2021]

@Phil2021 Based on the theory that the base downloads a configuration setting from BT, it's conceivable to think that even if I can log in to the base and tell it to allow the additional handset(s), if the base is powered off, it may go and download the BT settings again on power up. What do you think?

If you can log in legitimately (i.e. it's an allowed thing by BT) and change the settings then it might well be the phone pushes those settings back up to BT, and you will see the same setting reflected on their web page, so the settings would be remembered.

If you hack it somehow, then quite possibly it may get overridden. The base unit can be told to update settings on power up, or on a schedule, say every hour it goes and checks the config again. I'm not sure what BT set it as, but many things are possible.

Seems that BT have set it very much as a non customer configurable system, this is a good reason why sometimes it is better to avoid bundled things like this and source your own VoIP provider and hardware, you get the flexibility then, although perhaps not the ease of plug and play.

 

[DCO896]

Yes, agreed. Can you recommend a VoIP provider? I'm thinking of taking out a completely separate service. Having said that, I'm assuming that the base wouldn't work so I'd have to source one that would.

 

[Meatball]

The BT product guidance says

• you can pair up to 5 handsets to the Yealink
• that it will automatically link handsets to the number of lines
• that once you exhaust the lines it will add the handset as an extension to the first line
• that you can manage devices to assigned numbers and extensions in the BT Cloud Voice Express option on your account in BT.com

What options does it allow/show in your account?

There is even an option to add a separate CISCO desk phone to the BT Cloud Voice Express.