Number Withheld request

[#1]

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@Townman wrote:

Sadly over the years some of us have seen too many odd ball failures on obscure parts of the service, such as this, which resulted in engineers being sent to look where the problem is not likely to be.  Such causes delays and frustration.  Whilst I watch and have a good memory for odd things, @198kHz has a wealth of experience on POTS.  In the past he has provided invaluable guidance on where to look for the quaint and unusual faults.

I think that his contribution to call charges for not-dialled-calls issues has been a significant influence in they being handled somewhat differently around here.  Such is the rich potential value of the forum.

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@Townman  Thanks for your kind words.

There have indeed been times when a reported fault is beyond any doubt somewhere in the exchange or transmission network, yet Plusnet have said that they have no choice but to request an engineer visit to the customer.

@Optimatts wrote:

If we raise a phone feature fault, it reports this remotely without an immediate appointment request.

Glad to hear it!

@Townman wrote:

From your days back when … do you know where in the technology stack outbound the outbound number withheld functionality is implemented?

I only worked directly on Strowger electro-mechanical and TXE2 electronic exchanges. All I can say for certain is that it's enabled/disabled remotely in the exchange software, in the same way as with Caller Display or Voicemail etc, and requires no physical intervention or rewiring.

[#2]

Hi Matt

ps. Forgot to add - apparently recipients phones now say private number instead of number withheld when with BT. My 'boss' thinks it looks better. !!!!

Have also notice the numbers - replies and views, perhaps l should turn it into a book.

Thanks once again to all 

J

[#3]

Hi John,

Glad to hear that this is now sorted!

To give context, Permanent Number Withhold is not a feature seen around here very frequently.  It is not a standard option offered by Plusnet but is available on special request.  Such is I suspect why staff got a little confused, whereas the old lags knew of it from the days when BT was the dominant seller of phone services.

It is somewhat unfortunate that when lines are transferred from BT to Plusnet the lines lose any special features set and they need to be reinstated.  There are some options available with BT Retail (are available on the native network) but are not available to Plusnet to order.

It is not dissimilar to Plusnet mobile being on the EE network but not offering the same features as does EE, such as short code texting, voice over 4G and WiFi Calling.

[#4]

Hi John,

ps. Forgot to add - apparently recipients phones now say private number instead of number withheld when with BT. My 'boss' thinks it looks better. !!!!

That's good to see 

Have also notice the numbers - replies and views, perhaps l should turn it into a book.

I'd buy the book!

If you need any further help please do let us know