Ticket 95411527 Incoming calls are auto-answering on ANY handset

[#1]

Hi
I've raised a ticket on behalf of my inlaws in Haxby. I've tried two different handsets; both of them do exactly the same thing. Incoming calls pick up on the 0th ring, i.e. when I ring it I don't even hear it ring.
Even a brand new handset is doing this - and it's a handset with features for the hearing impaired.
http://www.geemarc.com/images/stories/virtuemart/product/media/ugcl10.pdf4e5b413e026b3.pdf
There is no option on that handset to control the number of rings before it picks up, yet I can stand next to the handset, ring it on my mobile, and watch it pick up before the phone ringer even finishes its first ring.
For the sake of my inlaws' sanity - is this a line issue or a handset issue and if the latter how come it's happening with different handsets made by different companies?

[#2]

To add - there are no phone extensions, no old ADSL microfilters plugged in, and the BT Openreach master socket is less than 2 years old. Also confirmed, the issue persists if we plug the phones into the Openreach master socket instead of the faceplate.

[#3]

Just to clarify, does the handset "answer" the call or does the ringing just stop?
An ordinary handset has no means of automatically putting the line "off-hook" and answering it unless it is faulty.
What does the caller hear?
What happens if you ring the number with no phone plugged in?

[#4]

Hi  tstaddon,
I've just replied to the fault ticket for you.
It looks like we'd need to arrange an engineer visit to push things forward.

[#5]

They are both "dumb" WIRED phones (not DECT) and are as basic as they get - not answering machines, or handsfree units. Plain old wired phones.
Neither of them are using mains electricity or batteries for additional features besides making and receiving phone calls, put it that way.

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Just to clarify, does the handset "answer" the call or does the ringing just stop?

Both.
I stood next to the phones when rang them from my mobile. On several occasions my mobile said it was connected and the call timer on it kicked in.
It is a bit like in the movies where someone is waiting for a call and picks up instantly. It does this when my wife rings their number from our landline, so we know it's not a mobile signal issue.
Other times today my mobile connected, registered 1 second's worth of call, then beeped and cut off the call without the handset in the house ringing at all. But that could conceivably have been a mobile network issue.
So from the resident's perspective, it's a bit like having a fax machine that's been configured to answer instantly no matter what phone is plugged into the BT master socket. if you're in the room at the precise moment an incoming call is made, you can pick up. If you're not in the room you won't hear the phone ring for the simple reason that it doesn't ring.

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What does the caller hear?

Based on me calling from the mobile, while stood in the same room as the two phones, a crackly sound... until someone picks up the handset (on the occasions when the mobile connection remained connected.)
If one phone did this and the other didn't, I'd suspect the phone. For BOTH to do the same thing, that suggests it isn't the phone.

[#6]

Have tried a handset in the test socket?
What result do you get if you call the line with no handsets connected?

[#7]

Never thought to test it without any phone connected. I was only visiting, and I won't be able to visit again for a few weeks.
We took the faceplate off and plugged both phones into the BT test socket, same results as we got when using the normal socket with the FTTC faceplate.
One telephone was a Geemarc CL10 (link to manual was posted upthread) and the other is an old Southwestern Bell business telephone (bit like a Freedom) which they've been using for the last year or two. The CL10 has a much louder ringer on it, but the SB one has more accessible, larger buttons.
I'm wondering if a faulty ring capacitor could be the cause, or perhaps a concentrator. I guess one way to find out would be to buy a handsfree phone as they have the capacitor built-in.

[#8]

Looks like Adam indicated that a fault has been identified and an engineer visit is required.
Can you check the ticket system to see if there is a request for availability?

[#9]

I can't check as the ticket was raised electronically by my in-laws. I'll ask them to check.