1-5-7-1
Encyclopedia
1-5-7-1 is the name of a family of calling features in the United Kingdom
, for residential and business telephone
lines and for mobile telephones, that are provided by BT Group
and several other telephone service providers. The family is named after the telephone number 1571, the special service number that is used to access it. Call Minder is the name of BT's highest level of 1571 service.
, Platinum Telecom, Kingston Communications
, and Manx Telecom. Most such providers rely on a local loop
that is owned by BT Group. However, it is also available from providers that have their own local loops, such as Virgin Media
.
In 2001 BT Group launched its Answer 1571 service as a free service, available at no extra cost to its existing telephone line customers. In 2007 a charge of £1 was introduced for any month in which two chargeable calls are not made on the line (this might apply, for instance, to people who have Carrier preselect
with another telephone company). The Answer 1571 service, a cut-down version of BT Group's Call Minder service, allows a calling party
to leave messages when the called party
is engaged or does not answer within a fixed number of rings. The system allows for the storage of up to 10 such messages, each of which can be up to 2 minutes long, for up to 20 days. To indicate to called parties that they have waiting messages, the exchange sends an interrupted dialling tone to them when they take their telephone off-hook
. The called party can retrieve the messages by dialling the number 1571.
The feature of Answer 1571 that cannot be implemented on an answering machine
is that the machine cannot record messages when the called party is engaged on another call. This was seen to be a considerable advantage over an answering machine to those who had dial-up access
to Internet
, because dial-up connections can often involve long periods when the line is engaged.
Disadvantages of Answer 1571:
On top of the free or paid Answer 1571 services, BT provides an additional services at an extra charge: the 1571 Text Alerts service sends a text message
to a designated mobile telephone number whenever a calling party leaves a new message. Another service was withdrawn in March 2009: 1571 Online allowed customers to retrieve their stored messages via the World Wide Web
.
A problem with the 1571 Text Alerts system that existed and BT's website failed to point out is that if a mobile phone number is transferred from another provider to either Virgin or T-mobile, the alert system will not work; phone messages will be stored, but text message alerts will not be sent.
BT offers 3 services accessed via the 1571 number. None of the services can be disabled or re-enabled by the user, but must be ordered or cancelled, with a lag of several days.
The number of rings before answering is not guaranteed, and may be longer or shorter than the specified number. This can be a problem if a 1571 service is used in conjunction with an answering machine; for example, an answering machine which supports remote access by ringing in can be switched on when a user of the free or cheaper 1571 service that does not allow remote access is away for several days and needs to check messages while away. It is necessary to ensure that the machine answers before the shortest possible number of rings, otherwise 1571 will pick up calls instead. For example the BT Response 75 machine has a mode which answers after 2 rings if there are new messages, and 6 rings if none, allowing the user to call in to check for messages and hang up after say 4 rings if no messages, saving the cost of the call; this is negated if Answer 1571 may answer calls before the machine picks up (nominally after 7 rings), recording messages that the user cannot access.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, for residential and business telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
lines and for mobile telephones, that are provided by BT Group
BT Group
BT Group plc is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of...
and several other telephone service providers. The family is named after the telephone number 1571, the special service number that is used to access it. Call Minder is the name of BT's highest level of 1571 service.
Land lines
The 1571 feature was introduced by BT Group to the UK after planned in the 1990s after they digitalized all the telephone exchanges. several other telephone service providers in the United Kingdom also provided 1571 answering services, including One.TelOne.Tel
One.Tel was a group of Australian based telecommunications companies, including principally the publicly listed One.Tel Limited established in 1995 soon after deregulation of the Australian telecommunications industry, most of which are currently under external administration by court appointed...
, Platinum Telecom, Kingston Communications
Kingston Communications
KCOM Group , formerly known as Kingston Communications, is a UK communications and IT services provider. Its headquarters is in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, where subsidiary business unit KC serves local residents and businesses with Internet and telephony services...
, and Manx Telecom. Most such providers rely on a local loop
Local loop
In telephony, the local loop is the physical link or circuit that connects from the demarcation point of the customer premises to the edge of the carrier or telecommunications service provider's network...
that is owned by BT Group. However, it is also available from providers that have their own local loops, such as Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
.
In 2001 BT Group launched its Answer 1571 service as a free service, available at no extra cost to its existing telephone line customers. In 2007 a charge of £1 was introduced for any month in which two chargeable calls are not made on the line (this might apply, for instance, to people who have Carrier preselect
Carrier Preselect
Carrier preselect is a term relating to the telecommunications industry. It is the process whereby a telephone subscriber whose telephone line is maintained by one company, usually a former monopoly provider , can choose to have some of their calls automatically routed across a different telephone...
with another telephone company). The Answer 1571 service, a cut-down version of BT Group's Call Minder service, allows a calling party
Calling party
The calling party is a person who initiates a telephone call over the public switched telephone network, usually by dialing a telephone number....
to leave messages when the called party
Called party
The called party is a person who answers a telephone call. The person who initiates a telephone call is the calling party....
is engaged or does not answer within a fixed number of rings. The system allows for the storage of up to 10 such messages, each of which can be up to 2 minutes long, for up to 20 days. To indicate to called parties that they have waiting messages, the exchange sends an interrupted dialling tone to them when they take their telephone off-hook
Off-hook
In telephony, the term off-hook has the following meanings:# The condition that exists when a telephone or other user instrument is in use, i.e., during dialing or communicating. Note: off-hook originally referred to the condition that prevailed when telephones had a separate earpiece , which hung...
. The called party can retrieve the messages by dialling the number 1571.
The feature of Answer 1571 that cannot be implemented on an answering machine
Answering machine
The answering machine or message machine, also known as the telephone answering machine in the UK and some Commonwealth countries) and previously known as an ansaphone, ansafone, or telephone answering device is a device for answering telephones and recording callers' messages.Unlike voicemail,...
is that the machine cannot record messages when the called party is engaged on another call. This was seen to be a considerable advantage over an answering machine to those who had dial-up access
Dial-up access
Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network to establish a dialled connection to an Internet service provider via telephone lines...
to Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, because dial-up connections can often involve long periods when the line is engaged.
Disadvantages of Answer 1571:
- it can cause problems for computer telephone line modemModemA modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
s, which are unable to recognize the interrupted dialling tone as a dialling tone and which will thus refuse to make outgoing calls, reporting being unable to detect a dialling tone; - it costs the calling party the minimum connection charge to discover that the called party is engaged, even if they do not wish to leave a message, whereas obtaining the engaged tone incurs no connection charge. The Gosport & Fareham branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, as well as several others, recommends as a tip for saving money when making telephone calls to "count six rings and hang up before the expensive voice starts charging you";
- many answering machines implement call screening, which 1571 cannot do: the answering machine picks up the call with its speaker active, so that the user, if available, can listen to what the caller says, and pick up the phone only if they want to speak with the caller;
- some machines can record conversations, which 1571 of course cannot do.
On top of the free or paid Answer 1571 services, BT provides an additional services at an extra charge: the 1571 Text Alerts service sends a text message
Text messaging
Text messaging, or texting, refers to the exchange of brief written text messages between fixed-line phone or mobile phone and fixed or portable devices over a network...
to a designated mobile telephone number whenever a calling party leaves a new message. Another service was withdrawn in March 2009: 1571 Online allowed customers to retrieve their stored messages via the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
.
A problem with the 1571 Text Alerts system that existed and BT's website failed to point out is that if a mobile phone number is transferred from another provider to either Virgin or T-mobile, the alert system will not work; phone messages will be stored, but text message alerts will not be sent.
BT offers 3 services accessed via the 1571 number. None of the services can be disabled or re-enabled by the user, but must be ordered or cancelled, with a lag of several days.
- Answer 1571, free. Calls answered after 7 rings. Up to 10 call stored for up to 20 days. Fixed greeting message. Messages not accessible remotely by ringing in.
- Answer 1571 enhanced, £1.49/month. free. As free service, but personal message may be recorded, and phone rings when the line becomes free if a message was left while the user was on another call.
- Call minder, £2.49/month, as above but 30 messages, stored for 30 days, can answer after 0, 4, 7, or 10 rings (nominal, may vary), can store numbers of callers who leave no message, messages can be accessed by dialling in with an identification number.
The number of rings before answering is not guaranteed, and may be longer or shorter than the specified number. This can be a problem if a 1571 service is used in conjunction with an answering machine; for example, an answering machine which supports remote access by ringing in can be switched on when a user of the free or cheaper 1571 service that does not allow remote access is away for several days and needs to check messages while away. It is necessary to ensure that the machine answers before the shortest possible number of rings, otherwise 1571 will pick up calls instead. For example the BT Response 75 machine has a mode which answers after 2 rings if there are new messages, and 6 rings if none, allowing the user to call in to check for messages and hang up after say 4 rings if no messages, saving the cost of the call; this is negated if Answer 1571 may answer calls before the machine picks up (nominally after 7 rings), recording messages that the user cannot access.