How to Permanently Turn Off or disable EE Digital Voice Answer Phone?

[jim-hughes]

HELP - How do you permanently turn off or disable EE Digital Voice Answer Phone?

I don't want this service.

I cannot get to the phone in time (even on the longest ring....which seems to be about 8-rings) due to mobility issues. 

I cannot imagine that there is not a way to turn off the answerphone - but I cant find a way or any information on the internet including this community.

The handset I have was supplied by BT and is the Essential Digital Home Phone (100% wireless).... would a different handset make any difference?

If you also have issues with an answerphone that you cant turn off, please post a comment.

Thanks 

[apesofhove]

Wow, this is appalling, it never fails to amaze me that the more advanced and flexible digital systems become the more intransigent the permission for a "human" to make the change becomes.

I've foolishly just renewed my elderly (91 & 92) parents phone contract which switched to FTTP / digital phone.

I'll now have to reduce the rings on the DECT phones so that their answerphone kicks in before the EE Voicemail, but hadn't thought about the issues that a second call will go to voicemail if the line is busy. They haven't a hope in hell of realising that they have a message lurking in VM if that happens.

Assuming the answerphone generally kicks in first I'll have to also leave a personal greeting saying "don't leave a message" to cover that rare eventuality.

. . . and this is progress . . . 

[JimM11]

@apesofhove Unless you can get the ear off someone at EE to completely disable the Voicemail system then it is as it is, they do appear to being NOT prepared to mess with it now as postings on the Forum are posted...

[apesofhove]

Hmmm, maybe I should invoke the 14 day cooling off, go back to the previous setup ie get them to replace the fibre with the copper they took down "as a way to disable the voicemail". . . maybe not, life's too short 😞

[Vass57]

We too wish to disable the digital answerphone as there is no indicator a voicemail has been left and we have a perfectly good answerphone which let's us know instantly it's got a message for us.  We simply don't need it.  

[JimM11]

@Vass57 Currently there is no way to do so, and EE will not accommodate the request.

[Vass57]

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Thank you for confirming this is still the case 

[EricC851]

We have the problem exactly as you describe.   For a while I was able to change the ring tone timings so that the home answer phone got there first, but now this has changed. We only get four rings and there is no way we can get to the phone in time.  1571 settings option 2 offers the options for short medium or long, but doesn’t change from 4 rings only.  I will be cancelling digital voice as a result, but have to wait until contract ends.  We will revert to mobile only and not EE!  After 56 years of landlines and working as a BT engineer for 32 of them, it is unbelievable that EE have screwed this up.

[JimM11]

@EricC851 Maybe you should get the EE development team to have the old talk with the BT boy's to get the EE system up to scratch, sure that would be appreciated by ALL THE EE DV patrons....