My landline telephone is accepting incoming calls and messages but the bell doesnt ring out??

Question

Messages can be recorded on the BT answer service, and the phone records the number of the last caller, but the bell doesnt ring out??

We can use the phone to dial out as normal. This just happenend unexplainedly yesterday.

Please can anybody tell me what the problem is?

Thank you!

Answer 1

Ringing faults are 99% of the time in one of two places. The BT exchange or your house. If you have more than one phone connected to the line and none of the phones are ringing then it’s unlikely to be a ringer fault on one phone.

When you ring the line does it go straight to answer service? If this is the case then you have what is known as “ring trip” usually caused by a faulty extension, phone skybox, modem, fax, answer phone, ADSL filter or anything else you happen to plug in! This occurs when the said faulty equipment or extension has a loop fault on it, this in turn replicates the effect of your line being permanently engaged. So if you have BT answer service on your line it will automatically divert to this service thinking you are on the phone. Try unplugging everything, go to your first socket with a phone you know works, plug it in and try ringing it.

If this does not help go online and test your phone via BT.com fault platform, if it comes back saying it can’t find a fault on your line, it may be the line card in the Exchange, these often go faulty on ringers and are not detectable via a test as the test is only checking the integrity of the copper pair from exchange to customer.

I would advise that you try in the order I have given you as BT Openreach will charge you if they prove the fault to be with your equipment.

Answer 2

Look at the box and you will see four wires, red, blue, white and green.

It's so long since I have done it I forget which is the ringer but in your case it will obviously be the one that has broken loose.

Just s***w it back into it's terminal.

Answer 3

Turn the ringer back on - usually a switch on the bottom or side.

Check it by dialling 17070, then 1 & hang up. It'll ring back.

(If you're number's witheld, dial 147017070, then 1).

If not, make sure it's plugged into your main socket before reporting it.

Answer 4

Funny we had this problem a couple of weeks ago.

Eventually BT tracked it back to the 'Line Card' in the exchange.

(We're in a town in SE England UK)

Oh, can I add, after one attempt at fixing it, BT phoned us to say it was fixed, leaving their message in the BT1571 system - Hmm ? If it was really fixed the phone would have rung and we would have answered the call. Grrrrrr :-(  

As I said it was eventually fixed :-)

Fortunately at the same time the broadband was unaffected.

Answer 5

Sounds like a dead ringer to me ........ :-) ....... perhaps a new phone is required?

Answer 6

Try a different phone in the master socket to check that it is not your phone.Then open the socket to check the wiring,

the line is connected to terminals 2 & 5 and the ringing cct to term 3