BT answercall prevents internet connection

Helpline Q&A Directory

I have just had BT's Answercall service connected to my phone, but it is causing a problem connecting to the internet. If I have received a message and haven't yet deleted it, I can't connect to the web. How do I configure my modem to prevent this interference with my internet connection?

The problem is quite simple, and is caused by the intermittent dialling tone used by the Answercall service to indicate that a message is waiting. This isn't recognised as a dialling tone by the modem, so it reports an error instead of going ahead and connecting your system to your ISP.

Some people might regard this as a feature, since it alerts you to the fact that an answerphone message has been received, which you wouldn't otherwise know about until the next time you pick up the phone. But if you like to leave messages on the service instead of deleting them as soon as you've played them back, it's annoying.

Fortunately, the problem is easy to fix. Open My Computer, open Dial-Up Networking, right-click your ISP icon and select Properties. Below the field where your modem is specified click Configure. On the Modem Properties dialog box select the Connection tab and clear the 'Wait for dial tone before dialling' checkbox, then click ok.

Your modem will now dial blind, regardless of whether it hears any kind of dialling tone or not, which should solve your problem. See also tip, Be alerted to incoming calls when you're online