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Connecting an answering machine to a wireless Freebox?

Fratelli Posted messages 44 Status Member -  
FP07 Posted messages 2 Status Member -
Here is my issue,
I just switched to total unbundling, and I'm therefore getting rid of my France Télécom subscription, but the problem is that my phone installation means that the main phone at my place, with voicemail, unfortunately won’t work anymore!

My installation before total unbundling:

- My Freebox is in a room upstairs in my house, to be connected via ethernet to my PC for a better connection.
- A Free decoder for television downstairs in the living room connected via powerline
- I have a phone for free calls connected to the Freebox
- A second phone with handsets, whose base has voicemail and is connected in my entrance (so I can hear it from everywhere downstairs) to a simple France Télécom socket

However, since I switched to total unbundling, all phones must now be connected to the box.
This means I can no longer keep my base downstairs,
the only solution I currently have is to connect the base with voicemail upstairs to the Freebox and put one of the handsets downstairs, but you’ll note that the voicemail is useless to me up there (I’m not going to run upstairs every time the phone rings to find out who's calling)

In short, my question is, is there a way to workaround the problem to have my voicemail downstairs and check it at my convenience?
I believe I already know that powerline doesn’t allow sharing the telephone network unfortunately?

The simplest solution, but I doubt it exists, would be to buy a combined phone whose base would not have voicemail, and the handset would have voicemail...
do you know of such a phone?
I don’t understand why no one has encountered this voicemail phone problem since the boxes and total unbundling exist, or why the question hasn’t been raised!?

PS: sorry if I got a bit lost in the explanations and for the long message...

2 answers

  1. jn
     
    Hello

    To be honest, it’s pointless; your answering machine is integrated into the box. You just need to configure it on your account to personalize the message if you want and then check the received messages later on your TV via the HD box or on your phone using the message button.
    3
    1. Fratelli
       
      Hello jn,
      to be honest, you're giving me the only answer I was hoping not to hear.
      Because you're not going to tell me that when you get home, it's not easier to see the phone's voicemail light blinking with the number of messages, etc., and to press a single button to listen to the messages or delete them without having to pick up the handset and hold it to your ear or turn on the TV, right? -_-'
      Moreover, my answering machine allows me to hear the caller's voice before picking up, which helps me avoid all those telemarketing calls or unwanted callers.
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    2. FP07 Posted messages 2 Status Member 1
       
      A Fratelli

      I had the same thought as you when I realized that my voicemail was no longer working! I first thought the problem was with the voicemail itself, then it occurred to me that Free "offered" a voicemail service, and that's when I made the connection. Indeed, there's no point in having a voicemail phone with Free because it replaces the one you already have on your phone!
      To deactivate this service imposed by Free, you need to enter the following key combination on the picked-up phone: #75#
      1
  2. phil2k Posted messages 10841 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   2 339
     
    Hello

    1- use the answering machine of the box
    2- the telephone socket downstairs and the one upstairs are connected by a telephone cable.
    you just need to find an available pair, not the one used for ADSL, connect the two wires of that pair to the box, and downstairs, to the answering machine.....

    --
    "It's better to focus your intelligence on nonsense than to focus your nonsense on intelligent things".
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    1. Fratelli
       
      Hello phil2K

      1- As I mentioned to jn, too many constraints compared to a classic answering machine, and I can hear the person introduce themselves live before answering, or not... (A bit like in American romantic comedies) ;-)
      2- An electrical modification if I understand correctly? That's an idea worth exploring...
      1
    2. phil2k Posted messages 10841 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   2 339
       
      Actually, it's to use the existing wiring in the walls to connect the answering machine behind the box.
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    3. Fratelli Posted messages 44 Status Member 3
       
      Yes, but I only have one phone socket in the room with the box upstairs, and it is already being used for ADSL. Do I need to create another one?
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    4. phil2k Posted messages 10841 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   2 339
       
      The France Telecom socket at the entrance and the socket where the box is connected, upstairs, are linked by a cable; the phone was working before the unbundling.
      This cable should be a 4-pair cable, in principle.
      There must be at least one unused pair.
      You need to use this pair, "bring it" out of the wall, and connect a socket for the answering machine at the entrance, and upstairs, towards the box, connect an RJ11 socket, or a gigogne + adapter, and connect that to the phone socket behind the BOX.
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    5. Fratelli Posted messages 44 Status Member 3
       
      I believe I have understood the theory; for the practical part, I will ask a more qualified friend.
      But I will continue searching for a "simpler" solution for me before returning to this one. In any case, thank you, phil2k ;-)
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