Hard-hitting IT columnist Simon Moores gives his personal take on
the hot issue of the day.It's a secret, you know, the new BT
Anytime Lite Connect number. Well, almost a secret, but what kind
of business genius thinks up a name like BT Anytime Connect Lite in
the first place?
Looking back on previous columns, this is not the first time I have
had occasion to fire a broadside at BT and its Internet service.
It's bad enough that I can't aggregate my Internet charges into my
BT One bill, but for heavens sake, you would have thought that if
BT was going to change its access number, it would announce the new
number in big red letters on its Web site.
Wrong. As of this evening, as I caustically pointed out to BT
Anytime Lite Connect's telephone support number (calls are charged
at 50p per minute), the access number given is a number that
doesn't work correctly.
In fact, it redirects you to a BT OpenWorld Web page called
"dialleroutof date.html" and freezes Internet Explorer (more of
that in a moment). Only by calling the helpline are you relieved of
hopeless hours spent trying to work out why your browser isn't
working properly.
For a further 50p, I learned that the BT Openworld Web page catches
the unwary, which is anyone not using the number they haven't told
them about, who attempts to download the BT dialler with the
correct number.
A word to the wise here. If, like me, you use a personal firewall,
I suspect it's a factor in blocking any attempt to download the new
dialler in background, and the BT dialler software, if you use it,
forces you to the BT Openworld Web site whether you like it or not.
It's preferable to use the dial-up number it gives you and plug it
into a dial-up network's properties in Windows.
So look away now if you would rather discover for yourself what the
new number is for BT Anytime Lite Connect. Perhaps by now it's on
the Web page and, if it isn't yet, here's the number anyway - 0808
9933163
What's your view?
Do you have any favourite BT
moments?
Let us know with an e-mail.>>ZentelligenceSetting the world to rights with the collected thoughts and
opinions of the futurist writer, broadcaster and Computer Weekly
columnist Simon Moores.