BT launches home smartphone at also blocks nuisance calls

DC14-043 February 5, 2014

BT launches home smartphone that also blocks nuisance calls

All the features of a smartphone on the home landline, plus it blocks up to 80% of nuisance calls

Families can now enjoy all the functions of an easy-to-use touchscreen smartphone, including email, Facebook and online browsing on their home phone. The new Home SmartPhone S comes with BT's unique Nuisance Call Blocking technology 1, which allows users to block up to 80 per cent of unwanted calls 2 . This follows the huge popularity of the best selling BT6500 3, which was BT's first landline phone to block nuisance callers.

This stylish handset gives all of the family access to the internet without having to wait for a computer to boot up. Customers will be able to link up to their home wi-fi and keep themselves up to date and entertained with Twitter, YouTube and Tune-In Radio. They can choose to download games, tools and loads more apps through the Opera apps store.

Customers will have instant access to a browser to quickly find whatever they want wherever they are in the house, making it easy to answer their emails in the garden, or look up recipes in the kitchen. It's also easy to call straight from selected numbers on websites, saving the need for dialling or jotting numbers down.

The Home SmartPhone S comes with a 2GB expandable memory which means it can store everyone's favourite music to play all around the house with the music and video player. The front facing camera is handy for taking photos around the home, or going online to make video calls so they can see as well as hear their friends.

It has all the great features of a BT home phone with high quality call clarity, an answering machine which can be accessed at home or remotely, and hands free capability. It also has a range of up to 300m and the capacity to store up to 1500 contacts.

With BT's unique Nuisance Call Blocking feature customers will be able to block calls from international numbers, withheld numbers, and unknown callers. They will also have the option to put the phone into Do Not Disturb mode, which switches off the ringer, as well as being able to bar outgoing calls to selected numbers, such as premium rate lines, and block incoming calls from up to 10 telephone numbers.

Nuisance calls are a growing concern in the UK. Last year BT received on average more than 50,000 calls a month into its Nuisance Calls Advice Line. However, since the introduction of the BT6500 Nuisance Call Blocker at the start of 2013, the volume of calls has halved 4. Research from Ofcom shows that consumers received on average two nuisance calls per week 5 . More than half of these were from Payment Protection Insurance companies 6 .

Erik Raphael, Director BT Wifi and Devices at BT, said: The new BT Home SmartPhone S allows customers to enjoy the features they would expect from a smartphone combined with the great features of a BT home phone, including nuisance call blocking to put them back in control of who they want to speak to. The Home SmartPhone S makes the home phone central to family life again, allowing you to look up numbers online and communicate with friends and family via email, facebook or calls.

The BT Home SmartPhone S, is available in Argos stores and at www.bt.com/shop.

-Ends-

Notes to Editors:

BT Home SmartPhone S

RRP: £169.99

Key Features:

Internet browsing

Facebook, Twitter and YouTube

Apps Opera Mobile store

Email client

Blocks up to 80% of nuisance calls

3.5 capacitive touch screen

Tune-In Internet Radio App

Video and Music player

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system

Front facing camera

Choose the type of calls which are blocked (international, withheld number, No caller ID or payphone)

Block incoming and outgoing calls to specific numbers

Do Not Disturb mode

DECT Cordless Telephone answering service with 24 minutes recording time

Up to 1500 contact storage

Wi-Fi connectivity

1 Caller Display required for Nuisance call blocking functionality, available free for 12 months with BT Privacy with Caller Display

2 Based on BTs Nuisance Calls Advice line data 2012, up to 80% of international, withheld nuisance calls, and specific UK numbers could be blocked

3 BT6500 has been the leading range in the market since March 2013, with a market share of 5.2% source: (GfK uk panelmarket home telephone market, volume sales, March 2013- June 2013)

4 Based on monthly call volumes into BTs Nuisance Calls Advice line, data for 2012 / 2013up to 80% of international, withheld nuisance calls, and specific UK numbers could be blocked.

5 Ofcom research 17 May 2013 Ofcom research reveals extent of nuisance calls

6 Ofcom research 17 May 2013 Ofcom research reveals extent of nuisance calls

LINK:	http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/ShowArticle.cfm?ArticleID=325684E6-...
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