Everything you need to know about the digital voice switch over

It'll come with simple step-by-step instructions to help you get set up. Can’t find the instructions? No problem – just follow the detailed instructions in the Getting set up with your fibre phone service section on this page.

If we haven’t already, we’ll send you a text message on how to reorder an adaptor. If you haven’t received the text, contact us on 150 from a Virgin Media home phone, or 0345 454 1111 from any other phone.

If you've spoken to one of our agents and arranged for an adaptor to be sent, but it hasn’t arrived after 10 days, contact us on 150 from a Virgin Media home phone or 0345 454 1111 from any other phone, and we’ll send one to you. Or, if you’ve not got an adaptor but have received an ‘adaptor sent’ confirmation text, follow the instructions in the text to order another one.

Your home phone won’t work until you connect the adaptor to your phone and Hub. You need to do this on the date we confirmed to you by text message. 

If you plug your adapter in before the switchover, you might temporarily lose your phone service until your switchover date. Only plug in your adaptor on the fibre phone switchover date we’ve confirmed by text message. 

Your new service won’t work until your switchover date – so you’ll need to check the date shown in the letter we're sending you. Make sure the phone cable and adaptor are all connected securely.

Here are a few easy fixes:

• Your new phone service won’t work until the day of your switchover – so don't plug in the adaptor until the date we confirmed by text message.

• Make sure the phone cable and adaptor are all connected securely.

• Hub 3: If you’ve got a Hub 3, a green phone icon should flash showing the phone’s all setup. If the light’s red or not showing, check the connections to the Hub, reboot by turning off then on at the back and try again.

• Hub 4 or 5: If you’ve got a Hub 4 or Hub 5 and the Hub’s light ring flashes red for a couple of minutes, check the connections to the Hub, reboot by turning off then on at the back and try again.

Contact us on 150 from a Virgin Media home phone, 0345 454 1111 from any other phone.

• Let us know about any devices you have as soon as possible so we can offer additional support when the time is right to switch over.

• Check with your device provider as soon as possible (which could be your local council, a private telecare supplier or another organisation), to see if your device is compatible with our fibre home phone service. Your device provider might know this as ‘digital voice’.

• If your device isn’t compatible and/or doesn’t have its own backup, contact your device provider about upgrading your services.

Basic phone handsets (either corded phones or cordless DECT phones) are expected to work with the new fibre phone line. However, some customers have more complex connected devices, such as telehealth devices (like a care alarm, fall alarm or fall pendant).

While most devices will be compatible, some older systems might only work over copper phone lines. If so, you might need to update your equipment. It’s best to check with your device provider to make sure.

Just so you know, your device provider may call the new phone line ‘fibre phone line’, ‘IP voice' or 'digital voice'.

Let us know about any devices you’ve got attached to your phone and we’ll help as much as we can to reconnect them. Your device provider can confirm whether your device has reconnected and is working correctly. You must check with them if you're unsure.

Before connecting any new device, we recommend you contact the provider to make sure the service is compatible with the new phone line (the provider may call the new phone line ‘fibre phone line’, ‘IP voice’ or ‘digital voice’). If your new device connects to your phone line, then you'll need to make sure it has its own power backup and network backup (like a SIM card) to work in a power cut. If you’re buying a connected device because your circumstances have changed (e.g. you now need a care alarm), let us know so we can provide the best support possible. You might also be able to get an Emergency Backup Line – to ensure you’re still able to make voice calls in the event of a power or network outage. More information about our Emergency Backup Lines is available here.

Yes, but let us know as you’ll need an engineer to visit. When our engineer pops around to do the switchover they'll make sure all your phones work too.

Customers with a disability, long-term illness and accessibility needs, and customers without access to a mobile phone can get our Emergency Backup Line, at no extra cost.

When making calls to emergency services, the Emergency Backup Line connects to any available mobile network, which means the device will work wherever there’s mobile coverage when you’re calling emergency services. 

However, in areas where there’s no mobile coverage, our Emergency Backup Line won’t work. We want to make sure that you’re always safe and can contact emergency services. That’s why we won’t offer our fibre phone line to customers who live in areas without mobile coverage.

If you need an Emergency Backup Line, get in touch and, when the time is right, we'll arrange a time for one of our engineers to install it for you.

Our engineer will install it for you and make sure that it’s working. You can read more about the Emergency Backup Line in our home phone guide.

Yes, so please keep the Emergency Backup Line and Hub plugged in all the time. It’s important not to turn it off at night or at any other time as it needs to be turned on to charge. If there’s ever a power cut, the Emergency Backup Line device will start charging again as soon as the power comes back on.

The Emergency Backup Line device is designed to provide around 8 hours of standby and 1 hour of talk time if it’s disconnected from the mains supply. Just make sure the Emergency Backup Line is connected to the mains supply so the battery can charge.

The Hub needs to stay plugged into the mains at all times or you won’t be able to make and receive calls. If you do switch it off, make sure you have an alternative way to make emergency calls – like a mobile phone. It takes a few minutes for the Hub to work after restarting.

In addition to emergency calls (999 or 112), subject to your location and O2 network availability, the Emergency Back Up Line will allow you to make direct-dialled calls at no extra cost during a power or network outage to: 

• Freephone numbers; 

• UK local and national geographic landline numbers starting 01, 02, 03; and 

• UK mobile networks starting 07 (excluding Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man mobile numbers). 

For more information including fair use policy, see our call costs.

You must reach out to us as soon as possible if you have any specific needs or requirements. This will let us offer extra support, which could include installing an Emergency Backup Line when the time comes to switch over. Contact us on 150 from a Virgin Media home phone or 0345 454 1111 from any other phone.

No worries. Just get in touch and we can arrange a return. Contact us on 150 from a Virgin Media home phone or 0345 454 1111 from any other phone.

• In the event there’s a power cut or a network disruption, you won’t be able to make or receive calls and most devices that are connected to your phone line (like some older text relay systems) won’t work.

• This means you won’t be able to use your text relay service during a power or network outage.

If you rely on legacy text relay you may wish to:

• Upgrade to Next Generation Text Relay – you can find out more about this here.

• Get a separate phone line from another operator. We’ll help towards the cost of your installation up to £130 and will credit you £19 per month towards the cost of maintaining that line. 

• Contact us as soon as possible on Textphone via a text relay call on 150 from a Virgin Media home phone or 0345 454 1111 from any other phone and we’ll discuss the next steps

If you were sent a new WiFi Hub, it should have come with a handy set of instructions which you can also find here. If an engineer visited you to install the Hub, they should’ve already connected it for you.

Check if you have Anonymous Call Reject switched on – you can find more information on this here. This might be stopping you from receiving calls from withheld numbers. If it’s still not working, please run a test on your broadband service.

Alternatively, contact us on 150 from a Virgin Media home phone or 0345 454 1111 from any other phone.

Your new Hub will come with a factory generated WiFi name, so you’ll have to reconnect your devices using the network name and password on the back or the bottom of the Hub. Or you can change the WiFi network name to mirror your previous name and password. 

Your new WiFi Hub will come with a default factory generated WiFi name and passcode, so you’ll have to reconnect your devices. Or you can change the WiFi network name to mirror your previous name and password.

You’ll know that the switch has happened and that your phone line is working as…

• There'll be a dial tone on the phone when plugged in

• You’ll be able to make and receive calls

• If you have a WiFi Hub 3 (you can check which Hub you have by checking the sticker on the bottom of your Hub) a green phone icon will be displayed

If your friend or relative needs support with their Virgin Media account, you can call on their behalf as a third party contact. We’d need to clear the security details on the account with you before we could help.

Contact us on 150 from a Virgin Media home phone, or 0345 454 1111 from any other phone to arrange for the Hub to be swapped over. You’ll need to verify your account information, so make sure you’ve got it handy. 

When you switch over to our fibre phone line, you'll make your calls over the broadband network – similar to how you do on WhatsApp or Zoom. Digital calling like this has the potential to provide much clearer phone calls when compared to the copper line, especially when calling long distances. 

As the fibre home phone service is provided over our broadband network, your phone will need to be plugged directly into the Hub. That means it’ll need electricity to work, unlike the copper phone line. 

The industry is updating the whole home phone network to move away from old copper line cables to the fibre network. This will help us to make sure we keep a reliable connection for years to come. 

The whole industry is updating to fibre networks and is aiming to move all customers over in the next few years. When it’s your time to make the switch, we’ll contact you to let you know. Don’t worry, we’ll always inform you before we make any changes to your service. That way, you’ll have time to make any necessary preparations before the move.

Once we’ve agreed the switchover with you, it's really important you follow the steps to ensure your phone services aren’t disrupted, any connected devices still work, and you can still use text relay if you rely on this. If you do nothing, your home phone service and anything connected to it will no longer work.

It won’t cost you a penny extra. Your new fibre phone line will cost the same as your current service.

No, your contract and price will remain the same.

No, your number will stay the same. A small portion of customers may need to change number and/or product in very limited circumstances – but we’ll let you know if this is the case.

No, you can keep using the same phone handset you’ve always used. The new fibre phone line is designed to work with the same phones as the old copper line.

When you switch, you’ll be provided with an adaptor, which you can use to plug your phone into the WiFi Hub – that’s all there is to it. You’ll then be able to use your same old phone to make your calls.

If you have an older version of our Hub or you don’t currently take broadband services from us, we'll install a new Hub at no extra cost.

Nothing at all – they’ll stay as they are.

Your home phone will not work if our Hub is switched off. However, if you switch the Hub to modem-only mode, your phone will work.

In the unlikely event there’s a power cut or a network disruption, you won’t be able to make or receive calls on your home phone. Most devices that are connected to your phone line (like healthcare alarms or telecare devices) will be affected until the power or network is restored, unless they have their own backup. It’s important to let us know if you have any of these devices, and you should also speak to your device provider to make sure the service is compatible with the new phone line. 

If you have connected devices (including healthcare alarms or telecare devices) that use your phone line, you’ll need to check with your device provider to make sure they’re compatible with our fibre network phone line. We recommend your devices have their own battery and network backup service. 

No, unfortunately not. Calls made over the fibre network need to be made over broadband through the Hub. If the Hub is unable to connect to the internet, then you won’t be able to make calls either, whether this is due to a power cut or network outage. Keep a mobile phone handy in case this happens.

After a power or network outage it can take a few minutes before the Hub’s back up and running, and everything’s back to normal. If you have any problems after a power cut or network outage, please get in touch.

If you have a call blocking device it should continue to work. If you have a separate call blocking machine connected to your home phone, simply disconnect the call blocking machine’s cable from the phone service wall socket and instead plug it in to the Hub via the adapter.

If you have a base station which controls several handsets wirelessly, only the base station needs to be connected to the Hub. The other cordless handsets should then be able to work around the home. If you have different cordless phones connected to different base stations around the home, with wiring running back from each base station to the telephone socket, you’ll need an appointment with one of our engineers.

For phone extensions to continue to work, you’ll need to book an engineer to make some changes to the Virgin Media cabling in your home.

Yes, all home phone handsets or connected devices which are currently plugged into electric sockets will need to remain connected.

If you’ve moved your main home phone handset and can plug the cable into the Hub (via the adaptor), you won’t need an engineer to visit as you’ve solved the problem yourself. Only book an engineer if you also have an additional phone line or additional handsets plugged into extension wall sockets around your home.

No – the broadband and telephone service are separate and have their own quality of service.

We take the security of your phone calls very seriously. Calls use a different part of the network to broadband traffic, so there’ll be no crossed wires. Don’t worry, we’ve rigorously tested the line to make sure your voice calls are safe and secure.

Let us know so we can arrange for an engineer to move the WiFi Hub and phone closer together. Don’t worry, this won’t cost any extra.

No, swapping the Hub (if you need one) won’t change your existing broadband package, unless you’ve requested to change your package, too.

That’s okay. You will need a Hub for your phone services to keep working, and we’ll provide you with one at no extra cost. This does not mean we are adding a broadband service to your package.

No, the Hub will only provide your home phone line. It shouldn’t interfere with any of your other services.

As the fibre phone service works a little differently from our old home phone service, we have updated our Terms & Conditions.