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Telstra Silent Line Fee Free (Was $2.93 Per Month)

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I got an email from Telstra today:

Hi EdisonAU,

We wanted to get in touch to let you know about a few changes coming to your Silent Line service.

From 18th February 2018, we're removing the $2.93 monthly Silent Line fee from your fixed home service so you can enjoy it free of charge. This means it will no longer appear on your bill.

Your name, address and phone number will continue to be private. These details won’t be published online, printed in the White Pages, or available from Directory Assistance.
We're also giving you more flexibility and control over your privacy settings. We’ll refer to your Directory Listing setting as ‘Unlisted’ and your Caller ID will be switched to 'Off' so your number is not visible to other callers.

What's next for you?

You don’t need to do anything. Login to My Account or use the 24/7 App to check or update your Directory Listing and Caller ID settings anytime. If you’d like to know more, call us on 13 22 00 (7am to 9pm, AEDT, Monday to Friday).

NOTE: Please also see the link below:

https://exchange.telstra.com.au/silent-line-privacy-fees/

So, now you can make prank calls from home without identifying yourselves …..

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closed Comments

  • Silent line and directory listing are two separate things in the telstra app. Are both free now or is only silent line free?

    • They come together, stupidly enough. If you have a mode-3 monitored alarm, you can't go unlisted, because the call centre can't recognise your alarm without caller ID. That's an issue I had. Fortunately wireless alarms are affordable now.

      Stupid you can't have one without the other.

      • Not anymore. You can turn off (or on) directories listing OR silent line from the app independent from each other.

      • They come together, stupidly enough. If you have a mode-3 monitored alarm, you can't go unlisted, because the call centre can't recognise your alarm without caller ID. That's an issue I had. Fortunately wireless alarms are affordable now.

        You really don't have any idea do you?

        There is no such thing as a mode-3 monitored alarm. Mode 3 refers to the wiring which allows a device to sieze the line even if it is in use and this can be wired or via a double adapter.

        You can go unlisted and still have your number sent but this is not a requirement unless you have a cheap rubbish alarm that is unable to send it's identification with other information like which zones etc. What do you think the monitoring centres did before we had CND? Do you think they went to every monitored premise each time they received a call?

        Even if it was a requirement that the number be sent you could have a silent number and dial 1832 at the start to send the number.

  • +1

    Now let’s see if all the other ISP’s still charging for a silent number also drop their fee for it (looking at you Internode). Although knowing Telstra they’re probably still charging it to their wholesale customers.

  • +2

    now they just need to remove the bs charges for dialing 13 numbers

  • +2

    100+ positives…… Wow.

    Are there really that many ozbargainers still using an analogue landline phones? Or is it just that people never thought they'd see the day when Telstra actually abolished a fee?

    • -3

      Agree. This should be in the forums as a PSA

    • If you have a cable coming to your house, a number is attached to it. This number goes into the phone book whether you have a home phone or not.

      • +1

        When I was opening an account wth Telstra there was only 50GB or 100GB plans for naked cable. If I wanted more I'd need to get a bundle.

        The crazy thing is I don't even have the phone line hooked up. I didn't even want it. They operator said I didn't have to use the phone at all. However, my phone AND ADDRESS would be public without the silent line number.

      • If you have a naked plan then there is no telephony component attached to it. There will be a number associated with it for book keeping purposes, but you can't ring that number. What number would they put in the phone book?

        I have been with exetel for many years, and they suck for many reasons, but my name hasn't been in a phone book for many years - even though I have a phone number (only because it's cheaper than not having one).

      • If you have a cable coming to your house, a number is attached to it.

        Not if you have naked ADSL or NBN. Same wire, no number.

    • +2

      Problem is their is still areas in this country where there is no mobile phone service and you to rely on the old analogue landline phone. Not to mention it was only 3 years ago half decent internet was supplied. Never even thought it would be a problem when i bought the place, just figured mobile phone and interent service was everywhere. Yes in this day and age there is still no such service for some. A friend just less than 5 kms from town still couldn't have internet or decent mobile signal until they moved to town just before xmas 2017.

    • I upvote quality deals (or more accurately in this case, announcements) whether they directly apply to me or not.

  • so much bull. been on this silent line for ages. still get telemarketing pricks calling from overseas every once in a while. should apply for a refund for all those years.

  • will this stop the Telemarketers from calling

    • +3

      You can mostly stop the telemarketers by getting on the Do Not Call register, it's free: https://www.donotcall.gov.au/

      A few telemarketers ignore this, so as soon as I realize they are a telemarketer, I say "please remove me from your dialing list, permanently" . This gets rid of all but the most determined. A tiny number persist, for them I ask to speak to their supervisor, make sure I ask for their name and the telemarketing company's name, and tell them "I have been on the Do Not Call list for several years, I'll be reporting this call". That works 100%, nobody has called after that.

      However there are exemptions for surveys and political party calls. That's harder to get away from.

      How I wish there was a cheap device I could attach to my phone, that silently answers and says "please dial the extension you wish to speak with", and then doesn't ring the phone unless they enter a particular number, say 12. I'd just tell my friends and relatives to call extension 12, but the telemarketers won't know that. Any other extension number will "ring" indefinitely.

      • +3

        there is… just pick up a cheap old pabx on ebay :P

        I got one set up to give dialtone to anyone who called my landline, and then my family could call me (by dialing ext 11) or they could call my sister in the USA by dialing a passcode which would route them out to her cellphone via my VOIP line. This was before facetime was ubiquitous…. and so it cost them a local call to be talking to her, which was cool.

        • +1

          While that's a good idea, the running cost doesn't stack up. If a PABX draws 20W of power continuously, the electricity costs more than the $3.50/month it used to cost for an unlisted number.

          I looked on Ebay, and found a second-hand PABX with a photo of the compliance plate, says "40V 1.38A", which is more than 50W.

          Nowadays it should be possible to power an IVR from line power. Line power will give you ~10V at ~10mA, after putting that through a switchmode supply there should be more than enough power.

        • +2

          @Russ:

          I Run a PBX on a Raspberry Pi. It does all of this and more.

        • +1

          @MisterQ:
          How do you interface it to the phone line?

        • @Russ:

          You use an ATA - Analog Telephone Adaptor. Cisco SPA112 about $70 on ebay. I use Sipura 3102. They will typically have a FXO (PSTN connection) and a FXS (Handset connection)(and ethernet. You connect via the net to a Pi or cheap PC running Linux and one of the Open source PBX software packages (Most are based on SW called ASterisk). (Or you can run your PBX on a cheap cloud service).

        • @MisterQ:
          Thanks. I already have a couple of SPA3102's, and a still-working SPA3000 (on its third power supply). I have read about an FXO shield for the Pi, and I thought you might have one. I know a little about Asterisk, although I haven't tried it yet, looks like it needs a lot of settings set "just right" to make it both secure and workable. I didn't know Asterisk could do IVR though.

          Thanks again!

          Edit: I was recently looking at purchasing an OBiHai OBi110 ATA, and tonight when I searched the internet to see if it was suitable for use with Asterisk, I discovered it can be used as a stand-alone IVR. It might do everything I want, all in one box. Here's the article I found: https://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=12567.0

        • +1

          @Russ: Check out www.nerdvittles.com - they have a bunch of stuff on getting their build of asterisk, known as pbxinaflash running on a rnge of platforms.

          One of the things that I found handy/cute is the ability to pick up a US google voice number, and integrate it. I have a Boston Number that people in the USA can call me on, which rings through to here. All Free - I am on a top mobile plan with Telstra which means calls to the states are free

    • +2

      SomE use the whitepages for phone numbers but most use an automated dialing service, basically a computer automatically calls the phone numbers at random then when you answer it is put through to the blood suckling telemarketer, that's why you hear a slight delay between when you answer and on hearing the Indian clang on at the other end. I generally find if I get to say hello twice by then I figure it's a telemarketer and hang up. Occasionally if it's someone that knows me they'll ring me straight back. Telemarketers can't call back because it was a mac in that rang the number it doesn't show on their screen.

  • +4

    Here's something to enrage the OzB community even further… Silent line has been free for a number of years if you asked for it to be free which was as simple as asking someone. Completely, legitimately free, although it was charged monthly by default. It has been this way for many years.

    Source: Ex-Telstra store manager.

    • +3

      Yeah… Nah.
      Got a new service recently, and asked for unlisted number citing privacy concerns, and complained about the nerve of Telstra to charge me to NOT put my name and address in the white pages.

      No deal.

      Then… Bugger me dead. They make it free anyway. Did I say how much I really hate Telstra?

      • Just because your operator didn't know that, doesn't mean it's not in their policy. I no longer have access to the documents to support my point but there's little for me to gain in making it up.

    • nope. only if the operator put the codes in correctly, or even know about the code to put in.

      • That doesn't mean I'm wrong.

        Edit: in fact there were no "codes" to apply, it's not 1995 any more. It was a matter of clicking a drop down box when applying silent line and selecting either "Silent Line" (default) or "Silent Line - Fee Exempt", all you had to do was ask.

        • must be new because I tried about 2 years ago and the rep had to find and apply a code to the account to do it.

        • +1

          @The Land of Smeg:

          Wouldn’t surprise me if “find and apply a code” for a Telstra droid meant simply (or not so simply, apparently) operating a drop down box.

        • @LoopyLou: The technical term I used to get it was "No Entry Line"

        • @The Land of Smeg: I left Telstra in 2015 and it was old news at that stage. I'm guessing the rep just didn't know. Not unlikely….

    • No not really its chargable when I signed up Telstra cable contract I asked for it to be free, the rep says no

      • The rep was wrong. That can happen you know…

  • +1

    Too little, too late. Suffered for years, and now who needs landline.

    • +2

      Those of us who are still on ADSL2.

      • +1

        Never heard of Naked?

        • +1

          Yes, it's that thing that is offered by very few ISPs, and only the more expensive ones. Many years ago it was slightly cheaper, but now it's not.

          I'll pick a $20/month cheaper plan from one of the smaller ISPs, and put up with the rare robocall. I only answer the landline phone because it may be somebody who knows me, but used the white pages to find my number. Now that I can make that number unlisted, even better, now I can turn off the phone's ringer altogether.

          I do like to keep the landline, just in case I ever have to call emergency services. If you call from a landline, they respond a few seconds quicker, because they have a confirmed address for you. If you call from VOIP or mobile, the registered address will be flagged as uncertain, and they'll ask you to confirm where you are. Seconds save lives. Also, everyone in the house knows exactly where the wired landline phone is, no "where did I put my mobile" delays.

          I have VOIP too, on cordless DECT handsets, but I have a rule set so that emergency calls go out through the landline. I have one of the few VOIP ATAs that has an FXO port for connection to a landline.

        • -1

          @Russ: Dude, just unplug (or dont' even own) a landline handset if you're only doing ADSL

        • +1

          @idonotknowwhy:
          Did you actually read his post before replying?

        • Naked makes it harder to diagnose line faults. Often the price of naked is the same as the line included in any event. There's really no benefit to naked with current market pricing.

    • +1

      every business ever? Small and medium businesses also use and pay for silent numbers too :)

    • come to think of it every Aldi has 2 or 3 silent PSTN lines… thats what? 300 stores x 2-3 lines x 3$/mo…. that'd buy a lot of wieners in a jar!

  • TIL people still used landlines.

    • Yep there are plenty places in the country that telstra can't and won't supply mobile phone service.

  • +2

    logs into telstra account and turns this on.

  • +3

    Was paying this for over 5 years after a divorce and wanted to keep my address private. Could not believe they wanted to charge me for me to have privacy. This should never have been charged.

    Best thing I ever done was move to VOIP

  • +2

    If it’s a private number there is a high chance I will not answer. I’m sure many others do the same.

    • +1

      If you have a landline, Telstra will extort $6 a month from you for caller ID. So most people with landlines don't have that enabled.

      "CND is $6 per month. Calling Number Display is provided at no extra cost on Telstra Voice Ultimate and Telstra Home Phone Pinnacle plans or any Telstra Home Phone service provided on the nbn™." from https://www.telstra.com.au/home-phone/features-services#call…

      • If you have a landline, Telstra will extort $6 a month from you for caller ID.

        That's only for incoming, not outgoing. (unless it changed?)

        • Auna was talking about not answering calls with caller ID blocked. You can't do this unless you you have incoming caller ID enabled, and Telstra charge for that.

    • Me too. If someone wants to speak to me but doesn't want to show their "face" in advance then I will just decline the call.

      • Actually, all hospitals use private numbers. That's the problem with having hundreds of handsets in something as big as a hospital.

        So maybe the next private number you receive might be from someone important like… A nurse calling you about someone you know in emergency!

        • Then they can leave a voicemail. Easy.

        • @Porthos:
          Except they're not obliged to, and they won't.

        • @dangerdanger: What's your source on that then?

        • @Porthos:
          Source is me. I call people from work (public hospital). If I get shunted to voice mail, policy is don't leave a message. Confidentiality issues etc.

        • +2

          @dangerdanger: Ridiculous policy from your hospital then.

          Confidentiality issues with simply leaving a voicemail saying 'please call xxxx as soon as possible' which happens with other hospitals? You're not giving someone's test results to them.

          Source: Partner and aunty are nurses.

    • Yes many do. So, those who decide to snap up this new "bargain" from Telstra can expect to have many of their calls unanswered. I have my VOIP equipment set to divert all anonymous calls to the answering machine. If the caller has a genuine reason to call, they can leave a message but I consider it just plain rude to call someone without identifying yourself. It's different if you're calling a business but you can switch your CID off on a per-call bass by prefixing 1831.

    • If it says Private Number I'm more likely to answer because I know it's not a Telemarketer :)

  • +3

    Back when this mattered, you just had to tell Telstra your line was for a fax machine or dial-up modem, and they would not list you in the Whitepages, no charge.

    • +3

      would have been nice to know this 10-20 years ago.

  • +5

    Isn't amazing how they make you try to feel good for dropping a fee on something they never supplied in the first place. If you don't want your number printed it should never have cost in the first place, they are the engineers of charging for stuff they don't supply.

  • Too little too late. Come NBN I'll get rid of Telstra in my life for good, can't wait. Pity no naked ADSL at my exchange…

  • The app doesn't let me unlist. Need to call.

    • I did it on their website.

  • People still use landlines wow..

  • +1

    Does that mean now they might now scrap exorbitant and unnecessary charges (~0.40c) for 1300 numbers as many other telcos don't charge for this?

    • +2

      Haha woah mate. Slow down there. They're saving that for publicity when they (profanity) up next time.

  • +3

    This reminds me of the "generosity" of the banks removing the ATM fee. The number of people with Telstra landlines is declining every day, so they are ensuring that they get some PR out of it by removing a fee that they are getting less and less revenue from.
    I refused to pay for the silent number extortion free, but had to give up my privacy as a result. Was infuriating to listen to Telstra say that having numbers listed "was in the public interest". As soon as NBN came to my area, I signed up and did away with Telstra, and haven't looked back.

  • +1

    PSTN ? Landline? Telstra? What are these things you speak of?

    • +1

      PSTN : something older mature women (55+) suffer of.

      Landline : when a line hits land, like during storms or acts of vandalism. As in landing.

      Telstra : a new model, the latest actually, of Tesla Electric Vehicles.

  • Private line & Do Not Call Register or not you will still get scammer calls as they use stolen & sold phone lists plus robocall to identify live/active lines then people call you later. It does reduce the amount of unsolicited calls though.

    As to prank calls Police and Emergency services etc have a category added to their phone service which enables them to see the Caller ID in spite of it being a silent line.

  • Since I changed recently to TPG (worst decision of my life, but let's not go there) I was with Telstra for a number of years - happy but my wallet wasn't. Silent numbers were free, I never got charged for one???

    Hmm..

  • +3

    Wow- innovation- cutting edge- Turnbull will be thrilled. Should have happened 100 uears ago. Talk about shutting the gate after the horse has bolted.

  • This is only possible thanks to Sensis being sold off

  • Great! Thanks so much for posting this! Was easy to change setting in the app.

  • So, now you can make prank calls from home without identifying yourselves …..

    For that you need to block Caller ID or CLID (Silent Line doesn't).
    Do it all the time …

    • Does blocking/disable caller ID cost any money or part of the free service now?

  • Well I just checked my iinet Toolbox and my "White pages listing" is listed as "NOT LISTED" - and yet…..when I look myself up in the white pages….there I am - It's only the line for the internet, but still I don't want people to know where I live. I love how our privacy is held for ransom and now we have to pay to NOT have things :P - Soon we will have to pay to NOT get junk mail

    • White pages was a handy utility for legitimate purposes until marketers/scammers/stalking became fashionable! Now it is 50% legitimate and 50% abused.

      I agree with everyone else saying listing should have been paid, therefore those telemarketers would only call those who chose to be marketed to. I don't go to McDonalds and pay a surcharge so the teenager making my burger doesn't give me hepatitis, it is a reasonable expectation that you don't intend to get an infection when eating fast food.

  • So will this flow through to resellers of Telstra Wholesale? iiNet are currently charging me a monthly fee for a silent number.

  • +1

    When I saw the title, I thought it was some premium service to remove the humming noise from the background of landline calls.

    • +1

      If you can hear hum on your line, there is almost certainly a fault. The landline phone system runs from DC power, supplied from huge banks of batteries in the phone exchange, so there's no way for hum to get onto the lines.

      The fault could be your line, or it could be your phone handset, or something else that is connected to your phone line. Disconnect everything from your phone line, including ADSL modem and/or burglar alarms. Plug an old-style phone (without a power connection) into the first phone socket in your home and test. If the hum persists, it's the line.

      I had the same fault recently, hum on the phone line. The Telstra tech found that the cable pit outside my house was filled with mud, and some of the sealing had failed, so one of my wires was touching the mud. Didn't cost me anything for the repair, faults before the first phone socket in your home are free to fix.

      • +1

        I wish I knew this 15 years ago.
        56k Dial-Up only ever got about 25k and ADSL2 only ever got about 2-3mbit.
        I've moved away years ago though so not useful now.

  • The simple fix is unplug the phone. Use your mobile instead.

    Every fricken time you sign up a phone/cable plan which you know you won't use the home phone anyway but the sales person keeps asking you silent number etc.

    Privacy tax and a scam!

    • +2

      Not using your phone doesn't mean it magically takes your number out of the phone book, which is what most people don't want.

  • VOIP - Free per month…. Had VOIP for about 15 years - I used to pay about $90 per month in bullshit for the Telstra service in the country

    • I couldn't find a VoIP service with a free Australian number provided. I need people/employers to be able to call me on a normal Australian landline number. My mobile does not have reliable reception inside the house so although I use it a lot I can't rely on it to get a call.

  • Are they still charging people rental for their old Telecom Australia handsets? ;-)

  • It is a good news for for Telstra customers who want to save a little bit money on Telstra plan.

  • Armored Core Silent Line. YES! I win the everlasting unrelenting obligatory quirk contest give me my badge now plz.

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