Telephone FAQs

You can access your phone features, check your voicemail, block specific numbers and so much more at myphone.btes.tv!

• What can I do if I have no dial tone?
  • Make sure you have no phones off hook.
  • Test other phones in your house. If they all have a dial tone, then you have a bad outlet or phone.
  • Sometimes Fax machines or PC’s plugged into the phone wires can cause a short. Try unplugging all fax machines and computers from the phone lines.
  • Old phones can cause shorts in the lines. Try unhooking all phones but the newest one to see if dial tone is restored.
  • Household pets or other animals may have chewed wires to some of the phones causing them to short out. Inspect any visible wires to see if they are damaged.
  • If you have a cordless phone make sure the batteries are not dead.
• What can I do if I cannot receive incoming calls?
  • Check the phone line and make sure there is a dial tone on the line.  If you do not have a dial tone on the line, refer to no dial tone instructions above.
  • If there is dial tone on the line, check if there is a computer modem, answering machine or fax machine that is answering the call before it rings. 
  • Make sure you do not have any of your phones forwarded to other lines.
• How do I block unwanted calls?

  Visit myphone.btes.tv to set up Selective Call Rejection if you know the number you are wishing to block or dial *60 on your phone and follow the prompts.

  You can also register your telephone number on the National Do Not Call Registry at www.donotcall.gov to help eliminate unwanted calls from telemarketers.

• What can I do if I have static or clicking on my phone line?
  • Check all phones within the premise to see if the static is on every phone.  If the static is on every phone, refer to the above instructions on no dialtone.
  • If the static is only happening on one phone, then the phone has a problem or an outlet has a problem. If the phone is cordless, try a wired phone on the outlet
• How can I check my voice mail from another number (Ex: from a cell phone)?
  • Make sure that you have set-up your voicemail from your home by dialing *15 and entering your pin code, followed by the # key. If you have not changed your pin code, the default pin code will be the last four digits of your account number before the dash.
  • You can then access your Voicemail from anywhere by dialing (423) 573-0191.
• How many messages will my voice mail box hold?

  Your voice mail box will hold approximately 150 one-minute long messages.

• How can I tell the last incoming phone call to my line?
  • Pick up a phone a dial *69 to hear the number of the last incoming call you received.
  • This is only available when you have the feature Call Return.
• How can I keep someone with caller ID from seeing my number?
  • If you do not wish to send your caller ID information for a particular call, simply dial *67 from a dial tone.
  • This is only available when you have the feature Caller ID blocking.
• How do I keep my phone number from my previous provider?
  • If you sign up for BTES service and tell them before the install that you want to keep your existing number then you do not need to do anything else. Your phone number will also be automatically disconnected from your previous provider.
  • Do not cancel your phone service before you are installed. This can cause your existing phone number to be kept by your old provider and BTES will not be able to port it from your old provider.
  • After your old phone number is disconnected from your previous provider, BTES is unable to put it on our system. If you get a new phone number from BTES and want to take back you old providers number you will not be able to.
• How do I use the One Line/Different Rings/Different Numbers or Teen line service?

  A Teen line makes you home phone ring with a different cadence if some calls this 2nd number. It is like having 2 phone numbers tied to one phone line. BTES sets the 2nd number or teen line to ring with a cadence of “Long-Long”. If you have a fax machine that supports this you can set it to pick up only when it hears the “Long-Long” Ring cadence. Please contact your fax machine manufacture if you need help setting up your fax machine for this feature.

• How do I receive calls from a correctional facility, jail, or prison?

  Calls from correctional facilities are not simply collect calls but require an account to be set-up before a call can be received from the correctional facility. To set-up an account so that calls from the correctional facility will reach you call 800-844-6591.

  • My name is not showing up on others caller ID when I call them

    It takes about 1 week after you have your phone number ported to BTES for all the phone systems to get be updated with you caller ID info. You telephone number should be being delivered to whoever you are calling but it may take up to a week for you name to start being delivered.

• What does the Residential Fiber Services Protection Plan include?

  As a BTES fiber service customer, you are eligible for our Residential Fiber Services Protection Plan for the fiber services you are subscribed to. If you have more than one telephone line (calling number), you must purchase the plan for each line. If this plan is added prior to service activation or within 30 days of activation, coverage becomes effective immediately. If it is added 30 days after the initial activation or beyond, the plan will not begin coverage until 90 days after it was added. A BTES Help Desk representative will troubleshoot issues with you to determine if the issue can be resolved or if a premise technician will need to be sent to your home.

  Includes:

  Repair of wiring, splitters, and outlets on the customer’s side of the ONT (point of demarcation) due to normal degrading or caused by animals or unintentional damage by customer.

  Only following the first exchange/pick up by customer at BTES and good faith attempt to set up equipment either with the support of BTES Help Desk or support at btes.net, in home exchange or installation of set-top box / VAP (including coax/HDMI and power cord) and BTES-rented routers.

  Does NOT include:

  Customer owned equipment including but not limited to: computers, laptops, tablets, phones, televisions, DVD players, Blu-ray players, surround sound, security systems, fax machines, non-BTES routers, non-BTES network equipment, etc.

  Repair to customer-installed / modified wiring

  Problems caused by customer negligence, damage caused by customer to BTES fiber or equipment, or damage caused by acts of God (fire, flood, etc.)

  Installation of additional outlets

  Remote failure or programming remote to customer equipment