Home phone Guides

Second phone line installation

Updated: Monday 16 January, 2012

By Anthony Hill - anthony.hill@consumerchoices.co.uk

If you live in a busy household or you’re running a business from home, installing a second phone line could help keep your costs down. Find out how to get am extra line installed in our guide below…

Here’s the Homephonechoices.co.uk guide to setting up an additional telephone line, giving you all the information you’ll need to make sure you get the best value for money and a landline service that suits you.

What is a second phone line?

A phone line is a physical connection between your house and the local BT exchange or Virgin Media cable network. A second phone line works exactly the same way as the first, but with a different phone number and separate cables and phone sockets.

Second phone line costs

The standard installation of a new BT line costs £130, and a minimum contract of 12 months applies. It is possible to reduce the cost however, by bundling your BT phone line with a broadband package - this will reduce the cost to £30.

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There are alternatives to BT (www.bt.com), including phone lines from TalkTalk (www.talktalk.co.uk) and cable lines from Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com). Read our guide on phone line installation options for more information.

It’s important to bear in mind that, if you decide to take up an additional phone line with BT, the second line will appear on your main bill. The cost of each line will be shown separately, but both lines will have to sign-up for the same call plan.

Why do I need a second phone line?

There are several reasons why you might need a second phone line, including:

1. Business line - The main reason people have an additional phone line installed is for business. The line is kept separate from the main home number, so you won’t receive business calls on your personal line, and you can set up voicemail to take messages outside of business hours. If you’re running a business from home, make sure you check out your phone supplier’s business rates.
2. Sharing a property - You might need to add a second phone line if your property is being split into flats, or because you have a lodger or member of the family who prefers to have a separate phone line.
3. Call management - You will need an additional phone line if you want to manage two lots of outgoing and incoming phone calls.

Second phone line suppliers

When you’re looking for a home phone supplier to install a second phone line, the main choices are BT and Virgin Media. Other suppliers offer line installation though, so it is worth checking out the various phone line options.

A cheaper alternative to getting a new phone line installed is getting an internet phone service like Vonage. This way you can make and receive phone calls without having to pay line rental or an installation charge for a separate telephone line, and calls to other users of the same service are free.

Alternatively, you could take advantage of BT Broadband Talk, which allows you to make internet calls through a BT broadband connection with no line rental or installation charge, but there is a charge for daytime calls unless you pay a subscription.

Video: How to make cheap online calls with Skype and Vonage