Work has a phone line for an alarm system to call out and go 'help help, the place is being burgled!!'. It also doubles as the line for clients' internet access (we reckon that as the alarm is off while we're in the building, we might as well use this line!)

Sometime around last weekend, it stopped working, and we – and the alarm – couldn't dial out. Dial tone and emergency calls, yes, anything else, no. Almost as if we had outgoing calls barred (incoming, yes, outgoing, no).

BT reckoned all was hunky-dory, but after a week (the earliest appointment!) did something.

Today, we get an odd dial tone and the PCs in the café won't dial out.

I put a real phone in… and discover lots of messages on 1571 (a service we shouldn't have) for someone with an Asian name. Including a 'Hello, we've just installed your new line, love BT' message.

I dial my mobile and, yep, the 'wrong' number is presented. BT have swapped a pair of wires somewhere, and we're getting their calls and presumably they're not getting anyone calling them (incoming calls barred, remember).

Sigh. Exactly the same thing happened last year when our fax (and staff internet) line got swapped with someone.

Still, if anyone wants to call their friends in Australia, or just rub a random Aussie's nose in the Ashes result :)) we have a phoneline that will be good to do it on. Be quick, because they're promising to fix it tomorrow, no honest, really.