SMS not working - never has.

Question

Hi all,
I have supposed to have had SMS on my landline since it came out.
I bought a set of Philips cordless phones for the purpose.  They were the best cordless phones that I’d ever come across, great, clear sound quality, functionality etc.
The SMS wouldn’t work.
I got the ‘audio’ version of a message,,,,, but not the ‘visual’ one.
My initial contact with BT met with;  “it should work (!?!?),,,,,  - probably the 3rd party phones are incompatible with the service” ! And as such, wouldn’t look into it much.
Rather reluctantly, I bought a set of BT Verve phones.  Excitedly, I sent myself a test message, only to find that they were the same. When I say “the same”, I meant that I still didn’t get the visual version of the SMS – not that the quality of the phones were the same, as they weren’t. They are nowhere as good as the original Philips ones – that I had now given to my old neighbours.
I tried BT again, but they said that as I am getting the audio version of the SMS, that there must be a problem with my gear.
I had visions of them saying “you only need to spend more pounds on a special bit of kit” etc, so I gave up.  It has never worked since.  I have refrained from giving my number out for SMS purposes, so have to keep my mobile phone on all day, just to receive said messages.
The only reason that I am brining it up again now, is that at 2:45 this morning, my phone/s went.  I am now a disabled pensioner, and due to pain and medication, my sleep pattern is not as it should be.  I relish the short periods of sleep that I pinch here & there.
I have a young adult Son, who has just returned from Oz.  He bought a cheap car to keep him going till he makes his mind up whether he’s staying in the UK, or going back to Australia.    Earlier in the day, he called to say that it was over-heating, so when the phone went at that time in the morning, it scared me to death (well, almost. In my condition, it could well have).   As I struggled to get to the phone, my answer machine cut in.   I still had to make it to my lounge to listen to the recording, in case there was an emergency - because - no one in their right mind would actually telephone me at 2:45 for a chat !
When I heard the audio message reverberating from the machine, firstly; I was so relieved that it was nothing serious, & secondly; so dammed annoyed that I had expended so much energy, in so much pain, just to listen to it – I almost broke down.  Of course, I have not slept since then, which will bu@@er up another day.
Apologies for the rambling, but I wanted to show how these tiny niggles can effect different people, differently.
My question/s:
1) Can I get this ‘so called service’ working ?
2) If I can’t – can I get it stopped altogether ?
3) When/if it is working, does the phone ring when a SMS is received – or what happens ?  If the phone rings, then I may not want the service anyway – it defeats my object.  Another set of 2nd quality phones later,,,,,,,,,,
All The Best to you all for the
NEW YEAR

Answer 1

All the answers should be on this page, or on the links to the right of it.
http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9050/~/how-do-i-enable%2Fdisable-the-voice-text-featu...
This is probably the one you want.
http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9057/related/1
There are some useful help pages here, for BT Broadband customers only, on my personal website.
BT Broadband customers - help with broadband, WiFi, networking, e-mail and phones.