Technical details of using BT Online

What is the browser policy?

BT supports:

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What hardware and software do I need for accessing the secure section of this website?

The following items will help deliver a faster and more efficient service:

Minimum hardware
The following items will still let you use our secure service:

Minimum software
You’ll need the following software to access our secure section:

If you already have another web browser such as Netscape, or an older version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, it’s a good idea to download the latest version of Internet Explorer for free (opens in a new window) from the Microsoft website.

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How do I check which browser I currently have?

To check which browser you currently have installed, go to the Help menu on your browser and select the About (browser name) menu item.  A new page will appear with the version number (and other browser information).

Note: you must have ‘cookies’ turned on in the configuration of your browser.  Please see below to find out more about ‘cookies’.

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What are cookies and why do I need them?

Cookies are small text files a website can use (thousands of sites are currently using them) to store information about a visitor, or recognise a repeat visitor to its site.  For example, when you visit a web page a cookie may register where you came from, what server you are using to connect to the Internet, what browser you are using and what operating system you have.

Other functions of cookies include automatically keeping track of your login status, registering your preferences to make a ‘custom’ page that recognises you each time you visit the site and remembering information like your name and email address.

Cookies are not programs that damage files on your PC. 

BT website uses cookies to keep track of your session (e.g. whether you’ve entered a valid investor number and password), and not specifically to save any of your client information.  This means you can use BT website from ‘public’ computers (like Internet cafes) without having to worry about your BT Investor Number and password remaining on the computer as a cookie.

If you disable cookies, you will not be able to use the secure section of this website.

Some users will enable a feature in their browser to alert them when they are sent a cookie.  To disable this feature, the following instructions are for either the Netscape Navigator/Communicator browser or Microsoft Internet Explorer browser.

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What security is in place to protect my investment information?

We’re very serious about the level of security used to protect your information as it passes between your computer and our secure web servers.  For this reason, we’ve installed a number of security features:

  1. In order to protect your investment information from unauthorised people, we’ve registered a security certificate with the Verisign Trust Network, which provides you with a secure 128-bit SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encrypted connection via Server Gated Cryptography (SGC).
  2. We ask for an eight-character password (rather than your four-digit BT PIN).
  3. If three unsuccessful attempts have been made to log into your Account Summary, your account will be locked.  To unlock you account you’ll have to contact BT Customer Relations on 132 135, and they’ll verify your identity before unlocking the account.
  4. Withdrawals from your account can only be made to the bank account that you’ve nominated.  New bank accounts can only be nominated in writing, signed by you.
  5. If you’re logged into the secure section of this website but your session is inactive (for instance, if you’re called away from your computer or leave your session open accidentally), your session will be automatically closed after 10 minutes of inactivity.
  6. At no time are you required to enter credit card details into this website.
  7. Finally, you have to specifically request access to BT website (by registering to get a BT password).  So if you aren’t comfortable with the Internet, your accounts aren’t accessible online at all – unless you decide to turn the service on.

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How do I change the font size so that I can read it more easily?

BT website is designed for a font size of medium, which is the default on most browsers.  To adjust it in your browser, go to View, then use the font options available.

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What’s an SSL Error?

If you aren’t using Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 (or better) or Netscape 4 (or better), you’ll get an SSL error (SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer and is the mechanism that provides 128-bit encryption).  Download the latest version of Internet Explorer (opens in a new window) for free.

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What is caching?

Your web browser caches pages on your hard disk, meaning you automatically store copies of every page you visit on the Internet.  The purpose of caching is to speed up the performance of the browser.  Web pages that were recently visited are reloaded quickly since the old versions are already in memory.  However, the downside about caching is that once you’ve been to a lot of websites, the cache becomes full.  This will slow down the performance of your browser.

Another side effect of caching is that the browser may not display the current versions of web pages when you revisit them.  In this case, you’ll need to clear your cache.

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How do I clear my cache?

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What is Acrobat and how do I download it?

Acrobat Reader software lets you download documents that are in PDF format and view, navigate and print them. Download Acrobat for free from the Adobe website (opens in a new window).

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Problems after downloading RealPlayer?

If, after downloading the RealPlayer software and then clicking on This Week’s BT Video Clip link, you are receiving the message ‘Connection to server could not be established’, we suggest you change a setting on the RealPlayer software:

  1. In RealPlayer, click on View
  2. Click on Preferences
  3. Select the Proxy tab
  4. Change the HTTP options from No HTTP Proxy to Use my web browser’s HTTP Proxy
  5. Click OK

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How do I remove headers and footers when printing?

Often when you print a page or report from websites, the printout includes information in the header and footer such as the page title, URL address, date, and page numbers. You can remove this information from the printed version by changing your Internet browser settings. How you do this depends on the browser you are using.

Internet Explorer Browser

  • Select Page Setup under the File menu of the browser.
  • Delete the information that appears in Header and Footer fields in the Headers and Footers box. If you would like to retain the page numbers, leave &p of &P in the Header field.
  • Click OK.
  • If you're having trouble getting the report to print on one page you may also wish to change some of the other print options such as paper size or margin sizes.

Safari Browser - Mac users

  • Select File from the browser menu followed by Print.
  • Open the drop-down menu headed up Copies & Pages.
  • Select Safari from the drop-down menu and then uncheck the box marked Print webpage information in the headers and footers.
  • Click OK.

Firefox Browser

  • Select Page setup from the browser menu.
  • Select the margins & header/footer tab and set all the selectors to '--blank--'.
  • Click OK.

Opera Browser

  • Open Print options from the browser menu.
  • Uncheck the box marked Print headers and footers.
  • Click OK.

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