UPDATED: BT backup lets customers down

Backup solutions

BT has just confirmed to IT PRO the problems its online backup service has been experiencing.

A spokesperson from the company said: "BT's Digital Vault has had some intermittent technical issues following a complex upgrade to improve the service. We apologise to any customers who were affected by the problem."

They added: "There was an intermittent fault limited to the Auto Backup Manager which affected only a small number of customers and has since been rectified. At no time were customers' personal files or content at risk."

Complaints about Digital Vault have been posted on BT's forums, as some customers could not backup their PCs and others were unable to access their data.

The online service comes in packages with BT's broadband, offering a basic 5GB back-up for free or the plus size back-up of 50GB for 4.88 a month. Although primarily a consumer product, BT confirmed that some small business would chose to use this as a back up option.

A stream of complaints followed an initial post on the forums from one customer who detailed a list of problems they had come across over the past two years. These included auto-backup software not working at all and the Vault not acknowledging when files were deleted, cutting the availability of free space for the customer.

BT has said that if anyone experiences problems they should contact the helpdesk for free on 0808 100 6778 between 8am Midnight, seven days a week.

Jennifer Scott

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.