[SOLVED] Dead air when virtual phone forwarding to one number

[ell]

Hi, thought I'd try and see if anybody might have an idea whats happening here because the cable company and the cell phone company can't figure it out!

I work a hair salon which has a business cable internet along with their IP-based telephony service with a virtual switchboard that I set up with 8 numbered forwarding options to each stylist's cell phone. They were all working fine until a stylist left so I moved #7 to #5 and now when you select stylist #5 from the menu options you get dead air, no rings, nothing for 50-60 seconds before it connects. Thats too long for anyone to wait, they'll just hang up. The other extensions work fine, they ring and connect correctly. We've pretty much exhausted everything I can think of, swapped the numbers, etc. It ONLY happens with her phone number, but it was working fine before I moved it to #5 could it possibly be something with her actual cell phone? Her cell service is the same as the others too. Help

 

[ell]

Sorry , just so frustrated, its spectrum business phone, Verizon is her cell company. I'm at the salon now, spectrum reset the modem but now there is no hesitation, but the line does not ring, so unless she picks up right away she will lose calls. All the other extensions ring fine

 

[ell]

Here's a pic of the interface from spectrum easy attendant she's #5

 

[ell]

I'd start by forwarding that line to a known-good phone - that'll cut your problem space in half right away.

But actually it sounds as if you've accidentally created a hunt group and the PBX is trying the original phone first before switching to the new one.

I have no idea what that means, can you give me a little clue? but I did put her number in #9, same no ring, put my home number in #9, it rings fine. agh

 

[ell]

I'd start by forwarding that line to a known-good phone - that'll cut your problem space in half right away.

But actually it sounds as if you've accidentally created a hunt group and the PBX is trying the original phone first before switching to the new one.

there is no roll over with spectrum they said, they have just one line

 

[ell]

That's not quite what a hunt group is - it's a list of rules and phone numbers determining which phones will ring in which order and for how long when an incoming call is received. It's intended to cover cases where a reception desk might not be permanently manned and if there's no answer then calls get diverted to Sales, or if the boss doesn't answer her phone then it gets switched over to her chief minion - that kind of thing.

And it has no correlation with the number of incoming lines.

In this case it sounds as if the PBX might be ringing a number that you don't have access to - possibly the defunct stylist's - before giving up and ringing the new stylist's phone. (Come to think of it, could you contact the old stylist and find out if he/she is getting a lot of unwanted calls?)


That makes it sound as if there's a no-ring rule of some kind set on the new stylist's phone. These are usually set based on caller ID; is there something odd going on there that makes calls diverted from the PBX look as if they're from overseas or an unwanted ex-boyfriend?

When we call the salon her phone does ring on HER side, but there is no ringing on the client (dialers) side, so the calls are going through, just without any ring sound. I tested all the other numbers and they all have a 10-11 second dead air delay, but then they start the ringing sound, hers is just nothing, she can still pick up, but the person calling never hears any rings. Dialing her directly is normal, rings right through.

 

[ell]

What you need now is an old priest and a young priest.

Alternatively it's time to spend a bit of time with the PBX's documentation. The caller's ring tone is probably being generated by the PBX and not by the stylist's phone, so that's the next place to look.

Spectrum escalated the issue....but we know how that goes, time for me to do a little googling on PBX!

 

[mikeroq]

I see the problem being either:
a) Issue on specturm's hosted VOIP system
b) Issue between Specturm's VOIP and her cell phone

 

[ell]

I see the problem being either:
a) Issue on specturm's hosted VOIP system
b) Issue between Specturm's VOIP and her cell phone

Its STILL going on, I've been on the phone with Spectrum everyday, different techs, they even called ME for a change, no one can figure it out. I reset the whole system yesterday, still won't ring her line.

 

[mikeroq]

What if you make a google voice number and forward it to her phone. Then use the GV number in spectrum and see how that goes?

 

[ell]

What if you make a google voice number and forward it to her phone. Then use the GV number in spectrum and see how that goes?

hmmmm, maybe if she goes along with it!

 

[ell]

Have you reached the point yet where it would be cheaper to buy her a new phone, or at least a new SIM?

we're talking about a hair salon, the stylist just rent the studios.

 

[ell]

But someone's paying for your time, surely?

pro-bono, relative, just trying to help

 

[ell]

Ah - that's what we think of as the Endless Free Support Nightmare.

Without spending any money, can you swap the SIM from the failing phone with a working one and see if the problem travels with the number or the phone?

Yup, my thought too, but I don't want to mess with her phone unless it's last resort, it's already very awkward with her being new. I think she's getting a Google number now, sure hope that works

 

[ell]

What if you make a google voice number and forward it to her phone. Then use the GV number in spectrum and see how that goes?

Thanks Mike! We just put the Google voice in and it works!!! Great idea! Love this board. The only drawback is you have to say your name before it connects you and she has to accept it, but maybe she can edit that, least it's fixed, spectrum never did anything but blame it on her phone.

 

[tek9]

Thanks Mike! We just put the Google voice in and it works!!! Great idea! Love this board. The only drawback is you have to say your name before it connects you and she has to accept it, but maybe she can edit that, least it's fixed, spectrum never did anything but blame it on her phone.

You have to turn off Call Screening (in the Legacy Voice settings) to stop it from asking people to state their name.

 

[ell]

You have to turn off Call Screening (in the Legacy Voice settings) to stop it from asking people to state their name.

yup, I gave her the directions to do it on a pc, cannot be done in the iphone app. Shes happy.