Lines are busy message

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 04, 2007 Posts: 7

rashford wrote:

...you have to include the STD code for older (5-digit) numbers...

This started a nagging little voice in my head. We have eight-digit numbers in Portsmouth. I've just tried a call leaving off the first two digits: lo and behold, I can get through!

So someone at Vonage has quite recently decided that phone numbers that aren't either 6- or 7-digits don't exist, probably because that sort of thing doesn't happen in America.

Urge to kill... rising...

Posts: 109 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Mar 30, 2005 Posts: 109

just to let you know we've been experiencing the same problem, and guess what, we live in Portsmouth!

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 04, 2007 Posts: 7

...and let me guess, it started a couple of months ago.

Have you managed to speak to them yet? what did they say?

As I suspected, I've heard nothing more from them. Previously if I've had problems they've emailed me the trouble ticket and kept me updated. This time round: not a sausage, which furthers my theory that nothing is being done.

Just out of interest, is anybody with a London number experiencing problems? London numbers are also eight digits. Is anybody having to revert to seven (or worse, six) digits?

Posts: 109 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Mar 30, 2005 Posts: 109

or Southampton?

Posts: 15 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Aug 25, 2006 Posts: 15

It's happening to me again this. Trying to call a specific number in the US and past couple of weeks I am getting a lot of this try again later 0106 message (had it before and took a good few weeks to fix itself) Trying to email them so I don't have to deal with their dreadful phone support and their email is effectively bouncing.

Dear Valued Customer,
The email you just sent to us was not received because it was sent directly to an email address that does not accept emails. If you need to send us an email, we are more than happy to assist you. Simply visit our Contact Us page, accessible from http://www.vonage.co.uk.
If you should need to call us for Technical Support, in order for our highly trained specialists to successfully assist you, it is highly recommended that you are near the Vonage device you are calling about and in the location you intend to use your Vonage service.
Note, this email was sent from a mailbox that does not accept replies. To send us a new email, please visit our Contact Us page.
Thank you,
Vonage U.K. Customer Care

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 04, 2008 Posts: 2

I know that this may seem trivial and painfully obvious, but I was experiencing the same problem for the past two hours while making a local call. I would dial, and after an unusually long delay, a recording with the "lines are temporarily busy 0106" would come on. I hung up, hit redial and got the same thing. I waited a while, hit redial again over and over -- exact same result each time...

In frustration, I searched here. I saw that other users reported getting thru on cell or landlines. I tried my cell and the call went right thru. Afterwards, I tried the call again from my Vonage phone and it started ringing on the other end immediately, like I would normally expect. I checked the log on my phone and realized I had dialed one of the digits wrong... dumb mistake, but normally I would expect the wrong person to answer or to get a recording that the number was bad, not busy. I tried dialing the same 'wrong' number on my cell phone and heard error tones and a recording that the number I was calling was not in service. Why would Vonage say it is busy, when it doesn't exist?

So, check the number you are dialing. If I had continued using 'redial' I would still be waiting!

-Daniel Goad
Dallas, Texas

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 04, 2007 Posts: 7

DanielGoad wrote:

normally I would expect the wrong person to answer or to get a recording that the number was bad, not busy.

You're absolutely right. It's actually illegal in the UK for a telco to put out the wrong tones or announcements. Wrong numbers should have Wrong Number announcements or Number Unobtainable tones, not busy tone or equivalent announcements. I've pointed this out to Vonage, particularly since they're forcing me to dial a wrong number in order to get through, but they simply don't give a stuff.

It's also illegal to transmit a caller ID that's not returnable to the original caller, but they don't care about htis either.

Posts: 9 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 17, 2008 Posts: 9

I don't think its as simple as if you don't dial fuill code you don't get through - its just sometimes the case. I'm in 01635 Newbury, mostly I can dial 6 digit codes for local numbers just then occasionally I get "Lines are busy" and need to redial with 01635 prefix.

OK for me but confuses visitors, just looks to them like I've got a rubbish phone service .... what with the Maestro cards fiasco they may be right.