no collect call capability

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: May 23, 2006 Posts: 4

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I was lied to when I first contacted Vonage and asked if I could accept collect calls. The Vonage man sounded uncertain but said "yes". I asked him to verify it with his supervisor. He did and confirmed receiving collect calls are part of the Vonage package.
This is important to me because I am a minister and my ministry is in prisons in a dozen states. The only way a state inmate can call someone is to call collect, and that phone number and the person's name must be approved before any calls can be made. It took a couple months to get my Bell South phone number transferred but with the help of a man named Louis at the executive response team it did get done. Well, I don't hear from inmates I expect to hear from and call the prisons. Seems every time an inmate (a ministry member) calls me collect, it is rejected because Vonage won't permit it. Now Vonage is not on the hook for the cost because each state has a contract, usually MCI, and I get a separate bill from each state account. So I call Louis. He's not there but the man with whom I spoke confirmed "NO COLLECT CALLS". I leavee a message to speak with Louis. He does not return my call. I send him 3 emails. He does not reply. Now perhaps he is ill or on vacation so I won't blame him for not returning my call or emails unless I find out he's been there all along. I leave several voicemail messages with the executive response team (they guarantee a return call within 4 business hours). No return calls. It is amazing to me that I got through to Louis every time I called until after the phone number transfer was accomplished. Now that I have a problem, I guess I'm no longer a priority or even important. The point is this: had I been told the truth about collect calls during my first call to Vonage I would still be with Bell South, or at least I would not be with Vonage. If you are hiring people whose accents are so strong you cannot understand what they say, at least they should give the correct information. So, Vongage - just know I have a woman dying of lung cancer in an Illinois State Prison who cannot call me here in South Carolina unless her counselor makes the call from his office. I don't count on it. It isn't happening.

Stan Lore, Minister
One-to-One Prison Ministries
http://prisonministry.net/one2one

Posts: 253 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: May 23, 2006 Posts: 253

even me i will feel the same thing. having the wrong information can really send into many troubles.
but i see no problem with the company, right?!
it's the one who you deal with before upon registering.
that guy who fooled you and made you believe that there is a collect call. Sad

Posts: 170 · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 9:27 pm Post subject:

I'm sorry you we misinformed when you decided to use Vonage. That's unacceptable and you should continue to go after Vonage to make it right -- I guess the only real way is to put you back with your old number and Bell South.

In the mean time, have you considered the toll free feature? For $4.99 per month you get a toll free number that includes 100 incoming minutes. After that you are billed at 4.9 cents per minute. It's not what they said they offered, but in the end, it may actually be cheaper than paying the collect call charges from Bell South.

-Bill

P.S. Thanks for doing what you do.

Posts: 605 · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 9:35 pm Post subject:

Prisoners cannot dial toll free numbers. I have attempted that before with no luck while being incarcerated.

Posts: 1123 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: May 26, 2005 Posts: 1123

KDWycha wrote:

Prisoners cannot dial toll free numbers. I have attempted that before with no luck while being incarcerated.

Ha! I knew there was something fishy about you! Lol

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: May 23, 2006 Posts: 4

Thanks for the suggestion, but as was just written inmates cannot call a phone number unless he/she has submitted both the landline number and name of the person to the prison asking that it be added to his/her phone list. In some states inmates can do this whenever they get a new number they want to add, and in some states inmates can add new numbers only 6 or even 12 months. In no state can an inmate use a calling card number or call a toll-free number. Minnesota allows it's inmates to pay for calls out of their own account, but as far as I know all others do not.

To answer another of ya'll who replied. It is NOT just the person who misled me when I signed up, since apparently his supervisor confirmed the misinformation. I can understand that and accept that both were not acting dishonestly in giving me bad information. I am ticked because now the "executive response team reporting directly to the ceo", that promises a return call within 4 business hours has not replied to 3 voicemail messages over 46 hours. I don't know Louis is there or has been there since last Friday, but I do know I've left 3 messages with the unfulfilled promise to call me within 4 business hours. Now if a "business hour" is similar to God's hour, which is equal to one of ours, then I'll be waiting for a long long long time.
Stan

Posts: 135 · Posted: Wed May 24, 2006 7:11 am Post subject:

Would it be possible to get a virtual number that would be local to the prison(s). Would the inmate be able to place a call to you it it was a local call?

Posts: 98 · Posted: Wed May 24, 2006 10:19 am Post subject:

Some other VoIP services claim to be able to accept collect calls, but most state somewhere in their FAQ's that collect calls cannot be completed. If nothing else, this will be listed in the terms of service, such as noted in the terms of service for Vonage:

"2.14 No 0+ or Operator Assisted Calling; May Not Support x11 Calling. The Service does not support 0+ or operator assisted calling (including, without limitation, collect calls, third party billing calls, 900 or calling card calls). The Service may not support 311, 511 and/or other x11 (other than certain specified dialing such as 911 and 411, which are provided for elsewhere in this Agreement) services in one or more (or all) service areas."

That said, I got a collect call from a local prison an my ViaTalk line. The name was not of anyone i know, so I did not accept it, but I was surprised that it came through at all. This may also serve as a reply to mharvey, since the collect call came from within my local calling area. Apparently, prisoners can place calls only if they are collect, no matter if it's across the country or across the street.

Posts: 170 · Posted: Wed May 24, 2006 10:28 am Post subject:

It would seem to me that Vonage is not in a position to allow collect calls to subscribers. Stan has a good point about the mis-information that Vonage people passed on to him, but caveat emptor. That said I would imagine that Stan will want to switch back to Souther Bell, or to some other carrier than can provide the services he needs. Now the issue Stan faces is how to get his number transferred either back to his old carrier or to a new one from Vonage -- this I've read here and elsewhere is not a simple task.

Good luck Stan...

Posts: 32 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: May 08, 2006 Posts: 32

Well, that's strange because someone form Guatemala called my nanny collect just the other day. Guatemala operator asks for the nanny, I hear nanny saying YES then talk to her relatives. I have to check my bill, not sure how the collect calls billing would show up.