Anonymous call rejection

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Jun 10, 2005 Posts: 5

cuzzort wrote:

I just contacted customer care where I spoke to a Customer Service representative named "Keno." I asked him IF and WHEN ACR was going to be implemented, and he put me on hold, contacted his supervisor, came back to the call and said, "If you want to know when this will be offered, call back on Monday or Tuesday and we will have a date!"
For further confirmation I asked for the name of his supervisor, whose name is Bob Perry.

WHEN is this going to be implemented? I don't understand why this is such a problem for Vonage when most other phone companies offer this. Virtually every nuisance call we receive is from somebody who has blocked their caller ID! Eek

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Jun 10, 2005 Posts: 5

As of JUNE 10, Vonage is STILL not providing this "must-have" service to its customers. Here is the customer care reply regarding anonymous call rejection:

Thank You for contacting Customer Care.

In regards to your email, at this time vonage does not offer these
features. This is something that may be offered in future.

Sincerely,

Tiffany
Customer Care Representative

Posts: 249 · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 9:06 am Post subject: ACR

[quote="70x7"]

cuzzort wrote:

I just contacted customer care where I spoke to a Customer Service representative named "Keno." I asked him IF and WHEN ACR was going to be implemented, and he put me on hold, contacted his supervisor, came back to the call and said, "If you want to know when this will be offered, call back on Monday or Tuesday and we will have a date!"
For further confirmation I asked for the name of his supervisor, whose name is Bob Perry.

Vonage flat lies to their customers. There "customer service" reps are old used car salesmen I believe. I don't understand it.

Posts: 8 · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 8:11 pm Post subject: Anonymous call rejection

ACR, or AC to voicemail. Soon. Please.

We keep getting these calls from a Miami number:

305-328-5624

and variations on that. No fax tone, no nothing. When I dial the number back, there is no ring, just a "We're sorry, your call cannot be completed as dialed. FTLZ371"

Which I suppose it would be easy enough to set up at a number.

If I don't disconnect I can wait what seems about five minutes before "We're sorry, all circuits are temporarily busy," comes up and a busy signal starts. (this seems real enough)

The calls come in at 5 am, 5 pm, 10:30 pm, 7:30 am. It's driving me crazy.

Posts: 1

I received this reply this morning when I inquired about ACR:

From: Vonage DigitalVoice Customer Care <customercare@vonage.com>
Reply-To: <customercare@vonage.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 13:07:46 +0000 (GMT)

Thank you for contacting customer care.

In response to your email I am sorry to inform you that there is no
set time table on anonymous call rejection. Feel free to contact us in
the future as this feature may just become available as we are always looking to improve our service.

Sincerely,
Sharif Bond
Customer Care Associate

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Jun 16, 2005 Posts: 11

Dear Vonage,

Please, please, please give us ACR and Call Blocking ASAP.

Thank you!!!!

Posts: 9

We signed up for Vonage May 13th and it has been great so far.

Anonymous Call Reject is probably one of the most popular feature requests, judging from the other Forum posts, and I would love to see it too.

However, let's be realistic and patient. Recently the FCC imposed some 911 requirements on Vonage and the other VOIP providers - I think with a 120-day deadline. So, Vonage has its hands full getting that project done by the end of October.

Starting sometime in November, it would be reasonable to expect more feature updates and enhancements.

Rather than hollering for ACR now!, right away!, yesterday!, I have another suggestion:

Let's support the Vonage staff as they scramble to meet an important deadline and let's recognize that right now anyway, solving the 911 problem to the FCC's satisfaction has to be a higher priority.

Thank you.

Posts: 53 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jun 08, 2005 Posts: 53

sojs wrote:

However, let's be realistic and patient. Recently the FCC imposed some 911 requirements on Vonage and the other VOIP providers - I think with a 120-day deadline. So, Vonage has its hands full getting that project done by the end of October. Thank you.

Welcome to Vonage.
If you note the dates on the messages desiring ACR, they go back quite some time... long before the FCC mandated E-911 requirements on VoIP. And the response from Vonage, "Soon!," "Any time now!," "Within the next two weeks!," "We're not sure!," "No plans as of yet." We have been hearing this for years. (At least 687 days in my case)
It seems that now the FCC is demanding that 911 service be implemented (within 120 days), Vonage scrambles to accommodate.
When customers desire a service enhancement, it is as if it is ignored. ACR is no doubt MUCH easier to implement than E-911 service.

Posts: 9 · Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 1:09 pm Post subject:

Oh, I know, JHCJr - I read all the old posts. Still, compare the implications ...

A. If Vonage doesn't resolve the E911/911 issue, they are either out of business or slapped with big ongoing fines that don't stop until they're 'in compliance'.

B. If Vonage doesn't add ACR, some customers will grumble and some of those will leave for another provider.

If I ran the shop, I would choose A first, then B later. Wouldn't you?

Look, I am still jazzed about cutting my telecom expenses by more than half. We were paying just under $40 per month to SBC/Pacific Bell. Now it's a flat $16.74 (we signed up for the $15.99/mo plan cuz we don't make many calls).

Some gravy even came with the deal! Check it out:

1. Vonage gives me total online account control. Pac Bell truly sucked in this area. I used to have to call during THEIR business hours, stumble through THEIR convoluted phone prompts, and speak to one of THEIR peons who probably knew less about telecom than I do.

2. I get to keep .wav recordings of my old voicemails. Vonage even emails them to me automatically. How cool is that! Did the jokers over at The Big Phone Company ever offer me that service? No.

3. I get not only a complete incoming call log, but OUTGOING calls too. In all my years with SBC/Pac Bell, neither they nor the California PUC regulators ever saw fit to give me outgoing call data.

4. I got to keep my existing number when I came on board with Vonage. No other VOIP company could have done that. You know what Pac Bell made me do every time I moved over the past 20-some years? 'Sorry pal, change your number. Sorry pal, you have to contact everybody you know to give them the new number, because that is not OUR problem. We are the mighty phone company. Go away, you annoying little customer.' Even when we moved across town here in Pleasanton, they made me change my number "because there is a different central office serving the east side than the one serving the west side". What a joke. What an inconvenience. What a scam!

Conclusion: Vonage beats the old farts hands-down. Vonage also beats the other VOIP players hands-down.

Clearly, I see the glass as being more than half full Wink

In my opinion, JHCJr, the real battle is between the dying old telco monopolies and the new VOIP players. The dinosaurs will eventually lose, but they'll try to kill off as many mammals as possible before they bite the dust.

THAT's where the fight is. Not here, among ourselves, arguing over one account feature.

Out there in the press, online, and wherever I hear or read about VOIP, there are many people spreading FUD - fear, uncertainty and doubt. These bad actors should be held to account. We also need to hold the unresponsive government bureaucrats and the old telcos accountable.

Choose your battles. First I want to reduce the political and financial influence that the old telcos and regulators have over my life and wallet. Then later, I'll worry about some of this other stuff.

That's why I signed up for Vonage. I'd rather pay Vonage instead of the mindless herd of Ma Bell desk jockeys.

Cheers ~

Posts: 53 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jun 08, 2005 Posts: 53

I am well aware of the benefits of Vonage, I have been a customer almost as long as they have been in business. That is not the issue here.
My concern is that Vonage has been promising ACR since I signed up. If they would only be up-front and honest about it, at least we all would have some idea of when and IF ACR would be implemented.

Is that asking too much?