911 Activation waiting 1week+, ETA for WV Vonage Numbers

Posts: 20 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 16, 2005 Posts: 20

Hello, this is my first post to the forums. I have recently signed up with Vonage and to this point, I have been really happy with the quality and the functionality of everything. However, there have been a few concerned and I was wondering if anyone has had similar experiences.

First of all, I signed up with Vonage with the understanding that Vonage did not offer local numbers in West Virginia (One of the four states left behind). This was acceptable since I just move to a rural little community and all of our friends and family have to dial long distance plus we have local cell phone numbers. So the savings from Verizon to Vonage was worth the inconvenience. I have been searching these forums as well as other sites, but if anyone knows of when or if Vonage is going offer WV phone numbers, I would appreciate any information.

The second issue is the 911 activation. I am aware that this is not E-911 like everyone is used to and I have decided that I can live with this till it is offered. However, I have signed up for Vonage's "911" service like all the screens suggest you do and it said it would be activated within 24-48 hours. Well that was on March 17th. It has been over a week since I have signed up and have not received my confirmation email. I wonder if this is a common experience or if I should start calling their tech support about this. I have gathered that it is no easy feet to reach someone in CS so if this is not that uncommon I will wait a little longer. I still have my Verizon landline so I will not be without some form of 911 support.

If anyone has any info on these situation or if anyone out there are currently living in WV and using Vonage, please let me know how your experience has been.

Thanks!

Posts: 9 · Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2005 9:07 pm Post subject: 911 notification

I received an email notification more than once indicating that it was in fact in service after I activated 911.... Also, these emails were sent within 24 hours of activation...

Posts: 3198 · Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2005 9:16 pm Post subject:

are you sure your area has 911 service? in some rural areas, there may be different 7 digit numbers for emergencies (i.e. one for police, one fire, one ems). these would still be psap's, but maybe vonage is confused on which one to pick. I assume default is police, but no clue. sometimes you dial 0 for the operator. something to look into if you haven't yet.

Posts: 20 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 16, 2005 Posts: 20

I'm not sure if there is a dedicated 911 facility to handle all the emergency services. I moved from a more populated area of WV that had a county wide e-911 service, but I am not positive if the same exists here. I have noticed on the police cars that it has the usual "Dial 911" logos, so I assume they have some form of 911 service here. I may try to get through to CS to see if there are any issues, I just hate to sit on hold for long periods of time (as I'm sure most are).

I'm still interested if there are any other Vonage users in WV since it is not really supported well here. I hope the fact that other competitors of Vonage have started offering WV numbers/e911 in certain areas will help expedite Vonage's implementation in this area. I have many friends and family members who would consider switching, but not without the availability of local numbers.

Posts: 22 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 24, 2005 Posts: 22

regarding local WV numbers ... i wish i could tell you they'll be there tomorrow ... but honestly i don't know ... vonage has added 200 rate centers (they issue the numbers) to the service since Jan 2005 and now has over 2000, but still not enough for everyone i know, best i can tell you is to wait as long as its convenient

for the 911 dialing stuff, log on to your web account and look under features ... first option is 911 dialiing and click ... see whether it says active, invalid or failed ... if its active you're set up and ready to go ... if its invalid it needs you to enter your address again ... make sure you verify it on mapquest.com so you get the right format since vonage uses mapping software to check your address ... if it says failed (2 invalid attempts lead to a failed) the information gets sent to a department which physically maps your address and it takes up to 2 weeks to complete

regarding the lack of e-mail, that is puzzling ... you can check and make sure you're e-mail address is typed in right ... also check your filter settings to make sure the mails aren't going to spam ... hope this helps

Posts: 20 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 16, 2005 Posts: 20

I tried what you suggested suprmanjoe and went to map quest and type the address in exactly as I had entered it during the 911 signup process (which is also how it shows it on the 911 section of the features page on my online account). The status shows as:

"PENDING VALIDATION: You submitted your 911 Dialing information on Mar 17, 2005. Your information is NOT yet validated. PLEASE DO NOT DIAL 911 FROM THIS Vonage LINE UNTIL YOU RECEIVE YOUR CONFIRMATION EMAIL."

I have received no emails, even any that stated the above message. I will probably just give in and try to get through to someone at CS to get this straightened out.

Thanks to all that have posted, and if anyone who is using Vonage in WV finds this thread, I would like to hear your experiences with Vonage so far. I'm kinda interested to see if anyone else decided to signup before it was offered locally.

Posts: 20 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 16, 2005 Posts: 20

I didn't finish typing my thoughts on that first point in the last post. I guess my fingers are faster than my thoughts.... Wink

I tried what you suggested suprmanjoe and went to map quest and type the address in exactly as I had entered it during the 911 signup process (which is also how it shows it on the 911 section of the features page on my online account)....and mapquest was able to plot the map correctly.

Posts: 13 · Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2005 10:41 pm Post subject:

I signed up for vonage and tried to activate 911 on 3/16. Still "Pending validation".

I called CS and they said they had no idea why is was taking so long and is should have passed or failed.......I got zero help on the issue.

I live in Columbus, Ohio and the number is one provided by vonage.

Posts: 3 · Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 3:35 pm Post subject:

I'm in the same boat as the previous poster. Signed up for 911 service on 3/16 and still pending validation. I'm in Austin, TX, and I know my address is valid. You would think that after getting sued in this state after some Vonage customers got shot up in a burglary in Houston (while residents tried using a Vonage phone to call 911) would spur them into action in making sure that everyone who asked for 911 service has it.

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 24, 2005 Posts: 4

My 911 validation took just under two hours (metro Chicago).

Reading the posts here, why don't those who've been waiting more than 3-4 days just go to the Dashboard, click "Contact" on the top and leave a quick (i.e., short) email asking the status and briefly expressing your concern about the length of time. It's a no brainer. Then, if you still don't get a reply you should be blasting. At least give them a chance to get it right. I agree, ideally it should happen the first (automated) way, but complaining here isn't going to get 911 activated. Emailing Vonage will!