Distributing to house jacks; two lines

Having trouble placing or receiving calls or using your voicemail system on Ooma Telo VoIP Phones? Post your questions here.
FiveThumbs
Posts:13
Joined:Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:53 am
Distributing to house jacks; two lines

Post by FiveThumbs » Wed May 04, 2011 3:08 pm

I have followed the KB article to set up the above configuration. However, incoming calls never cause my system to ring. The caller just hears endless ringing and nothing happens on my end. Neither does it ever roll to Ooma voicemail.

I find that if I connect the WALL port of Ooma to the land line everything works as it's supposed to, but the article clearly labels this connection as "optional."

Does anyone have an inkling about what's going on?

User avatar
lbmofo
Posts:9337
Joined:Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:37 pm
Location:Greater Seattle
Contact:

Re: Distributing to house jacks; two lines

Post by lbmofo » Wed May 04, 2011 3:13 pm

Your ooma is probably setup in landline integration mode; the "wall" port of ooma needs your landline dialtone to work.

If you don't want this, you can call into customer service to have them change it so it can run stand alone. You'll get a new number from ooma.

FiveThumbs
Posts:13
Joined:Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:53 am

Re: Distributing to house jacks; two lines

Post by FiveThumbs » Wed May 04, 2011 3:16 pm

Yes, I believe I asked for integration mode when setting up.

Is it okay to leave the WALL connected to the landline, or would you suggest I make the change you talk about?

User avatar
lbmofo
Posts:9337
Joined:Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:37 pm
Location:Greater Seattle
Contact:

Re: Distributing to house jacks; two lines

Post by lbmofo » Wed May 04, 2011 4:54 pm

Landline integration mode is not recommended by most folks here because there are a few known/reported issues with it. Example, voicemail greeting doesn't come on, callerid doesn't work even if you subscribe to callerid on the landline. In this mode, all incoming calls and outgoing local and toll free calls, including 911 goes through your landline.

My preference is to run Ooma standalone.

BTW, that "wall" port is used to take in landline dialtone and does not put out Ooma dialtone.

FiveThumbs
Posts:13
Joined:Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:53 am

Re: Distributing to house jacks; two lines

Post by FiveThumbs » Wed May 04, 2011 5:12 pm

I don't mind anything else about integration mode, but the fact that local calls are routed through the landline won't work. My local calling plan is zippo with the basic level phone service I am using to keep it active.

Next question is: I could have Ooma take me off integration, and it says "they will supply me with a phone number." I already have a "virtual" Google Voice phone number that I like. Any way to bring it into the mix in some useful way?

User avatar
lbmofo
Posts:9337
Joined:Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:37 pm
Location:Greater Seattle
Contact:

Re: Distributing to house jacks; two lines

Post by lbmofo » Wed May 04, 2011 5:20 pm

You can get a number assigned from Ooma and have your GV number forwarded to the Ooma number.
If you have Premier, you can even do GVE so your outgoing callerid would reflect your GV number.

FiveThumbs
Posts:13
Joined:Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:53 am

Re: Distributing to house jacks; two lines

Post by FiveThumbs » Wed May 04, 2011 5:59 pm

I like it.

Now, it being AT&T, will there be drama with my DSL when I port away from my landline? The DSL is a different account, different number, and appears not to be linked to my landline account... but... never underestimate the ability of AT&T to screw something up.

User avatar
highq
Posts:421
Joined:Fri Dec 25, 2009 10:11 am
Location:New York, NY

Re: Distributing to house jacks; two lines

Post by highq » Thu May 05, 2011 4:48 pm

FiveThumbs wrote:... never underestimate the ability of AT&T to screw something up.
Some friends in Ontario have told me that their phone company seems to operate with the motto:

"We're not happy, until you're not happy!"

FiveThumbs
Posts:13
Joined:Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:53 am

Re: Distributing to house jacks; two lines

Post by FiveThumbs » Sun May 22, 2011 9:19 pm

highq wrote:
FiveThumbs wrote:... never underestimate the ability of AT&T to screw something up.
Some friends in Ontario have told me that their phone company seems to operate with the motto:

"We're not happy, until you're not happy!"
With a nod to the Demotivational people, I hope.

I'll add that the port went fine.

frogman_usn
Posts:10
Joined:Thu Jan 21, 2010 3:09 pm

Re: Distributing to house jacks; two lines

Post by frogman_usn » Mon May 23, 2011 8:26 am

A little help here, I am not sure what is going on but my Ooma has been working great for a year now. Still have the blue light, but from time to time when I call out I dont here the ringing in my ear..the other side just picks up and says "hello?" Also from time to time I call my Ooma from my cell and my house line does not ring..it just goes into the Ooma VM. I do have the RJ-11 plugged into the phone port on the HUB not the Wall port. I have the line going from my Hub to the wall jack in my house to distribute the calls to all the jacks in the house.

P.S. I am using the older Hub, not the Telo.

Post Reply