Ooma Forums

Vaughn:

Thanks for posting on this topic again. In the current environment of Robo calls, this subject is more important than ever.

I personally emailed Tom Bakker (moderator of this forum) on Aug 2 to ask for an update, but have not heard back. The specs I suggested in my post in Oct 2018 are still valid.

Tom: When will we get something for Ooma?

Dean

I just switched from Comcast phone service to Ooma, and in general many things are superior in Ooma.

Main things I miss are that blocked calls don't appear in your incoming call log and incoming SMS messages simply disappear into the ether (sender has no idea the msg wasn't delivered anywhere...)

But especially for call blocking, one thing that Ooma does way better is that there is no ringing of the phone at all! With Comcast esp. for Nomorobo calls, you get a single very annoying ring, which is because Comcast implements Nomorobo by forwarding calls, but this takes longer that what Ooma does. Eliminating the ring (which Ooma does I presume by implementing Nomorobo by actually subscribing to their blocked list) is a hugh benefit, but also really needs for Ooma to at least log the incoming call so you can see if things are working the way you want.

So this is a desperate plea to get incoming blocked calls noted in the call log.

Yes PLEASE get the feature working! I've missed calls from a hospital because ooma blocked them and I never knew it. That is not cool ooma!

IF there are numbers you absolutely need to get through, add them to your personal contact list, which serves to bypass blocking... a whitelist. & send blocked calls to VM just in case.

Whitelisting is all well and good for known numbers. In my case it was an unexpected call from a hospital I don't use. Why ooma blocked a hospital I don't know.

It happened to me last weekend, regarding an out-of-state family member. Got an email w/ audio of the msg. Googled the number & found many call/hang-up/no msg. reports, which resulted in the hospital number getting on at least 1 blacklist. Reported it as a 'good number' to NMR (create acc't) & added it to my contact list so it wouldn't get blocked again. About all anyone can do.

note: scammers spoof 'reputable' numbers in hopes people will answer. hospitals are an obvious 'reputable' choice, but could easily earn a bad rep. on their own by calling erroneously transcribed numbers, etc.. they DO do a volume business.

But the problem is blocked calls (and there are many reasons a call can be blocked) don't show up in any logs. What we're asking for is the option at least to see how the call was received before being shunted to voicemail. You can't add it to a white list unless you know how it's showing up.
Yesterday I emailed a salesman I haven't talked with in a long time. He called me this morning and his call was sent right to VM but I don't know why. Fortunately I did have the VM to at least known he called. He's in a company that uses 800 service but might have called on his cell phone or another number, there was no way for me to tell.
Not sure if Ooma is monitoring this forum or if we should contact them directly. I hate using the chat feature and would much prefer it if they just had a support email address I could send questions to.

You can't add it to a white list unless you know how it's showing up.

Exactly the problem. Ooma, are you listening? We need this addressed!

Monitoring seem to be sparse, these days. Not sure what support could do?

Ooma announced ~2 yrs ago @ CES(?) that 'phase 2' of their enhanced call blocking would include logging of blocked calls, but then their focus shifted to home security. They may have hit a snag, but have never shared.

My solution to our problem was to enable email notification of new VMs. The originating number is included in the subject line... suitable to paste into a new contact list entry. Certainly, it could be more streamlined, but rather than wait for Ooma to implement a new feature, I practice a little 'self help'.

Subject: New VM from ECN COMMUNITY [8559694636] (43 sec)

Of course, if the don't leave a msg, they weren't serious anyway... no loss.

I turn off Call Blocking when expecting an important call. Unfortunately I forget to do so once in awhile.
Many doctors use multiple (800) numbers to avoid giving patients their real number and receive unsolicited calls.