Ooma Forums

With Qwest I had an option to allow people calling my home number to unblock their number and complete the call or enter their number to complete the call. Ooma only gives 2 options #1 anonymous calls go directly to voice mail or #2 call block message telling caller to hang up dial *82 then the number. I would like to see Ooma add the unblock or enter your number feature because at my work I have to dial a 9 to get an outside line and then after entering the 9 I am unable to enter *82 so I have no way to call home from my work line.

If anyone else has had this problem please let me know or Ooma know so hopefully they can add that feature. Also if anyone has any ideas on how I can call from work let me know. I know I can turn off anonymous call block feature but I like to know who is calling me so I would rather keep it checked.

Quicksprj wrote:With Qwest I had an option to allow people calling my home number to unblock their number and complete the call or enter their number to complete the call. Ooma only gives 2 options #1 anonymous calls go directly to voice mail or #2 call block message telling caller to hang up dial *82 then the number. I would like to see Ooma add the unblock or enter your number feature because at my work I have to dial a 9 to get an outside line and then after entering the 9 I am unable to enter *82 so I have no way to call home from my work line.

If anyone else has had this problem please let me know or Ooma know so hopefully they can add that feature. Also if anyone has any ideas on how I can call from work let me know. I know I can turn off anonymous call block feature but I like to know who is calling me so I would rather keep it checked.

Could you not dial "9 *82 xxx-xxxx ?

No * function allowed after dialing 9. If I try it goes to fast busy signal.

Quicksprj wrote:No * function allowed after dialing 9. If I try it goes to fast busy signal.

What about *82 9 xxx-xxx ?

I know that it is a work around, but if you set up a Google Voice number for only your use, had it forward to your ooma number, and had it output the Google Voice number as caller ID for the call, then you could call home. You could keep the number for your own private use so you would still have the anonymous call block feature on ooma but could call home easily. If you need an invitation to Google Voice, I have an extra.

Unfortunately I either have to dial a 9 first or an internal number the system doesn't allow *82 then 9. As far as the google voice thing goes I am not familiar with how that works. If it a pretty easy set up I would certainly like to take s look at it. If it is really complicated then I don't think I am computer savvy enough. Just let me know what you think.
I appreciate all the advice.

It couldn't be more simple. Here is a link to the Google Voice video that describes what it can do: http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html#

once there, click the Watch the Overview button. What you would do is set it up with your home (ooma) system as the phone it forwards to. Then, you can adjust the settings so when you call it and it calls your ooma, it will send your GV caller ID to your ooma system. Since it is no longer a blocked number, your ooma system will ring. After watching some of the feature videos, send me an email using the little envelope under my avatar and I'll send you the invitation. You will need to set up a gmail account to use Google Voice, but it's free and you don't need to use it for anyting but GV if you don't want to. If you include your phone number in the email to me I can call you (let me know what time zone so I don't call too late - I'm on the west coast) and I can walk you through setting things up.

This is a problem more with your work telephone setup. Maybe the administrator there can allow * dialing

niknak wrote:This is a problem more with your work telephone setup. Maybe the administrator there can allow * dialing

Understood that it is not so much an ooma problem but dealing with the telecommunications staff (or provider if it is a smaller company) can be a lot of hassle or expense. I've worked for large corporations who would roll their eyes and just say, "NO" to small companies who would say, "OK if you pay for the service call and reprogramming of the switch". My idea of using Google Voice as a workaround is free and all it would require is that the OP call home using a different phone number. The GV number could be kept private so as not to confuse other callers.

...My idea of using Google Voice as a workaround is free and all it would require is that the OP call home using a different phone number. The GV number could be kept private so as not to confuse other callers.

Agreed!, that is a thoughtful solution

( I may be oversimplifying since I was the VOIP administrator at my company and had access to make dialing rule changes)