I found an issue related to OOMA's ability to call a CenturyLink landline that has CL's "No Solicitation" feature enabled. Note that in this test case: none of the phones I was testing with had been added to the target phone's "No Solicitation" feature privileged caller list.
Test 1: I call the CenturyLink landline that has "No Solicitation" enabled from another CenturyLink landline. I get the expected CenturyLink recording "You have reached a number that does not accept solicitations...".
Result: PASS.
Test 2: I call the CenturyLink landline that has "No Solicitation" enabled from a Verizon cellphone. Same result as in Test 1, I get the expected CenturyLink "No Solicitation" recording.
Result: PASS.
Test 3: I use OOMA to call a CenturyLink landline that has CenturyLink's "No Solicitation" feature enabled. In this test, I got 5 seconds of silence followed by a fast busy signal. I have tried this both with and without *67 to see if the result is related to my OOMA line's outgoing caller ID perhaps being on a NoMoRobo list or similar, but there was no change in test result.
Result: FAIL.
Is this a known problem?
can't call a CL number with "No Solicitation" enabled?
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NuOOMADude
- Posts:2
- Joined:Wed Dec 04, 2019 1:32 pm
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NuOOMADude
- Posts:2
- Joined:Wed Dec 04, 2019 1:32 pm
Re: can't call a CL number with "No Solicitation" enabled?
One more data point: I get fast busy when I try to call into a teleconference bridge that my college's alumni association uses for volunteer events. The 2 dialin numbers are in area codes 347 and 844. 844 is a toll free area code. I also tried calling several other toll free numbers (800/888) that belong to banks/brokerages and for about half the numbers I tried, I get fast busy with OOMA.
All of these numbers work fine when dialed from my CenturyLink landline and Verizon cellphone. I logged into my OOMA account and I notice that only the successful calls are logged in the dashboard, the ones that failed with fast busy aren't listed. I tried changing my settings to enable/disable 10 digit dialing, and I repeated all of my tests both ways - no difference. I have googled my OOMA number, and it doesn't show up as a known producer of junk calls.
I really love OOMA's functionality around call filtering, blocking, etc. The dashboard web interface is extremely well done. Aesthetically the finesse of the Telo product design and the musical dial tone are design and artistic winners. In terms of call handling features, OOMA's value-add functionality is orders of magnitude ahead of what CenturyLink and even Verizon offer. But the inability to reliably make outbound calls is a deal-breaker. I suspect that in the mad rush to "do something" about junk phone calls, other telecommunications providers have acted rashly by wholesale blocking many or all VoIP numbers. If so, this isn't OOMA's fault, but it certainly isn't mine either.
As much as I would like to move forward with making OOMA my landline replacement, doing so would fail the #1 purpose for which I have a telephone. I'm glad I discovered this during my trial period.
All of these numbers work fine when dialed from my CenturyLink landline and Verizon cellphone. I logged into my OOMA account and I notice that only the successful calls are logged in the dashboard, the ones that failed with fast busy aren't listed. I tried changing my settings to enable/disable 10 digit dialing, and I repeated all of my tests both ways - no difference. I have googled my OOMA number, and it doesn't show up as a known producer of junk calls.
I really love OOMA's functionality around call filtering, blocking, etc. The dashboard web interface is extremely well done. Aesthetically the finesse of the Telo product design and the musical dial tone are design and artistic winners. In terms of call handling features, OOMA's value-add functionality is orders of magnitude ahead of what CenturyLink and even Verizon offer. But the inability to reliably make outbound calls is a deal-breaker. I suspect that in the mad rush to "do something" about junk phone calls, other telecommunications providers have acted rashly by wholesale blocking many or all VoIP numbers. If so, this isn't OOMA's fault, but it certainly isn't mine either.
As much as I would like to move forward with making OOMA my landline replacement, doing so would fail the #1 purpose for which I have a telephone. I'm glad I discovered this during my trial period.