Ooma Forums

We have privacy turned on. My wife works for a company with the word "private" in the name and thus the caller Id ("XYZ Private Label"). When calling home from work, she gets the blocked message. Seems that ooma's private caller logic is to look for "private" in the caller Id and screen out those calls? I'm sort of surprised that there isn't another way to detect these calls; that method is prone to corner case failures like ours. Short of turning off privacy (very undesirable), or getting her employer to change their caller Id (no way), anyone have any suggestions/solutions?

MrX wrote:We have privacy turned on. My wife works for a company with the word "private" in the name and thus the caller Id ("XYZ Private Label"). When calling home from work, she gets the blocked message. Seems that ooma's private caller logic is to look for "private" in the caller Id and screen out those calls? I'm sort of surprised that there isn't another way to detect these calls; that method is prone to corner case failures like ours. Short of turning off privacy (very undesirable), or getting her employer to change their caller Id (no way), anyone have any suggestions/solutions?

May be a solution here:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11009#p77267

May be a solution here:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11009#p77267

Thanks for that idea. We do already have a GV number, but my wife dislikes using it (doesn't like that it rings multiple places; I know, that's the idea ) and would probably prefer to use her cell phone to call home from work, which is what she's been doing.

Looks like I should submit this in the feature request forum.

MrX wrote:

May be a solution here:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11009#p77267

Thanks for that idea. We do already have a GV number, but my wife dislikes using it (doesn't like that it rings multiple places; I know, that's the idea ) and would probably prefer to use her cell phone to call home from work, which is what she's been doing.

Looks like I should submit this in the feature request forum.

Good luck - Honestly, I have to bow to Southsound for this idea

MrX wrote:

May be a solution here:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11009#p77267

Thanks for that idea. We do already have a GV number, but my wife dislikes using it (doesn't like that it rings multiple places; I know, that's the idea ) and would probably prefer to use her cell phone to call home from work, which is what she's been doing.

Looks like I should submit this in the feature request forum.

MrX - I was thinking back to when I first got Telo. I hooked up the handset, plugged OOMA into the wall outlet for all the house phones and programmed it to call my wifes cell phone - then gave her a test drive - HYSTERICAL - phones ringing all over the place at different delays and tones - she did not know what to do! Your writeup reminded me of that.. so funny

MrX wrote:

May be a solution here:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11009#p77267

Thanks for that idea. We do already have a GV number, but my wife dislikes using it (doesn't like that it rings multiple places; I know, that's the idea ) and would probably prefer to use her cell phone to call home from work, which is what she's been doing.

Looks like I should submit this in the feature request forum.

If your bride is willing to call a different number to reach home, it could still be something that would work for you. Just obtain a different, additional GV number. You can sign up for a Google Mail account in a few minutes and then add GV to it - no invitations required anymore. Since you already use GV, you might set the account up in your pet's name.

Set up the number without call screening and to ring ONLY your home number. And then, as the quoted post indicates, have it use your GV number as Caller ID when it sends the call to your ooma device. The call will come in ringing only the phones that ring when a person calls the ooma number directly. There will be no delay to verify the call. You might tell her it is like having a "private" number to call home. I've set up several similar numbers for people in other area codes to make it so friends and family could reach their loved ones for free. The callers don't have a clue the call is going through GV.

Option: She may or may not want to give the number to her boss because right now, he can't reach her from the company number to ask about coming in on days off, etc. Also, Personnel is not able to reach your home in case there is a medical emergency or something. Might be good to have it as a contact number.

MrX -
Have your wife try unblocking her number when she calls home by dialing *82 then the rest of the phone number.
(*82 555-1212 or *82 1-222-555-1212)

This will unblock a private number on a per-call basis and should be supported by most systems, but may not be by all. Or the phone admin of her company may have disabled that feature. But it may be worth a try.

tomcat wrote:MrX -
Have your wife try unblocking her number when she calls home by dialing *82 then the rest of the phone number.
.

The issue is not that she's actually calling anonymously; it is that her employer has the word "private" in the business name: "XYZ Private Label". Ooma seems to be seeing "private" in the caller Id and deciding that it is an anonymous call.

southsound wrote: If your bride is willing to call a different number to reach home, it could still be something that would work for you.

I could do that if it were me, but I'm the tech guy and understand the issue and that workaround. She doesn't have any patience for any of that, and just wants to call home like she always did. However, I did post in the Suggested Features forum and it was suggested that I create an ooma contact for her work number and that this might get around the problem, since this contact should have the caller Id I configure, not the business' caller Id with "private". I'm going to give that a try and I'll report back on whether it works.

MrX wrote:I could do that if it were me, but I'm the tech guy and understand the issue and that workaround. She doesn't have any patience for any of that, and just wants to call home like she always did.

I understand totally and am reminded of some sage words that have served me well over the course of our marriage, "Happy wife, happy life." I hope it all works out for you.