srm59
Premium
join:2009-06-22
Glen Cove, NY
 ·PHONE POWER
1 edit |  Update on New Features?
I'm a happy Phone Power user for the past few months and I have no complaints. I am just curious as to the progress being made on some of the requested features. Some of these features were mentioned on this board as being slated for 3rd Quarter. I understand deadlines slip, I'm just wondering if we can get an update on some of the features previously discussed like:
•Control by Phone (ability to set forwarding options and place outgoing calls by phone)
•DND (ability to schedule and override in an emergency)
•Emergency Fail Over Number (Forwarding to a secondary number should a network issue arise)
Thank you. |
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Broadband22
join:2009-04-18
Divide, CO
| Good question...
I've been waiting for the control by phone in order to make international calls when not at home.
Been using Calcentric's Calling Card while waiting for PP to add Control by Phone. I "really" miss that feature since leaving ATT CallVantage... |
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crashoverride
join:2009-09-05
1 edit | reply to srm59
said by srm59  :I'm a happy Phone Power user for the past few months and I have no complaints. I am just curious as to the progress being made on some of the requested features. Some of these features were mentioned on this board as being slated for 3rd Quarter. I understand deadlines slip, I'm just wondering if we can get an update on some of the features previously discussed like: •Control by Phone (ability to set forwarding options and place outgoing calls by phone) •DND (ability to schedule and override in an emergency) •Emergency Fail Over Number (Forwarding to a secondary number should a network issue arise) Thank you. Emergency fail-over only works if the network is up and you broadband connection is down. If PP was down who is going to route the call(s) to the fail-over number, lol? PP has only been down a total of 4-6 hours in 3 years and that was only due to a cascade failure of a database server recently.
I know from a little bird inside PP that they have a big project they are working on. Once things get settled after Christmas then Matt better get out his Red Bull and tell the admins to give us some new features. :P
As a former VT customer I miss all their cool features but since they were flakey half the time and\or had to tinker to get reliable phone service, just having a phone that works is good enough for me.
There is a reason why VoicePulse, PhonePower, CallCentric, etc. are at the top of the GBU? I believe it is because they put a reliable network and customer service first over features that only a select few will use. The average consumer only uses Caller ID, Call Waiting, and VoiceMail.
Also people don't realize that the more features you add to a VoIp network the more point of failures it has. So PP in an effort to grow its customer base as a reliable VoIp company WILL NOT release a feature unless it has been intensively tested and does not conflict with any other part in any way.
Don't shoot me I'm just the unofficial messenger, lol... I'll see if I can get some updates by next week for us though? |
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nycityny
Premium
join:2005-08-09
New York, NY
·PHONE POWER
·VoicePulse
 ·RCN CABLE
·ViaTalk
| reply to srm59
As to the comments on failover, PhonePower has a quasi-failover system in place. As mentioned, it does not work when PhonePower's own service is inoperative - it does not work with any provider when their system is down.
If one's ATA cannot connect to the system (i.e., through a power failure or if their Internet connection goes down) then all calls are sent to voicemail. One would prefer that calls be forwarded to another number that the user specifies. But at least the calls are not lost. And one can check their voicemail using a cellphone or other landline phone. |
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crashoverride
join:2009-09-05
| said by nycityny :As to the comments on failover, PhonePower has a quasi-failover system in place. As mentioned, it does not work when PhonePower's own service is inoperative - it does not work with any provider when their system is down. If one's ATA cannot connect to the system (i.e., through a power failure or if their Internet connection goes down) then all calls are sent to voicemail. One would prefer that calls be forwarded to another number that the user specifies. But at least the calls are not lost. And one can check their voicemail using a cellphone or other landline phone. That and if the call is not blocked you will know the phone number via the call log as well. |
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So Soft
@rr.com
| reply to srm59
Was buying some cables at best buy and saw this there:
»www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp···19487100 |
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PhonePower
Premium
join:2007-07-20
Winnetka, CA | reply to srm59
I will review the project list an give you update |
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crashoverride
join:2009-09-05
1 edit | reply to So Soft
Also check out... »[Other] Phone Power In BestBuy
Don't mind the battle field.... What is a good helpful post doing without a little skeet shooting to boost its popularity? |
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PhonePower
Premium
join:2007-07-20
Winnetka, CA
1 edit | reply to srm59
•Control by Phone (ability to set forwarding options and place outgoing calls by phone)
Control by phone is on the project list with no ETA.
All of the services requested above including making remote calls are available in our my account web portal which can be accessed by a web enabled mobile phone.
Our mobile web portal will likely be released before control by phone.
•DND (ability to schedule and override in an emergency)
DND is going to be exposed as an in-device (grandstream) feature this quarter. Emergency override is not currently on the project list.
•Emergency Fail Over Number (Forwarding to a secondary number should a network issue arise)
We feel this a definitely one of the most worthwhile projects. Unfortunately, we have had to push this project back due unforeseen circumstances involving upgrading out some of our core switching technology. My best ETA is now probably closer the end of 1Q 10. |
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srm59
Premium
join:2009-06-22
Glen Cove, NY
·PHONE POWER
| reply to srm59
Thank you for the update.
As I said, I've been really happy with the service. I'm just curious about the other features.
I am surprised that Control by Phone is not a higher priority as this would be a revenue stream for PP. I realize the Click2Call is available through the web. However, my wife likes to call her family who live in other countries from her cell during her commute. We have found a work around using Skype. But, if it were available through PP, that would be even better. Also, I hope Control by Phone would also allow us to set Call Forwarding options and DND.
I am interested to see the mobile web portal. I currently am able to access my account through the regular portal on my Blackberry. It takes a lot of scrolling but, actually works quite well.
Quick question about the BestBuy product that So Soft mentioned. Are both the TA and Dongle linked to the same number and can they be used concurrently? If so, do you have any plans to offer the dongle to existing customers?
Thank you again for the updates! |
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PhonePwrFan
@myvzw.com | reply to So Soft
What's that USB adaptor on the retail pack. Are current customers going to be able to get one of those zippy USB adaptors for calls outside of the home? |
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crashoverride
join:2009-09-05
| said by PhonePwrFan :
What's that USB adaptor on the retail pack. Are current customers going to be able to get one of those zippy USB adaptors for calls outside of the home?
I talked to Matt and they are working on ironing out the details? I'm sure we will see an update soon.  |
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coaster
join:2007-07-13
New Port Richey, FL
2 edits | It is nice the newbies to Phone Power have the USB feature from what I have read about here. Is it too much to ask that existing customers like myself who have been a Phone Power customer for over 2 years have access to the same functionality? |
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besterp12
join:2008-06-01
Langhorne, PA
3 edits | reply to srm59
Thank you for all these new features. I'm actually really looking forward to the $7.50 "Executive / Teen Direct Number" or $10 "Home office 2nd Line" options that I saw as coming soon on the site.
A few years ago, we got PhonePower to keep two numbers that we've had for decades and just didn't want to change them. The more recent one is set as the main one, with the older one as a virtual number. It's worked great and was a good way to save a lot of money over what other places were charging. However, the person that the older line belongs to has started talking to old friends in other countries late at night.
Yeah, it would be worth a few extra bucks to not have the main line ring in that case. Any ETA on that? Need a beta tester?  |
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crashoverride
join:2009-09-05
| reply to coaster
Re: Update on New Features?
said by coaster :It is nice the newbies to Phone Power have the USB feature from what I have read about here. Is it too much to ask that existing customers like myself who have been a Phone Power customer for over 2 years have access to the same functionality? Read my previous comment...patience... |
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Stewart
join:2005-07-13
·PHONE POWER
| reply to besterp12
said by besterp12 :However, the person that the older line belongs to has started talking to old friends in other countries late at night. If you have a Grandstream HT502, cloned line, virtual number, and the annoying calls originate from no more than three numbers, you could use the Grandstream's "distinctive ring" feature to make calls from those numbers ring differently on one port; I believe the special ring can be programmed to be silent. This requires that the calls from overseas show distinct caller IDs.
If your hardware or service configuration is other than the above, please provide details. |
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PhonePower
Premium
join:2007-07-20
Winnetka, CA | reply to srm59
Regarding the USB adapter, I expect it will be available to all clients sometime in November.
We are also going to release the standalone soft-phone for all clients to download as a freebie. |
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Bomba
join:2009-10-19 | Thanks PP that sounds great. One question on operation. Once the softphone or USB dongle softphone registers, does it disable the Grandstream adapter or does it act as the 2nd phone line? |
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crashoverride
join:2009-09-05
2 edits | It works like someone cloned the HT-502 on your computer. As you can see from the attached image you have 2 phone lines on the softphone which represent the 2 lines you would get from PhonePower. When you get a a phone call, line 1 on the HT-502 rings as normal and you will hear\see it ring on the zippyphone as well. If a call comes in while on line 1 of the zippyphone you can push Flash to answer it or someone can pick up the 2nd line of the HT-502. The MagicCrap don't have nothing on the zippy phone  |
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