First of all, VOIP lovers, how do we get a VoiceWing option added to the Choose list?
Late afternoon, August 02, 2005
I tried to call home but received a recording stating that the party was unavailable, but please leave a message after the tone
Since the voice was not my wifes (from the answering machine), I surmised that Verizon must be working on my VOIP number transfer.
After reaching my wife on her cell phone, she confirmed that the phone had been unusually quiet all afternoon. She was able to make calls, but could not receive any. It also occurred to us that anyone calling us could leave a message, but we had no way of accessing these messages.
Early evening, August 02, 2005
I arrived home only to find that my communication service had deteriorated. Now, we cannot even make outbound calls. Although I was reassured that we would not experience any service outage during the VOIP conversion, I decided to give Verizon a break and wait until the morning to complain. We still have our trusty cell phone service (with a different provider, of course).:(
It looks like my DSL service is still functioning properly. At least I can get to the Net!:)
A look at my online VoiceWing account indicates that I have several voicemail messages attached to the temporary number provided to us from Verizon's VoiceWing. So calls to my land-line number allow messages to be captured on my temporary number. It would have be nice for someone to let us know.
Early Morning, August 3, 2005
I tried to connect my VOIP equipment, but no dial-tone or anything equivalent from the IP network. We still have no land-line service.
Mid morning, August 3, 2005
From work, a quick look on my online VoiceWing account shows that some strange local numbers have been attempting to make calls to my temporary VOIP number (305-000-0000, 1212202). Im guessing these are from Verizon / VoiceWing technicians attempting to provision my service.
I still have not received any calls or emails from Verizon warning me of any service outage. I guess its time to give them a call.:o
The Contact Us button provides a handy 1-800 customer number. In no time I was talking to the next available representative. After passing the security check to ensure I was the appropriate account owner, Michelle listened intently as I described my no-service problem. Five minutes later, she informed me that she only handles billing questions. So now Im transferred to the Technical customer service number.:(
I initially passed on the several call-back recording options that followed a classical piano interlude. But after 10 minutes of apologetic recordings due to their high call volume,(I guess everyone is trying to get in on VOIP), I decided to try sending them a written request using their Contact Us form. They claim a 30 minute response.:o
A minute later and a beep from my computer signals a problem. A window has popped up indicating that I am experiencing a Server Error in /ForYourHome/VOIP Application (See attachment).
So much for this Contact Usoption. I think Ill try to the Leave us a voice mail option, but I better get an honest days work done first.
Late morning, August 3, 2005
The plot thickens. My wife called (from her cell) to inform me that she too has been trying to figure out why we don't have service. She was informed by Verizon that we are no longer their customer. The Verizon business office claims that we apparently have been switched to MCI.
I then called Verizon and was informed that they have successfully completed a request to disconnect our service with them. They had no idea what VoiceWing was and had never heard of VOIP. Maybe I have been the victim of a VOIP scam?:o
I tried calling the temporary VOIP number provided by VoiceWing, but only received the same recording as my land-line number. Apparently I'm "temporarily unavailable" from any phone number.
Time to call VoiceWing support! Keisha listened too and then surmised that what I needed is dry loop service added to my account in order not to lose service during the number porting process. Dry Loop? Couldn't they come up with a better fraise? I'm not sure I want to be dry looped!;)
Five minutes of some listening of a minuet in A minor, Keisha returned and informed me that the dry loop was not available in my location. But she was going to get her supervisor to figure out how we can get phone service again.
Now after listening to some cheerful African ballad from Paul Simon, Keisha returns with more apologies. It seems that shes exhausted all of her resources and is resorting to an offline escalation procedure to resolve the problem. More apologies follow.
The net result so far is that the hand-shake between Verizon and VoiceWing is in shambles. Verizon disconnected my number before VoiceWing completed their provisioning.:(