No Sound, Incoming call busy signal

[Tracker]

Hi,

Just signed up for the softphone system and I'm totally unable to do anything with it. If I call out, the call connects but I can't hear the person I phone, and they can't hear me. If I call the number I got, it doesn't ring at all and just gives a busy signal. (by the way, I've already checked the number and it's in the free list). Also, if I click on voicemail, I don't hear anything at all there either.

First off, here's the hardware I'm running:
Windows 7 X64 Ultimate
I'm using a $130 Logitech Surround Sound Headset (But I've also tried with a old stand alone mic and my HDMI sound and still nothing)
I'm running DD-WRT firmware on my Linksys router.

Secondly, here's the current troubleshooting I've done:
1) Ensured my headset was set as primary communication device.
2) Port Forwarded the following ports: 13000-13001, 12000-12001, 5060-5061, 6060-6061. (also double checked after that in fact the ports were open and they were)
3) I've tried allowing it with Windows Firewall, I've also disabled windows firewall all together.

The internal test simply says:

Status: Test running, please be patient.......
Results: Test completed successfully, no trouble found.
Sound data transfer: NONE

Possible reasons:
1. Advertisement service is temporary unavailable (BTW, should that be "temporarily")

So not too sure what else I can do. :S
Suggestions?

[Tracker]

Wow... This must be the worst online support I've ever seen. I spent over an hour trying to perform every type of troubleshooting I could find on these disorganized forums. You'd think that 5 days would be a suitable amount of time for SOMEONE to respond with SOMETHING, but I guess not.

[Jake]

Unfortunately these forums are not really FPL support forums, they are just mainly here for people who have an interest in FPL to talk and try and help other people out. If you haven't got any responses it could be that none of us can offer you any helpful advise. I am sorry but I have nothing I can suggest to you that you have not done already, so that is why I didn't reply. I'm sure 100 messages of "I have no idea" is not really what you want to read.

Have you actually called into FPL support? http://www.freephoneline.ca/contactUs
What have they suggested you try? and what happened when you did as they ask?

It does sound like you have done lots already, but something is obviously blocking your softphone from connecting.

One piece of advise I have seen before with this sort of thing, although I have no idea if it will help, is to remove the softphone, and Java. Then make sure you have the latest version of Java, then reinstall the softphone.

Sorry if the forum seems a waste of time, but calling in to get a support person should really be your first port of call with problems like this. They are the professionals. There are a few very knowledgeable people here, but I expect most are like me, someone who is happy not to be feeding Bell each month.

[FONGO_kris]

Tracker, for the most part these forums are community-driven, meaning any staff on here who are answering questions do it on top of what they'd usually be doing. We use this forum both for support and advise, but also to educate our users so that they might be better suited to help themselves in the future to get the quickest resolution possible. That being said, our main purpose here as freephoneline.ca staff is to keep the peace and delete the occasional spam selling virtual gold or whatnot.

As Jakes suggestion leads one to conclude, our software runs off of Java, and having it built off Java does have it's pros and cons. One con being that the software uses the default audio device of the computer, if your HDMI sound device is not set as the default audio device of the computer, it will not pick up any incoming or outgoing audio from the call.

Are you using any third-party firewalls or antivirus software, such as Rogers Security Center or Norton?

If yes, I suggest removing Rogers SC as it appears to serve the sole purpose of blocking freephoneline.exe from doing anything.

[Tracker]

Technically, the first line in that link is:

*Many support questions are answered in the Forums of our website. To view Forums section please Click here.

I don't like calling, because it's a waste of everyone's time. One organized forum with troubleshooting would save HUNDREDS of calls to tech support and emails. From what I've seen, I'm not the only one who's had this problem, and I'm sure a step-by-step guide by the company would make a lot of sense. As what fpl-kris said about "Doing this ontop of normal duties" - They'd have a lot less of a workload if common questions/answers were easily found on here.

I remember about 10 years ago when I actually worked at Bell as a tech. 40-50 calls a day every day on the same 6-7 issues. You couldn't really have an online support community for fixes (as if you're internet was down you couldn't look it up) but there's really no reason to not have a proper Softphone/ATA troubleshooting section in the forums with a stickied Problems/Solutions section.

And technically, you are still paying Bell if you're on DSL at all. The "Dry Loop" cost per month goes right into Bell's pocket (Main reason I'm not on DSL). The only reason I wanted to get this working is to have a phone on my tablet, home phones are so 1990. I'm just not planning on spending $56 on the SIP stuff for my tablet until I can at least make 1 successful call. Technically, if you want to shaft Bell (And I'm assuming Rogers too as they're even more evil then Bell) you'd leave DSL all together and order Acanac Cable Internet. They use their own interchanges so no money ever touches Bell/Rogers. As far as my research has done, they're the only mainstream ISP in Canada that offer an internet service where Bell/Rogers doesn't get a piece of the pie.

[Tracker]

Tracker, for the most part these forums are community-driven, meaning any staff on here who are answering questions do it on top of what they'd usually be doing. We use this forum both for support and advise, but also to educate our users so that they might be better suited to help themselves in the future to get the quickest resolution possible. That being said, our main purpose here as freephoneline.ca staff is to keep the peace and delete the occasional spam selling virtual gold or whatnot.

As Jakes suggestion leads one to conclude, our software runs off of Java, and having it built off Java does have it's pros and cons. One con being that the software uses the default audio device of the computer, if your HDMI sound device is not set as the default audio device of the computer, it will not pick up any incoming or outgoing audio from the call.

Are you using any third-party firewalls or antivirus software, such as Rogers Security Center or Norton?

If yes, I suggest removing Rogers SC as it appears to serve the sole purpose of blocking freephoneline.exe from doing anything.

As far as your other suggestions...

I mentioned I already setup the default audio device. I also mentioned I tried both my USB headset (which has it's own built-in sound card) as well as the HDMI audio device and neither worked.

I also mentioned the only software firewall was the Windows 7 one, which I disabled entirely for testing purposes without it helping at all. If anyone out there is actually running Rogers Security Center or Norton, they've got bigger problems then getting a VOIP phone working. Most notably they're running some of the worst more error prone, buggy, bloated software made in the last 10 years.

I'm going to try Jake's suggestions (as it's the only one that didn't repeat stuff I said in my original email I'd already done) and post back what happened.

[Jake]

If only I had the choice of internet providers Out where I am there is very little choice for a high speed connection, it's either Bell, Bell, Bell, or xplorenet (which I had and hated every second).

At least I am not paying for a phone line each month which I like.

The softphone does work, and works very well (when it does work anyway). Is it possible you can try a different computer? or if it is a laptop take it to somewhere else and try it there. To be honest if your plan is to eventually set up a sip client on your tablet, the softphone test probably won't tell you an awful lot. You will probably be using a different SIP client on a different platform, and connection if you are planning to use it over 3G, which has it's own hiccups.

You are correct though, it is important to test things first, I know I did for quite a while before setting things up like I have now. I have probably gone a bit OTT with things, but once I got playing with VOIP it just seemed to snowball. I think it is the FREE bit that makes me keep fueling the fire. My daughter keeps asking for her computer back, I have to keep telling her it's broke and I will get her a new one. I would hate to have to tell her that it is in the basement running the phone system

Good luck with getting it working.

[Tracker]

Oh boy, ya, not too much to choose from. When I move places, the very first thing I do before I buy a place is find out exactly what internet providers are available. If I'm forced to go Bell, I won't move there. The place I'm in now doesn't even have the wires hooked up to the demarcation point in the house to get DSL even if I wanted to. So Win-Win.

Just to let you know, there's a cheap way to get that VOIP working. The minimum system requirements for VOIP are very low. When I picked up a magicjack I went to kijiji and bought a old P-200 laptop with 512mb of ram for $40. I threw on a fresh install of XP and it works like a charm with VOIP. It just sits in the shelf under one of the endtables in the living room. We only use it when I have to call the states and I don't want to pay long distance, but I haven't had a problem with it yet. It's been on 24/7 for the last year without a hiccup.

As far as the java thing goes... I uninstalled/reinstalled both Java and the Softphone and same issue. It's a fresh install of Windows anyways, (just upgraded my Motherboard to AM3+ so I needed to reinstall Windows) only a couple of weeks old, so I'm wondering what else it could be. :S

Just in case it's a weird software issue, I'm going to try it on my laptop tonight (need to install the Logitech drivers for the headset first) and see what happens.

[Jake]

My voip system comprises of a PBX in a Flash setup at the heart of things. Coming in I have trunks from the UK (for my family to call cheaply) as well as trunk from the US (for work) and of course Canadian trunks from FPL. I have one main number for the home line, another FPL numbers runs a DISA system and allows free calls to and from my Telus Phone. Another one runs a similar DISA system for my wife. I have an outgoing trunk that automatically kicks in when I call back to the UK (sorry FPL, but you were not the cheapest for those calls), plus it routes all my daughters calls to their respective bedrooms so I don't have to keep yelling for them to answer the phone, and it gives them an answer machine so I don't have to listen to the messages their friends leave; which is worth all the set up in itself!

Apart from the 3 config files I have bought, the rest is free apart from the computer I have to replace sometime.

If it helps any, I have friends who have both the softphone and ATAs via Rogers and they have it running without problems. So I would suggest it is something on your computer, or the router. If you are able to change the computer and try it on that you wil have a better idea of where the problem lies. If it still doesn't work, take your laptop out and find an open wireless connection and try it there. Tim Hortons or McDs might work.

[vincom]

dont know if this helps, but i had same problem, i didnt have a mic plugged in and got a busytone from the phone making the call and the softphone was not responding to the incoming call. the softphone would also "not" initiate a call. took me awhile to realize i "didn't" have a mic plugged in and thats why it wasnt working, voicemail wasnt even working .so its seems the softphone wont work w/out a mic pluged in, even though there are no error reports stating that its not working. so maybe the problem could be w/headset