Calling *611

[Pierre]

Is calling 611 or *611 supposed to work using my FPL phone? When I call *611 I get “This call is not covered by your tariff plan”. I thought this number was good to call FPL support.

Pierre

[TheHardy]

Is calling 611 or *611 supposed to work using my FPL phone? When I call *611 I get “This call is not covered by your tariff plan”. I thought this number was good to call FPL support.

611 (but not *611) is supposed to be supported ... AFAIK.

Failing that, here are the "local" numbers for Customer Support:
http://www.freephoneline.ca/contactUs

Customer Service:
Toll Free: 1-866-515-5550
705-881-2222 Barrie
613-689-2222 Belleville
226-227-2222 Brantford
613-499-2040 Brockville
226-996-2222 Chatham
705-532-2222 Collingwood
226-706-2222 Guelph
289-639-2040 Hamilton
613-817-2222 Kingston
519-804-2222 Kitchener-Waterloo
226-289-2040 London
289-366-2222 Newmarket
289-932-2222 Niagara Falls
705-707-2222 North Bay
289-634-2222 Oshawa
613-366-2222 Ottawa (GOA)
226-776-2222 Sarnia
289-438-2040 St.Catharines
705-885-2222 Sudbury
416-477-2010 Toronto (GTA)
226-946-2222 Windsor
514-447-2040 Montreal
418-478-2222 Quebec City
587-883-2222 Banff
403-879-2222 Calgary
780-851-2222 Edmonton
604-283-2222 Vancouver (GVA)

[FONGO_steve]

611 is working on my freephoneline here in the office. Can we get more details about your setup and how you are dialling?

[Pierre]

611 is working on my freephoneline here in the office. Can we get more details about your setup and how you are dialling?

Steve,
I am using an FPL configured ATA Grandstream Handy Tone (HT) 286 with a D Link DIR655 router. I get the same response if I called 611 or 1-866-515-5550, dead silence after the beep... beep... beep. Please refer to one of my previous problems http://forum.freephoneline.ca/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3166 This problem is still ongoing and has never been resolved.

Any other numbers seem to work fine.

Thanks for looking into this.

Pierre

[TheHardy]

I get the same response if I called 611 or 1-866-515-5550, dead silence after the beep... beep... beep.
.....
Any other numbers seem to work fine.

Hi again Pierre -- re-read your initial problem there, and I remember that one. With no further posts on it, I too thought it was resolved.

So 611 and 866-515-5550 fail in the same fashion ... you say all other numbers work; does that include any from the local list of customer service numbers posted above?? They all route to FPL, so that would be one way of contacting them. I know that does not resolve your issue, but at the same time, if ONE of the three methods works to contact FPL successfully, that helps eliminate what the problem could be. I would suspect that internally, all of those somehow route back to one main FPL customer service number, so they should either all work or all fail, not hodge-podge .... odd.

With Steve on the issue, I am fairly certain that this will come to a resolution shortly tho!

[FONGO_steve]

Have you tried connecting the modem straight to the PC and trying the call from our software phone? Just want to rule out as much hardware as we can between you and us.

[Pierre]

I get the same response if I called 611 or 1-866-515-5550, dead silence after the beep... beep... beep.
.....
Any other numbers seem to work fine.

Hi again Pierre -- re-read your initial problem there, and I remember that one. With no further posts on it, I too thought it was resolved.

So 611 and 866-515-5550 fail in the same fashion ... you say all other numbers work; does that include any from the local list of customer service numbers posted above?? They all route to FPL, so that would be one way of contacting them. I know that does not resolve your issue, but at the same time, if ONE of the three methods works to contact FPL successfully, that helps eliminate what the problem could be. I would suspect that internally, all of those somehow route back to one main FPL customer service number, so they should either all work or all fail, not hodge-podge .... odd.

With Steve on the issue, I am fairly certain that this will come to a resolution shortly tho!

TheHardy,
I did try several of the service numbers listed above and got the same results - dead air.

Pierre

[Pierre]

Have you tried connecting the modem straight to the PC and trying the call from our software phone? Just want to rule out as much hardware as we can between you and us.

Steve,
My configuration doesn't have an in house modem. My router is connected directly to a dish outside that is being used, along with some other comm equipment, as an access point for all other internet users in my area. Also connected to the same dish, there is another dish that is pointed towards other access points further away from my house to serve other internet users..

Pierre

[TheHardy]

I did try several of the service numbers listed above and got the same results - dead air.

Wow -- okay, well that would tend to show that there is a direct problem, and not just a routing issue per-se. While it does not FIX your problem, this should help with troubleshooting the situation from an FPL point of view. Thanks for indulging me in this process. And I do hope that things get resolved shortly.

[TheHardy]

My configuration doesn't have an in house modem. My router is connected directly to a dish outside that is being used, along with some other comm equipment, as an access point for all other internet users in my area. Also connected to the same dish, there is another dish that is pointed towards other access points further away from my house to serve other internet users..

I think that it is worth noting, that in re-reading Pierre's description of the problem and also taking closer note of his ISP, he is using Northwind sat-internet ... the latency in this and some other routing issues with regards to this PARTICULAR configuration may indeed be the root cause of this problem. I have a funny feeling that Steve will be requesting some further information in order to be able to diagnose this issue correctly.

Pierre, you say that you can call other numbers successfully, so the 'dead-air' when attempting to reach FPL is odd.

Just for sake of going an extra step, if you call one of FPL's remote voicemail access numbers, what kind of a result do you get?
http://www.freephoneline.ca/vmAccessNumbers

I am wondering if it is just related to FPL-system numbers, as you say calls to other locations/numbers seem to go thru correctly ...

Sorry again that I am not able to offer a solution, but rather just more steps ... I regret I cannot help more.

[FONGO_steve]

Pierre, could you fire me a private message with your freephoneline account? I can test it on my softphone and ATA in the office. If it works here, then we can rule out anything on our end - it could be the wireless ISP at that point (as TheHardy mentioned).

[TheHardy]

To that end, Steve, I find it odd that pretty well ALL the methods of contacting "611" are seeming to fail in the same way ... whether it is 611, 888#, or local #'s ... just to put the cherry on the top of this, which ACTUAL # do these all "home" to? The KWL #? (519-804-2222) or an actual Cambridge #?

[FONGO_steve]

To that end, Steve, I find it odd that pretty well ALL the methods of contacting "611" are seeming to fail in the same way ... whether it is 611, 888#, or local #'s ... just to put the cherry on the top of this, which ACTUAL # do these all "home" to? The KWL #? (519-804-2222) or an actual Cambridge #?

Dialing 611 is basically just a forward in the server to direct you to a local support number I'm not sure which one, but all the numbers essentially end up at the same destination.

[Pierre]

Steve,
I did send you a message, let me know if you didn't get it, had a bit of problem sending it.
I went to the site http://www.connectionanalyzer.com
This site does analyse your connection for VOIP suitability, test came back and told me my connection was good for VOP.
I am currently in California and away from my residence and VOIP phone for the next two weeks, I cannot do or try anything for that period of time.

Thanks to Steve and TheHardy for your help,

Pierre

[FONGO_steve]

Hi Pierre,
You mentioned that you are using an FPL configured Grandstream 286 ATA. To ensure I was testing the same way as you, I configured your account on a Grandstream 286 here in the office using our standard configuration. I was able to connect to 611, listen to our IVR and then call through to my desk. I let the call run for a while so you can see the call duration in your call logs.

I'm using a standard desk phone connected to the ATA - purchased it for $9 at the local surplus store. So both the phone and ATA setup represent what a typical user would have at home. I'm connected to a DSL internet connection.

Do you have the ability to try your ATA at a friends place?

[Pierre]

Steve,
Thanks for all your efforts. I am out of the country and away from home until end of next week. Once I get back I will see if I can try my ATA at a friends place. Should be interesting.

Pierre

[FONGO_steve]

Steve,
Thanks for all your efforts. I am out of the country and away from home until end of next week. Once I get back I will see if I can try my ATA at a friends place. Should be interesting.

Pierre

Sounds good - keep me posted. I'd like to find out what the different variable is between my test setup and your setup that's causing you to not be able to call it.

[TheHardy]

Nice troubleshooting so far Steve & Pierre -- I also would be interested to see what "the pebble in your sock" is when it is found ... I have a funny feeling it is an ISP-side issue for whatever reason ... Pierre -- would your friend's place also be on NORTHWIND WIRELESS, or would it be a different ISP?

Last thing that I would suggest, is to try using the FPL softphone application and see if THAT works from your place on NORTHWIND ... that would nail down if it is the connection (ISP) or the ATA ... well, at least kind of.

Download link for the FPL softphone app is located inside the "my account" thingie once logged in -- you can choose Mac or PC.

Other than that I am going to have to go raid a farm and get myself some straw to grasp at! At least I have a few days to do that until you return to your domicile!

[Pierre]

Nice troubleshooting so far Steve & Pierre -- I also would be interested to see what "the pebble in your sock" is when it is found ... I have a funny feeling it is an ISP-side issue for whatever reason ... Pierre -- would your friend's place also be on NORTHWIND WIRELESS, or would it be a different ISP?

Last thing that I would suggest, is to try using the FPL softphone application and see if THAT works from your place on NORTHWIND ... that would nail down if it is the connection (ISP) or the ATA ... well, at least kind of.

Download link for the FPL softphone app is located inside the "my account" thingie once logged in -- you can choose Mac or PC.

Other than that I am going to have to go raid a farm and get myself some straw to grasp at! At least I have a few days to do that until you return to your domicile!

TheHardy, the friend I have in mind is using Xplornet. I don't think his connection speed is as good as mine.

Pierre

[TheHardy]

Noted ... it may be more than SPEED, it may be JITTER and LATENCY that are kicking in -- or it may be a Bugs-Bunny-ish green gremlin sitting on the wing swinging a wrench!

You stated that you can call other numbers without issue -- are any of the others that you call on a regular basis IVR systems, or are they live people??

As I am really not sure WHAT is causing the issue, I am only throwing things out and spitballing at this point, so please forgive me if I am not overly helpful ATM.

[Pierre]

Not sure what has happened in the last two weeks or if anything has changed but I tried to call 611 this morning and it worked????

Also, quite frequently I use to get calls that the caller could hear me but I couldn't hear them, all calls seem to be OK now, and that's good... very good.

Pierre

[TheHardy]

Fixed is fixed ... so we won't look that gift-horse in the mouth anymore. Good to hear, and welcome back.

I will keep this problem "in the back of my head" in case we encounter it again anywhere along the pipe ... strange things do happen with this marvelous technology, so it is not beyond the scope of possibility that it may resurface.