Is it just me...tickets never seem to get resolved.

[tttony]

I've been a customer for nearly two years now and I never seem to get any traction with my support tickets.

The most frustrating one I'm working through currently is choppy/garbled calls. I've triple checked configuration settings, done speed tests, tested with different phones, flashed the Grandstream unit and it all leads to no where. That is, my tickets go answered for LONG periods of time until I reopen them months later and start all over again. Never once has the idea of trying new hardware been suggested. I just frustrates me to no end.

Has anyone else had these experiences?

[burris]

This info won't solve your problem, but since I began with VOIPo beta back in 2008, I have had a few quirks along the way, but always got a quick response to any ticket I submitted.
I haven't submitted many over the years but since we're dealing with the internet, sometimes stuff happens.

Good Luck..

[Ansextra]

I've been a customer for nearly two years now and I never seem to get any traction with my support tickets.

The most frustrating one I'm working through currently is choppy/garbled calls. I've triple checked configuration settings, done speed tests, tested with different phones, flashed the Grandstream unit and it all leads to no where. That is, my tickets go answered for LONG periods of time until I reopen them months later and start all over again. Never once has the idea of trying new hardware been suggested. I just frustrates me to no end.

Has anyone else had these experiences?When I open a support ticket it's always automatically acknowledged quickly and I get a response within a reasonable amount of time. I have no complaints about the support process with Voipo.

[nobaloney]

I'm quite new here, and as you might expect, as a new reseller I have a lot of questions. Recently I had a ticket not answered, so a day later I called. Rep was helpful and pointed out that the support ticket had been routed to the correct department, and was being worked on, and that I'd get a response from them shortly. A few hours later I still hadn't, so I replied to the ticket acknowledgement I'd gotten asking if I could get a response soon. I got a good response, which solved the problem, and an apology, rather quickly. So far I'm happy with support.

Their phones were quite busy yesterday but they've gotten better and I've heard they've hired more people for support. We all know how complex VoIP is, and that it will take them a while to get up-to-speed, and if you look at other threads you'll that VOIPo is a fast-growing company, so we know there'll be pains ahead from time to time, but all in all, the support experience works for me.

Jeff

[wingsohot]

When I open a support ticket it's always automatically acknowledged quickly and I get a response within a reasonable amount of time. I have no complaints about the support process with Voipo.

I have been a reseller with Voipo since 2010 and I have always been satisfied with their response to my support tickets. As far as I am concerned, their customer service is top notch.

[tttony]

Well, I guess it's just me then.

I'm currently working through an issue with them, and getting decent responses. If I can't make this right this time, we'll be moving on though. I need phone service that is reliable.

We just don't seem to have the tools to say for sure who or what is at fault. So, I'll try a different device and see if that helps. Beyond that, I'm out of ideas....and patience.

Thanks for your input all!

[rainsux]

Not just you.

I've had a problem open for ~10 days: Incoming calls ring, but no audio, in either direction.

Every support person starts at square 1 and repeats the canned actions. The problem/call
notes don't seem to be read/grasped. My VERY specific replies to their requests are not
read/grasped.

Very. Very. Frustrated.

[VOIPoTim]

There are some many variables involved with VoIP that sometimes we're not able to resolve issues for some customers due to their unique set of variables (ISP, network setup, etc) but we definitely try to provide the best support we can and the service works well for 99% of users. If someone falls into the 1% that has issues though, I understand that it can be very frustrating.

tttony and rainsux - Can you e-mail me your ticket numbers and a quick summary of your issues directly to tim @ voipo.com so I can look into them?

I can't promise that I can resolve them, but I'll definitely take a look and have a Supervisor look as well.

Please e-mail me your info so I can look at this for you.

[christcorp]

Tony. Not to answer your question about tickets; Tim is definitely taking care of that. But I've been in the phone/telecom/IT/voip business for a long time. A suggestion if you haven't already done this for troubleshooting.

If you can, disconnect your entire home network. I.e. all computers, all routers, all switches, all printers, everything. When done disconnecting it, try ONLY your voip adapter and your DSL/Cable/Whatever internet modem/adapter. Experiment with making as many calls as you can. If the problem is still there, it's either your voip adapter or your internet provider. (Or, if you're using the DSL/Cable modem also as your router, it could be that). If the problem goes away, then it's something in your network. E.g. another device causing bandwidth issues; conflict with ports; etc...

I always suggest when having a voip quality problem, to start at the very basic configuration which is the voip adapter and internet connection. No network at all. This way you can see which direction the problem is. Good luck.

[tttony]

Mike,
Great ideas. I've tried pretty much everything. I had pretty much everything isolated and was still experiencing strange line noise, dropped calls, etc.. Once things weren't adding up for me I decided to try a different ATA. So far, so good. Crystal clear. I'm just not sure why this wasn't offered up as a potential solution sooner. It could have saved us so much time and aggravation.

Thanks for your input everyone. I really appreciate it.

[ymhee_bcex]

@tttony, My guess that about 80-90% of the issues are either customer errors or easy to fix. These tickets get resolved by support quite quickly. Another 10-20% are issues outside support control (limitations of VOIPo service; limitations of underlying carriers; compatibility issues, or something really bad with customer ISP). Being a super low-cost provider, I suppose VOIPo doesn't have resources to do enterprise-level troubleshooting without going out of business. So, if you are in those 10-20%, your best bet is indeed to move on. Depending on your technical skills your options range from bundling phone service with internet from ISP to no-cost no-support service such as Google Voice.

I have three accounts that I am very happy with (I just renewed one of them for another two years as part of Black Friday promotion), and one account in that 10-20% category. By the way, VOIPo was very helpful in crediting remaining months to remaining account. I switched my very non-technical in-laws to Google Voice, and they haven't had a problem in two years.

[ddodell]

What ATA did you switch to?



Mike,
Great ideas. I've tried pretty much everything. I had pretty much everything isolated and was still experiencing strange line noise, dropped calls, etc.. Once things weren't adding up for me I decided to try a different ATA. So far, so good. Crystal clear. I'm just not sure why this wasn't offered up as a potential solution sooner. It could have saved us so much time and aggravation.

Thanks for your input everyone. I really appreciate it.

[tttony]

What ATA did you switch to?

I am using the OBi202 since I wanted to have access to the second line. It's not something I use often, but occasionally it comes in handy. Especially with two of us working remote.

And for the record, it's running flawlessly on the house wiring since the switch. I'm convinced the GrandStream is an underperforming piece of junk and BYOD is most certainly the way to go. I'm only sorry I didn't figure that out a lot sooner. Hopefully it's smooth sailing from here on out.

[Ansextra]

I am using the OBi202 since I wanted to have access to the second line. It's not something I use often, but occasionally it comes in handy. Especially with two of us working remote.

And for the record, it's running flawlessly on the house wiring since the switch. I'm convinced the GrandStream is an underperforming piece of junk and BYOD is most certainly the way to go. I'm only sorry I didn't figure that out a lot sooner. Hopefully it's smooth sailing from here on out.
I also have 2 lines on two separate Grandstreams here. Will the Obi202 allow me to plug both lines into one box and not interfere with each other? I have an Obi 100 that I don't use any more since switching to VOIPO a year ago but this sounds like it may be a good solution for me and save an outlet as well as a router port.

[tttony]

I also have 2 lines on two separate Grandstreams here. Will the Obi202 allow me to plug both lines into one box and not interfere with each other? I have an Obi 100 that I don't use any more since switching to VOIPO a year ago but this sounds like it may be a good solution for me and save an outlet as well as a router port.

Mine are both configured for the same SP. I think you could configure it otherwise though. At least it looks that way. Good luck!

[Ansextra]

Thanks for the response. I'll probably call tech support at some point and pick their brains...
UPDATE: I just ordered an Obi202 last night from Amazon and should be receiving it tomorrow.

[msp]

Not just you.

I've had a problem open for ~10 days: Incoming calls ring, but no audio, in either direction.

Every support person starts at square 1 and repeats the canned actions. The problem/call
notes don't seem to be read/grasped. My VERY specific replies to their requests are not
read/grasped.

Very. Very. Frustrated.

Happened to me also with the email support, which always used to be great. I finally just gave up and blocked off an hour to use their chat help so that I could at least get ONE consistent person through the whole process. (They didn't read my ticket either, until I asked them to.) I know that customer support is a low pay/high turnover job and Voipo is growing a lot and this inevitably happens when companies grow, but maybe they could put in a rule that the CS agent needs to read the history before suggesting stuff.

[MisterEd]

Happened to me also with the email support, which always used to be great. I finally just gave up and blocked off an hour to use their chat help so that I could at least get ONE consistent person through the whole process. (They didn't read my ticket either, until I asked them to.) I know that customer support is a low pay/high turnover job and Voipo is growing a lot and this inevitably happens when companies grow, but maybe they could put in a rule that the CS agent needs to read the history before suggesting stuff.

I used to be a "front line" tech support person at Vonage back when they first began and that was the first thing we were told to do ...... read the notes ...... but who listens to the boss when the NUMBER of calls and amount of time in each (AHT - average handle time) what the most important factor in keeping your job? :)

AFTER THAT I became a call center TRAINING MANAGER at a local DirecTV call center and that was what we preached as well. Always read the notes. Then we fired people for having too long an AHT. :D

Can't win. :)
Then I retired!

[MisterEd]

I am using the OBi202 since I wanted to have access to the second line. It's not something I use often, but occasionally it comes in handy. Especially with two of us working remote.

And for the record, it's running flawlessly on the house wiring since the switch. I'm convinced the GrandStream is an underperforming piece of junk and BYOD is most certainly the way to go. I'm only sorry I didn't figure that out a lot sooner. Hopefully it's smooth sailing from here on out.

Hmmm, I have 2 independent lines (2 numbers) on my Voipo Grandstream. I do have some occasional problems with dialing out and getting dead air but not a lot and usually to toll free numbers but not (yet) to any "important" numbers. I'd LOVE not being able to make or get calls to my sister though without actually doing it on purpose!

[rainsux]

BYOD was part of my problem. It worked fine for years - during the long 'beta. But once BYOD went mainstream, my service went to hell.

My problem; (incoming calls having no audio), has finally been mitigated, by moving me to different SIP server. It's not a new/unknown problem. But it took multiple weeks to re-home me to another SIP server. Too. Damn. Long. Frankly; I had given up hope and the begun to shift to GV.

Based on my experience, I am no longer able to recommend VoIPO to others ... and I used to be a vocal supporter.

[VOIPoTim]

BYOD was part of my problem. It worked fine for years - during the long 'beta. But once BYOD went mainstream, my service went to hell.

My problem; (incoming calls having no audio), has finally been mitigated, by moving me to different SIP server. It's not a new/unknown problem. But it took multiple weeks to re-home me to another SIP server. Too. Damn. Long. Frankly; I had given up hope and the begun to shift to GV.

Based on my experience, I am no longer able to recommend VoIPO to others ... and I used to be a vocal supporter.

Sorry to hear about this.

Can you e-mail your account info to me at tim @ voipo.com so I can review this?

This is very interesting. One thing that stands out is that you say it was fixed when you were moved to another BYOD server. There is one big config difference in that other server and that is that it handles its own audio so any audio streams coming to you would come from the same IP address that you're connecting to whereas with our core servers, the media is distributed to dedicated media servers.

It's interesting that that solved your issue and leads me to wonder if we should look into that more and see if it was solved because the IP of the media was the same IP you were already interacting with vs the router blocking an audio stream from a different IP.

Please e-mail me your info so I can have our guys look into this....this could be a very interesting test case that we could learn from.

[chpalmer]

router blocking

You SOHO guys drive me nuts! ;)

Its the built in firewall on the router blocking.