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digger16309
09-06-2008, 07:20 AM
Hi all,

I signed up post-BETA, during the soft launch. Tim is working on the issue I'm about to describe so this is by no means a rant, just a general question.

I'm transferring service from ViaTalk so I have a PAP2T for that.

I have a Panasonic Dect 6.0 phone system which includes an LED on the top of each phone that blinks when a voicemail is waiting. The CID screen also says "New Voicemail".

When I had Verizon POTS and ViaTalk, this feature worked well. I've also read that it works with Vonage.

The Grandstream firmware apparently does not have the option to pass through this information to light up the light. The only visible VM indicator is the blinking green light on the ATA, which is fine if I had an ATA near every one of my 6 phones on 3 different floors, but I don't.

I'm curious as to why this issue didn't come up during BETA testing, or did it?

Thanks,

Digger

NY Tel Guy
09-06-2008, 09:21 AM
Hi,
Glad to see you escaped and signed up here at my recommendation.

I think the feature was discussed but no-one here really thought it was an important enough to bring it up. I am fine with it not turning the light on because every time I get a message on my CallVantage line my wife reminds me that I have a message.
I would prefer to just get my e-mail/sms notification like I do now and can live without the light.

But there are others who like the light so I can see your desire to have it.

gatorrobin
09-06-2008, 09:29 AM
The fast dial tone when a VM is waiting works for me but if I were to receive a LOT of voicemails a light indicator would be nice.

usa2k
09-06-2008, 10:38 AM
Yes, STUTTER TONE works

The VMWI led on my UNIDEN phone works great.

The GS button will flash a green light too.

UNIDEN phones with answering machine built-in ignore the VMWI sign.
Does yours have its own answering machine built-in?

EDIT: I never had the second instance of my same line, using a ZyXEL ATA, work for STUTTER TONE or VMWI. But that is not a concern for me, and only GS are officially supported.

digger16309
09-06-2008, 01:58 PM
The VMWI led on my UNIDEN phone works great.

UNIDEN phones with answering machine built-in ignore the VMWI sign.
Does yours have its own answering machine built-in?


Yes the Panasonic does have an answering machine built-in but it is turned off, and as I wrote, it worked previously elsewhere so I know the functionality can work.

digger16309
09-06-2008, 02:00 PM
Hi,
Glad to see you escaped and signed up here at my recommendation.


Still waiting for the number to port, then I will be fully "escaped" :D

VOIPoTim
09-06-2008, 02:06 PM
Still waiting for the number to port, then I will be fully "escaped" :D

So that's what's going on here....people escaping.

It makes more sense now why we have 11....yes 11 current pending ports from one provider and only a handful for others.

fisamo
09-06-2008, 02:09 PM
So that's what's going on here....people escaping.

It makes more sense now why we have 11....yes 11 current pending ports from one provider and only a handful for others.

:eek:

In my case, I'm not so much 'escaping' as 'consolidating'. Of course, I also presume that my port request is not one of the 11 mentioned here... :p

VOIPoTim
09-06-2008, 02:12 PM
In terms of this issue, we are working with Grandstream. My understanding is that their MWI support is not complete in that it does not work well with ALL phones. The stuttertone and WMI on the ATA itself are fine, it's just getting it to fully work with th WMI features on some phones.

We're working with them to see what they can do to fix it firmware wise.

burris
09-06-2008, 02:14 PM
Still waiting for the number to port, then I will be fully "escaped" :D

I also escaped...this is probably one of the smartest moves you made..

Of course, you may miss the non-stop rhetoric that ensues in their forum, but I'm sure they won't stop you from having a laugh now and then..;)

Brian
09-06-2008, 03:19 PM
I also escaped...this is probably one of the smartest moves you made..

Of course, you may miss the non-stop rhetoric that ensues in their forum, but I'm sure they won't stop you from having a laugh now and then..;)

Not to turn this into an "escaping" thread, but has anyone had any issues getting refunds from certain other companies after canceling?

burris
09-06-2008, 03:47 PM
Not to turn this into an "escaping" thread, but has anyone had any issues getting refunds from certain other companies after canceling?

As far as I know, I was eminently successful in obtaining a complete refund including all the silly fees, taxes etc.

Since DSLReports seems to be the support station for VT, this all went on in the open. I suppose I could search the site for the dialogue.
I got tired of all the BS and expressed it thusly..nearing a divorce(WAF). I really didn't ask for any money back, but Brendan figured he could get rid of me by offering...I accepted and I had VT set to forward everything to a temp number that Tim kindly set up for me..It worked well until my port went through, then it worked perfectly..

NY Tel Guy
09-06-2008, 04:17 PM
Not to turn this into an "escaping" thread, but has anyone had any issues getting refunds from certain other companies after canceling?My situation was different. I had abandoned using the service (VT) a year ago because it was so bad. When my credit card expired in Sept of 2006, I neglected to give them the new one.
Even though I was in my free year, they did try to get me for the extra "extras" that the dumbfounded CEO always acted surprised about and couldn't understand why his people never carried out his directives - (It's called training Brindle or Bramble, or whatever his name is) and there is none there.

So anyway, this "escapee" got away cheap.:p

voxabox
09-06-2008, 07:00 PM
As far as I know, I was eminently successful in obtaining a complete refund including all the silly fees, taxes etc.

Since DSLReports seems to be the support station for VT, this all went on in the open. I suppose I could search the site for the dialogue.
I got tired of all the BS and expressed it thusly..nearing a divorce(WAF). I really didn't ask for any money back, but Brendan figured he could get rid of me by offering...I accepted and I had VT set to forward everything to a temp number that Tim kindly set up for me..It worked well until my port went through, then it worked perfectly..
Look what you have done to dslreports

Service Temporarily Unavailable

The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later.

darylo
09-06-2008, 09:00 PM
must be specific to the grandstreams because my pap2 always has the stutter and the indicator light. I'm using uniden and panasonic phones.

digger16309
09-17-2008, 01:41 PM
In terms of this issue, we are working with Grandstream. My understanding is that their MWI support is not complete in that it does not work well with ALL phones. The stuttertone and WMI on the ATA itself are fine, it's just getting it to fully work with th WMI features on some phones.

We're working with them to see what they can do to fix it firmware wise.

The answer I finally got back on this matter was, GrandStream says they don't support this function on this model ATA. If it works on some phones by accident, then it does, if it doesn't too bad.

I think that is ridiculous, in particular, because the function is supposedly included in their other ATA models. I have 6 phones on 3 floors and I am supposed to check the blinking green light on the ATA on the top floor to quickly assess whether I have VM or not?

The blinking light and "new voicemail" indicator on the CID screen worked with ViaTalk and worked with POTS, but not this.

In short, I'm pissed that this great function of the phone system I paid a lot of money for is not supported, and worse, apparently won't ever be thanks to the d**ks at GS.

I guess my only option is to kill voicemail and go back to an answering machine. I'll have to go dig the freaking manual out and see if that will blink my light or not.

usa2k
09-17-2008, 06:46 PM
In terms of this issue, we are working with Grandstream. My understanding is that their MWI support is not complete in that it does not work well with ALL phones.
I thought this device has been around a while. Seems GS should have it perfected by now. It must be newer than I realize?

I think I am confused with the HandyTone ATA-286
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,8038530
That thread is in 2003.

VOIPoTim
09-17-2008, 06:58 PM
I thought this device has been around a while. Seems GS should have it perfected by now. It must be newer than I realize?

I think I am confused with the HandyTone ATA-286
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,8038530
That thread is in 2003.

We're working with Grandstream to see what they can do.

My understanding is not that their other ATA models work with this and this one doesn't. I think it's more that some of their devices use a different method which may be compatible with some phones.

Both methods work for most phones, but neither will work for all.

Anytime you're dealing with third party devices (in this case phones), it's hard to make things work 100% across the board. The reality is, you can't make something work with ALL 3rd party devices. If they say it's fully supported, then they'll have to deal with support requests for some phones that don't work, so it's easier for them to just say it's not officially supported.

This is one of the reasons we've never advertised this as a feature.

We do know this is not affecting 100% of customers since some have confirmed it works fine for them. Again, we're working with GS to see what they can do with firmware, but I can't promise this will be an overnight fix.

digger16309
09-17-2008, 07:35 PM
We're working with Grandstream to see what they can do.

Again, we're working with GS to see what they can do with firmware, but I can't promise this will be an overnight fix.

That's not really the way the ticket response I got was worded. It was more like, "Your frustration is appreciated but this issue is basically dead because GS says it is. Good luck finding a new phone if you really want this to work for you."

I'm basically running an answering machine/VM hybrid now. The machine is set to a lower # of rings to catch normal calls, and VM will catch call waiting calls that aren't answered. The light works for the former but not the latter but presumably, getting off the phone, it's easy to remember to check VM for the call that came in. This is not ideal because I lose Vmail functionality, but doable for the moment.

quattrohead
09-18-2008, 06:38 AM
I have a old phone connected to my GS so I have no indication of VM, but I always get the email so use that. Works better for me anyway as I can see who it came from and prioritize it. Mind you, my computer is always on and email up :)

digger16309
10-20-2008, 05:53 PM
To close the loop on this... The GS-502 that was shipped to me does have the firmware that works with MWI on Panasonic Dect 6.0 phone systems, and this phone feature is now working for me. Thanks for your help Tim.

VOIPoTim
10-20-2008, 05:59 PM
To close the loop on this... The GS-502 that was shipped to me does have the firmware that works with MWI on Panasonic Dect 6.0 phone systems, and this phone feature is now working for me. Thanks for your help Tim.

Well I can't promise we won't have issues (because we absolutely will), but we do attempt to resolve them (which I can promise that we'll do) when they do come up.

Glad to hear it's working now.