Changed provider....now answering system not working.

tippmantoo

Hello. Please help. I recently signed up for Smart's phone & broadband service. I have a Panasonic cordless with answering system, which has been working for the last 5 years or so until I switched provider. I can get all caller I.D.'s but a call just doesn't go to the answering system. The other thing is that the sound of the ringer has changed as well, as if it's not registering a full ring. I've tried another phone on the line and still get this strange ring. I've also given my phone to a friend and it worked perfectly on his eircom landline. Smart offer no answering service whatsoever so that's not the issue. This is as far as I've gotten with Smart, as far as they're concerned it's not their problem .... they don't respond to emails and a request to speak with a supervisor seems to be ignored. The ability to take a message is pretty important right now & I hope I don't have to wait 11 months to switch provider to resolve the issue.

Xantia

It sounds to me that the ringing cadence has changed.
It should be 25 Hertz and about 72 Volts AC
If they put in a new box in your premises it might have changed to 50 Hertz Ringing.
You will have to see what equipment that they installed at your house and see if there are any changes you can make.
Ideally you should try and make contact with the installer who put it in.

All telephone lines should ring an old bell phone (25 Hertz 72 Volts AC)
If not then the equipment needs to be changed to suit that.

If it was me and the line did not work properly then I would not pay them - then they would not be long sorting it out

tippmantoo

Thanks, I'll have to check some of those details.

The problem is that nothing new has been installed. Smart insist that it is using the exact same infrastructure as the previous provider. I've contacted Panasonic and they've confirmed that the phone is working properly. I've also contacted ComReg and it seems I would be on shakey ground contractually if I take the issue further.

Just earlier I contacted Smart customer care again and had a much better experience.....I've had other issues with Smart but it seems that I kept getting the one care rep who couldn't give a rats ass.

Mr. G

Smart do use a slightly different ring although nobody really notices. This is setup from their side and there is not much you can do.

ST

Is it possible to reduce the number of rings required before the answering machine picks up the call?

It may not be counting the rings correctly.

Have you tried reversing the polarity of the phone line (Swapping the wires in the socket) in case that makes a difference?

tippmantoo

I rang Panasonic customer care and they said the phone needs to count full rings and there's no way around this. It doesn't matter how many rings I set the answering system to. I can't fiddle with the wiring because there wasn't an issue until Smart took over.

I contacted Smart customer care on Tue 15th and Fri 19th asking to speak to a supervisor.......I'm still waiting. This is a technical issue that they are either unable or unwilling to resolve. Is a complete and utter lack of customer care a breach of contract? I hope so.

tippmantoo

Finally got a supervisor to look into this. He accepted that this a technical issue on their end. He pointed out that Smart are more focused on the BB side of things and that that this problem will be put on the long finger and doesn't know when and if this will be dealt with. I've also been released from my contract.