Cannot make calls to same exchange

mattsen · Post by **mattsen** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 6:29 pm

Apologies if this has been covered somewhere here, but I didn't come across it in a search. Admittedly, I'm not a heavy phone user, so I don't know when this began.

Anyway, I've found that I cannot make outgoing calls to my same exchange, but can make them to any other exchange. I'm in area code 218, in a community with the 935-xxxx exchange. My magicJack number is also in area code 218, but with a 789-xxxx exchange. I've had no problems dialing out to any 218 numbers *except* for those beginning with 935-xxxx, i.e., any within the same town here. On those I get fast busy/reorder tones. So far as I can tell, any number are fine for me to call as long as they don't begin with 935-xxxx. I can, however, have Google Voice make the call and ring my magicJack number where I can then pick it up and successfully make the call, but it seems silly to have to have that extra step in there.

Could something in my Google Voice settings, perhaps, be affecting things? My mind is boggled. Be gentle.

TIA.

murphy · Post by **murphy** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:11 pm

Are you dialing 10 or 7 digits?

sabresfan · Post by **sabresfan** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:11 pm

If it's a new number it may take awhile before the local telephone company may recognize it. If the problem continues I would call the local phone company and tell them about the problem. Also chatting with a MJ rep may also "possibly" help as they may have some ways of accelerating a fix.

mattsen · Post by **mattsen** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:15 pm

murphy wrote:Are you dialing 10 or 7 digits?

I've tried both 10 and 11 digits (and even 7 digits, though that shouldn't work, either), and none of the three methods will get me through to the (218) 935-xxxx numbers. It's weird. It worked before, but has stopped.

mattsen · Post by **mattsen** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:18 pm

sabresfan wrote:If it's a new number it may take awhile before the local telephone company may recognize it. If the problem continues I would call the local phone company and tell them about the problem. Also chatting with a MJ rep may also "possibly" help as they may have some ways of accelerating a fix.

The numbers I'm calling in the (218) 935-xxxx exchange aren't new; they're numbers I've called for years, and I can call them from my cell, or via Google Voice, just not from the magicJack.

My "local" phone company is about 75-80 miles away and, believe me, they wouldn't have any idea what I was talking about, but I can't see why it would be their problem, anyway, since those numbers work just fine when dialed from other phones, just not via the magicJack. I think you may have misunderstood.

I may have to do the online chat thing, though I dread the time that'll probably take waiting. Thanks.

mattsen · Post by **mattsen** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 5:56 am

mattsen wrote:I may have to do the online chat thing, though I dread the time that'll probably take waiting. Thanks.

Well, spent a considerable amount of time with online chat today, though to no avail. I talked to two different reps, neither of whom seemed to understand my problem (maybe it's me?) and who kept walking me through the same steps over and over and asking the same questions over and over, finally telling me to enable my cookies and put the MJ sites into my trusted zone, reboot, and "it will be working then."

Yeah, right. <sigh> Oh, well. MJ seemed like a good idea for a while.

sabresfan · Post by **sabresfan** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 11:54 am

I was not specific enough in my last post. I was referring to your MJ number not the phone numbers your calling. I would call the local telephone company and tell them about the problem. It appears that the local telephone company does not reconize your MJ number and need to update their system. By chattng with MJ one would hope they would have a way of helping to resolve a problem like this but then again this site would not be as popular with MJ users either.

mattsen · Post by **mattsen** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 12:00 pm

sabresfan wrote:It appears that the local telephone company does not reconize your MJ number and need to update their system. By chattng with MJ one would hope they would have a way of helping to resolve a problem like this but then again this site would not be as popular with MJ users either.

I'll have to give them a call tomorrow, though, again, I'm not hopeful about the outcome. It's a rural area and not the most savvy folks running it down there (neither am I, of course, but then I'm not paid to be savvy

, and I'm also at their mercy for both TV and 'net access.

I'll see if I can get them to understand what's going on, at least. At least I can make those calls via Google Voice when necessary, but I just hate having to make that extra step, you know.

thanks....

sabresfan · Post by **sabresfan** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 12:37 pm

I can understand the frustration of this. If they can't fix the problem you could also try and change your MJ number. You could still try to get a local number but starting with a different area to see if that helps. There have been a few people that have had this problem in the past and ended up having to change numbers for the problem to be fixed.

mattsen · Post by **mattsen** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 12:43 pm

sabresfan wrote:You could still try to get a local number but starting with a different area to see if that helps. There have been a few people that have had this problem in the past and ended up having to change numbers for the problem to be fixed.

Yeah, that's always an option. There are only a few exchanges available in my area code, none near my town, so any are as good as the others. I'm saving that as a last-resort attempt, however, since it means notifying everyone of yet another change. Luckily, I've been giving out by Google Voice number for the past few months, which is set to ring both the MJ and my cell; but, changing numbers will still be a hassle if it comes down to that.

Thanks.