Cingular Voicemail with Call Forwarding

Josh Alberts wrote:
> My family just got a new family share plan with Cingular, and we all love
> it. The reception is much better than it was with AT&T. My dad has one
> major problem with Cingular, however, and after talking to them on the
> phone multiple times, they have no clue what to do, either. My dad has
> call forwarding service from the phone company at his office. He has it
> set up so that whenever he leaves the office, he has his calls forwarded to
> his cell phone. This was never a problem with AT&T, but now it is. If his
> phone is on, and somebody calls his office, he can answer the call and
> everything's fine. If his phone is turned off, or he doesn't answer the
> call after 4 rings, they are not transferred to his voicemail. Instead,
> they are asked for the 10 digit voicemail box.

I suspect I know why. Perhaps someone in the Cingular newsgroup because maybe
they might have some insight into whether anything can be done about this, so
I'm crossposting my reply.

I don't think it's a carrier-specific issue, though. Cingular is probably set
up the way most other carriers are. Your mailbox number is your ten digit phone
number. So, say your cell number is 213-555-1212 and your office number is
213-555-8000. Someone dials your cell phone, gets voice mail, and the system
looks for and finds the proper mailbox (2135551212).

But if the call is forwarded, I'm thinking what happens is that the VM system
tries to look up 2135558000 instead, and fails.

I don't know what ATTWS did differently to allow your setup to work, but you
might try opening a trouble ticket with Cingular tech support and see what they
say. You might also try signing up for one of the many services out there that
does call forwarding, and try forwarding office calls through it instead, and
see if your results are any different.

Wish I could be more useful, but maybe this info will help you.

--
JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, http://JustThe.net/
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / [email protected]
PGP Key available from your friendly local key server (0xE3AE35ED)
Apple Valley, California Nothing scares me anymore. I have three kids.

---

› See More: Cingular Voicemail with Call Forwarding

Steve Sobol <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Josh Alberts wrote:
>> My family just got a new family share plan with Cingular, and we all
>> love it. The reception is much better than it was with AT&T. My dad
>> has one major problem with Cingular, however, and after talking to
>> them on the phone multiple times, they have no clue what to do,
>> either. My dad has call forwarding service from the phone company at
>> his office. He has it set up so that whenever he leaves the office,
>> he has his calls forwarded to his cell phone. This was never a
>> problem with AT&T, but now it is. If his phone is on, and somebody
>> calls his office, he can answer the call and everything's fine. If
>> his phone is turned off, or he doesn't answer the call after 4 rings,
>> they are not transferred to his voicemail. Instead, they are asked
>> for the 10 digit voicemail box.
>
> I suspect I know why. Perhaps someone in the Cingular newsgroup
> because maybe they might have some insight into whether anything can
> be done about this, so I'm crossposting my reply.
>
> I don't think it's a carrier-specific issue, though. Cingular is
> probably set up the way most other carriers are. Your mailbox number
> is your ten digit phone number. So, say your cell number is
> 213-555-1212 and your office number is 213-555-8000. Someone dials
> your cell phone, gets voice mail, and the system looks for and finds
> the proper mailbox (2135551212).
>
> But if the call is forwarded, I'm thinking what happens is that the VM
> system tries to look up 2135558000 instead, and fails.
>
> I don't know what ATTWS did differently to allow your setup to work,
> but you might try opening a trouble ticket with Cingular tech support
> and see what they say. You might also try signing up for one of the
> many services out there that does call forwarding, and try forwarding
> office calls through it instead, and see if your results are any
> different.
>
> Wish I could be more useful, but maybe this info will help you.
>

I completely understand the problem now. What you said makes complete
sense....if only I knew how to fix it :P

Tomorrow, I'll try calling verizon and ask them if I can pass a fake CPN
or ANI with call forwarding, if I make it think I'm calling from my cell
phone number, maybe it would work.

Josh Alberts <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Steve Sobol <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
>> Josh Alberts wrote:
>>> My family just got a new family share plan with Cingular, and we all
>>> love it. The reception is much better than it was with AT&T. My dad
>>> has one major problem with Cingular, however, and after talking to
>>> them on the phone multiple times, they have no clue what to do,
>>> either. My dad has call forwarding service from the phone company at
>>> his office. He has it set up so that whenever he leaves the office,
>>> he has his calls forwarded to his cell phone. This was never a
>>> problem with AT&T, but now it is. If his phone is on, and somebody
>>> calls his office, he can answer the call and everything's fine. If
>>> his phone is turned off, or he doesn't answer the call after 4
>>> rings, they are not transferred to his voicemail. Instead, they are
>>> asked for the 10 digit voicemail box.
>>
>> I suspect I know why. Perhaps someone in the Cingular newsgroup
>> because maybe they might have some insight into whether anything can
>> be done about this, so I'm crossposting my reply.
>>
>> I don't think it's a carrier-specific issue, though. Cingular is
>> probably set up the way most other carriers are. Your mailbox number
>> is your ten digit phone number. So, say your cell number is
>> 213-555-1212 and your office number is 213-555-8000. Someone dials
>> your cell phone, gets voice mail, and the system looks for and finds
>> the proper mailbox (2135551212).
>>
>> But if the call is forwarded, I'm thinking what happens is that the
>> VM system tries to look up 2135558000 instead, and fails.
>>
>> I don't know what ATTWS did differently to allow your setup to work,
>> but you might try opening a trouble ticket with Cingular tech support
>> and see what they say. You might also try signing up for one of the
>> many services out there that does call forwarding, and try forwarding
>> office calls through it instead, and see if your results are any
>> different.
>>
>> Wish I could be more useful, but maybe this info will help you.
>>
>
> I completely understand the problem now. What you said makes complete
> sense....if only I knew how to fix it :P
>
> Tomorrow, I'll try calling verizon and ask them if I can pass a fake
> CPN or ANI with call forwarding, if I make it think I'm calling from
> my cell phone number, maybe it would work.
>
>

Nevermind, passing a fake CPN or ANI doesn't help, I just tried.

I'll try calling Cingular instead, and ask how the voicemail system
routes the calls. Maybe that will help me understand this problem
better.

Josh Alberts wrote:

> I completely understand the problem now. What you said makes complete
> sense....if only I knew how to fix it :P

You really ought to file a trouble ticket with Cingular, as I suggested. The
current behavior may, or may not, be what they intend.

> Tomorrow, I'll try calling verizon and ask them if I can pass a fake CPN
> or ANI with call forwarding, if I make it think I'm calling from my cell
> phone number, maybe it would work.

That's another option. Many office PBX systems can fake caller ID info, too.
ANI can never be faked. ANI is used for billing on toll-free numbers, and the
number carried via ANI is always the BILLING telephone number of the caller.
Caller ID can be faked, but not ANI.

--
JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, http://JustThe.net/
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / [email protected]
PGP Key available from your friendly local key server (0xE3AE35ED)
Apple Valley, California Nothing scares me anymore. I have three kids.

Steve Sobol <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Josh Alberts wrote:
>
>> I completely understand the problem now. What you said makes
>> complete sense....if only I knew how to fix it :P
>
> You really ought to file a trouble ticket with Cingular, as I
> suggested. The current behavior may, or may not, be what they intend.
>
>> Tomorrow, I'll try calling verizon and ask them if I can pass a fake
>> CPN or ANI with call forwarding, if I make it think I'm calling from
>> my cell phone number, maybe it would work.
>
> That's another option. Many office PBX systems can fake caller ID
> info, too. ANI can never be faked. ANI is used for billing on
> toll-free numbers, and the number carried via ANI is always the
> BILLING telephone number of the caller. Caller ID can be faked, but
> not ANI.
>

I tried faking the Caller ID to his cell phone. When that happens, it must
be thinking that he's calling from his own cell phone, because it lets him
change his personal options, etc.

I just called Cingular, and they say there's no way to do this. They say
its because of the GSM system. I'm still not totally convinced. They said
that I could switch to a TDMA phone, which I really wouldn't want to do,
but if I have to, I will. If anyone knows anything else, I'd really
appreciate it

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
says...
> I just called Cingular, and they say there's no way to do this. They say
> its because of the GSM system. I'm still not totally convinced. They said
> that I could switch to a TDMA phone, which I really wouldn't want to do,
> but if I have to, I will. If anyone knows anything else, I'd really
> appreciate it
>
>
This doesn't sound like a GSM related problem. I know of numerous
Cingular users that forward their home and/or office phones to their
cell phone and none of them get routed to the main voicemail gateway
instead of the correct mailbox. But it may not be a Cingular wireless
problem either--I found one hit with google groups discussing a similar
problem which turned out to be caused because the land trunk line (the
npanxx i.e. areacode+prefix) of the forwarding company wasn't setup
correctly in some table at the landline office. Didn't you say this was
only happening for the calls forwarded from his office? Have you tried
forwarding some other phone--home for example--to make sure the problem
is isolated to the office lines?

You said "He has it set up so that whenever he leaves the office, he has
his calls forwarded to his cell phone." That sounds a bit odd. Is he
just using ordinary call forwarding or is he using some kind of business
forwarding service where he just has to hit a button or something? You
did say it was just 3 ordinary lines didn't you? I could see where some
business services might use special equipment or trunk routing that
might be bypassing the normal logic.

This type of thing is way over the heads of the first level of Cingular
CS--you need to get a manager involved or tier 2 or a specialist. It's
to THEIR benefit to help locate the problem and get it fixed but you've
got to reach the right person. Don't let the normal "grab the first
excuse to get rid of this problem" CS BS divert you.
--
Jud
Dallas TX USA

Jud Hardcastle <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
> says...
>> I just called Cingular, and they say there's no way to do this. They
>> say its because of the GSM system. I'm still not totally convinced.
>> They said that I could switch to a TDMA phone, which I really
>> wouldn't want to do, but if I have to, I will. If anyone knows
>> anything else, I'd really appreciate it
>>
>>
> This doesn't sound like a GSM related problem. I know of numerous
> Cingular users that forward their home and/or office phones to their
> cell phone and none of them get routed to the main voicemail gateway
> instead of the correct mailbox. But it may not be a Cingular wireless
> problem either--I found one hit with google groups discussing a
> similar problem which turned out to be caused because the land trunk
> line (the npanxx i.e. areacode+prefix) of the forwarding company
> wasn't setup correctly in some table at the landline office. Didn't
> you say this was only happening for the calls forwarded from his
> office? Have you tried forwarding some other phone--home for
> example--to make sure the problem is isolated to the office lines?
>
> You said "He has it set up so that whenever he leaves the office, he
> has his calls forwarded to his cell phone." That sounds a bit odd.
> Is he just using ordinary call forwarding or is he using some kind of
> business forwarding service where he just has to hit a button or
> something? You did say it was just 3 ordinary lines didn't you? I
> could see where some business services might use special equipment or
> trunk routing that might be bypassing the normal logic.
>
> This type of thing is way over the heads of the first level of
> Cingular CS--you need to get a manager involved or tier 2 or a
> specialist. It's to THEIR benefit to help locate the problem and get
> it fixed but you've got to reach the right person. Don't let the
> normal "grab the first excuse to get rid of this problem" CS BS divert
> you.

Thanks for the reply. He has Verizon's ultra forwarding service. He
calls a toll free number anywhere to turn forwarding on or off, and he
can forward it to any number.

He's using three ordinary lines, no special equipment or anything. We
can forward calls to any number, he has forwarded calls to places other
than his cell phone before, and he's had no problems.

The CSR I spoke to was very very sure it was impossible, but I won't
believe that. Do you know what the person did to solve his problem?

Jud Hardcastle <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
> says...
>> I just called Cingular, and they say there's no way to do this. They
>> say its because of the GSM system. I'm still not totally convinced.
>> They said that I could switch to a TDMA phone, which I really
>> wouldn't want to do, but if I have to, I will. If anyone knows
>> anything else, I'd really appreciate it
>>
>>
> This doesn't sound like a GSM related problem. I know of numerous
> Cingular users that forward their home and/or office phones to their
> cell phone and none of them get routed to the main voicemail gateway
> instead of the correct mailbox. But it may not be a Cingular wireless
> problem either--I found one hit with google groups discussing a
> similar problem which turned out to be caused because the land trunk
> line (the npanxx i.e. areacode+prefix) of the forwarding company
> wasn't setup correctly in some table at the landline office. Didn't
> you say this was only happening for the calls forwarded from his
> office? Have you tried forwarding some other phone--home for
> example--to make sure the problem is isolated to the office lines?
>
> You said "He has it set up so that whenever he leaves the office, he
> has his calls forwarded to his cell phone." That sounds a bit odd.
> Is he just using ordinary call forwarding or is he using some kind of
> business forwarding service where he just has to hit a button or
> something? You did say it was just 3 ordinary lines didn't you? I
> could see where some business services might use special equipment or
> trunk routing that might be bypassing the normal logic.
>
> This type of thing is way over the heads of the first level of
> Cingular CS--you need to get a manager involved or tier 2 or a
> specialist. It's to THEIR benefit to help locate the problem and get
> it fixed but you've got to reach the right person. Don't let the
> normal "grab the first excuse to get rid of this problem" CS BS divert
> you.

The only "special" thing about his forwarding service is that you can
call a 1888 number to activate or deactivate it. He can have his calls
forwarded to any number, and can change it by calling the 1888 number.
He has no special equipment. This only happens for calls forwarded to
his cell phone from his office.

Jud Hardcastle wrote:

> In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
> says...
>
>>I just called Cingular, and they say there's no way to do this. They say
>>its because of the GSM system. I'm still not totally convinced. They said
>>that I could switch to a TDMA phone, which I really wouldn't want to do,
>>but if I have to, I will. If anyone knows anything else, I'd really
>>appreciate it
>>
>>
>
> This doesn't sound like a GSM related problem. I know of numerous
> Cingular users that forward their home and/or office phones to their
> cell phone and none of them get routed to the main voicemail gateway
> instead of the correct mailbox. But it may not be a Cingular wireless
> problem either--I found one hit with google groups discussing a similar
> problem which turned out to be caused because the land trunk line (the
> npanxx i.e. areacode+prefix) of the forwarding company wasn't setup
> correctly in some table at the landline office.

What Jud writes here is certainly plausible, it just may turn out to be
a trunking/routing problem with a landline switch, but the landline
techs will never find it on their own - they can't know what's being
received incorrectly by another switch external to them. It's gonna
take Cingular to figure out which of several trunk groups are impacted
(rarely just one grooup), and how, and work with the landline people for
resolution.


Didn't you say this was
> only happening for the calls forwarded from his office? Have you tried
> forwarding some other phone--home for example--to make sure the problem
> is isolated to the office lines?
>
> You said "He has it set up so that whenever he leaves the office, he has
> his calls forwarded to his cell phone." That sounds a bit odd. Is he
> just using ordinary call forwarding or is he using some kind of business
> forwarding service where he just has to hit a button or something? You
> did say it was just 3 ordinary lines didn't you? I could see where some
> business services might use special equipment or trunk routing that
> might be bypassing the normal logic.
>
> This type of thing is way over the heads of the first level of Cingular
> CS--you need to get a manager involved or tier 2 or a specialist. It's
> to THEIR benefit to help locate the problem and get it fixed but you've
> got to reach the right person. Don't let the normal "grab the first
> excuse to get rid of this problem" CS BS divert you.

Agreed.



--
jer
email reply - I am not a 'ten'

Josh Alberts wrote:

> Jud Hardcastle <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
>
>>In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
>>says...
>>
>>>I just called Cingular, and they say there's no way to do this. They
>>>say its because of the GSM system. I'm still not totally convinced.
>>>They said that I could switch to a TDMA phone, which I really
>>>wouldn't want to do, but if I have to, I will. If anyone knows
>>>anything else, I'd really appreciate it
>>>
>>>
>>
>>This doesn't sound like a GSM related problem. I know of numerous
>>Cingular users that forward their home and/or office phones to their
>>cell phone and none of them get routed to the main voicemail gateway
>>instead of the correct mailbox. But it may not be a Cingular wireless
>>problem either--I found one hit with google groups discussing a
>>similar problem which turned out to be caused because the land trunk
>>line (the npanxx i.e. areacode+prefix) of the forwarding company
>>wasn't setup correctly in some table at the landline office. Didn't
>>you say this was only happening for the calls forwarded from his
>>office? Have you tried forwarding some other phone--home for
>>example--to make sure the problem is isolated to the office lines?
>>
>>You said "He has it set up so that whenever he leaves the office, he
>>has his calls forwarded to his cell phone." That sounds a bit odd.
>>Is he just using ordinary call forwarding or is he using some kind of
>>business forwarding service where he just has to hit a button or
>>something? You did say it was just 3 ordinary lines didn't you? I
>>could see where some business services might use special equipment or
>>trunk routing that might be bypassing the normal logic.
>>
>>This type of thing is way over the heads of the first level of
>>Cingular CS--you need to get a manager involved or tier 2 or a
>>specialist. It's to THEIR benefit to help locate the problem and get
>>it fixed but you've got to reach the right person. Don't let the
>>normal "grab the first excuse to get rid of this problem" CS BS divert
>>you.
>
>
> The only "special" thing about his forwarding service is that you can
> call a 1888 number to activate or deactivate it. He can have his calls
> forwarded to any number, and can change it by calling the 1888 number.
> He has no special equipment. This only happens for calls forwarded to
> his cell phone from his office.
>


What Josh is describing here is nothing more than a Verizon toll-free
dial-in number which is used to manage his CF service - the same thing
in SWBT lingo is Remote Access Call Forward service (RACF). I've been
successfully using it for years.

--
jer
email reply - I am not a 'ten'

Jer <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

> Jud Hardcastle wrote:
>
>> In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
>> says...
>>
>>>I just called Cingular, and they say there's no way to do this. They
>>>say its because of the GSM system. I'm still not totally convinced.
>>>They said that I could switch to a TDMA phone, which I really
>>>wouldn't want to do, but if I have to, I will. If anyone knows
>>>anything else, I'd really appreciate it
>>>
>>>
>>
>> This doesn't sound like a GSM related problem. I know of numerous
>> Cingular users that forward their home and/or office phones to their
>> cell phone and none of them get routed to the main voicemail gateway
>> instead of the correct mailbox. But it may not be a Cingular
>> wireless problem either--I found one hit with google groups
>> discussing a similar problem which turned out to be caused because
>> the land trunk line (the npanxx i.e. areacode+prefix) of the
>> forwarding company wasn't setup correctly in some table at the
>> landline office.
>
> What Jud writes here is certainly plausible, it just may turn out to
> be a trunking/routing problem with a landline switch, but the landline
> techs will never find it on their own - they can't know what's being
> received incorrectly by another switch external to them. It's gonna
> take Cingular to figure out which of several trunk groups are impacted
> (rarely just one grooup), and how, and work with the landline people
> for resolution.
>
>
> Didn't you say this was
>> only happening for the calls forwarded from his office? Have you
>> tried forwarding some other phone--home for example--to make sure the
>> problem is isolated to the office lines?
>>
>> You said "He has it set up so that whenever he leaves the office, he
>> has his calls forwarded to his cell phone." That sounds a bit odd.
>> Is he just using ordinary call forwarding or is he using some kind of
>> business forwarding service where he just has to hit a button or
>> something? You did say it was just 3 ordinary lines didn't you? I
>> could see where some business services might use special equipment or
>> trunk routing that might be bypassing the normal logic.
>>
>> This type of thing is way over the heads of the first level of
>> Cingular CS--you need to get a manager involved or tier 2 or a
>> specialist. It's to THEIR benefit to help locate the problem and get
>> it fixed but you've got to reach the right person. Don't let the
>> normal "grab the first excuse to get rid of this problem" CS BS
>> divert you.
>
> Agreed.
>
>
>

Yes, this only happens from calls forwarded to his phone from his
office. I'll try forwarding calls from my house to his phone, but
first, I have to figure out how to do so :P

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
says...
> > instead of the correct mailbox. But it may not be a Cingular wireless
> > problem either--I found one hit with google groups discussing a
> > similar problem which turned out to be caused because the land trunk
> > line (the npanxx i.e. areacode+prefix) of the forwarding company
> > wasn't setup correctly in some table at the landline office. Didn't

> Do you know what the person did to solve his problem?
>

Once a tech was convinced there was a problem he had the person do some
calls which he was able to watch come in on their end--when it became
clear the problem was on the landline switch the tech got that company
involved. Eventually the customer dropped out and the two techs went on
digging until they found the problem--that type of problem IS what
they're getting paid for. If this is what's happening you're probably
going to have to keep trying until you get to the right tier. If you
insist CS will pass you on (or have T2 call you back)--I've had to do
that a couple of times.

I would try to find someone else (with a different npanxx than his
office) with call forwarding on their landline to make sure it works
correctly on another trunk. That type of evidence goes a long way
toward getting CS to take you seriously.
--
Jud
Dallas TX USA