Invasion of the Dial-Tone Snatchers

Witches, cobwebs, gravestones, eerie music… It’s Halloween season and time for some horror stories – VoIP style. We asked our customers for their scariest phone-related situations. Here’s a small sample of what we heard. 

DOA Dial-Tone 

I showed up to the office like any other day, put my lunch in the fridge, and plopped down at my desk. As the clock crept past opening time, something was off. The phone wasn’t ringing. I picked up the receiver – No dial-tone. No busy signal. Nothing. Just dead air. I called the phone company, and our account was current. Then, I looked out the window. The new landscaper had dug a trench and cut clean through our utility lines. Moral of the story — Know what’s below. Call 811 before you dig.

— Kara in Kokomo, IN

Early Termination Trouble

After experiencing a handful of outages and shoddy customer service, we switched to more reliable internet and phone providers a few years ago. When our phone numbers finished porting over to the new vendor, I canceled service with the previous company. A month later, I opened my final bill expecting to pay about $200. Instead, they charged me more than $2,500 in early termination fees. The company had automatically renewed my contract without notifying me the month before I canceled service. Be wary of the long-term contract, my friends.

— Larry in Lafayette, IN

Going Loco at Three Locations

I started as the new office manager at a company with two existing locations. Then, we acquired a third location from a retiring practitioner. Each place had a different phone number and phone system. To make it even more complicated, the location we acquired was still on an analog PBX system. At least the other two had switched to hosted VoIP, although they were two different VoIP providers. With such inconsistencies, staff training and efficiently managing call volume was a nightmare. It took a couple of months, but we converted each location to a local VoIP provider. Now, the offices have the same model phones, and the system’s flexible programming lets us manage calls as if we were all under the same roof. 

— Wendy in West Lafayette, IN

Your VoIP Provider in Lafayette, IN

So admittedly, these stories may not be campfire-worthy, but they’re ideas to keep in mind as you shop for a new Internet-based phone system or transition to one. And, they are just the beginning of what our customers shared. Contact the phone experts at UpLync Communications, a VoIP provider in Lafayette, Indiana, to learn more.