Please post any questions about eligibility for VCA and where to download here.
If so could they please post here which link they followed to be able to do this.
I've tried calling the business office but that is pretty useless too as they don't appear to have heard of the product.
I am interested in the Verizon Call Assistance service for home use. Is it offered for residentual users or just business users? Also if offered for res users how do you enroll into it? Verizon doesnt seem to have clear information about this service. When calling local number they never heard of it before. Is it only offered for certain locations?
Thanks for any information about this service
https://www22.verizon.com/callassistant/
Called 1888 483 5156 and was informed that my area does not offer VCA and will probably not offer it for some time.
I have. Call assistant seemed like a good idea at the time but after a couple months it lost it's luster.
It seems like almost everything else Verizon gets involved in outside of their base products, C-A was underdeveloped and in need of further refinement. A call to Verizon about a problem with it ususally brought amazement by the person at the other end that Verizon even had such a program! Go figure.
In the end, control over the recorded calls was the issue that spoiled the program for me. All deletions had to be done over the phone- not on my computer at a Verizon site ( this was the kind of needed software refinement I'm talking about ) and the program became burdensome. The lack of tech support and the feeling that I was immursed in some kind of experiment to see if A-S was technically viable led me to eventually cancel it.
Looking back there was great promise to the program: the idea that you could view calls coming in on your Verizon connected TV seemed futuristic and added excitement to my new Verizon triple-Play hook-up. But the A-S promise of making telephone communication easier ended up just being a pipe-dream as far as I was concerned.
One last thing: I think there was a charge for the service- not much, maybe $4-$5 per month - but it was just 'salt in the wound' to me. The program wasn't 'free' so I felt cheated somehow. I was paying for a product that Verizon wasn't supporting or further developing. The whole experience left a sour taste in my mouth that is still there today. So think twice before you leap.
Now this was a year ago that I singed-up for the program. Maybe it's been improved by now although I doubt it. There would be a push by Verizon to get us to sign-up if A-S had come of age and that isn't happening.
@CrustyViewer wrote: I have. Call assistant seemed like a good idea at the time but after a couple months it lost it's luster.It seems like almost everything else Verizon gets involved in outside of their base products, C-A was underdeveloped and in need of further refinement. A call to Verizon about a problem with it ususally brought amazement by the person at the other end that Verizon even had such a program! Go figure.In the end, control over the recorded calls was the issue that spoiled the program for me. All deletions had to be done over the phone- not on my computer at a Verizon site ( this was the kind of needed software refinement I'm talking about ) and the program became burdensome. The lack of tech support and the feeling that I was immursed in some kind of experiment to see if A-S was technically viable led me to eventually cancel it.Looking back there was great promise to the program: the idea that you could view calls coming in on your Verizon connected TV seemed futuristic and added excitement to my new Verizon triple-Play hook-up. But the A-S promise of making telephone communication easier ended up just being a pipe-dream as far as I was concerned.One last thing: I think there was a charge for the service- not much, maybe $4-$5 per month - but it was just 'salt in the wound' to me. The program wasn't 'free' so I felt cheated somehow. I was paying for a product that Verizon wasn't supporting or further developing. The whole experience left a sour taste in my mouth that is still there today. So think twice before you leap.Now this was a year ago that I singed-up for the program. Maybe it's been improved by now although I doubt it. There would be a push by Verizon to get us to sign-up if A-S had come of age and that isn't happening.
I have had VCA for well over a year now, works pretty well for me. But unfortunately I do not remember the process I used to get access to it However:
1) Here is a link to the VCA website: Link On that page is a link to where you are supposed to be able to check availability and sign up. I think I used that process but am not sure, I do know I did not have to call anybody to get VCA.
2) VCA has two distinct parts;
2a) A PC client that will pop-up on your PC the calling name and number just before the phone starts to ring. This client can also be used to delete old calls, but it is only one call at a time. The PC client is optional, it is not required to install/run it to have VCA (but of course if you want to have the caller id info pop on your PC then you must have the client running).
2b) The VCA website itself. Once logged in, you can view and delete calls (delete multiple calls at a time).
3) I do not use voicemail so I have never tried to use the voicemail capabilities of VCA, but there are some.
4) The VCA website has been promising new features for months, nothing at all has happened that I know of, no new functions, features, etc. I even received an email on 11/9/2009 saying that on 11/17/2009 there will be a new version of the PC client with new functions - nada. And no further communication to explain the failure - dumb!
5) VCA is free, no charge. I don't know why you would say there is a charge, there most certainly is not.
6) There is a VCA hotline - 1-888-483-5156, I used that number back when I first signed up for VCA and had a few problems, the folks were very helpful and fixed me up. I have seen posts from others though that say they have not been able to get any help at that number.
7) I have Caller ID on TV here in North Texas. As far as I know it is only available in North Texas for now. This feature may (or may not) depend on having VCA, I don't know.
Hope this helps.
__________________________________JustinVerizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phoneQIP6416-P1, IMG 1.7C, Build 09.83Keller, TX 76248
I had to enter my Verizon.com user id and password three times to get here to respond to this thread. Their websites stink (especially Verizon.com) and I still don't understand why there are STILL two web sites (.net and .com) and why I have to log into each separately!
Anyway the VCA client, at least to me, is a joke. It will install but not run on my main computer running Vista 64x. I installed it this afternoon on a Windows XP Laptop and it runs, but I have yet to find any use for it. I was told you could use it to block calls (specific numbers), but if you can, I cannot find the way to do it. Any other function just seems to take you to the web page which you can access easily (well, kind of...) without the client!
I have called the listed number for help and gave up after waiting 15 minutes or more for an agent to pick up.
I have sent several emails with questions and requests for help and have received nothing back.
I have Time Warner at my vacation home in SC, including their version of digital phone. Their system/software will pop up an incoming call caller ID on your TV. That, at least, is a little useful.
Maybe Comcast was not so bad after all.....
@TEM3 wrote:.... but I have yet to find any use for it.
For me it has two functions that I have found useful in the past:
1) Pop-up the caller id info on my PC.
2) View and manage my list of previous calls without logging into the website.
I no longer use the PC client since I do have caller id on my TV; the computer and TV are in the same room and pretty much always both on at the same time. And I do not use voicemail at all, I much prefer using my existing answering machine.
The application does come across as a half-implemented application, and is missing quite a bit of function that Verizon has said on the VCA website would be available "soon." Maybe next year?????
Does anyone know where to download call assistant.? I have it on one computer and want to install it on another, but I can't find where to download it to install it
thanks
Go to www.verizon.com/callassistant
After you log in, there should be a download link on the top right
thanks for the info
@Justin wrote: @CrustyViewer wrote: I have. Call assistant seemed like a good idea at the time but after a couple months it lost it's luster.It seems like almost everything else Verizon gets involved in outside of their base products, C-A was underdeveloped and in need of further refinement. A call to Verizon about a problem with it ususally brought amazement by the person at the other end that Verizon even had such a program! Go figure.In the end, control over the recorded calls was the issue that spoiled the program for me. All deletions had to be done over the phone- not on my computer at a Verizon site ( this was the kind of needed software refinement I'm talking about ) and the program became burdensome. The lack of tech support and the feeling that I was immursed in some kind of experiment to see if A-S was technically viable led me to eventually cancel it.Looking back there was great promise to the program: the idea that you could view calls coming in on your Verizon connected TV seemed futuristic and added excitement to my new Verizon triple-Play hook-up. But the A-S promise of making telephone communication easier ended up just being a pipe-dream as far as I was concerned.One last thing: I think there was a charge for the service- not much, maybe $4-$5 per month - but it was just 'salt in the wound' to me. The program wasn't 'free' so I felt cheated somehow. I was paying for a product that Verizon wasn't supporting or further developing. The whole experience left a sour taste in my mouth that is still there today. So think twice before you leap.Now this was a year ago that I singed-up for the program. Maybe it's been improved by now although I doubt it. There would be a push by Verizon to get us to sign-up if A-S had come of age and that isn't happening.I have had VCA for well over a year now, works pretty well for me. But unfortunately I do not remember the process I used to get access to it However:1) Here is a link to the VCA website: Link On that page is a link to where you are supposed to be able to check availability and sign up. I think I used that process but am not sure, I do know I did not have to call anybody to get VCA.2) VCA has two distinct parts;2a) A PC client that will pop-up on your PC the calling name and number just before the phone starts to ring. This client can also be used to delete old calls, but it is only one call at a time. The PC client is optional, it is not required to install/run it to have VCA (but of course if you want to have the caller id info pop on your PC then you must have the client running).2b) The VCA website itself. Once logged in, you can view and delete calls (delete multiple calls at a time).3) I do not use voicemail so I have never tried to use the voicemail capabilities of VCA, but there are some.4) The VCA website has been promising new features for months, nothing at all has happened that I know of, no new functions, features, etc. I even received an email on 11/9/2009 saying that on 11/17/2009 there will be a new version of the PC client with new functions - nada. And no further communication to explain the failure - dumb!5) VCA is free, no charge. I don't know why you would say there is a charge, there most certainly is not.6) There is a VCA hotline - 1-888-483-5156, I used that number back when I first signed up for VCA and had a few problems, the folks were very helpful and fixed me up. I have seen posts from others though that say they have not been able to get any help at that number.7) I have Caller ID on TV here in North Texas. As far as I know it is only available in North Texas for now. This feature may (or may not) depend on having VCA, I don't know.Hope this helps.__________________________________JustinVerizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phoneQIP6416-P1, IMG 1.7C, Build 09.83Keller, TX 76248
The difference between your usuage and mine was that I had voice mail. Any charge I saw probably related to that extra service similar to a cell phone.
The small fee aside I would still be using C-A if my voice-mails could have been viewed on my computer and sorted out from there. I'm jacked into the Internet, FIOS TV, and my telephone using the same fiber-optic cable and I can't figure out why Verizon can't strucyure Call Assistant so that I can view voicemail sources on my computer. Calling on my phone to retrieve and delete messages one at a time seems a little out of date with fiber-optic service, doesn't it?
The basic C-A program is useful to some extent but I wanted more from it and I never got the feeling Verizon was working to improve it. As I said in my last reply, when I had to call about a problem with the program and I was met with astonishment from the Verizon tech people that it even existed. That concerned me a great deal.
Call Assistant has great potential. If only Verizon seemed committed to fulfilling that potential I'd be using it today. Instead I rely on the caller ID feature to show potential callers on all the phones situated in my house ( each room ) and an answering machine. Primitive perhaps but it works.
I am trying to sign up for the call assistant, but when I click "Get it Now" on https://www22.verizon.com/callassistant, It takes me to a place where I can order a new bundle. I am already on the Triple Play bundle. How do I fix this?
I decided to add to your post because its related to VCA. I ordered the service, I received a mailed letter dated 12.21.09 from Verizon that my service was activated. Its not; and caller ID stopped working the same day.
When I look for a work order, it does not exist, when I go to activate the service at ; I am told I do not have the service or my order has not been completed.
The website directs me to different areas that do not help, I cannot remove Call Assistant, I have to re order a bundle.
I have the triple play, etc
I want caller ID back and I do not have the non-scheduled time to stay on the phone with Customer Service, my past experiences have been unsuccessful.
I was able to order mine on like like you tried with no problems. VCA requires certain features and switch settings to work properly. My guess is something isn't set up properly on your account. I would try to contact the VCA Help Desk at 1-888-483-5156 to see if they can figure out what is wrong with your accounts.
Good luck.
MM
I live on Long Island and I signed up for the Free Call Assistant via VOD which said was available. Today I called to check on the status and the operator said it is not available on Long Island yet just the five boroughs of NYC. Why are you saying its available but its not??
when I check availability of tv caller id on my stb it states that I must subscribe to caller id which I already have. I'm in bergen county New Jersey which is north east jersey. I've heard that I need VCA for the tv caller id to work but everytime I try to setup it forwards me to a page to select a bundled service, which I already have. then if I go to account changes, there is no option for VCA any where. what gives?
Are you talking about the VCA that we get on the web at verizon.com/callassistant or the vca that you get so you can see callerid on your fios tv? If tv, do you have 1.7 on your settop box? I saw on dslreports that the callerid on tv will only work with settop box verzion 1.7
If you are talking about the web/pc version, I thought that was available just about all over. Try logging into www.verizon.com/callassistant. But if you signed up on VOD (video on demand????) that might not work. If it doesn't work, try signing up on the verizon.com/callassistant page to sign up for it.
I have "Windows 7 Ultimate" running on my computer. I just signed up for everything with "Verizon FIOS". I downloaded "Verizon Call Assistant"(VCA). It does not work well on my computer.
Things that do not work on desktop software:
Main tool bar at top:
Web Portal Option
Profile Option
Settings Option
Under "Advanced" Transparency Option
Feed Back Option
Help Option
Address Book Tool Bar:
Add Group Option
Contacts individual Click on Options:
Edit Option
Add Button at bottom of Contacts Window.
Call Logs Window:
Click on Contact, Then Edit Button
Click on Contact, The Add Button
Add Button at bottom of Window
Voice Mail Window:
(Pending, have not used, Yet.)
I guess, since "Windows 7" just came out, there has not been enough time to update VCA. Does anyone know when these Options will be available. Is this Beta Software?
Thanks
I have Windows 7 Home Premium and it doesn't work on that either. It is not that you are using Windows 7, Verizon has had plenty of time to make it work on 7 (7 Beta has been available for more than a year), it is just a new and completely redesigned version of VCA and if it is even possible, it is worse than the original VCA and the first update that came out maybe a year or so ago. I don't think Verizon ever ran it on a PC anywhere in the world before they released it
I have had VCA for about 1 1/2 years, the initial release actually worked pretty well for me, I got the pop-ups when the phone was about to ring, etc. Some people had lots of trouble with the first release, consuming lots of processor and memory, I didn't. The first update for me just didn't work at all, but apparently was ok for some people - strange. And now we have this new version, which to me is just awful. I installed it and like you I found virtually nothing worked. So I don't use VCA any more. But since I have Caller ID on TV now which gives me the pop-ups, and that was really all I cared about anyhow, I have a subscription to VCA only so Caller ID will work, but I don't use the PC program at all.
Do you really want the function of VCA on your PC? If you got it only for Caller ID on your TV, there is no need to run the PC client for that to work.
Installed it a few days ago and all of the same issues on Win 7 Professional.
Thank You for the feed back. I cannot believe Verizon would even make this software available in its present state. The concept is great, I really like the possibilities of the options. Very frustrating, there has to be a programmer out of work, they could hire to fix these problems.
@BIOG wrote: Thank You for the feed back. I cannot believe Verizon would even make this software available in its present state. The concept is great, I really like the possibilities of the options. Very frustrating, there has to be a programmer out of work, they could hire to fix these problems.
Well, if they hired an out of work programmer to work on VCA, I firmly believe he or she would be the first programmer to ever work on the program. I think I could do better in my sleep, and I don't think I have written a program since 2001 or 2002.....
I am having the same exact problem...seems the only way to get it fixed is to spend a couple of hours on the phone with them...
I have been trying to set up VCA for a while. On the website no calls are appearing. When I try to enter voicemail password I get file not found.
Try UN-installing the VCA and re-installing it again and see if that will help.
I unistalled the old version and installed the new version but no change. When I sign in to the website no calls and no voicemails appear and it won't let me set up the voicemail.
Having the exact same problem here. Not even sure if I need to have call assistant as I already have iobi.
@e654562 wrote:I am having a similar issue.. and here is what I found out today.. you cannot have CALL WAITING CALLER ID. According to the guy I was IM'ing at FIOS tech support you must have them remove the call waiting caller id and just have basic caller id. If anyone else can confirm this that would be a great help.
Completely untrue. I have had Caller ID on TV for months, I have Caller ID and Call Waiting ID (those are the correct names of the features as shown on the Verizon website) and I can assure you that Caller ID on TV works just fine with both services. I have seen many times the popup on the TV when my wife has been using the home phone
For completeness, here is a list of the features I have on my phone:
Call Waiting/Cancel Call Waiting
Caller ID (Anonymous Call Block Not Included)
Call Waiting ID
Verizon Call Assistant
You might want to check and see exactly which services you have on your phone, maybe another one is incompatible.
There is a tremendous amount of bad information out there on the Caller ID on TV service, I don't understand why Verizon doesn't come out with some complete and accurate item on their websites, here on the forum, etc, to set the record straight. And why they don't give their support techs the correct information. Really, really poorly handled IMO.
Ok, I finally got it. I'll start by saying that I've spent hours wasting my time with Verizon's horrible customer service. Apparently no one knows what's going and I think I spoke with or chatted with every tech in every dept. The only way I was able to get this done was by finding out from these forums that we can request VCA over the phone. I told one of the techs this and he conferenced in someone from that dept who at first argued with us that it can't be done by her, so Verizon like. After a 5 minute conference and the 2 Verizon techs from different depts going at it, she finally gave in and setup VCA for me over the phone. 2-3 days later I received an email to activate VCA and then viola, it worked. FINALLY. Once again, I thank only the other users of these forums for their tips because if I didn't know what to request, Verizon would of never figured it out. Now the VCA works and so does the tv caller id.
good luck everyone.
I'm glad it was resolved. Please feel free to mark the most useful answer as your "solution", and give kudos to anyone who helped along the way.
Here in NY, for the last year when I first signed up for VCA, I could always see incoming calls but not VoiceMail. This problem still exists today: when I try to set it up with the VM password I use on the phone, it states:
Error We are unable to sign in to your Voice Mail system due to either an invalid mailbox or Voice Mail passcode. Please check your mailbox and passcode by dialing into Voice Mail from your telephone. Then reset the passcode in the Voice Mail Retrieval Settings section. If this condition persists, please contact our Customer Support Center at 1-888-483-5156.
I guess I can try to fight the good battle with VCA CSS once again as last time I called them (months ago), they stated above was not yet available in NY...me thinks they lie!
BTW, tonight, I'm gonna try to setup CallerID via the STB to show up on TV....lets see how well that goes
I live in Nassau County and have been trying to figure this out since my FIOS triple bundle install on 01/13/2010. I successfully installed the VCA software on my desktop, successfully set up and activated my VCA account, and I can retrieve VM messages via telephone, but every time I try to retrieve my messages using the www.verizon.com/callassistant web site, I end up with an error message. The web page indicates that my VCA passcode is not set, which (of course) it is. When I attempt to enter and save the passcode, I receive an error message directing me to contact Verizon at a toll free number. I finally spoke with someone at Verizon on 01/21/2010, and I was informed that VCA is not yet available on Long Island.
It is almost inconceivable to me that Verizon doesn't have this basic capability operational at this point in time. I switched to Verizon from telephone service provided by my cable company, and in truth, the voice mail functions provided by the cable company were far superior (not to mention, functional). Beyond that, Verizon should at least indicate somewhere on one of its many confusing web pages, that VCA service in not available on Long Island, even though it is activated and appears on account statements for customers on Long Island.
Same thing for Westchester.
With STB at 1.7, you get VCA to work on your TV and will get emails with the CallerID BUT you can not retrieve VoiceMail Msgs over the WEB...no eta
I had VZ open a trouble ticket into their switch (check my local serving switch settings) to check on VoiceMail retrieval about two weeks ago and was told...NOT AVAILABLE...NO ETA
I saw that an update for VCA Windows was released recently and the VCA Home Page has "New Enhanced VCA Features Coming Soon!" and the coming soon statement has been around for awhile. Any clue when coming soon will be actually here and we'll get MAC support?
I've followed the path of many on this forum to try to get the Verizon Call Assistant pc client. I've used the Verizon In-Home-Agent, chatted with a customer service rep, talked to 2 customer services reps all to no avail.
Following the suggestion in another post to call the VCA hotline at (888) 483-5156, I spoke with yet another customer service rep who told me that it is not possible to get the Verizon Call Assistant when you have the Fios Digital Voice telephone service as I do.
Many of the features of the Verizon Call Assistant are part of the Fios Digital Voice telephone service, but the pop-up caller ID on your computer is not.
Has anyone else heard of this restriction?
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