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Cannot change # of rings before voicemail pickup

fw2010

Hi;

I have a fax machine connected to our FIOS phone line, and am unable to receive any faxes because Verizon voicemail always picks up the incoming fax call.

I have confirmed this by listening to my voicemail, and I can hear the sending fax machine's tones.

I have tried to change the ring count for voicemail, but when I call my voicemail, there is no option for changing ring count.

On the website, the instructions say to call voicemail, enter your passcode, then press 9. However, there is no option 9. If I do press 9, I am told that I have made an invalid choice.

If I go through the whole menu system, trying every sub-menu, I cannot get to a ring count option.

I tried Verizon live chat, and it was useless. The Verizon rep did confirm that she was also unable to get an option for changing ring count.

Then, after minutes of "hold" on the chat, she told me I needed to open a service ticket, and gave me some very convoluted instructions that I became completely frustrated, and terminated the chat.

This should be the simplest of tasks. With Cablevision's Optimum Voice, I was able to do all of this online. Why can't Verizon make things this easy?

I have a feeling that what Verizon really wants me to do is order a separate wired phone line for the fax, so they get yet another monthly fee.

I would appreciate any help on this issue, however I am NOT going to open a service ticket to get a function that should be native to the service!

Comments

susrev

@fw2010 wrote:
Hi;
I have a fax machine connected to our FIOS phone line, and am unable to receive any faxes because Verizon voicemail always picks up the incoming fax call.
I have confirmed this by listening to my voicemail, and I can hear the sending fax machine's tones.
I have tried to change the ring count for voicemail, but when I call my voicemail, there is no option for changing ring count.
On the website, the instructions say to call voicemail, enter your passcode, then press 9. However, there is no option 9. If I do press 9, I am told that I have made an invalid choice.
If I go through the whole menu system, trying every sub-menu, I cannot get to a ring count option.
I tried Verizon live chat, and it was useless. The Verizon rep did confirm that she was also unable to get an option for changing ring count.
Then, after minutes of "hold" on the chat, she told me I needed to open a service ticket, and gave me some very convoluted instructions that I became completely frustrated, and terminated the chat.
This should be the simplest of tasks. With Cablevision's Optimum Voice, I was able to do all of this online. Why can't Verizon make things this easy?
I have a feeling that what Verizon really wants me to do is order a separate wired phone line for the fax, so they get yet another monthly fee.
I would appreciate any help on this issue, however I am NOT going to open a service ticket to get a function that should be native to the service!
FW

Sorry for the inconvenience and lack of help. If you don't have FiOS Digital Voice (VOIP) and have regular voice service, changing ring count from the mailbox is only available in NJ, DE, MD, DC, WV and parts of PA/VA. If you do not have a prompt from the main menu to press 9, it sounds like you are in an area where you cannot change the ring count from the mailbox. If you are in NY, CT, MA or RI, you will have to call your local business office and ask them to change it for you. If you are in any other state not mentioned above, you can change it by lifting your handset, get dialtone, and press 58#. If you hear 3 short bursts of dial tone, you enter the number of rings you want to hear (from 2-9). If you hear a normal dial tone, you have to enter the number of seconds you want it to ring before forwarding. E.g., 5 rings = 28 (sec); 6 rings = 34 (sec); 7 rings = 40 (sec); 8 rings = 46 (sec); 9 rings = 52 (sec). Sorry it is so complicated - varies by the type of system and there are multiple system types.

acraftylady2

I have an HP all in one with fax and there is a menu screen on the fax machine that will let me change the number of rings. If you have that maybe changing the number of rings on the fax machine as to when it picks up will solve the problem. Have it pick up before voice mail comes on. Mary

ggma11261

@acraftylady wrote:
I have an HP all in one with fax and there is a menu screen on the fax machine that will let me change the number of rings. If you have that maybe changing the number of rings on the fax machine as to when it picks up will solve the problem. Have it pick up before voice mail comes on. Mary

I too have an hp all in one and the recommedation from hp is to set the fax machine to more rings stating as below

FROM THE HP MANUAL
The Rings to Answer setting is important if you have an answering machine on the
same phone line as the device, because you want the answering machine to answer
the phone before the device does. The number of rings to answer for the device
should be greater than the number of rings to answer for the answering machine.
For example, set your answering machine to a low number of rings and the device to
answer in the maximum number of rings. (The maximum number of rings varies by
country/region.) In this setup, the answering machine answers the call and the device
monitors the line. If the device detects fax tones, it receives the fax. If the call is a
voice call, the answering machine records the incoming message.

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