Switch BACK to FiOS POTS from FiOS Digital Voice?
rbrown6061
Newbie

A little background..

FiOS Triple Play (with Freedom Essentials) customer for many years.. Prior to installation of FiOS, I had two Verizon POTS  phone lines over copper coming into my home.  When FiOS was installed, I had them disconnect the copper.   So right now, I have two POTS lines over Fiber which work fine.

My first phone line is appropriately discounted with the Triple Play bundle.  The second phone line costs me $49.99 per month BEFORE any taxes and regulatory fees. 

I called Verizon and inquired about switching one or both lines over from POTS over fiber to Digital Voice over  fiber- mostly my goal is to reduce the price of the second line (I'm told it goes down from $49.99 to $9.99... and I save a few dollars in regulatory fees). 

I was told that I could NOT switch only the second line from POTS to Digital Voice - both lines had to go at the same time. 

I was also told that once I switch over both lines to Digital Voice, there is no going back to POTS over fiber.  (I reminded the rep that I wouldn't be trying to go back to POTS over copper.... ) .

I pushed this with two different Verizon reps on two different calls - and - while they were polite, they couldn't give me the detailed anwers I really wanted. 

So, my questions are: 

a)  Why can't i just switch my second line over to FiOS Digital Voice and leave the primary line as POTS over Fiber?

b)  Given I am completely happy with my POTS over fiber lines today (clean/quiet lines, great voice quality), IF I were to switch (let's say it has to be BOTH lines) to Digital Voice and I'm unhappy with the service, why CAN'T I switch BACK to POTS over fiber?  (I am reasonably certain that all changes are done back at the Central Office and nothing changes at my home...so I view this as simply a provisioning issue)

c)  I do have fax machines that I use on the second line occasionally.. and.. I also have an ADT alarm that ties into my primary line.  I hear all of the above work with Digital Voice lines.. Can you confirm?

d)  Rather subjective question:  Are most folks happy with the voice QUALITY of the Digital Voice lines compared to the POTS over fiber lines they are replacing?  (I know VoIP has come a long way from its stuttery-tinny-dropout prone earlier implementation.)

I appreciate the help. I obviously need very accurate answers as I certainly don't want to switch to Digital Voice if the answer to b) above is "Once switched, no way back...."

THANKS!  RB

0 Likes
Re: Switch BACK to FiOS POTS from FiOS Digital Voice?
Junwu1
Enthusiast - Level 1

I switched FIOS triple play, the digital voice drops calls. I recently have a few times receiving calls from CA (I am in NJ). And the voice quality was bad, and today my wife got a call dropped. That was an phone interview (again from a CA company).

Then I called FIOS custormer support, the voice was amazingly clear when I was put on hold to listen to the music -:). I am wondering if the best quality is for calls to customer support? Or maybe when the call goes out of verizon network, the quality may become bad? I have no idea. One thing for sure, FIOS digital voice may be bad, and the quality may very depending who is calling you.

  

0 Likes
Re: Switch BACK to FiOS POTS from FiOS Digital Voice?
roetel
Newbie

I have also been a FIOS subscriber for many years and have no complaints with the quality of the voice service.  However, over the past two months we've suffered random service outages and the problem hasn't been resolved yet.

For what it's worth:  There are two ways to provide digital telephone service in the Triple Play world.  VZ uses a separate digital channel for their voice transport over the cable.  I don't know what voice coding scheme they use to encode the voice, but it is probably a more robust scheme than the narrowband (equals lower bit rates and lower quality) schemes cell phone use.  To my ear and without benefit of the proper test equipment, I'd say it is on par with the scheme used by POTS once it hits the CO.  This should not be a problem for your FAX or alarm system.  The other technique for Triple Play telephone is Voice over IP (VoIP), like Vonage uses.  FAXs and high speed modems sometimes have diffcultly with VoIP.

As to why they can't (or won't) use the second channel in your ONT for a second line, I can't say.  I can say with certainty, however, that if Line 1 isn't working Line 2 won't either, because one of the six techs sent to my house to fix our outage problem tried to use the second channel and the CO couldn't get the it to work.  I'm ready to request to have my phone moved back to the twisted pair; at least I don't need a battery back-up keep my phone working when the power goes out!  I've had more service outage time with FIOS in the past 30 days than I had in over 35 years over twisted pairs!

0 Likes
Re: Switch BACK to FiOS POTS from FiOS Digital Voice?
rbrown6061
Newbie

Thanks for all the responses.. I'm going to limit my question to just one now: (the most important one)

If I switch from FiOS POTS (using Fiber) to FiOS Digital Voice (obviously over Fiber), why CAN'T I switch back to FiOS POTS (using Fiber) IF I find the VOIP Digital Voice isn't clear or reliable?  Again, my view is that this is JUST provisioning in the Central Office.  Thanks again to all.  RB

0 Likes
Re: Switch BACK to FiOS POTS from FiOS Digital Voice?
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

@rbrown6061 wrote:

Thanks for all the responses.. I'm going to limit my question to just one now: (the most important one)

If I switch from FiOS POTS (using Fiber) to FiOS Digital Voice (obviously over Fiber), why CAN'T I switch back to FiOS POTS (using Fiber) IF I find the VOIP Digital Voice isn't clear or reliable?  Again, my view is that this is JUST provisioning in the Central Office.  Thanks again to all.  RB



There's no saying you can't go back. Just tell Verizon you don't want the 10-digit dialing. They'll have to move both lines back as I believe the ONTs have a software limitation that requires both lines to be set to a speciifc method of calling, but I am probably wrong in that regard!

0 Likes
Re: Switch BACK to FiOS POTS from FiOS Digital Voice?
rbrown6061
Newbie

@Smith6612 Thanks for your reply.  I should have been more clear.. I WAS told that once I switch to Fios Digital Voice, I can NOT switch back to POTS over fiber.  I need an intelligent answer as to WHY this is true if it really is just a provisioning thing in the CO.  Surely, Verizon must have a few customers who do switch from POTS to Digital Voice and aren't happy with the VoIP service despite the fact that it is touted as a strong offering.  Plus, I can't use the "I don't like dialing 10 digits" as justification as I'm already forced to dial 10 digits today with my POTS / Freedom Essentials service. 

0 Likes
Re: Switch BACK to FiOS POTS from FiOS Digital Voice?
rbrown6061
Newbie

Another comment may be worthwhile:  If it wasn't for the excessive second line charges ($49.99/month before taxes/fees) , I wouldn't be messing with this at all.  A quick call to Verizon last night let me know that my primary line would go UP by approx $5/month if I migrated it to Digital Voice (while the secondary goes from 49 down to 10).  I really don't care about all the fancy "services" that are available with Digital Voice.  

0 Likes
Re: Switch BACK to FiOS POTS from FiOS Digital Voice?
JerryTech1
Enthusiast - Level 2

Allot of things are not compatible with any kind of digital phone line...

My alarm's paging function is caput now as well, been working with VZ on the issue for like a year now.

Luckily the Contact ID signals are unaffected. But one phone set hangs up on every call waiting signal.

0 Likes
Re: Switch BACK to FiOS POTS from FiOS Digital Voice?
LawrenceC
Moderator Emeritus

As this thread is now over two years old, it will be locked in order to keep discussions current. If you have the same or a similar question/issue we invite you to start a new thread on the topic.

0 Likes