No more cloned 2nd line feature?

**ymhee_bcex** · 05-01-2012 11:24 PM

Obviously, everybody's calling pattern is different. My cousin has a cloned line in her medical office, and she is raving about it. On the other hand, I am using my own adapter, and my wife loves that she can call domestic (through Voipo) and international (through other provider) from the same handset.

**christcorp** · 05-02-2012 12:06 PM

I don't use the clone line per se. I use the virtual number as the 2nd line. I use that number for the very few faxes I do. I also use it as an incoming line for my mom and sister because they live on the other side of the country, and they can dial a local number and not have to deal with long distance charges.

**MisterEd** · 05-02-2012 07:00 PM

Originally Posted by christcorp

I don't use the clone line per se. I use the virtual number as the 2nd line. I use that number for the very few faxes I do. I also use it as an incoming line for my mom and sister because they live on the other side of the country, and they can dial a local number and not have to deal with long distance charges.

People still pay for LD? I thought everything was "unlimited" US calls these days. Even PSTN. Guess not.

**christcorp** · 05-02-2012 10:16 PM

Believe it or not, most people don't do voip, and most still use POTS over cell phones. Are there unlimited plan with POTS? Yes; but most people are on the same plan they've always been on. Most people don't like change.

This is also why I use SipDroid on my android. With my kids, wife, and I all on Verizon, all calls to each other are included. Using SipDroid on my android, I can have a very inexpensive cell phone plan. I have a family share plan for all for of us. It's only 500 minutes, and we NEVER go over the 500 minutes. You can definitely get unlimited in anything if you want to pay for it. I prefer not to pay for things I don't need.

**will** · 08-13-2012 04:35 PM

Originally Posted by christcorp

I don't use the clone line per se. I use the virtual number as the 2nd line. I use that number for the very few faxes I do. I also use it as an incoming line for my mom and sister because they live on the other side of the country, and they can dial a local number and not have to deal with long distance charges.

I've been informed that this option is no longer available as well. My fiance and I are moving in together, and it would be nice to port her current phone number to my voipo account as a virtual number priced at an additional $36 per year rather than a second separate account with separate ata hardware and higher pricing. My current account is paid in full until August of 2015 and I feel that I should be entitled to the features that were available when my original payment was tendered. I feel as though I'm a bait-and-switch victim here, since I'm no longer able to use the services I paid for almost a year ago.

**VOIPoTim** · 08-13-2012 05:22 PM

Originally Posted by will

I've been informed that this option is no longer available as well. My fiance and I are moving in together, and it would be nice to port her current phone number to my voipo account as a virtual number priced at an additional $36 per year rather than a second separate account with separate ata hardware and higher pricing. My current account is paid in full until August of 2015 and I feel that I should be entitled to the features that were available when my original payment was tendered. I feel as though I'm a bait-and-switch victim here, since I'm no longer able to use the services I paid for almost a year ago.

There's no bait and switch here. We've never advertised the virtual number ability or "officially" offered that functionality. We did allow it though at one point, but stopped offering that ability around the end of 2011 because too many people were abusing it by using it as 2 lines all the time rather than 1 line and a 2nd occasional use line. We would have businesses ordering it and then ordering a virtual number and then using both lines constantly where they really needed 2 full accounts to justify 2 full-time use lines.

So while it was never offered officially to begin with as an official feature, if you signed up back when we were allowing people to do it and need it, feel free to e-mail me at tim @ voipo.com and we can put it on your account manually.

**VOIPoTim** · 08-13-2012 07:43 PM

Originally Posted by VOIPoTim

There's no bait and switch here. We've never advertised the virtual number ability or "officially" offered that functionality. We did allow it though at one point, but stopped offering that ability around the end of 2011 because too many people were abusing it by using it as 2 lines all the time rather than 1 line and a 2nd occasional use line. We would have businesses ordering it and then ordering a virtual number and then using both lines constantly where they really needed 2 full accounts to justify 2 full-time use lines.

So while it was never offered officially to begin with as an official feature, if you signed up back when we were allowing people to do it and need it, feel free to e-mail me at tim @ voipo.com and we can put it on your account manually.

When I replied, I e-mailed a developer asking them to activate the "virtual number ability" on your account and I just got a reply stating that it's in your control panel and that all accounts prior to us stopping allowing it (even though we never officially offered it) still have it in their panel and that it was simply removed from newly created accounts when we stopped offering it. So if you order a Virtual Number, your account still has the ability to make a virtual number into an addon line by going to BETA - 2nd Line. So it's actually been there the entire time...support will not know about it though since it was not an official feature.

**will** · 08-13-2012 09:20 PM

Originally Posted by VOIPoTim

When I replied, I e-mailed a developer asking them to activate the "virtual number ability" on your account and I just got a reply stating that it's in your control panel and that all accounts prior to us stopping allowing it (even though we never officially offered it) still have it in their panel and that it was simply removed from newly created accounts when we stopped offering it. So if you order a Virtual Number, your account still has the ability to make a virtual number into an addon line by going to BETA - 2nd Line. So it's actually been there the entire time...support will not know about it though since it was not an official feature.

Tim, I can see where you're coming from regarding abuse of the ability to use virtual numbers as a second line. However, you offer different levels and types of services for different classes of customer. If a business signs up for the residential tier services and then proceeds to use it in violation of the terms for residential accounts, you should have legal recourse to either bill them at business rates or discontinue their service. There are legitimate reasons for residential customers to have a primary phone number and virtual phone number servicing two separate analog telephones via ATA hardware that has two RJ-11 connections on the back panel. In my case, there is a teenager in the home who seems to have a telephone handset growing out of the side of her head, and it would be nice not to have to fight with her when my need to use the phone conflicts with her socializing. Instead of depriving residential customers of functions that are being abused by business customers who purchased the wrong service plan, the simple answer would be to more strictly enforce the terms of residential service and/or provide business customers with ATA hardware that only has a single RJ-11 connection on the back panel and avoid the possibility of abuse altogether. Regardless, I'm glad I was mistaken and the functionality I initially paid for is still intact. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

**will** · 08-13-2012 09:29 PM

It should be clarified that controls for the "2nd line" functionality (for those who have access to it) are found under the "Beta" tab in the old vPanel site at secure.voipo.com. I can't find these controls anywhere at beta.voipo.com. Hopefully this is an oversight that will be corrected before the new vPanel beta test is complete.