Phone help

[Ed_P]

Ok, this is a little strange but so too is the phone problem.I have a Panasonic KX-TG2224W digital cordless answering system. Have had it for at least a year or more. Love it. Think it's great. However, of late it has a problem dialing a particular area code. Other area codes dial fine but this one is always busy regardless of the number dialed and regardless of using a number from the built in phone book or manually dialed. Whenever we dial this area code the phone is inserting 1-010-444- before the number.We don't know why. We don't know how. And we don't know how to disable the function.I wrote to Panasonic several days ago and have received no answer. Anyone here got any ideas on how to turn this dialing prefix off?BTW Yes I realize that 1-010-444 is similar to the 1010-321 and 1010-123 ads on TV. And if we use a different phone we can dial the area code in question fine.

[linuxdude32]

My guesBTW Yes I realize that 1-010-444 is similar to the 1010-321 and 1010-123 ads on TV.  And if we use a different phone we can dial the area code in question fine.

My guess would be that you have something programmed into the phone so when you dial that area code, it inserts a programmed number (which could've been for a long distance service that you or somebody else in the family had previously). You said it only happened lately, though. Have you dialed that area code using that phone before recently without problems?

[Ed_P]

Have you dialed that area code using that phone before recently without problems?

Yes

My guess would be that you have something programmed into the phone so when you dial that area code, it inserts a programmed number

I agree. The problem is, a.) no one said they did that b.) I can't find anywhere in the manual on how to do that. Thus I can't find how to disable the "feature". And since I'm not sure what this "feature" is called it's difficult to research.We recently switched from a land line phone service to Vonage and thought the problem was a Vonage problem. But talking to their techs and them analyzing what was being sent when we dialed it was found to be 1-010-444-1315. We had never had the problem with the phone prior to Vonage so we initially thought it was their problem. Once we tried a different phone it was clear that it wasn't a Vonage problem.BTW 1010-444 is for Allnet Communication Services which we never had.

[teacher]

http://service.us.panasonic.com/operman/fi...model=KXTG2224WTake a look at the manual. Go to about page 33-34 and look at how to remove stored numbers. See if that does it for you.Julia

[Ed_P]

Thank you teacher. Those pages pertain to numbers stored in the phone's phone book. If only it were so easy. The problem is the phone adds this prefix even to numbers manually dialed also.

[teacher]

I still suspect that the actual problem is tied into a stored shortcut that dialing the numbers is activating. Possibly you happened to get a phone that someone else had purchased and returned, unbeknownst to you! That happens here a lot because folks purchase phones, use them for the week, and then return them!Julia

[Ed_P]

We've had the phone since last summer and have dialed the area code without problem up until recently. My wife called Panasonic, they had her enter a 2580 code then remove the battery, wait, then reinsert it. But we still have the problem.

I still suspect that the actual problem is tied into a stored shortcut that dialing the numbers is activating.

I agree. But the stored shortcut is an undocumented phone feature, and the problem is no one knows how to turn it off.

[Ed_P]

Problem Resolved!!!A feature of the phone is called Caller IQ. We've never used Caller IQ since trying it last year when we got the phone. Part of that feature involves openLCR.com providing current weather, sports and etc. They provide this info by you calling a long distance number to have the info downloaded to the phone. A rather expensive option to check the weather or a score when you're home.Another part involves openLCR routing long distance calls thru a "less expensive service" that they provide. This latter feature is turned on at the phone and apparently does nothing more than prefix calls with 1010-444. Somehow this feature got turned on. Don't know how and at this point don't care. The more important thing is we now know how to turn it OFF. Thanks for your help with this.

[linuxdude32]

Glad to hear it, Ed!

[zlim]

OT...bit of rant...I don't consider myself stupid (taught secondary math for 25 years and have a master's degree plus 48 credits beyond so I'm able to read at the college level). But it seems to me that some electronic gizmos are getting too high-tech and feature rich for all but the true geek! We replaced an old VCR with a newer model that had me wade through so many windows and menus. (Yes, I was able to change the time on all the old VCRs so that 12:00 wasn't flashing all the time). I tried several times to record programs while we were gone and failed miserably. I finally gave up and bought something called the VCR co- pilot. It has an LCD window where you set the current time and day. Then there is a dial to turn to the time you want to start the recording (the time appears on the LCD screen to be doubly sure) and another dial to turn to the time to stop. You can review the features. You turn the VCR on and set the co-pilot at the infrared part and voila, I'm now able to tape what I want. Don't get me started on cell phones. Ours is old and out of date but works fine and I don't want or need 100+ extra features.

[Ed_P]

The problem wasn't a reading problem zlim, it was a problem of the manual not covering the actual phone's features adequately. Pages 55-58 of the manual describe the Caller IQ feature. But they don't describe, or even mention, the Long Distance routing switch that Caller IQ includes. And a call to their support line didn't elicit any comment to check the Caller IQ feature either. In fact the support rep told us to return the phone for a replacement.Reflecting on this a little further, I think what has happened is the 1010-444 company went out of business. If not the prefix would still work and we'd still get charged for long distance. Or, more reflection, 1010-444 was billing us thru our land line service and when that was turned off 1010-444 turned off our use of the prefix since they had no way to bill us.Oh yeah, this makes a lot of sense. It doesn't excuse the manual for not being clearer in this regard or the support rep for not knowing about this function of the phone, course she may be an expert based on her knowledge of the manual, but it does make a lot of sense.Thanks for all the support. (Maybe we should start a new forum, All Things Phone? )

[linuxdude32]

But it seems to me that some electronic gizmos are getting too high-tech and feature rich for all but the true geek!

I'm with you. I am a geek but sometimes I just want it to work without having to read a manual. I don't think it's the complexity of the device so much as the inadequate usability testing on it. Look at the additional device you described for taping programs - that's exactly how it *should* work, and it should be built into the device. Instead of just adding features, manufacturers need to be more focused on making such features easy to *find* and *use*.