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Do you need to contact Technical Support?Before contacting Technical Support, make sure to read this FAQ to see if your question has already been addressed. If, after checking the FAQ, you still need assistance, you will need to submit a Support Request. One of the ways BringPhone keeps its prices so low is by using extremely efficient customer service systems. Because of this, we handle ALL technical support issues via e-mail, and not via live phone support. This might seem somewhat impersonal at first, but in reality, your issue will get resolved much quicker this way since your Support Request will get instantly routed to the right person in our organization, qualified to handle your specific case. It also means that you won't get stuck on hold for 45 minutes or lost in an automated voice-mail maze. Our support time is one of the fastest in the industry, and your case will usually be addressed and resolved within one hour. [back to top]Can I port my old phone number to my BringPhone?The short answer is “Yes, no problem!” But before considering porting your number, we recommend that you keep your existing home phone until you have tried and are completely satisfied with BringPhone’s call quality, which could vary based upon the speed of your Internet connection. For this reason, it’s always a good idea to first try BringPhone in parallel with your existing phone before making any changes in your current phone system, so that in the event that you are not completely satisfied with BringPhone you can go back to your old phone without any hassle. Even with great call quality, many of our customers opt to keep their old phones for emergency redundancy (such as in the case of a power failure) and simply consider their BringPhone as an extra line. If you choose to go this route simply switch your old phone to the most basic, lowest priced calling plan offered by your phone company, cancel all the extra features that your phone company charges for (such as 3 way calling, caller ID and voicemail -but do not cancel Call Forwarding) and then simply forward all incoming calls to your new BringPhone number. That way people can still reach you on your old number as well as on your new BringPhone number, and you still take advantage of our great rates for all your outgoing calls. If you don’t want to go this route, and would rather cancel your old phone service altogether and transfer your number to BringPhone, read on to learn how. The next consideration in porting your old number depends on the method by which you get your Internet. If you use a DSL connection to access the Internet, skip ahead to the paragraph below titled “Number Porting for DSL Subscribers”. If you access the Internet via cable modem, porting your number is a simple process involving a one page form that you fill out and fax back to us. Simply let us know that you wish to port your number by sending us an email at help@bringcommunications.com and we will e-mail you the form. There is a fee of $25 to port your old number charged by the number porting agency, and sometimes the process can take up to 30 days. Note that the fee and any delays are not caused by BringPhone, rather by the third parties that unfortunately must be involved in this one-time process. Number Porting for DSL Subscribers What about 411 directory assistance?BringPhone does indeed provide 411 directory assistance. For each 411 call, Customers will be charged the fee posted on the Rates section of this website. What about 911 emergency dialing?BringPhone offers limited 911 functionality, wherein 911 calls may be routed to a local police or sheriff station (the “Local Emergency Destination” or “LED”). Your specific LED will be disclosed at the time of service activation based upon the service address provided. You should periodically ensure that the service address on your monthly BringPhone bill is accurate to ensure that the right LED is programmed into your account. In the event that you move to a new location and take your BringPhone service and equipment with you, you should inform us of such move and update your LED. Will my BringPhone work if I have a power failure or if my Internet goes down for other reasons?If your power or Internet connection go out you will lose usability of your BringPhone lines for the duration of the outage; however, if only your computer goes down and your Internet and power are still on, your BringPhone lines should still remain operative. If there is a general phone line disruption (for example, a telephone pole gets knocked down), but your Internet connection is still up, then you will still have telephone usage via your BringPhone lines (while all your neighbors will be left phoneless). In this regard, both VoIP and traditional phones each have their respective value as redundant systems. You can set up your computer and Internet (and therefore your BringPhone) to function in the event of power outage if you equip your computer system with a battery powered Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS). At this time, BringPhone does not offer installation of UPS systems. Other factors can also cause Internet-based telephones such as BringPhone to stop functioning, such as technical problems with the third party Internet Service Provider (ISP), disconnection of ISP and/or BringPhone account or failures of critical equipment such as modems or routers. FOR THESE AND OTHER REASONS, BRING COMMUNICATIONS EXPRESSLY RECOMMENDS THAT CUSTOMERS USE THEIR BRING TELEPHONE AS A SECONDARY LINE, AND NOT AS A REPLACEMENT FOR THEIR TRADITIONAL TELEPHONE LINE. CUSTOMERS SHOULD RETAIN AND USE THEIR TRADITIONAL PHONE LINES FOR EMERGENCY PURPOSES. Customer should make sure that all household members and guests are aware of the limitations of their BringPhone as stated above. Customers should clearly label telephones that are used with their BringPhone account as “NOT 911 CAPABLE”. My service is choppy or has other audible interference.Before addressing this, it is important that you understand a few things about Internet telephone service in general. Internet phones (also referred to as Voice Over Internet Protocol or VoIP) use the Internet rather than the very old, very established telephone wire infrastructure that we all grew up with. While this cuts the cost of phone calls dramatically, the quality is simply not always the same as with a wired, old fashioned phone line. This is true for all VoIP providers, big and small, although none of them will tell you this as honestly as we will. As is true with any VoIP service, you should not be surprised if you sometimes hear some static or choppiness on the line. On the other hand, a lot of people don’t even notice any difference at all in call quality. Either way, most find that the very slight compromise in quality is well worth the incredible cost savings. If you do indeed hear unacceptably high levels of choppiness or interference, it could mean that your Internet connection is simply not fast enough to accommodate VoIP usage. If you contact us and tell us about the issue, we will try to make adjustments to optimize your performance. My phone line is dead. There is no dial tone.This is often due to a lost Internet connection having nothing to do with your BringPhone directly (for example, if you did not pay your Internet bill or if you accidentally unplugged your router or network cables). Take steps to insure your Internet is up and running. If your Internet is running properly and your BringPhone is still not working, unplug the black power cord from the rear of your BringPhone Router (the black and blue box provided during your BringPhone installation). After 30 seconds, plug it back in again. Wait another 30 seconds, and test your phone. If it is still not working, fill out a support request by clicking here. How do I access or set up my voicemail box?To access the voicemail system, dial *VM (*86) from your BringPhone, or dial the External Access Number: (424) 832-1652, from any phone. When asked for the mailbox number, enter your 10 digit BringPhone number, or if are calling from your BringPhone you can simply wait a few seconds to be prompted for your password. Your initial password is set to 1111. Enter your password and follow the voice prompts to set up a custom greeting, change your password or other options, or listen to voicemail messages. What other features does my BringPhone have and how do I use them?Call WaitingWhen you are on the phone and a new call arrives, you will hear a beep. Press the flash button to answer the incoming call and place the original call on hold. Press the flash button again to switch between the two calls. [back to top]Call Return (*69)To automatically dial the number of the most recent incoming call, dial *69. Block Caller ID (Permanent)To permanently block your phone number from appearing on Caller ID systems of those that you call, dial *67. To unblock your phone so that your phone number appears to those that you call, dial *68. Block Caller ID (Temporary)To block your phone number from appearing on Caller ID systems of those that you call, only for the next call that you are going to make, dial *81. After your next call, Caller ID visibility will resume. Call ForwardingTo automatically forward all incoming calls to a different phone number, dial *72. When you hear the steady tone, dial the number that you wish to forward to as if you were calling that number from your BringPhone line. You will hear a series of tones to indicate that the entry was accepted. To cancel call forwarding, dial *73. Call Forwarding when BusyTo automatically forward all incoming calls to a different phone number only when your BringPhone is busy, dial *90. When you hear the steady tone, dial the number that you wish to forward to as if you were calling that number from your BringPhone line. You will hear a series of tones to indicate that the entry was accepted. To cancel ‘Busy’ call forwarding, dial *91. Call Forwarding when No AnswerTo automatically forward all incoming calls to a different phone number only when a live person doesn’t answer your BringPhone line, dial *92. When you hear the steady tone, dial the number that you wish to forward to as if you were calling that number from your BringPhone line. You will hear a series of tones to indicate that the entry was accepted. To cancel ‘No Answer’ call forwarding, dial *93. Do Not DisturbTo send all incoming calls to Voicemail so that your phone does not ring, dial *78. To cancel ‘Do not Disturb’, dial *79. 3 Way CallingWhile you are on the phone with the first party, simply press the flash button to place them on hold. When you hear the steady tone, dial the second party. Press the flash button once again to connect the first party to the second party. E-Mail NotificationYou can have an e-mail sent to you whenever a voicemail is left on your BringPhone line. As an additional option, you can have the message itself attached to the e-mail as a .wav file so you can listen to the message that was left. To activate or deactivate E-mail Notification (and specify if you would like .wav attachments), you will need to contact us with your request and we will modify your account within 24 hours. By default, E-mail Notification is turned off because most customers do not like having their e-mail boxes crowded with their voice messages. [back to top]Other FeaturesIf you want another feature that you have seen somewhere else, just email us at help@bringcommunications.com and ask us about it. There is a good chance we can set it up for you at no additional cost! [back to top]Will BringPhone work for faxing?Internet based phone services such as BringPhone are not optimal for fax machines due to variations in line quality that fax machines are sometimes sensitive to; however, many of our customers do in fact use fax machines with BringPhone, and most find that faxing works perfectly. Ultimately, your results will depend on the speed and consistency (jitter) of your unique Internet connection and the sensitivity of your fax machine. If you desire a fax line, we generally recommend that you order our 2-line plan (the second line only costs an additional $9.95 per month), and try it out. If faxing doesn't work to your satisfaction you can cancel the second line within 30 days, and not incur any charges. Alternately, if your Internet service is provided via DSL, then since you have an active line with the phone company anyway (for your DSL to piggy back on) you may simply use that line for faxing. Will I receive a paper invoice?BringPhone keeps its prices so low by keeping its operating costs as low as possible. For this reason, all invoices are sent via e-mail every month and must be paid electronically using either PayPal or a major credit card. How do I update the e-mail address that my bills are sent to?Call us at (877) BRING-17. How do I cancel my BringPhone Service?Simply contact us at (877) BRING-17 or email us at help@bringcommunications.com and let us know that you want to cancel your service. You will still be responsible for paying for the full month of service within which you cancel as we do not prorate the low monthly fee. I have lots of friends who want to join BringPhone. How do I refer them and get $1.00 off my monthly bill per friend?The BRING17 Program enables you to do just that. Simply let your friends know that they should submit your name as their “Referring Party” when they sign-up for BringPhone. They will also have to provide your e-mail address so that we can make sure that the right person is getting credit for the referral. Make sure to give your friends the same e-mail address that we have on file for you. You will start to receive your credit when your referred friends begin to pay for their service. What if I want to add a second BringPhone line? Do you need to come and install it?When we come to install your first line, you will receive an ATA device that is capable of two lines. Therefore, you can add a second line at anytime just by calling or e-mailing us and we can add it remotely. If you want additional lines, we will need to come and install more ATA devices, one device for every 2 lines you desire. Can I choose my new phone number?At this time, you can only select the area code for your new BringPhone number. When does my billing period begin?Our system initiates your customer file on the day that you order your BringPhone service. It is on or near this day that you will receive your future monthly invoices. For example, if you order BringPhone on October 1, then your free set-up and trial period lasts until November 1, and from then on you will receive your future bills on the first of each month give or take a day due to calendar fluctuations. It usually only takes a day or two to receive your BringPhone box from the date you order it, but you are not paying for this transit time since it occurs during the free 30-day set-up and trial period. How much does the service cost?BringPhone’s basic plan is $17.95 per month for unlimited calls throughout the contiguous United States. It’s important to point out that when we say $17.95 a month, we truly mean $17.95 a month. A lot of our competitors quote a price, but then add taxes, hidden charges, regulatory fees, etc., and by the time its over you’re paying a lot more than you expected. When you sign up with BringPhone your phone bill will truly be $17.95 a month. The plan also includes 200 FREE minutes to popular international destinations. Check out the ‘Plans & Rates’ section of this website for our rock-bottom international rates beyond the free 200 minutes. Unlike our competitors, there is no annual commitment and there is no cancellation fee. Installation and activation are FREE, but you do have to purchase the equipment for 2 easy payments of $29.95. Is my Internet connection fast enough for VoIP service?You can run a simple test to check your internet speed. Go to http://myspeed.visualware.com/voip/. Run the speed test by pressing the button at the top of the area between the two rainbow columns that says “Click to start MyVoIPSpeed”. Wait for the test to finish (around 30 seconds). At the end of the test, you will see a summary of results with 5 green or red dots on the left side. At the bottom it will say your “MOS Score”. If your MOS score is greater than 3.8, you can be confident that your internet connection is fast enough for VoIP service. How do I dial international destinations?For calls outside the U.S., dial 011, then the country code then the number. For calls to area codes within the U.S. other than your own, you can either dial 1, then the area code then the number, or simply dial the area code then the number (just like on most cell phones). Hey! My phone bill is more than $17.95 per month! What’s going on?There are two reasons your phone bill might exceed $17.95 per month: 1) Currently, Bring Communications does not charge any of the government taxes that the FCC is trying to levy against VoIP users. However, there may come a time when we are forced to, at which time those taxes will unfortunately appear on your bill. 2) The BringPhone Basic Plan includes 200 minutes of free international calls to ‘popular destinations’. The rates are still ridiculously low for other destinations or for minutes beyond the 200, but you will be charged for any such calls beyond the normal monthly fee. Once again, welcome to BringPhone! |
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