I wanted to contact a mechanic friend of mine and couldn’t get through with my free long distance telephone service, magic jack. Actually it’s not free, but very inexpensive. I got a recording instead with some legal mumbo-jumbo. Then I contacted their tech support. Here’s the story.
The tech support’s style of answering seemed typical — they asked me questions sometimes that I already had given the answer to, and in general, seemed unable to help. Jed started out and then Mandy chimed in, and then she turned the case over to the “engineers”. We’ll see what comes of it.
The problem that got me into the technical support in the first place, is that when I called, I got this message: “Your call can not be completed as dialed. The terminating carrier in that area has not done an interconnect agreement with magicJack. There is a legal requirement for all companies to interconnect if one carrier requests to do so from the other carrier. We hope we will be successful in doing so.” I hope they will be successful in doing so, too.
Here is an .mp3 recording of the message. (some DTMF tones are censored to protect the identity of the party I was calling.) Also, the recorded voice actually says “…has not done an INTERNECT agreement..” — note mispronunciation, LOL.
Below is a transcript of the chat with minor edits to protect my and my friends phone numbers:
Please wait for a site operator to respond.
You are now chatting with 'Jed'
Your Issue ID for this chat is LTK554013431****
Jed: Hello, how may I help you?
Dan Hartman: I can't call the 906 area code
Jed: May I know if you can call other numbers?
Dan Hartman: yes
Jed: May I know what you hear after dialing 906 area code phone numbers?
Dan Hartman: I get a recording that says something like "your call cannot be completed as dialed. The terminating carrier in that area has not done an internect agreement ..."
Jed: Thank you.
Dan Hartman: I think he meant "interconnect agreement"
Jed: Your magicJack phone number is (231) 421-****, right?
Dan Hartman: yes
Jed: Is your magicJack currently plugged in to your computer?
Dan Hartman: yes
Jed: Do you see the dial pad on your screen?
Dan Hartman: yes
Jed: May I know what operating system you are using right now?
Dan Hartman: windows xp
Jed: Thank you.
Jed: Please click the link to download and run the magicJack upgrade:
Jed: http://upgrades.magicjack.com/upgrade/magicJackSetup.exe
Jed: Let me know once done
Dan Hartman: k a few moments
Jed: Okay, Dan.
Dan Hartman: lucky me upgrading now
Jed: Okay, Dan.
Dan Hartman: same recording on the 906 number
Jed: One moment please...
Jed: I am transferring you to one of our top 10% agents as rated by our customers. Please hold while I transfer you.
Please wait while I transfer the chat to the best suited site operator.
You are not currently in a chat session.
You are now chatting with 'Mandy'
Your Issue ID for this chat is LTK554013431****
Mandy: Hello. My name is Mandy. To better assist you, let me put you on hold while I read your previous chat/s. Thank you.
Dan Hartman: thanks
Mandy: I will be right with you.
Dan Hartman: ok
Mandy: Thank you for waiting. I'll be with you in just a moment.
Mandy: May I know when did this issue start?
Dan Hartman: well today is the first time I attempted to make a call to this area code
Mandy: I'm sorry for the delay. I'll be right with you.
Dan Hartman: no problem
Mandy: May I know the exact time behavior of the call?
Dan Hartman: time behaviour?
Dan Hartman: right now it just happened
Dan Hartman: http://www.dynamodan.com/2011-11-03-1744.mp3
Dan Hartman: that's a recording of the call
Mandy: May I know what happens after dialing the number>
Dan Hartman: you already know, if you listened to that recording, it includes dialing and the message from magic jack
Dan Hartman: you already know, if you read the transcript from the previous tech before I got on with you
Mandy: One moment please...
Mandy: Please confirm if you heard this recording message "Your call can not be completed as dialed. The terminating carrier in that area has not done an interconnect agreement with magicJack. There is a legal requirement for all companies to interconnect if one carrier requests to do so from the other carrier. We hope we will be successful in doing so.”
Dan Hartman: that's what I heard. Please confirm if that's what you heard?
Dan Hartman: http://www.dynamodan.com/2011-11-03-1744.mp3
Dan Hartman: it's an mp3 recording of the message. Did you listen to it?
Mandy: Thank you.
Mandy: Please provide me atleast 3 phone numbers that you cannot call.
Dan Hartman: ?
Dan Hartman: ok one moment
Mandy: Sure.
Dan Hartman: 906-49*-****
Dan Hartman: 906-49*-****
Dan Hartman: 906-49*-****
Dan Hartman: need more?
Mandy: Thank you.
Mandy: One moment please...
Dan Hartman: 906-49*-****
Mandy: Thank you for waiting. I'll be with you in just a moment.
Dan Hartman: thanks
Mandy: I'm sorry for the delay. I'll be right with you.
Dan Hartman: ok
Mandy: k. This time, I need to escalate your issue to the Engineers for them to check on this matter personally. Please provide me the best email address to reach you.
Dan Hartman: ****dynamodan.com
Mandy: Thank you.
Mandy: Please stay with me.Your patience is highly appreciated. I'll be back with you shortly.
Dan Hartman: is magic jack a CLEC (Competitive Local Exchance Carrier) ?
Dan Hartman: (just a little trivia while we wait?)
Mandy: Yes.
Dan Hartman: ok
Dan Hartman: I have to go eat dinner but I'll be back in 30 min or so, I'll leave this chat up on the computer, feel free to message me while I'm gone
Mandy: I will be right with you.
Mandy: Thank you for the time you have given me. I am done with the report on your issue and have forwarded this to our Technical Engineers already. They are currently working on it. We will resolve this problem on our end. Rest assure that you will get fine results on this matter. You will also receive an email notification for that matter.
Mandy: Thank you so much for your time.
Since we haven't heard from you, we must release this chat. Please click here should you need further assistance: www.magicJack.com/techchat
So, while I was enjoying chicken and bbq sauce, they released me from the chat. 🙂
Anyway here are images I shot from my screen of the chat as well. Magic Jack seems to be using LivePerson, certainly a respectable tech support software.
So there you have it, stay tuned I’m sure there is more to this saga.
