magicJack and MagicJack Plus Support, Reviews, FAQs and Hacks

sparhawk · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 03 Sep 2019 Posts: 6

We have been using Automated Call Screening on our MagicJack GO for a long time.

Lately (unsure of when it started), when called from at least certain landlines (and maybe all), instead of getting the recording saying to press a number, callers get a recording advertising the MagicJack service and stating that the MagicJack number they called is not assigned to a MagicJack customer (not sure of exact wording).

This issue does not occur when calling our MJ phone number from any of the cell phone numbers we have tried, on multiple carrier networks.

All landline numbers we have tried are on CenturyLink (formerly Qwest).

Turning off Automated Call Screening immediately resolves the issue, and all affected landlines can call our MJ number without a problem. Turning it on immediately causes the problem again. I could be wrong, but this suggests that my issue is a service issue, not a hardware problem.

MJ technical support chat was as useful as an inflatable dartboard. After a 35-minute wait, when I explained the situation detail, the agent tried to restate the problem as "I understand that you can't receive calls?", and their helpfulness went downhill from there. It was clear they were trying to fit my problem into one of their basic scripts, and they failed miserably, but I attempted to play along.

The agent had me unplug/replug the MJ device (Troubleshooting 101 much?). They even did something on their end that ended up sending me an email "Thank you for your magicJack purchase!" order confirmation that showed a $0.00 "FREE magicJack Number Change" and a $0.00 "magicNumber - Free", but (thankfully) our MJ phone number did not change.

Then the tech support person had me upgrade the device firmware by plugging it into the computer (it is normally plugged via Ethernet into our router). This process disconnected me from the chat, after which the program told me the firmware was up to date already. So, that 20-minute process was a waste of time. And then the chat told me it would be 45 minutes before I could get further help. I gave up when I was stuck at "you are 14th in line" for 20 minutes.

Previously (unsure of when this stopped), the Automated Call Screening feature gave us the ability to add a list of "approved" phone numbers that would bypass the call screening and go straight to our phone, but that feature appears to have disappeared off their website at about the same time this issue began. At least, it disappeared from the How-To pages, and is no longer in an obvious place to access, so I can't use it if it is there.

Why would activating Automated Call Screening prevent all (tested) landline phone numbers from calling our MagicJack?

Before we activated the call screening, we were getting a few calls per hour from telemarketing robocallers (even though the number is listed on the DoNotCall list), so we would prefer to be able to use the call screening.

A family member with a disability relies on calling us at this number in urgent/emergency situations, so we can't enable the Automated Call Screening because it is blocking all of their calls with the recording trying to sell them MJ service and saying the phone number is unassigned.

Any help would be appreciated, as I'd be better off trying to sell shoes to a snake than attempting to chat with those people again.[/i]

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lonestar · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 04 Sep 2019 Posts: 1

Beginning today I'm having a similar problem. My issue is with calls from Verizon Wireless. To my knowledge, all other landline and wireless carrier calls are coming through.

When an incoming call is from a Verizon phone I'm getting the same MagicJack commercial and then it is stated that "the number being called has not been assigned to a customer".

I have not tried turning off the Automated Call Screening like the OP did, but I'm not willing to do that.

Any ideas?????

toga2 · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 04 Sep 2019 Posts: 2

Sparhawk
I am having the exact problem you had yesterday. I had the same response with tec help, only with a 15 min wait. She had me do all the firmware, reseting, just like your tec. Now the wait time for tec is over an hour@#%$# I called the sales # to see if they had any idea what was going on, but she acted like this was the only call she had. Strangely she offered some help describing the problem, SHE WAS LYING! I hate a company that has a good service but treats customers like this. To make things worse, the day before the problem i signed up for the 3 year discount price!I heard from reading reviews MJ does not GIVE back money for any reason!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By the way, this problem is happening on all of the cell phones that I have tried!

toga2 · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 04 Sep 2019 Posts: 2

One day later, automated call screening system still blocking all incoming calls.service the same. Tried to chat, the system said it was overloaded. was overloaded!

H2OO · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 05 Sep 2019 Posts: 7

All local landlines get the msg above Long Distance and cell calls get call screening. 1-1/2 hours to get to chat with support and if you turn off call screening all is good. Got 5 robo calls in minutes. They need to fix this.
Suddenlink..Arkansas and ATT landlines.
Please post if solution is found. Support escalation did nothing but reset my # problem still there.

H2OO · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 05 Sep 2019 Posts: 7

But they will when the doctor or local friend tells them they been trying to calls for days

sparhawk · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 03 Sep 2019 Posts: 6

At least I'm not the only one, and it sounds like I am correct about it being related to Automated Call Screening. Still no resolution yet, though, and I've had to leave ACS off as I mentioned before.

I just tried chatting into tech support:

sparhawk · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 03 Sep 2019 Posts: 6

Update, per MJ chat agent (bold is my emphasis:

sparhawk · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 03 Sep 2019 Posts: 6

The agent has resolved the issue (after only 2 hours Confused

, of which 1 hour was waiting). She says she:

H2OO · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 05 Sep 2019 Posts: 7

Refresh and still didn't work..I believe.
I left call screening on with in minutes with it off I get robo calls.
Will check today if local calls are coming in?

H2OO · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 05 Sep 2019 Posts: 7

I have to turn it off to recieve local calls even after 2 refreshes

H2OO · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 05 Sep 2019 Posts: 7

The gentlemen did a few of the same things and said he would escalate but did not receive any updates via email yet..12 hours later?

sparhawk · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 03 Sep 2019 Posts: 6

Maybe it isn't fixed. Although the ACS is showing as ON on the website, no one that calls us is getting the recording requesting to press a specific number.

So, it appears their fix for the problem is to pretend that it is on.

Oddly, though, we haven't received any more spam calls since yesterday.
They may have enabled some other form of ACS without the recording, but I can't speak for exactly what happened or what their solution is. But, no robocalls have happened, and Mom (and other test calls) can call us, so I'm hoping that they fixed whatever was going on and didn't just disable ACS while pretending it's on.

sparhawk · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 03 Sep 2019 Posts: 6

I stand corrected. It is fully functional for all incoming phone numbers we have tested (cell, landline, VOIP).

dproff · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 08 Sep 2019 Posts: 3