Arggggh! Hang up phone and it calls back!

[TallPaul]

Sometimes I will call a bank or store or someplace and get a message menu, after a while I hang up. Then the phone rings, I pick it up and it's the message menu I just called. What is the deal and how do I prevent this? I have had some call back twice in a row. I even had a guy at a store put me on hold, but I could hear all the background conversation, finally hung up, it calls back and I hear the same background. This is very annoying (especially if it's late at night and some are sleeping when it rings back)!

 

[addyguy]

Yeah, I hate this too. I'm guessing these automated system sense the break in connection, and are programmed to re-establish it as soon as possible.

I'm used to it, but it is annoying!

 

[AcuraTech]

Like it's not bad enough when you're on hold for 10 minutes, then after you get fed up and hang up, it calls back! Automated piece of ****. It's like when we were kids, we figured out if you dialed your own number and then hung up the phone, it would start ringing.

 

[brianl703]

Do you have standard telephone service or is it a VOIP service?

It almost sounds like you're putting the call on hold (which is done by flashing the hookswitch), then hanging up and it's calling you back because the hold recall timer expired. If you push the hookswitch to hang up the phone before you hang up the phone, you might not be pushing it long enough.

Standard telephone service won't do this (unless, maybe, you have a Centrex type service--you'd pay extra for that), but VOIP service might. It's a default configuration for Asterisk and the PAP2 adapter. (I was experimenting with that setup yesterday).

Incidentally, the phones at my high school did this, too. I found out later that it's a pretty standard feature of PBX telephone systems.

 

[brianl703]

Originally Posted By: AcuraTech
It's like when we were kids, we figured out if you dialed your own number and then hung up the phone, it would start ringing.


They charge for that feature now, it's called "intercom" or something like that.

There used to be a number you could call in this area, 311 + your 7 digit number, it would give you a weird sounding dialtone, you flashed the hookswitch, hung up and it would call you back with the same weird sounding dialtone.

211 used to tell you what number you were calling from.

511 + any 7 digits would generate a slow busy signal for a few seconds and then the line would go dead for several minutes.

None of these numbers work anymore now that they've started using the x11 numbers for information services. I'd love to know what they are now..211 was pretty handy when you had a lot of phone lines and needed to know what numbers were on them (like at a business with 10 incoming lines that aren't labeled on the terminal block). 311 wasn't very handy except to test a phone's ringer. 511 was somewhat handy for avoiding being shocked while hooking up a phone line.

 

[XS650]

Google ANAC and you will find usable substitutes for 211.

There are some toll free ANAC 800 numbers that will work anyplace in the US

 

[TallPaul]

Originally Posted By: brianl703
Do you have standard telephone service or is it a VOIP service?

It almost sounds like you're putting the call on hold (which is done by flashing the hookswitch), then hanging up and it's calling you back because the hold recall timer expired. If you push the hookswitch to hang up the phone before you hang up the phone, you might not be pushing it long enough.

Standard telephone service won't do this (unless, maybe, you have a Centrex type service--you'd pay extra for that), but VOIP service might. It's a default configuration for Asterisk and the PAP2 adapter. (I was experimenting with that setup yesterday).

Incidentally, the phones at my high school did this, too. I found out later that it's a pretty standard feature of PBX telephone systems.
I have very basic phone service, lowest cost, not even caller ID or call waiting. The wiring is the same type that has been used since at least the 1970s.

Flashing the hookswitch? Never heard of that.

 

[AcuraTech]

Back in the day you could dial (local extension) xxx-0123 and get time and temp. Doesn't work anymore.

We knew all the phone games when we were like 10 years old, through experimentation and sheer boredom. I remember when the * codes came out, like *67 (caller ID block) and *69 (call back last number incoming call)

I used to call 1-800 numbers at random, whatever 7 digit word/number I could think of. I think I called an FBI number once, had to enter a password to get further.

 

[brianl703]

Originally Posted By: TallPaul
Flashing the hookswitch? Never heard of that.


That's pressing the hookswitch for less than about 1/2 second. Puts the call on hold and gives you a secondary dialtone on some phone systems.

Actually, now that three-way calling is a pay-per-use feature in many areas, that's probably the norm these days.

Try calling somewhere, flashing the hookswitch. If you get a secondary dialtone, flash it again, it should return you back to your call. Now flash it again, get the secondary dialtone, hang up, and see if it calls you back.

If it does your line is provisioned to make that happen. Good luck getting it fixed.