Vonage & C-phone

I'm passing this tidbit along.

If you have Vonage and are having trouble connecting to the dictation system, here's the solution. Purchase one of those little two-line plastic gizmos from Radio Shack. I don't know what it's called, but you can plug it into a wall jack and then plug two phones into it. It was used in "the old days" before Cable and DSL lines, and your computer modem and telephone shared the same line.

Pop this gizmo into the back of your Vonage router. Plug a regular phone into one socket and your C-phone into the other.

Dial into the transcription station with the regular phone. Punch in all of the codes and once you're fully connected, pick up the headset for the C-phone, put on your headset, hang up the regular phone, and you're set to work!!! 

• Vonage & C-phone - Snow Bunny

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I live in small town America.  We have one telephone company that serves our rural county which is CenturyTel and it sucks.  If we moved 7 miles up the road, we would be able to get SBC or AT&T.  I have my phone line and DSL internet through CenturyTel and have nothing but trouble.  I am supposed to have unlimited long distance which I have had since May of last year.  Last month I received a $3000 phone bill because for whatever reason, they disconnected my unlimited long distance.  When I called them to pitch a fit, they apologized, said they were rectifying the matter, and told me I only owed the usual $100 which I promptly paid.  I got a disconnect notice today saying they are going to disconnect me if the $3000 I owe isn't paid by March 1st.  I am now on hold with the 5th person I have had to talk to at this incompetent, rinky dink phone company and I am pulling my hair out.  This isn't the first time I've had problems with them.  They've switched my service packages before for no apparent reason and the only explanation I get is "Hmmmm, I apologize for that, I'm not sure why somebody would do that."  Or my personal favorite, blame the phantom employee "she just didn't put in the computer right, but I'm fixing it for you now."

Anyway, sorry about the rant, but I'm truly losing it!  I have decided to call the cable company and get internet through them and try to work with Vonage, but I need to actually plug my C-phone into a jack and I understand that Vonage is all wireless through a router.  I need to know is there a way to plug a phone cord into a Vonage modem?

I am just so frustrated! 

I need to plug my C-phone into a phone jack.  My Vonage setup is completely wireless set up by my local cable company.

I've got an analog telephone line, but the local phone company in this area is incredibly incompetent and I am at the end of my rope and am desparate to figure something else out.  I have called this company of Keystone Cops four times trying to order their unlimited long distance plan.  Each time they have apologized for the inconvience and said "somebody dropped the ball" and they are just so sorry.  This morning I called them for the 5th time because I got a letter in the mail yesterday thanking me for signing up for the 5 cents a minute long distance plan!  Now I'm told that they are making "notations" on my account and when I get my bill at the end of the month I will need to call their "investigations department" to get the long distance charges reversed.

So as you can see, my frustration meter is maxing out with these people!  Help me figure out a way I can use my Vonage with my C-phone and tell these people to hang themselves with their telephone line!

Does anyone out there successfully use a C-phone with Vonage with satellite internet?  I have Hughes.net satellite (can't get DSL in my area).  My C-phone foot pedal has a lag in using all the controls of FF, RW, and Play.  I have upgraded my Hughes.net service, increased the bandwith, and am still having the same problem.  If you also had this problem, what did you do to correct it?  TIA

I have a DAC digital transcribe unit and I dial into a DVI system.  I have noticed there is a lag.  When I let off my pedal, the dictation continues to play for a second and then stops.  The auto backspace is skewed because the dictation plays forward too much when I left off my pedal.

Anyone else experience this and is there anything Vonage can do to correct it?

I didn't find Vonage to be very reliable.  Some days I would have no dial tone and the phone wouldn't be working and I would have to reboot my high speed modem, reboot my router, and then reboot my Vonage modem.  This happened a lot after thunderstorms and ice or snow storms.  Some days I'd be working and lose my connection.  I had trouble with dialing out even though I could receive calls and had to wait for Vonage to fix a server problem.

It just got really annoying for me.  I mean the unlimited long distance was great, but I need something more reliable.  My local phone company ended up offering an unlimited long distance package at a reasonable price and I jumped at it.  Now I've got a regular 'ol analog phone line with unlimited LD and I pay about $40 month and that's with an in-line service package which means if I have any jack or line problems, I don't have to pay extra for a technician to come out and fix it for me.

difference.  Also, have you tried a different headset?  Also someone told me one time that there is a microphone under your volume control on the right corner of the C-phone.  It's a tiny hole.  If you break off a Q-tip and stick that into the hole that will squelch a lot of background noise and that worked as well.  As far as getting your C-phone service, I heard that Dictaphone is "sunsetting" C-phones at the end of this year.  Meaning, they aren't going to service them anymore as they are considered an obsolete technology.  So, I would contact Dictaphone and see what your options are.

I know very little about Lanier equipment.  I've not used it as extensively as Dictaphone.  Is there a local appliance repair place in your area?  You might ask one of those places to take a look at your equipment and see what they think.  Kinda scary, cause they could do more harm than good, but maybe worth a shot.

Not much help, I know.  But I thought I would share what tiny bit of obscure knowledge I do have. 

Anyone else experience this problem with their C-phone?  Is there a problem with my C-phone?  At first I thought it was my telelphone line and called the phone company.  They sent a technician out to replace the lines and check the house, but the hum is still there on the C-phone.

It's driving me batty!

through cable, have you tried to take an incoming call?

We only have one phone line.  I rarely get/make calls and when I do we have cell phones.  I just started working with a C-phone and got digital phone.  I can go a month and my phone not ring, so far have gotten 3 calls today, but I'm afraid that if I try to answer the phone that I will lose my report. 

I guess I could pull up a report and have my husband call on his C-phone and test it that way and then if I lose it no biggie. 

That terrible business venture ....  did you mean "Vonage" versus "Verizon"?  Okay, if you did then you should know that is a realistic gamble you will always have to take with Vonage and computer down-time.  That is just how it is.  Computer is down, work does not get done.  Second, check the archives on this board for negative Vonage comments.  I, for one, have had nothing but a big fat negative experience with Vonage.  Spent 6 hours -- HOURS! -- in total over the telephone with every "rep" that Vonage seemed to have, most of them The Patels from India type reps (all called Jason or Tom, yeah right), and even the American sounding reps could just not get there stuff together. 

I was a residential user with a single phone line and NOTHING fancy involved, but they just could not get us hooked up.  Oy veh!, the frustration.  And that was just getting us SET UP?  We canceled before going any further.  The money savings is substantial, so we gave them every chance to prove themselves, but it just did not work out.  Good luck to you.  Not a lot of fantastic options, unfortunately. 

Comes with practically everything.  Only $24.99 a month and unlimited long distance.  You have to have Cable or DSL for it to work though.

I am thinking of getting Vonage phone service.  Does it really work that well and how easy is it to set up?  I know the ads say that it is 24.95/month, is this really accurate?  Has anyone experienced any hidden costs.

Just trying to test the waters before jumping in.  Any info would be appreciated.  Thanks!