question

Hello Jonah,

When you the call comes into your Mobile app it comes in as a VoiP call. If you turn VoiP calling off obviously the call will not come through. That is the way it is designed.

However, to my understanding, this should only apply to your Mobile app on the iPhone. The call should still forward to the other phone numbers in your call forwarding option. The setting on your iPhone should have no effect over any other device ringing.

If you can give me to case number that went to Tier 3 I can try and investigate further.

When you the call comes into your Mobile app it comes in as a VoiP call. If you turn VoiP calling off obviously the call will not come through. That is the way it is designed. 

Yes, but I can turn off VoIP on my RingCentral iPhone app and still receive incoming calls on my iPhone by setting up my mobile number as a forwarding number.  And that forwarding number (and any other forwarding numbers) will not ring when a RingCentral iPhone users dials my Direct Number from the RingCentral App (either from Contacts or by manual Dial Pad entry ), when their VoIP is turned off.

Case# 04501630

Thanks for the info Jonah, to make sure I understand what you are saying is that when an iPhone user places a call to your extension from using their iPhone mobile app with their VoiP calling turned off?

Does your deskphone still ring when the iPhone User calls while there VoiP is turned off?

Hello Jonah,

I think I can help explain.The purpose of call forwarding is to allow you to not miss a call if you happen to move around and are not always at your desk. That's where adding your cell phone number to the call handling list (Using the sequential option) allows for calls to first ring at your desk phone then to your cell phone number or any other number. It is not meant for the mobile app as you can use any phone number to forward to. 

Now, the first ring feature is related directly to the mobile app. The mobile app is the perfect option for a traveler who does not sit at a desk very often if at all. It is intended to receive calls as if they are ringing at your desk phone (in place of really). It uses VOIP which is meant to save you from using your data so as long as you have a wifi connection, you can receive a business call. When you turn off the VOIP option in your iPhone you are basically turning off all incoming calls period whether data or voip. That's why the mobile will not work.

The VOIP option on your phone affects all calls, not just your RingCentral calls. It has to be on to receive RingCentral calls or any other calls as well.

Hope that helps clear things up. 

Nathan:

Thanks for the info Jonah, to make sure I understand what you are saying is that when an iPhone user places a call to your extension from using their iPhone mobile app with their VoiP calling turned off?

Correct, with this clarification: "using their iPhone mobile app" is referring to the RingCentral iPhone mobile app, and not the build-in iPhone dialer app.  If they use the built-in iPhone dialer and dial the direct number, everything works fine and all my numbers ring.  It's ONLY when dialing the direct number using the RingCentral iPhone App configured with VoIP turned off.

Does your deskphone still ring when the iPhone User calls while there VoiP is turned off?

Yes, that is in fact the ONLY phone that rings when an iPhone user uses the RingCentral App to call my direct number.

Phil:

I think I can help explain.The purpose of call forwarding is to allow you to not miss a call if you happen to move around and are not always at your desk. That's where adding your cell phone number to the call handling list (Using the sequential option) allows for calls to first ring at your desk phone then to your cell phone number or any other number. It is not meant for the mobile app as you can use any phone number to forward to. 

To keep the discussion focused, I'm using simultaneous ring and not sequential.

Now, assume that I'm not even using the mobile app, but I have added some forwarding numbers (a home landline and a personal cellphone) to simultaneously ring if I'm not at my office's IP desk phone.  If ANY other user in the company turns off their VoIP on the RingCentral mobile app and dials my direct number within the App, only my IP desk phone will ring and none of my forwarding lines will ring. So the existing system fails in exactly the use case you describe.

Now, the first ring feature is related directly to the mobile app. The mobile app is the perfect option for a traveler who does not sit at a desk very often if at all. It is intended to receive calls as if they are ringing at your desk phone (in place of really). It uses VOIP which is meant to save you from using your data so as long as you have a wifi connection, you can receive a business call. When you turn off the VOIP option in your iPhone you are basically turning off all incoming calls period whether data or voip. That's why the mobile will not work.

VOIP on mobile phones is great, but is frankly not an option for us.  Because in our trials, we found that the QoS of public WiFi access points and even cellular data signal are not reliable enough.  We generally get better call quality when turning off VOIP and using the App as a simpler cellular dialer to reach company numbers, check voice mail, and use text messaging from our business lines.

I don't know what you mean by "first ring feature".  Now consider that I'm describing a bug with outgoing calls made from the RingCentral iPhone App.  Assume that the RingCentral call recipient is not using the mobile app and just has simultaneous forwarding setup on their extension to a home landline and cell phone.

The VOIP option on your phone affects all calls, not just your RingCentral calls. It has to be on to receive RingCentral calls or any other calls as well.

Again, I'm talking about making an outgoing call with the RingCentral App with VoIP turned off, and trying to reach a company user who has simultaneous call forwarding setup to a landline and a cell phone.  Please consider this specific use case and reframe your points around it, because then it will be easier for us to discuss.

Hello Jonah,

I understand the issue now thank you. You are correct, Wifi is often not able to provide the needed quality of connection that live voice calls require, due in large part to the nature of Wifi protocols. Cellular reception also, can be spotty especially depending on your carrier and the coverage they provide where you are at that moment. I understand that these issues can cause problems when trying to make phone calls on your mobile app.

All phone calls that are forwarded out of our system are VoiP phone calls. When a call comes into your extension we make a VoiP call out to the carriers of all phone numbers in the call handling and forwarding settings, except for your RingCentral deskphone. If you turn of VoiP calls from the application then the call will obviously not complete the VoiP leg of the call, and the other phones will not ring.

Sorry about the frustration. If you want to ring all the phone you will have to use the VoiP calling feature.

Nathan,

I still believe you don't quite understand the issue I'm describing.  If you can answer the question below that will determine it:

All phone calls that are forwarded out of our system are VoiP phone calls. When a call comes into your extension we make a VoiP call out to the carriers of all phone numbers in the call handling and forwarding settings, except for your RingCentral deskphone. If you turn of VoiP calls from the application then the call will obviously not complete the VoiP leg of the call, and the other phones will not ring.

Consider User A who has a direct number and setup call forwarding with simultaneous ring to his desk IP phone in office and home landline phone.  Assume he does not even use the mobile app.

Now consider User B who is using the RingCentral Mobile app to make a call to User A, but has VoIP calling turned off.  Here are User B's dialing options to call User A (in this example, User A is me):


If User B dials me by selecting my Extension number, it will ring my IP desk phone and my landline simultaneously (the call is NOT made over VoIP and yet RingCentral can connect the call to my non-VoIP forwarding number).

But if User B dials me by selecting my direct number, it will only ring my IP desk phone.

In both cases, VoIP is turned off.  You said that this is a VoIP vs non-VoIP issue.  But here I show that even with VoIP turned off, call forwarding works just fine if the iPhone user selects to dial my extension number, but it does not work if the iPone user selects to dial my direct number.  In both cases, RingCentral is using the cellular network (iPhone's default dialer) to make the call because VoIP is turned off.  But it works fine if the user has tapped my Extension number.  So it works fine with VoIP off.

Nathan, did you have a chance to read my clarification here?  Thanks.

Hello Jonah,

I did. I spoke with one of my Tier 3 members who was actually working with you on another ticket. We did some more testing and to me knowledge he had sent you an email detailing the functioning of the VoiP calling from the mobile app. It has to do with the way that the invites are sent. Did you have further questions on the email that he sent my Tier 3 tech sent you?