‘Call Failed’ error when making calls

[Retired-George]

This issue has the following symptoms:

For version 1 Sure Signal (the one with four lights on the front):

• Lights one, two and four are all solid
• Incoming calls, texts and internet all work correctly
• When making a call on a registered phone, the error ‘Call Failed’ or similar is displayed

For version 2 Sure Signal (the one with 3 lights on the front):

• The power and system lights are both solid
• Incoming calls, texts and internet all work correctly
• When making a call on a registered phone, the error ‘Call Failed’ or similar is displayed 

For version 3 Sure Signal (the plug in version):

• The power, internet and service lights are all solid and the in use light is either solid or flashing
• Incoming calls, texts and internet all work correctly
• When making a call on a registered phone, the error ‘Call Failed’ or similar is displayed

Troubleshooting steps:

Check for planned maintenance:
Planned maintenance can cause periods of downtime, so check the forum for any planned maintenance. If there is, this will be announced at the top of the Sure Signal forum.

Reset your Sure Signal:

For versions 1 and 2:

1. Hold in the reset button until all lights go solid
2. Pull the power lead out with the reset button still pushed in
3. Continue to hold down the reset button and reconnect the power lead
4. Wait for all lights to come on and then release the reset button

For version 3:

1. Locate the button on the base of the box next to the Ethernet ports.
2. Press and hold the button for approximately 30 seconds.
3. Once the lights come back on, release the button.

The Sure Signal will be back online in around 1 hour.

If you’re still unable to make calls, there may be a compatibility issue with your Sure Signal and your location information (also known as SAC/LAC compatibility).

A SAC (Service Area Code) connects to a mast and is used to determine the rough location of where a call’s made. It's needed for the emergency services to know where a call was made from.

As a Sure Signal can be used anywhere in the country, it doesn't automatically come with a SAC. The SAC is generated based on the postcode you enter when registering your Sure Signal and it's created based on the nearest cell to your location.

In order for calls to be made, they must go over an MSC (Mobile Switching Centre). If the MSC doesn't hold the SAC for your area on its database, the call will fail.

The MSCs should now hold all SACs for Sure Signal calls. For anyone who is still affected please post in this thread and we can look into it further.

Thanks,

Jenny

[rickfraser]

Just about reached the end of my tether now...

Been a VF customer for many many years and always been happy with the service - especially when travelling abroad.

However, move house a couple of years ago to a village where (although VF's coverage map says the coverage is 'good') the network coverage is barely existant - mostly not.

Results in lost calls and mobile dying in a few hours as it struggles to find a signal.

So, I bought a backup mobile on another network PAYG - that works fine all day, every day. I still wanted to keep my VF contract phone going.

Complained countless times to VF about lack of coverage, but nothing changed. Finally, after the price fell to a 'reasonable' level (although why I should have to pay for VF's shortcomings I don't know), I bought a SureSignal.

It arrived quickly and I set it up and registered it with no problem, connecting to my BT Home Hub. In about an hour, I have full bars on my 3G signal. I could receive calls great, and send and receive texts without problem.

Now comes the head against wall bit.

Because it's time, I decided to upgrade my mobile. So, I chose the phone I wanted on VF online and got all the way through to actually ordering it when I saw my address was wrong - so I backed out.

I went to the "My Account" to change the address but it wouldn't let me - kept failing to save.

So I rang 191 - only it disconnected immediately. I tried a few times - same thing. Tried other numbers - all started to ring but after the first ring, the call disconnected with a "connection failure" error.

Used my landline to phone 0870...191. Related problem to bod. Was told I had an old simm card and needed a new one. Ok - send me one but must have the same phone number as I use it for business. Was assured it would stay the same.

New simm arrived (with same phone number). Put in phone and had VF activate it.

Then had no signal at all from the SS - receive or send. Phoned again. Ah, need to do a re-sync because the serial number of the simm was different to my old simm - will take up to 24 hours (why does it always take so long?).

Eventually got my full bar 3G signal back - could receive all ok - Cannot make any calls !!

Tried simm in another 3G phone - same thing happens. Phones work fine outside the range of the SS.

Phone VF yet again (at least 20 mins this time). Reset SS and hard rest mobile. Eventually get a signal back on my mobile, but guess what? Still cannot make a call to anyone.

The last guy I spoke to said he would call me after an hour to see how I was getting on. Did he call? Did he heck.

So now I am just about sick and tired of phoning VF, trawling through forums and countless other complaints about SureSignal. Even tried configuring my Home Hub, but didn't change things - it is plug and play anyway.

Why can I receive ok, and make and receive texts, but not make a call? What different mechanism is being employed?

I am almost (but not quite yet) at the point of transferring my contract to the other network provider whose signal I never have a problem with.

So, does anyone have an answer?

[Retired-Lee]

Hey FlickLaser,

Is it possible you can confirm for me that you've tried all the troubleshooting in this thread?

If so, and you've still had no success, then there's information on how to get in touch at the bottom of post #1. Please include all the information requested and we'll see what we can do

Cheers,

LeeH
eForum Team

[rickfraser]

Requested details sent via "contact us" form

[rickfraser]

Confirmed that I have tried all these things, several times.

[craigs05]

cannot believe i have sat for days on end trying to get my sure signal to work all i kept getting was 3 beebs and call failed when trying to call out but i was able to receive calls no problem. In the end all I did was change the post code of where I was to my old address and instantly it worked. ha! can't believe it!!!!!!!!! try it and i assure you it will work

[rickfraser]

Got this from George on Saturday....

"it's caused by a mis-match between the Sure Signal server and the Mobile Switching Centre which handles your calls. I've raised a case to our support teams for this to be rectified. Once they've made the necessary changes, you'll need to perform a factory reset on your Sure Signal. I'll email you to let you know when to do this."




I am still waiting Tuesday.

I recommended SureSignal to five other people in the same boat before I realised I couldn't make any calls. At present they are all on hold, pending the outcome of this resolution (or not).

[craigs05]

cannot believe i have sat for days on end trying to get my sure signal to work all i kept getting was 3 beebs and call failed when trying to call out but i was able to receive calls no problem. In the end all I did was change the post code of where I was to my old address and instantly it worked. ha! can't believe it!!!!!!!!! try it and i assure you it will work

[Retired-George]

Hi FlickLaser,

Apologies for the delay in responding. I've just sent you an email in regards to this issue, I'm confident it's now fixed .

George
eForum Team

[rickfraser]

Thanks George

All fixed now after hard resetting both SS and mobile.

Why couldn't the support guys I phoned originally get this moving instead of it taking a week to resolve, and costing me a small fortune in land line charges to VF?

Satisfied it does work now though. Thanks again.