Long Voice Mails of Static

October 31, 2016 9:50 AM

I am stumped. I don't know why this keeps happening. I administrate the phone system in my workplace. One of my users has been receiving long voice mails that consist of static. Just really loud static. They are from several different numbers. When I call the numbers, the people have no idea what I am talking about. The first couple could be explained away as pocket dials. Now it's a nuisance.

Here is the history. I have removed the last four digits of each number because I don't want to cause trouble for these people. The maximum length of a voice mail is 99 minutes.
( '414350xxxx' ) ( 1 hour 0 minutes 16 seconds ) Mon 10/24/2016 4:08 PM
( '601238xxxx' ) ( 1 hour 39 minutes 1 second ) Mon 10/24/2016 7:04 PM
( '915494xxxx' ) ( 1 hour 39 minutes 1 second ) Wed 10/26/2016 7:57 PM
( '612839xxxx' ) ( 1 hour 39 minutes 1 second ) Fri 10/28/2016 12:47 PM
( '330494xxxx' ) ( 1 hour 39 minutes 1 second ) Fri 10/28/2016 8:29 PM

I could block it if it was a specific number, but there is a different number each time. My coworker has an AT&T 1800 number that forwards to her extension. Could this be the issue? We have SIP trunks and an Avaya Communication Manager system. As far as I know, this is only affecting one user. I can run a trace for short periods of time (a half hour at most, the files get big quickly), but they come in at random times. Help me figure this out.

posted by domo to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

I know nothing about telephony but I would start by unforwarding the 1-800 number, if feasible, to see if it stops or keeps happening. If it stops then you have your culprit. I am almost positive it's got something to do with that 1800 number.

And then if that is it, get AT&T involved to troubleshoot.

If that isn't it... I would be surprised. But I don't have any clue how to fix that. Maybe reassign her to another phone extension and kill that extension entirely?

Again, I know nothing.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 10:50 AM on October 31, 2016

My coworker has an AT&T 1800 number that forwards to her extension

Have you tried talking to AT&T? I would have a lot of suspicions that this is the vector. I agree with rabbitrabbit that unforwarding would tell you if this was the source, though how often do they happen? Are you going to have to wait weeks to see if it's actually stopped? If so, I'd start honking at AT&T first (this is costing you money, isn't it?).
posted by Lyn Never at 10:54 AM on October 31, 2016

I'm lazy, so I would add a call flow step that requires them to press a key in order to leave a message and call it done enough. (Or I would port the 800 number from AT&T to a different provider)

Do you have access to the call logs from the AT&T number? You could see if the call durations match what Avaya reported to give an indication of whether the bug is on their end or in your system. That is, if AT&T says "yeah, it was a 99 minute call" they're probably the ones who failed to realize the caller hung up instead of Avaya botching it.
posted by mattamatic at 10:56 AM on October 31, 2016

I'd suspect a spam caller wardialing. The numbers are different because they fake the Caller ID information from the VOIP system they use.
posted by SansPoint at 11:21 AM on October 31, 2016

My bet is there is some 'scam' where the location these calls are coming from, even though the look like US numbers, is from out of the country and going through a international provider that somehow makes money off long, nonsense toll free calls. I'm pretty sure I saw this in a previous job where I managed the phone systems. The provider (a big one like ATT, but I don't remember which one) was pretty useless in helping track this down or stopping them. I'd ask ATT for a report of incoming calls to confirm those calls came via the tollfree number. I'd then let them know about these calls making sure I used the work "fraud" to see if you can get them to do something, even if it is to reverse the charges.
posted by CoffeeHikeNapWine at 12:35 PM on October 31, 2016

Here is a pure guess. Is the calling party hanging up when your voicemail system answers the call, but your system is not acknowledging the hang up and keeps recording.
posted by tman99 at 6:27 AM on November 1, 2016

It was toll fraud! I got confirmation from AT&T today. I've added a step in the voicemail system that requires the caller to press 1.
posted by domo at 7:10 PM on November 30, 2016