RURAL CALL COMPLETION
Why are my calls being dropped or missed?
THE ISSUE
You might have experienced The Rural Call Completion Problem created by Least Cost Routing (LCR) if you have experienced any of the following:
- A call comes through with poor quality.
- A call comes through but the Caller ID is wrong or incorrect.
- A call doesn't come through even though someone tries to call you.
- A call doesn't come through even though it rang on the end of person trying to call you.
"Consumers across the country continue to report problems placing and receiving long-distance or wireless calls to and from rural areas on their landline telephones. If you live anywhere in the country and are having problems calling people or businesses in rural areas, you may also be experiencing the same problems." What the FCC has to say.
THE PROBLEM
The problem isn't your local telephone company. It starts with the carrier or wireless provider used by the person making the call, and can only be resolved by that carrier or wireless provider.
Large carriers or wireless providers use a process known as “Least Cost Routing”. This is the practice of passing calls back and forth in order to minimize the cost associated with connecting to the local telephone company. Essentially, the call is passed to another carrier searching for the lowest cost to route that call.
Rural areas are more affected by this call-completion epidemic because it is more expensive to serve rural areas. Certain long distance carriers and wireless providers do not want to incur the higher costs to transport long distance calls, so they either refuse to transport calls to some rural phone companies’ networks, or they route the calls using LCR to minimize costs.
HELP US HELP YOU FIGHT THE RURAL CALL COMPLETION PROBLEM AND LCR!
We are hopeful that the FCC will act quickly to address these problems and tighten the restrictions against carriers who utilize LCR. As a company we are fighting this problem, but we need your help. Every voice counts, and our state and national legislators as well as the FCC need to know the magnitude of this problem.
HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
- Ask the person trying to call you for the name of their long distance carrier or wireless provider and file an informal complaint with the FCC against their long distance carrier or wireless provider (not Union Telephone).
- File a complaint with your state legislators in Washington DC
- Encourage the person who tried to call you to file an informal complaint with the FCC and a complaint with their state legislators in Washington DC.
Informal Complaint to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC): Click this link FCC Complaint Form to be taken to an online submission form that will be immediately submitted: FCC Complaint Form. You can also submit your form by calling 888-225-5322. For the FCC to take action on your informal complaint, you must provide:
- The caller’s number
- The called number
- The date the attempted calls or problem calls were made.
If possible, you should identify the long distance carrier or wireless telephone service provider that serves the caller. You can use the text found here for the body of your complaint; feel free to personalize the text to explain the impact that the Rural Call Completion Problem and LCR has had on you in your daily personal and/or professional life.
Questions? Give us a call.
888-926-CARE (2273)
