Question:
I changed my email address. Do you need to know that ?

Answer:
Absolutely. We use your email address to send you a notice when anyone leaves you a Voicemail message. If you changed your email address you won't get that notice, and our servers will also start encoring numerous “Failed Message” email bounces from your old email address. That just puts an unnecessary load on our servers as well as an unnecessary workload on our staff to track down you to get your correct email address.

Question:
I keep hearing rumors that I can use Hamshack Hotline to call my regular home or office phone, and use my regular home or office phone to call my Hamshack Hotline Extension number. Is this true ?

Answer:
No. That is a false rumor.

Hamshack Hotline is not connect to the PSTN (Regular Phone) system. You can't use your Hamshack Hotline extension number and call your house. And you can not take your traditional home phone and call your Hamshack Hotline extension number.

Hamshack Hotline is a PRIVATE voip phone system for Amateur Radio Operators (HAMS) only.

And remember, your Hamshack Hotline number is not a real phone number, even with 7-digits. It's just an extension number in our big Hamshack Hotline (metaphoric) building.

Question:
On the BLF webpage, I see custom names, like “East Coast Reflector”.
Can I get a custom display for my RF extension or Audio Extension ?

Answer:
Yes. Simply place a ticket with us. Let us know your RF extension number or Audio Extension number and what custom name you want added. We might have a question or two, but we usually can now accommodate adding some custom descriptions to the name fields

Question:
I used to see in the phone book where some users are part of a 'ring group'. Can a start a 'ring group' ?

Answer:
No. We no longer support new Ring Groups. We will still support the existing Ring Groups for now, but even the existing Ring Groups may be dissolved at some future date.

Question:
Why can't I just leave my phone unplugged from the internet for as long as I see fit?

Answer:
With a traditional phone company the only way they know you have discontinued service is if #1, you call them and tell them, or #2 you stop paying your bill, in which case they disconnect your service.

But with us, many amateurs have come and gone and never bothered to tell us. They may have tried our service and not liked it, they may have moved on to other hobbies, they may be SK, they may have given their phone away, and on and on …… without us ever knowing.

So for years we just had a lot of extensions that were 'dead' as no phone was connected and no one bothered to tell us.

So, we were forced to migrated to a “use it or lose it” based service. Since many amateurs never tell us if they stopped using our service, we can now only monitor if an extension has no phone connected for a period longer than 30 days. If that happens the extension is deemed “dead” and we must reclaim it to release the strain on the servers from having several hundred “dead” extensions.

The burden is on you, the end user, to either keep a phone connected (so we know you're there), or if you need to periodically have it offline, then plug it in briefly, and dial 451 and listen to the message so it “logs that call” and we can see the phone log indicating you used your phone, (even though it may be turned back off) and do this at least once every 30 days to prevent the extension from being seen as “dead” and get reclaimed.

Question:
Can't someone from HH Just remote into my computer and setup my phone for me so I don't have to?

Answer:
No. Hamshack Hotline will try to assist you in setting up your phone, but only by pointing you to the instructions on our wiki that show you what you need to do.

If you have a specific question, we will try our best to answer it so you understand what needs to be done.

That being said, you the end user of the phone, have a personal responsibility to learn how to operate your device. HH does not allow it's support agents to remote into your computer systems to program your phone. There is a liability issue involved so HH can not do that.