Learn about the homeline troubleshooting procedure and the checks you can perform which may resolve your services. 

Isolation Testing

Isolation testing can help identify the possible cause for your homeline issue. Performing this test helps avoid potential Chorus technician call out charges where the fault is caused by your equipment.

• Services on ADSL or VDSL
  1. Unplug all phones, modems, filters or any other devices from all jackpoints in your home. Some monitored home alarms may be automatically triggered if they're unplugged, so it might be a good idea to get in touch with your alarm provider first, to let them know what's going on.

  2. Take your phone to a jackpoint in your home and plug it in. Test the phone directly plugged into your jackpoint without the use of a filter by making and receiving phone calls.

  3. If your homeline issue is successfully resolved: this means that your other devices or equipment are the reason behind your loss of service. Plug your equipment back in piece by piece, checking the connection each time. When the problem returns you have discovered the faulty piece of equipment. 

  If your homeline issue persists: the problem may lie with your jackpoint, phone cable or the phone handset itself. Try another phone cable and if that doesn’t work, try the other jackpoints in your home, testing the connection each time.

  4. Lastly, we recommend running through steps 2 and 3 with another phone, to rule out your existing phone as being faulty. 

• Homeline Services on Fibre using Modem
  1. Unplug your telephone handset from the modem Telephone port (this is normally the 'Telephone 1' port) on the back of your modem. 

  2. Factory reset your modem by taking a pin to press and hold the tiny Reset button on the back of the modem. Hold this down for 5-10 seconds until the lights on your modem go off. Release the button and your modem will begin to restart.

  3. Once your modem is back on wait 10 minutes and then test your telephone handset in the modem Telephone port you were previously using (normally the Telephone 1 port).

• Homeline Services on Fibre using Jackpoint
  1. Unplug your grey telephone cable from the modem Telephone port (this is normally the 'Telephone 1' port) on the back of your modem. 

  2. Factory reset your modem by taking a pin to press and hold the tiny Reset button on the back of the modem. Hold this down for 5-10 seconds until the lights on your modem go off. Release the button and your modem will begin to restart.

  3. Once your modem is back on, wait 10 minutes and then plug the grey telephone cable in the modem Telephone port you were previously using (normally the Telephone 1 port).

  4. If you find your telephone handsets are still not operating from the jackpoints. We recommend testing your telephone directly in the modem Telephone port where the grey telephone cable was originally plugged in. 

  5. In the event that your handset operates when plugged directly into the modem, this would indicate that your internal wiring or phone jackpoint is faulty. If the telephone doesn't work from modem either, please contact our team for further investigation.

What should I do now?

If you find that you’ve performed all these steps, and you haven’t found a possible cause for your broadband issue, contact our team. We will complete some final checks with you before reporting a fault

We here at Slingshot take unwanted calls very seriously and recommend taking precautions if you receive such calls. 

Scam Calls

New Zealand, like many other countries, is targeted by off-shore scammers calling or texting national landline and mobile users. They attempt to persuade anyone who responds to cooperate in some way - usually to extract funds through deceit or extortion. This often involves obtaining remote access to a victim's computer and stealing internet banking details or convincing the victim to make a payment to an offshore account.

What do I do if I receive such calls?

If you are contacted by someone you suspect is a scammer, we want to hear from you as soon as possible. That way we can work with the industry to try and block the scam and prevent it from impacting others. Send us an email with the following information.

1. Date and time of call:
2. The number they called from (if possible):
3. The number they called:
4. Nature of call (what was said):

Nuisance Calls

We want to help you as much as possible to put an end to abusive, unwanted and malicious phone calls. With this process we will require your cooperation in obtaining relevant details related to the call and caller. These calls are understandably difficult to deal with and we wish to immediate concerns arising from such calls.

What do I do if I receive such calls?

If you are receiving such calls, the first step of action is to log all unwanted calls with the details listed below:

1. Date and time of call:
2. The number they called from (if possible):
3. The number they called:
4. Duration of call:

We recommend collecting 3-5 examples within a 48-72 hour period.

If any call you receive is of a threatening nature or pose a risk to your health and safety, please contact the New Zealand Police immediately on 111. 

At Slingshot, we take customer privacy very seriously. We have a code that you can input before making an outbound call that will hide your number as a once off. There is also the option to hide all future calls until otherwise specified. How great is that?

How to hide and unhide your landline number on outgoing calls

These codes only work if you are on our standard VoIP service (if your phone is plugged into the back of the modem).

Hide

• To hide your caller ID for a single call, dial *67 and then the outgoing number.
• To hide your caller ID for all future calls, dial *30 on its own.

Show

• To show your caller ID for a single call, dial *65 and then the outgoing number.
• To show your caller ID for all future calls, dial *31 on its own.

How to hide your mobile number on outgoing calls

For mobile, simply dial #31# before the number you want to call. Simple right?

FAQ's

• What if I use the old school phone network and plug my phone into the wall (a jackpoint)?
  You can still hide your landline number for single calls, dial 0197 and then the outgoing number.
• Is there any other way to hide my mobile number?
  Unfortunately we do not have another option to offer you at the moment. It is worth checking the manual/settings on your mobile device as it may have this capability built in!
• Is hiding my landline number free?
  Yes, we do not charge customers for the ability to hide the number the have with Slingshot

Some international calling destinations are blocked by default in order to reduce the risk of phone hackers incurring significant charges on our customer accounts. The list of destinations is included below.

If you need to place a call to one of these countries, please contact us and we will add the number you'd like to call to an approved list.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, however we believe this is necessary to protect our customers from incurring large bills.

Blocked International Calling Destinations:
Armenia
Burkina Faso
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
Congo
Cuba
Democratic Republic of Congo
Diego Garcia
Equitorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Falkland Islands
Gabon
Gambia
Guinea-Bissau
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Kiribati
Latvia
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Maldives
Mali
Mauritania
Moldova
Montenegro
Morocco
Nigeria
Principe and Sao Tome
Senegal
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Somalia

If you have forgotten your home phone number, simply pick up the handset and dial 1956 and listen! If 1956 doesn't work, try using 1957 instead.

By dialing this number, you will hear a voice telling you the number you are calling from - so make sure you do this from your home phone!

In order to dial an international number you'll need to know the right international calling code.

To call internationally from New Zealand:

1. Dial 00 (this is the New Zealand exit code) before the international calling code. 
2. Enter the area code (without the zero if the number starts with a zero) and the phone number you wish to call. 

e.g. 00 (NZ exit code) + 44 (UK calling code) + 1 (area code) + 12345678 (phone number)

For a list of individual city codes check out https://countrycode.org/ and click on the destination you're after.