Western Iowa Networks would like to help you with any support issues you may have regarding your local telephone service, long distance, key systems and any other product or service. We can respond to an outage immediately during normal business hours by calling our toll free number 888-508-2946 or stopping in at one of our offices. Please check our frequently asked questions and troubleshooting sections below for help with many of the common problems. Go to our tech support page for Internet and email help.

What is Wireguard?

For a small monthly investment, Wireguard will cover the cost of locating a problem inside your home and repair of the damaged telephone wire and jacks. Think of it as insurance for your home wiring.

I have a collect call on my bill and it has an extra charge for a pay phone and the cost per minute is expensive. Is this correct?

When someone places a collect call to you and uses a pay phone, extra charges may apply depending on the pay phone and carrier the pay phone is on. You will be billed by the carrier and at the rate that the payphone is PICed to, not what carrier your home phone is on.

I have a call that the operator dialed for me and it is expensive. Is this correct?

Operator dialed calls are expensive, so you should avoid them if possible. You can avoid this by retrieving the number, hanging up and dialing the number yourself.

I am receiving telemarketing calls all day. Is there anything I can do to stop them?

There are two things you can do. One, go to the National Do Not Call Registry website and sign up. Please read their information carefully. Second, you can write to Direct Marketing Association to have your name removed from Telemarketing Lists. You must include your name, address, phone number, signature and a request to remove your name.
Mail to:
Direct Marketing Association
Telephone Preference Service
PO Box 9014
Farmingdale, NY 11735
Their phone number is 212-768-7277

If I have a non-published number will my name and number still show on caller ID boxes?

A non-published number does not mean that it will not show your name and number on caller id boxes. In order to guarantee that your name and number will not show on these boxes, you need to have the calling feature Caller ID Blocking. A non-published number will not be listed in the phone book or with directory assistance.

I have Anonymous Call Rejection and out of area calls are still able to get through. Why?

Anonymous Call Rejection will only block callers that have Caller ID Blocking and are within your calling area. It doesn't stop out of area calls or calls from customers whose phone company doesn't support Caller ID. It will also not stop all telemarketing calls.

I was charged $10.00 to change my Long Distance carrier, why?

We charge $5.00 per LATA to change a customer's Long Distance carrier, or PIC. If you change both LATAs there will be a charge of $10.00.

What is a LATA?

The LATA is the geographical area in Iowa which long distance calls are carried. There are four LATAs in Iowa. Intra-LATA calls are calls made within the same LATA. Inter-LATA calls are calls made outside of your LATA. Calls are also broken down by Intra-State and Inter-State. This is what your long distance rate is usually classified by. The map of the LATA that you are in, is in the front of your phone book.

I thought I paid for my service but I just received my first bill and it includes charges on it. Is this correct?

When you sign up for new service, your payment is for the next month's service. You will also be billed a prorated charge starting the day of new service through the end of the month.

We had a bad storm last night and I think we may have been struck by lightning.

If you have any cordless phones, answering machines, computers, etc. plugged in with your phone attached, it could just be the machine that has been knocked out. Unplug everything except for traditional telephones and try again. If you are still having trouble, please call for a technician at 888-508-2946.

I was digging in my yard and all of a sudden the phone went dead.

You could have cut the phone line. It is very important to call Iowa One Call at 800-331-5666 when digging on your property. Iowa One Call will notify all of your utilities to come locate the buried cable to insure that you will not cut them. It is a free service and you must give 48 hours notice. It is also Iowa Law that you call. Cutting a cable without a locate is a heavy fee by the phone company and the outage may not only effect you. Call Iowa One Call 1-800-331-5666 before you dig.

I cannot make long distance calls.

The first thing that you can do to test your long distance is to dial a Carrier Test Call. In order to do this, pick up your telephone and dial 700-555-4141. A recorded message should tell you what your carrier is. If it does not, make sure to tell the Customer Service Representative that it did not work. The next step is to try a dial around, example 10-10-288. If you are able to get through or not, make sure to let Customer Service know. If you call Western Iowa Networks, they will check that you are set up in the switch for long distance. You may have to call your previous long distance carrier to resolve the problem.

I just signed up for Caller ID and it is not working.

You must have a Caller ID box or phone with Caller ID capabilities or the service will not work. If you have the box and it is still not working, call Customer Service at 888-508-2946.