Say Jeff

Here is an interesting one for you. More phone than wi-fi but...

Local Telco - CenturyLink - has started offering "Prism"
http://www.centurylink.com/Pages/Per...id=p_110139844

Which AFAIK is TV via phone wire - "No satellite"

I work for CaptionCall - who provide a neat phone for the hard of
hearing. https://www.captioncall.com/captioncall/

One of our clients just had Prism installed.
Now our phone will not dial out. It receives just fine but when one
goes to dial out we get what sounds like a fast busy followed by a
regular busy. Her other phone, connected to the same line from the
wall, dials out fine.
I tried a different phone company phone and got the same results so it
sounds to me (not a real phone techie) that it is something in our
phone's firmware. The home office is investigating but I was curious if
you are into phone systems.

TIA

LouB

On 7/15/2011 8:54 PM, LouB wrote:
> Here is an interesting one for you. More phone than wi-fi but...
>
> Local Telco - CenturyLink - has started offering "Prism"
> http://www.centurylink.com/Pages/Per...id=p_110139844
>
>
> Which AFAIK is TV via phone wire - "No satellite"
>
> I work for CaptionCall - who provide a neat phone for the hard of
> hearing. https://www.captioncall.com/captioncall/
>
> One of our clients just had Prism installed.
> Now our phone will not dial out. It receives just fine but when one goes
> to dial out we get what sounds like a fast busy followed by a regular
> busy. Her other phone, connected to the same line from the wall, dials
> out fine.
> I tried a different phone company phone and got the same results so it
> sounds to me (not a real phone techie) that it is something in our
> phone's firmware. The home office is investigating but I was curious if
> you are into phone systems.
>
> TIA
>
> LouB

Never had need to work on a Prism system yet but one quick and dirty
test would be to try another cable between the phone and the jack.
Check the cable you have been using and try one that has the two wires
reversed when you compare them.

I have run into similar problems with other SIP devices that work with a
cross over cable versus a straight through or vice versa. Some phones
will not dial out properly when you use one type of cable versus the
other but it is anyone's guess which you presently have. Usually it is
the cheaper phones that have the problem but not always.

Inbound calls normally do not depend on the polarity of the phone cable
but many phone dialer circuits no longer have the full wave rectifier
diodes in them to correct for polarity mismatches that can occur between
phone devices and the telephone instruments themselves.

On Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:54:04 -0400, LouB <Lou@invalid.invalid> wrote:

>Here is an interesting one for you. More phone than wi-fi but...

Ancient Chinese curse.... May you live in interesting times.

>Local Telco - CenturyLink - has started offering "Prism"
>http://www.centurylink.com/Pages/Per...id=p_110139844
>Which AFAIK is TV via phone wire - "No satellite"

Nope. It's FTTH (fiber to the home) with video on IPTV.
<http://www.centurylink.com/Pages/Personal/Iptv/displayTvMarket.html>

>I work for CaptionCall - who provide a neat phone for the hard of
>hearing. https://www.captioncall.com/captioncall/

Can you hear me now? (Sorry, I couldn't resist).

>One of our clients just had Prism installed.
>Now our phone will not dial out. It receives just fine but when one
>goes to dial out we get what sounds like a fast busy followed by a
>regular busy. Her other phone, connected to the same line from the
>wall, dials out fine.

Welcome to the joy of provisioning. Since it can receive calls, the
SIP phone for FXS/FXO, or whatever, is working, as is everything else
between the phone and the ISP router. What's NOT working is the
provisioning (programming) for the line. The ISP screwed up.

>I tried a different phone company phone and got the same results so it
>sounds to me (not a real phone techie) that it is something in our
>phone's firmware. The home office is investigating but I was curious if
>you are into phone systems.

Try an ordinary POTS phone and see if it plays. If that also screws
up, as I'm sure it will, it's time to call the ISP.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
> On Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:54:04 -0400, LouB <Lou@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>> Here is an interesting one for you. More phone than wi-fi but...
>
> Ancient Chinese curse.... May you live in interesting times.
>
>> Local Telco - CenturyLink - has started offering "Prism"
>> http://www.centurylink.com/Pages/Per...id=p_110139844
>> Which AFAIK is TV via phone wire - "No satellite"
>
> Nope. It's FTTH (fiber to the home) with video on IPTV.
> <http://www.centurylink.com/Pages/Personal/Iptv/displayTvMarket.html>
>
>> I work for CaptionCall - who provide a neat phone for the hard of
>> hearing. https://www.captioncall.com/captioncall/
>
> Can you hear me now? (Sorry, I couldn't resist).
>
>> One of our clients just had Prism installed.
>> Now our phone will not dial out. It receives just fine but when one
>> goes to dial out we get what sounds like a fast busy followed by a
>> regular busy. Her other phone, connected to the same line from the
>> wall, dials out fine.
>
> Welcome to the joy of provisioning. Since it can receive calls, the
> SIP phone for FXS/FXO, or whatever, is working, as is everything else
> between the phone and the ISP router. What's NOT working is the
> provisioning (programming) for the line. The ISP screwed up.
>
>> I tried a different phone company phone and got the same results so it
>> sounds to me (not a real phone techie) that it is something in our
>> phone's firmware. The home office is investigating but I was curious if
>> you are into phone systems.
>
> Try an ordinary POTS phone and see if it plays. If that also screws
> up, as I'm sure it will, it's time to call the ISP.
>
Thanks but...
" Her other phone, connected to the same line from the
wall, dials out fine."
OTOH I THINK that other phone is an ordinary POTS phone. It has a
keyboard because the user is quite hard of hearing and probably has
friends who can not hear.
BTW I can hear pretty well (I am 71).

Lou

On Sat, 16 Jul 2011 14:17:33 -0400, LouB <Lou@invalid.invalid> wrote:

>> Try an ordinary POTS phone and see if it plays. If that also screws
>> up, as I'm sure it will, it's time to call the ISP.
>>
>Thanks but...
>" Her other phone, connected to the same line from the
>wall, dials out fine."

Try again, this time with the red and green line wires reversed. Some
phones rely on having the correct polarity. It's rare these days, but
I've ocassionally seen such abominations.

If that's the problem, you might want to invest in a POTS polarity
tester. You could probably build one, but here's the official device:
<http://www.a1components.com/Products/Advantage-Phone-Line-Tester__ADV1009.aspx>

Also, trace back to where the phone line ends. It's not clear if the
customer is using VoIP on the fiber or if they have an ordinary POTS
line. It's difficult to tell without following the wires.

>OTOH I THINK that other phone is an ordinary POTS phone. It has a
>keyboard because the user is quite hard of hearing and probably has
>friends who can not hear.

If it requires external power, or is powered by anything other than
the phone line, it has the potential for being a problem. When I
suggest testing with a POTS phone, I mean one that you know works,
that you drag around with your tool kit. I always carry as cheap POTS
phone with me. The idea is to isolate the problem by substitution.
You can't assume that the customers phone is working. Incidentally,
it's usually new in the box, so I can sell it to the customer.

>BTW I can hear pretty well (I am 71).

I'm 63. I play piano and keyboard synthesizer, so the hearing is
still functional.

Hear no evil, see no evil, pay no attention.



--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
> On Sat, 16 Jul 2011 14:17:33 -0400, LouB <Lou@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>>> Try an ordinary POTS phone and see if it plays. If that also screws
>>> up, as I'm sure it will, it's time to call the ISP.
>>>
>> Thanks but...
>> " Her other phone, connected to the same line from the
>> wall, dials out fine."
>
> Try again, this time with the red and green line wires reversed. Some
> phones rely on having the correct polarity. It's rare these days, but
> I've ocassionally seen such abominations.
>
> If that's the problem, you might want to invest in a POTS polarity
> tester. You could probably build one, but here's the official device:
> <http://www.a1components.com/Products/Advantage-Phone-Line-Tester__ADV1009.aspx>
>
> Also, trace back to where the phone line ends. It's not clear if the
> customer is using VoIP on the fiber or if they have an ordinary POTS
> line. It's difficult to tell without following the wires.
>
>> OTOH I THINK that other phone is an ordinary POTS phone. It has a
>> keyboard because the user is quite hard of hearing and probably has
>> friends who can not hear.
>
> If it requires external power, or is powered by anything other than
> the phone line, it has the potential for being a problem. When I
> suggest testing with a POTS phone, I mean one that you know works,
> that you drag around with your tool kit. I always carry as cheap POTS
> phone with me. The idea is to isolate the problem by substitution.
> You can't assume that the customers phone is working. Incidentally,
> it's usually new in the box, so I can sell it to the customer.
>
>> BTW I can hear pretty well (I am 71).
>
> I'm 63. I play piano and keyboard synthesizer, so the hearing is
> still functional.
>
> Hear no evil, see no evil, pay no attention.
>
Am definitely going to start carrying a phone. Yes her other phone
requires power from the wall.

Thanks for all the info.

Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> wrote:
> If that's the problem, you might want to invest in a POTS polarity
> tester. You could probably build one, but here's the official device:
> <http://www.a1components.com/Products/Advantage-Phone-Line-Tester__ADV1009.aspx>


Radio Shack used to give away a little colored LED on a stick for line
testing. Mine says "The Sprint store at Radio Shack".

--
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5

dold@52.usenet.us.com wrote:
> Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> wrote:
> > If that's the problem, you might want to invest in a POTS polarity

> Radio Shack used to give away a little colored LED on a stick for line
> testing. Mine says "The Sprint store at Radio Shack".

One could check with a multimeter. Red lead on red wire, black lead on
green wire should show about -55VDC, about -28VDC if some phone is off
hook, about 90VAC (which might blow a fuse in some old style needle
voltmeters during ringing if they are set to DC).

Pair one:
Green = tip, Red = ring
Red lead to red, black lead to green, negative volts

Pair two:
Yellow = tip, Black = ring
Red lead to black, black lead to yellow, negative volts

--
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5