Say Jeff

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

Local Telco - CenturyLink - has started offering "Prism"

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

I work for CaptionCall - who provide a neat phone for the hard of hearing.

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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

Reply to
LouB
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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.

Reply to
GlowingBlueMist

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

Nope. It's FTTH (fiber to the home) with video on IPTV.

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

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.

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.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

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

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

Reply to
LouB

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:

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.

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.

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

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

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Am definitely going to start carrying a phone. Yes her other phone requires power from the wall.

Thanks for all the info.

Reply to
LouB

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

Reply to
dold

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

Reply to
dold

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