VioP to AXB-DTMF+

Joe Hebert · July 2011

I have an AXB-DTMF+ that I use for caller ID and to make outgoing calls through a Panasonic PBX and a standard POTS line. It’s been working great for years until this week when AT&T switched me over to VoiP when I converted from Comcast to U-verse.

Now that I have VoiP I can still make outgoing calls through the AXB-DTMF+ but my caller ID no longer works. I get signaled that the phone is ringing but nothing after that.

Do I need something like this VioP Analog adapter to make my caller ID work again?

http://www.amazon.com/Voip-2-PORT-Fxs-Analog-Adapter/dp/B001TZZ38O

Trying to find somebody at the phone company that understands how phones work has been futile and frustrating and I don’t know enough about it. With the vast array of intelligent folks on the forum I’m hoping somebody here can help me out.

Thanks.

ProgressiveCode · July 2011

Have you watched the buffer in debug to see if anything is coming through? maybe the caller id string format has changed with the new phone system.

Joe Hebert · August 2011

The format has changed for caller ID.

The number used to come in as aaa-bbb-cccc when I had a POTS (plain old telephone service) line.

Now it comes in as 1aaabbbcccc with U-Verse via VoiP.

I’ve got no problems from that end since I just need to parse it differently.

I can use the AXB-DTMF+ to make outgoing calls without issue but I can’t get the caller ID info to make it through to me. The channel event for RING does get triggered.

When I monitor the strings of the data event for the DTMF every once in a blue moon I get the CLID- feedback but only if I use line 2 in my house to call line 1 (which is where the AXB-DTMF+ is tied to.) I have never seen any CLID- feedback for any calls that are generated from the outside of my house.

I’m wondering if the caller ID comes in too fast for the DTMF box. When I had a POTS line the caller ID came in between the first and second rings. Now with U-Verse the caller ID shows up on the TV a split second BEFORE I even hear the FIRST ring. Maybe that’s messing with the AMX box, I don’t know.

I’ve read that other people have complained about the same thing that once they switched over to U-Verse (a.k.a. U-Suck) the equipment they used for caller ID that worked with a POTS line is broken with U-Verse VoiP. This shouldn’t be rocket science. Caller ID has been around for decades.

I really miss my caller ID. I had a great setup. When a call came in I did a lookup in a flat file database to see if it’s a number I recognize and then get the friendly name for it. For example my cell and my wife’s cell along with my two sons all come in as Joe Hebert since we share the same plan. Instead of showing my name for everyone I can look up the number then display Joe’s Cell or Linda’s Cell or Jimmy’s Cell, etc. as a popup on the TPs in the house along with displaying the name on my BetaBrite. The TPs have a call log and a phone book where I can do one button dialing via the DTMF box.

I’m getting nowhere with AT&T tech support. Since caller ID is on the network now I would think I should be able to write my own code to trap it but I’m not having any luck finding out how to do it.

I want my caller ID back....

ProgressiveCode · August 2011

I'm thinking maybe that if the CLID string format has changed maybe the AXB-DTMF+ firmware isn't recognizing it and isn't passing the unrecognized string out? I know that's not much help. AT&T shouldn't be fixing what isn't broken, they should have left the old CLID string format alone. Made a new string if they wanted a different format.

pdabrowski · August 2011

this may not be of any help, but I remember that after going from POTS to VOIP at home my phone system no longer recognised the CLID, I think it may have had more to do with the implementation on the voip carrier side than anything else. I gave up trying to get it working as the carrier was a budget one who wasn't replying to support emails.

Your note that the CLID is coming through when calling from line 2 to 1 on the same system tells me that the CLID is operational when inside the voip system, but not being sent through from the POTS carriers to the voip carrier. I don't have a second line at home to test with but your symptoms do point that way.

Have you tried to see if there is any CLID coming through on the voip line by using a standard calling number display unit on the voip line?

Joe Hebert · August 2011

pdabrowski wrote: »

Have you tried to see if there is any CLID coming through on the voip line by using a standard calling number display unit on the voip line?

The CLID shows up on my Panasonic system phones (about $200 each a dozen years ago) every so often. Most of the time it just displays – Call on CO1.

The CLID shows up on a V-Tek cordless (about $25) every time. Go figure...

svTech · August 2011

Have you looked for the CLID string even after 3 or 4 rings? In testing with caller ID off of our PBX here in our office, we found that it would not get to the DTMF+ box until after the 2nd or 3rd ring (can't remember which). We had thought that there was some other technical issue, but once we let the line ring a couple of more times, then the same old string started appearing again. Our PBX isn't VOIP and we just have standard DSL. But you might watch for the string, even after multiple (4+ rings) and see if that helps.

Joe Hebert · August 2011

The CLID used to come through between the first and second rings and the AMX DTMF box worked perfectly. Now that I have VoIP the caller ID shows up on the TV through the U-Verse box before I even hear the first ring. I don’t think the new CLID format is confusing the AMX box. I think the CLID is coming in too fast and that’s what’s confusing the firmware. At least that’s my best guess at this point.

I tried what you suggested and I let the phone ring until the answering machine picked up on the 5th ring and the AMX box didn’t report any CLID feedback. I then disconnected the answering machine and let the phone ring 10 times and I still didn’t get any CLID feedback.

I need to find a new piece of hardware that plays nice with VoIP. Either that or I tell AT&T that I want my POTS back. This shouldn’t need to be so complicated.

ProgressiveCode · August 2011

I did a little googling and found instances where people who added U-Verse immediately had trouble with Caller ID on various older phones. And none of them reported success in resolving the issue short of replacing the phone system. Some of them seemed to think it was a digital vs analog issue. That aside, the indication would be here that AMX needs to look at the DTMF box in connection to VOIP or come out with a more modern DTMF box. Fat chance of either happening, I'm sure.

Joe Hebert · August 2011

We probably ran across the same threads while googling. I found one that was titled – Caller ID won’t work with Uverse, and another was titled – About to CANCEL Uverse and go back to POTS/DSL. I was hoping to find a thread that would tell me how to fix it but no luck in that area.

I thought the AMX DTMF box was discontinued or at the very least limited, however, the web site shows they’re still readily available. I wonder how many of these are in the field. I’ll report the issue to AMX and see what happens. I’m sure AMX has bigger fish to fry than the DTMF box but it’s worth a shot.

Colzie · September 2011

We tried U-verse for a while. We didn't keep the TV portion more than a week (too used to DirecTV), but we kept the VoIP for about a year. The CID was always very sporadic, and we finally switched back to a POTS line because my wife didn't like the delay when making outgoing calls.

I don't think the CID issue is your DTMF card's problem, though, since your Panasonic phones also have trouble getting the info -- as well as plenty of other hardware (so says the internet). Obviously the RG (Residential Gateway) it is getting the CID info since you see it on your TV (via IP). I don't think the AT&T RG is generating the analog side of things properly.

As a side note, I had a terrible time with the WAP built into the RG (I still have the "Residential Gateway" even though I don't have U-verse TV or U-verse Voice, all I have is the fast U-verse Internet). I ended up disabling the built in router/WAP and use an external router/WAP.

VioP to AXB-DTMF+

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