sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Can't break a dial tone on a VoIP

Hello. I am a brand new kid on the block - HI to all.
I have a question that might or might not belong here: this is not commercial or industrial install, just something in my home.

I have a VoIP line fed by a cable modem. I also have a local analog line from a local phone company. End device is a two-line corded-cordless phone. Recently I have purchased a STICK II by Multi-Link. I wanted to be able to call one telephone line, and then punch in a code that would have opened a second line and dial out using the second line and vice versa. Stick II seems to be able to accomplish just that.

However, there are couple of issues and I want to make sure that I have things done right before I deem the hardware defective.

When a call comes in on one of the lines, after couple of rings the STICK II picks up the line and sends simulated ring back to the caller. At this time, the caller is able to punch a 4-digit code that opens a second line (not consistent by itself, sometimes it does not work), the caller gets a dial tone from the other line and at this point it is impossible to punch in the numbers as the DTMFs do not break the second dial tone. Granted, the second dial tone is a bit weaker, so I suspect a possible loss of signal (do I need an amplifier?).
The other issue (I suspect the equipment might not be on par), once I hang up the line, the STICK II does not release the line and the line stays busy - can't dial in nor dial out.

I would not have worried about this set up to save on the Long Distance calls but the catch is that the VoIP line is a regular US phone number and the local line is in the country where I am posted. So, instead of using unreliable calling cards, I would use my cell phone to dial into the local line and then out to the States, or my family could call the US line and then dial out to my cell phone. That was the idea behind this setup...

Any thoughts, suggestions on the dial tone issue?

Thank you,
Fariz

You are correct; this is a matter of line loss in the coupling of the lines. The far-end equipment's DTMF tones are not being "heard". My guess would be that either of the lines are at fault, but with recent trends, it's a matter of settings in the equipment providing the VOIP line that require adjustment.

As for not disconnecting when the caller hangs up, this is very common with VOIP service providers. Their equipment is not sending a disconnect signal to alert the "Stick" to abandon the call. I am confident that your local line does send this signal since most Verizon POTS lines have this feature enabled by default.

The disconnect signal that I mention is a half-second disconnection of the line (zero voltage) when the calling party hangs up. If the service provider doesn't send this signal, then the equipment assumes that the caller is still on the line and keeps it there, along with any other connections that may have been made as a result of the call.

There may be some settings in the "Stick" to adjust for any of the following: CPC, Calling Party Control, Loop supervision or Loop Disconnect. If you see any of these options, set it to yes, and if there is a timer available, set it to 1/2 second. That should be sufficient.

There is going to be a lot of troubleshooting required on this, but we will try to assist as much as we can.

This is an old fix that probably doesn't apply here, but! Reverse tip and ring on 1 phone line. Before transformer isolation, this was a common fix. (Man, am I dating myself!) John C.