Fortress S02 Security System with OBi200 and Google Voice Setup Help

[is3004]

I'm in the process of setting up an OBi200 with Google Voice to use in place of an analog phone line for a Fortress S02 security system panel, which handles outbound (alerting) and inbound (arm/disarm) calls. Only outbound dialing seems to be working from the security panel.

I started by confirming that the OBi200 and Google Voice number were working for both outbound and inbound calls with a regular telephone. So far, so good.

Then, I plugged the line into the Fortress S02 panel. The S02 successfully dialed out to the numbers I'd set up when the alarm was triggered, but when I tried to dial into the S02 to arm/disarm, it did not pick up. Additionally, when I plugged my regular telephone into the "Telephone" port on the S02, it did not get a dial-tone.

The S02 is advertised to work with a regular analog telephone line, but perhaps the OBi200 needs some custom settings to make this work. Fortress Support said customers had experienced trouble with the OBi200 and the S02, and suggested contacting Obihai. Obihai Support suggested setting the DTMFMethod to "Auto" instead of "InBand," but no change. Any tips and tricks would be appreciated.

[SteveInWA]

Additionally, when I plugged my regular telephone into the "Telephone" port on the S02, it did not get a dial-tone.

Well, that's a show-stopper.  If there's no dial tone, then it's not going to work.  You'd have to work with Fortress to troubleshoot that.

Aside from that, if the system is answering the inbound phone call too quickly, Google Voice will apply a "Turing test", to see if the call is being answered by a human being or by a machine.  It will ask the caller to press 1.  This is to avoid some other system grabbing the call, preventing humans from answering the phone.

Despite Obihai's marketing blurb, Google Voice is not a free telephone company, and it is not designed to behave the same way as an ordinary, simple telephone line.

Landline access between alarm panels and the telephone network is best handled by conventional (POTS) phone service.  It's essentially obsolete technology.  The industry is mostly converting over to monitoring and remote access via an IP connection with a mobile (LTE) backup.  I'd suggest returning that unit and getting their modern solution instead.

[is3004]

Aside from that, if the system is answering the inbound phone call too quickly, Google Voice will apply a "Turing test", to see if the call is being answered by a human being or by a machine.  It will ask the caller to press 1.  This is to avoid some other system grabbing the call, preventing humans from answering the phone.

Bingo! After setting the security panel to wait for two rings, it picked up the call. All functions are working now. Thank you for the tip.