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Obi200 - No Dial Tone - Tried Support - Two Tickets Submitted & No Response

Started by Gate, September 13, 2019, 07:39:11 AM

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Gate

Hello,

Maybe I will have better luck here. I have had my Obi 200 Device for less than a year and I cannot get a dial tone from it anymore.

I have done all the troubleshooting I can do at this point. I've tried multiple devices, phones, cords, removed it from my dashboard etc. I cannot make a test call or get a dial tone. There is no LED light on the phone port either. Pretty sure there is something wrong with the port itself. The power LED works, the internet activity works...but the phone port and LED is dead.

I'd like to send it in for a replacement or repair. It's been like pulling teeth to get a response. Because so much time has passed and I needed a working unit I was forced to purchase another OBI 200. This one is working fine and as expected, however, I want to fix my original unit or have it replaced as a backup in case this situation should arise again. From my understanding, I am still within the warranty period to do so and receiving "premium" support for the first year of purchase.

Thank you for any/all help you can provide.

drgeoff

See the last paragraph ('acid test') of my post http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=16203.msg100587#msg100587.  If the SLIC chip is dead are the other parts of that post pertinent?

This is primarily a user to user forum and is likely to be even less effective than submitting a ticket if your aim is to get the attention of Obihai tech support. 

Gate

Hello hero member - thanks for reaching out.

Per your suggestion and acid test... it is confirmed 110% dead. Now the pertinent point becomes that it is still within a year of purchase, under warranty, and I am supposedly receiving "Premium support." So what should I expect? A new unit? A response from someone? How else does one get in touch or figure this out other than submitting a ticket or posting here?

Like I said...I just went ahead and bought a new one because so much time has passed but I still want a replacement/repair for the original if possible. Maybe you or others here have experienced something or know what to expect or not given this situation. I have no idea... have not heard anything back. Feels like by the time I do hear something back it will be out of warranty.

Thanks for trying to help.

SteveInWA

Generally speaking, this scenario is caused by a power spike/surge/over-voltage reaching the telephone interface chip (SLIC) inside the OBiTALK device and frying it.  This is not something that a company would normally cover under warranty, as it was caused by external/environmental or user error factors.  The device is not repairable.

To prevent this in the future:  DO NOT connect the telephone jack on the OBi device to your home/office premises wiring, unless you know what you are doing.  The premises wiring must be completely disconnected from any telephone service provider's wiring.  In plain English, if you had telephone service coming into your building from a traditional telephone company, or digital phone service from a cable or fiber device, then those wires must be disconnected from the point of demarcation (junction box) on your building.

Furthermore, plug the OBiTALK device, and ALL connected equipment, to a reputable-quality surge protector or UPS.  That includes the telephone, if it has an AC adapter, the modem, router, switch, and any components plugged into your LAN or telephone wiring.

Gate

Hi Steven,

No offense here, but I really wasn't asking for suggestions in terms of what precautions to take. I appreciate you using small words and all for me in "plain English" though.  ::)

You described "normally" and "generally speaking" scenarios...which correct me if I am wrong but seem to read either: "you did something wrong" or "if it got hit by lightning you're out of luck" <normally.

I cannot be 100% certain as to what the cause was. Maybe it was a lightning storm...maybe not. I don't know.

What I do know is...

1. I have used precautions and yes I am capable of understanding them and writing in complete sentences.
2. It has been less than a year since I've owned the unit and I am supposedly still under warranty and receiving "Premium Support."
3. I have not received a response.
4. I went ahead and bought another unit as I continue to wait to hear something back.
5. I cannot control lightning and neither can the people at Polycom nor do I expect them to.

So, how long "normally" and "generally" speaking should a consumer with an item still under warranty and Premium Support expect to wait for a response and plausible course of action? I mean even if the response is something that you might not want to hear...that's still better than nothing. If your experiences are that normal wait times for Premium Support is two weeks... then hey...at least I know what to expect.

That's it.
Thanks

SteveInWA

That was a particularly defensive reply to my explanation of what happened.  Dickering about the meaning of "generally" is moot.  The device got fried.  I don't see the need to quantify which of the hundreds of thousands of consumer electronics devices will or will not offer warranty replacements for "acts of God" or acts of user carelessness.

And, as this is a user-to-user help forum not moderated or replied-to by Poly, I have no interest in defending their lack of responsiveness.

Gate

Well Steven..sorry you see it that way. In life sometimes people can view things differently.

For instance, I also thought your post was completely defensive and if I may add condescending and presumptive to boot. So clearly you and I won't be getting anywhere.

Regardless, I posed a couple of "normal" and dare I say reasonable questions that maybe someone else who isn't completely misinterpeting them can answer. So from a user to other users here...(i.e. user to user) what is a "normal" time frame that "a user" with premium support and a device still under warranty can expect a response? Can one expect a replacement, a repair, nothing at all? What am I missing? Is response time a week, two weeks... what? Does it entirely depend on if your phone jack is fried versus some other problem?

I think I'm beginning to see but I'll keep the faith a little longer anyway.

Thanks.

ProfTech

To Gate I'm afraid I can't shed much light on your question, either but... seems to me Polycom is a pretty big company. Make sure you open a ticket with them and forget about Obihai. Obihai is gone and out of business. If you've been paying the fee for an "extended warranty" you at least deserve a response. I would at the very least try calling them. I'm sure you could find a number somewhere. Good luck.

Gate

Thanks Professor,

I didn't realize that about Obihai...I will definitely take your advice and go directly to Poly.

Peace

ProfTech

Hello Gate. Were you able to reach Polycom? There was a posting here http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=16203.msg100777#new from another user with a similar issue to yours and Polycom sent them a new Obi.

ShazamInForum

Hi Gate, we (Forum) can help you further...

Sign back into your account (www.obitalk.com), give us the screenshot for the phone port status and we can tell you if your phone port is fried.  When signed into OBiTALK:

Select OBi number 510 XXX XXX for Device Configuration page

Select the OBi Expert Configuration blue button

Click OK

Click Enter OBi Expert blue button

To Status > to PHONE Status

drgeoff

Quote from: ShazamInForum on September 17, 2019, 01:27:54 PM
Hi Gate, we (Forum) can help you further...

Sign back into your account (www.obitalk.com), give us the screenshot for the phone port status and we can tell you if your phone port is fried.  When signed into OBiTALK:

Select OBi number 510 XXX XXX for Device Configuration page

Select the OBi Expert Configuration blue button

Click OK

Click Enter OBi Expert blue button

To Status > to PHONE Status
@ShazamInForum

It is always a good idea to read all preceding posts in a thread before jumping in with both feet.

See my "acid test" post above and Gate's response.

Gate

Hi everyone and Prof Tec in particular,

I know it has been some time, but I wanted to thank you and others who genuinely tried to help out and put in their 2 cents on this. Maybe the thread will be of some assistance to the community in the future. 

The posts here speak for themselves but the quick summary, advice, and conclusion I can offer given my situation would be to expect slow response times (as in weeks). Maybe this will change in the future, or hopefully, be different for you. In the end, they did eventually respond and replaced the unit. Remember, I was still within warranty and receiving Premium support.

Longer version...

I took Prof Tec's advice and tried to contact Poly directly regarding Obi support...if you go to their site though, it just winds up bouncing you back to the original Obi tech support option to open a ticket again. So, at that point, I was just completely frustrated and gave up.

About a week later, I did receive a response to the ticket I opened, and about a week after that, I received my replacement unit. The whole thing took over a month or so to be resolved. Now I have the replacement unit as a backup to the new one I bought.

All other advice regarding protecting your unit is good etc. I don't want to take away from that...but fluke things can happen and the issue for me was really what to expect or not and how soon I could get back up and running.

Now you know...and knowing is half the battle...GI Joe.

CALYTA

Quote from: SteveInWA on September 13, 2019, 05:22:33 PM
That was a particularly defensive reply to my explanation of what happened.  Dickering about the meaning of "generally" is moot filezilla uc browser rufus.  The device got fried.  I don't see the need to quantify which of the hundreds of thousands of consumer electronics devices will or will not offer warranty replacements for "acts of God" or acts of user carelessness.

And, as this is a user-to-user help forum not moderated or replied-to by Poly, I have no interest in defending their lack of responsiveness.
I'd like to send it in for a replacement or repair. It's been like pulling teeth to get a response. Because so much time has passed and I needed a working unit I was forced to purchase another OBI 200. This one is working fine and as expected, however, I want to fix my original unit or have it replaced as a backup in case this situation should arise again. From my understanding, I am still within the warranty period to do so and receiving "premium" support for the first year of purchase.