News:

On Tuesday September 6th the forum will be down for maintenance from 9:30 PM to 11:59 PM PDT

Main Menu

"Buzzing" in by digit press, Intercom

Started by JonathanRC, February 26, 2012, 09:31:23 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

JonathanRC

Heya.

So I have the obi110 hooked into an intercom for an apartment building. When a guest goes to the intercom, it dials out correctly and connects to the tenant. However, when that tenant presses "4" on their phone, which normally operates the door relay, nothing happens.

Anyone have any advice?

QBZappy

Try playing with the DTMF settings located here: Try inband setting

ITSP Profile A/B->General->DTMFMethod->
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

RonR

Quote from: JonathanRC on February 26, 2012, 09:31:23 AM
So I have the obi110 hooked into an intercom for an apartment building. When a guest goes to the intercom, it dials out correctly and connects to the tenant. However, when that tenant presses "4" on their phone, which normally operates the door relay, nothing happens.

Please describe more clearly how the OBi is conected and being used.  Where is the OBi connected?  At the entrance or at the tennants appartment?  Is there a service provider like Google Voice involved or is it simply the LINE Port connected to the Intercom?  Please give full details.

JonathanRC

#3
OBI is connected to router on one end, and intercom on the other end. At the entrance. Google voice is the provider.

Tenant presses intercom directory number on intercom. It successfully uses OBI+GV to call out to pre-programmed number for tenant. Tenant answers and has trouble hearing visitor at door (though that may be a bandwidth issue), and upon pressing "4", the door relay does not open as it would on a call dialed out through POTS.

Sorry for the lack of detail originally, and thank you QBZappy, will try.

JonathanRC

QBZappy, that worked! Changing it to "SIPInfo" restored the buzz-in feature.

However, I have a second problem now. The intercom has a speaker so you can hear the line dialing, and the person pick up the phone. The sound is very echo~y, sound quality is overall very poor. The same obitalk box hooked into a non-intercom sounds fine, and the intercom plugged into the telephone line works fine.

It also turns out no one can actually hear the person talking at the intercom side either. This doesn't happen on a POTS line. I have removed EVERYTHING else from the network so that there is no question that there is enough bandwidth.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Stewart

Using a splitter, connect both a standard phone and the intercom to the OBi line port.  Test that when calling from the standard phone, sound is ok in both directions.  If not, see whether disconnecting the (inactive) intercom makes a difference -- there may be an electrical noise problem.

Next, try picking up the standard phone just after the intercom has dialed, and listening to both sides of the conversation; that may give a clue as to what's wrong.  (I hope that the intercom is not too "smart".  It might disconnect when it sees the other phone being picked up.)

QBZappy

JonathanRC,

I don't know if you know this, but the OBi has a paging feature. If feasible, you can setup an inexpensive phone to replace the intercom.
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

Stewart

Quote from: QBZappy on February 29, 2012, 06:45:03 PM
If feasible, you can setup an inexpensive phone to replace the intercom.
Huh?  Even if you could mount the cheap phone so it would be hard to steal, and use OBi speed dials to reach the correct tenant, how could you possibly cause the tenant's button press to unlock the door?

QBZappy

Stewart,

I have an electric strike/buzzer at my door. That's how I do it. You need some hardware for this setup.
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

Stewart

Quote from: QBZappy on February 29, 2012, 06:59:51 PM
Stewart,

I have an electric strike/buzzer at my door. That's how I do it. You need some hardware for this setup.
Can you please be more specific?  Is this a device that is bridged across the line and detects DTMF, somehow not false tripping on the visitor's button presses?  Or, if this is separate unit, how would the OBi control it?

QBZappy

This is what I have at the front door of my office:

GXV3611_LL Fixed Dome Low Light IP Camera:
http://www.grandstream.com/index.php/products/ip-video-surveillance/gxv3611-ll

It can be used to open a door among other things.

If you google you will find many products that can open a door using an electric strike+phone.  Something like this should work with the OBi: (Doorbell Fon Controller Unit)
http://www.smarthomeusa.com/ShopByManufacturer/ACNC/Item/DP-28C/
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

Everton

QBZappy:

Could you describe how the GXV3611_LL Fixed Dome Low Light IP Camera can be used to open a door?  In your setup, is the camera located indoors, since it is describe as an indoor camera.  I currently have the Doorfon install at this location (no door strike), but I need something where I can remotely open the front door in cases where our daughter forgets her key for the front door after coming home from school.  We have a two door system, where the first door leads to a enclosed sun room and the second into the main part of the house.  The main door is expose to the elements (only 12-inch overhang), so I'm not sure a keyless system for that door would survive. 


Quote from: QBZappy on February 29, 2012, 07:40:04 PM
This is what I have at the front door of my office:

GXV3611_LL Fixed Dome Low Light IP Camera:
http://www.grandstream.com/index.php/products/ip-video-surveillance/gxv3611-ll

It can be used to open a door among other things.

If you google you will find many products that can open a door using an electric strike+phone.  Something like this should work with the OBi: (Doorbell Fon Controller Unit)
http://www.smarthomeusa.com/ShopByManufacturer/ACNC/Item/DP-28C/

QBZappy

#12
Everton,

They have an outdoor enclosure if you want. The real outdoor cams are a little expensive.
http://www.voipbaez.com/grandstream-gxv3662-wall-mount

My cam is on the inside behind some glass looking out onto the street. You definitely cannot use the indoor models outside unless it is out of reach because the plastic dome cover is easily removed. You can try to put together a DIY project to build yourself a glass or plastic enclosure. To get an idea on the wiring have a look here.:
http://www.grandstream.com/products/surveillance/gxv3611/documents/gxv3611_quickstartguide.pdf
http://www.grandstream.com/products/surveillance/gxv3611/documents/gxv3611_usermanual_english.pdf

These are definitely professional grade cams. The cam has a built in mic and speaker. However there are connections to attach external mic and speakers as well. I have mine connected to a PBX. It is basically a sip end point. When someone rings the door bell (connected to an alarm input), you can have the camphone call you on your cell and you can buzz them in using the connected electric strike via DTMF tones. You can have a conversation with someone in front of the camera. For a complete description of equipment you can visit their website.

If you connect it to the OBi it will need to be connected like any other ip phone. I can imagine all sort of interesting things I could do with an OBi+this camera. It is actually described as an ip surveillance product. Surveillance software included.

If you only wanted video and audio to the door the price/value of the GXV3615W IP Cube camera- WIFI ($86) cannot be beat. This is less expensive than my webcam. Grandstream is one of the few selling sip enabled cameras. The quality is almost High Definition quality. You can call the cam via video softphone, video phone, or via browser. This is the best price I could find. The service was first rate as well.
http://www.voipbaez.com/grandstream-gxv3615w-ip-cube-camera-wifi

It's starting to sound like a sales pitch.  Rest assured I'm not connected in any way to either Grandstream or Voip Baez. If you are into gadgets or are of need of a cheap wifi sip camera I would buy the $86 dollar model just for the novelty of it.

Since you mentioned that you already have the Doorfon and I assume that you own an OBi, I think you already have basically the same solution (minus the video feed). Connect the OBi to the Doorfon. You should then be able to open the door via DTMF. Of course you need to install the electric door strike.
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.