OBI200 + GV + Alarm

[CJJJ]

Hi,
  I have read all the suggestions and none seem to apply or be working for me.

I have GV + OBI200 setup that is working great.  The only problem is my alarm system.  The alarm system is a DSC (installed about 5 years ago).  It initially worked with Vonage and then I switched to POS due to a deal.  Now I just switched back to VOIP and started to have issues.

I am getting a communication failure error (not phone line error so it is definitely recognizing the phone as when I unplug the Obi - a I get a phone line error).

My GV set up is DTMFMethod -> InBand

Any ideas?

** I understand the overall discussion around VOIP for Security system but I used Vonage for years before and had 0 issues with it so I am a person who is ok with it

[SteveInWA]

If you plug a regular telephone into the OBi, instead of the alarm panel, does the phone work to place and receive calls?

On your OBiTALK dashboard, for the SP that you configured for Google Voice, did you check the box to use that SP with a security alarm?

[CJJJ]

>> If you plug a regular telephone into the OBi, instead of the alarm panel, does the phone work to place and receive calls?

The Obi is plugged into a wall connection and we have to regular phones plugged in at other locations that are working fine.

When I unplug the Obi - I get a Phone System failure on the Alarm System but when I plug it back in it says "Communication Failure"

Since I am backfeeding the connection, I reversed the polarity on the Alarm Panel (suggested by someone) but that didn't help either.

>> On your OBiTALK dashboard, for the SP that you configured for Google Voice, did you check the box to use that SP with a security alarm?

Yes, I did.  That is what enabled the  DTMFMethod -> InBand setting.

TIA,
CJ

[SteveInWA]

From my own experience with Ademco alarm panels, "Communication Failure"  usually means that the alarm tried to call the monitoring center to test the system, and the call failed.  It could be anything from a mis-wired phone jack to a OBi dialing error.  Properly-wired alarm panels use a RJ12 exclusion jack.  The inbound telephone line feeds into the jack, which loops the connection through the alarm panel, and then the jack feeds the house telephone wiring.  When the alarm goes off, a relay on the alarm panel disconnects the house phones and "seizes" the line, to prevent anyone from interfering with the call.  If your house phones don't stop working when the alarm is activated, then your wiring is incorrect.

There's no way for us to definitively troubleshoot this via this forum.

That said, you could log into your OBi's local web page and look at the call history.  See if the OBi has a record of the alarm panel attempting to call the monitoring center.  You'd need to confirm that it is calling the correct phone number, and then see what the result was (busy, no answer, error, etc.).  To get to that web page, pick up the phone attached to the OBi and press ***1 and the attendant will read back the device's IP address.

[CJJJ]

I don't see calls going out to the monitor so that seems to be the issue.

You could be on to something regarding the wiring.  I did have 4 wires coming from alarm panel - 2 of them went to my old Verizon FIOS POTS connector and then 2 wires going to the rest of the house.   I disconnected the ones going to the Verizon FIOS panel and left everything else the same.  Based on what you posted, I should have those two wires connected as well - just need to figure out what :-)  How would this be typically get wired with an OBI device?

I truly appreciate the support!!!

TIA,
CJ

[SteveInWA]

I don't see calls going out to the monitor so that seems to be the issue.

You could be on to something regarding the wiring.  I did have 4 wires coming from alarm panel - 2 of them went to my old Verizon FIOS POTS connector and then 2 wires going to the rest of the house.   I disconnected the ones going to the Verizon FIOS panel and left everything else the same.  Based on what you posted, I should have those two wires connected as well - just need to figure out what :-)  How would this be typically get wired with an OBI device?

I truly appreciate the support!!!

TIA,
CJ

That does sound like you have a wiring error.  The four wires were probably looping the connection through, as I described earlier.

To prove this, you could temporarily disconnect the OBi from your house wiring, and then connect it directly to the alarm panel.

The correct way to wire it is:

Telephone service (formerly Verizon FiOS, now OBi) --> RJ12X jack --> Alarm panel --> RJ12X jack --> House wiring.  RJ12X jacks use 4 wires.  The center two pins are from the telephone service to to the alarm, and then the alarm connects to the outer two pins, which go to the house wiring.  The alarm normally connects the inner two pins/wires to the outer two pins/wires.  When the alarm is activated, it opens a relay that disconnects the outer two wires.  If no modular plug is inserted into the RJ12X jack, then spring-loaded contacts inside the jack short the inner two pins to the outer two pins, thus enabling the house wiring to work if no alarm panel is connected.

Do NOT connect the house wiring directly to the OBi -- this enables anyone who takes the phone off the hook to disrupt alarm communications.