Phone Problem caused by alarm???

[Billy]

I have a customer whose phone does a half-ring several times an hour. They
do not have call waiting. The phone company came out and blamed the problem
on the alarm system. Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[Spike]

Unplug it for an hour.

 

[thesatguy]

Have the customer unplug the phone jack every morning after he turns the
alarm off.
See if he still gets the rigns with the alarm disconnected from the phone
line.
Make sure he understands he has to plug the cord back in before he sets the
alarm.

 

[Bossman]

I have a customer whose phone does a half-ring several times an hour. They
do not have call waiting. The phone company came out and blamed the problem
on the alarm system. Any ideas?

No offense to anyone, but the phone company will blame it on the
alarmco every time, without checking. I once had a customer who was
adament that my system had disrupted her phone service. She was on the
phone with the phone company for 30 minutes as they ran her through
the hoops. They told her that, without question, the alarm system was
causing the problem. When I arrived (Saturday golf game ruined) my
first observation was that she had four (4) phone lines and they were
all out. I went straight outside to the d-marc, and what do I see not
two feet from the d-marc? A freshly dug and re-covered ditch for her
new sprinkler system. It took no effort to pull the mauled, frayed and
chopped phone company cable up from the ground. Four lines
dead...absolutely no service to the house on any line...and it was the
security system!!! Right. Believe everything they say.

First order of business, disconnect the system from the RJ-31x for a
day and see if it continues. If it does, you know its not the alarm
system.

Bossman

 

[fly in the ointment]

Bossman wrote

No offense to anyone, but the phone company will blame it on the
alarmco every time, without checking.

Yes, absolutely. I get sick of customers calling, having been convinced by
the phone co. that the alarm is always the cause of their phone trouble.
Why is it that the subs always believe the phone company anyway? I have
seen first hand several times, phone techs casting automatic blame on the
alarm without actually checking anything. Some even lie and say they
checked the wiring at the demarc. (Somehow not tripping the tamper I put
there)

Now whenever I get one of those calls, I advise my sub that I will come
and troubleshoot the problem. If it's the alarm, it's no charge. If I find
the trouble in the phone service or customer wiring, my fee will be $150
plus $75.00 per hour. So far, this seems to have worked, and the phone
techs somehow solve the problem.
js

 

[Kevin Archibald]

What is a "REN"?

Thanks,
_kevin

check to see that he does not have two many devices on the line. Might have
exceeded the REN.
Marc Mazzarese
ABC Alarm Holdings
Aquisitions

 

[Guardog]

You've got that right. Here's a typical example. A client of mine who also
happens to be a personal friend called one day. The TI had been out because
she complained of static noise in the phone line. When the TI got there he
picked up the kitchen phone next to my alarm keypad, thumped the keypad with
the side of his fist while listening to the phone and declared, "Yep. It's
the alarm." The TI then went to the basement and summarily clipped the
cable from the RJ31X, disabling the alarm monitoring and left.

The noise in the phone line? It remained unchanged. He didn't even bother
to check before he handed the client a note indicating the problem was due
to "customer premises euipment" (the alarm).

I drove to the house, went to the basement and disconnected all inside
wiring from the protector -- one of the older models without a modern SNI.
The protector was tghe type with screw-in carbons. I connected my lineman's
butt set to the protector and heard loud static... wirth no inside wiring on
the line. I then unscrewed the carbons, removed them and cleaned off an
accumulation of grunge that is so typical of these older models. I
reinserted the carbons, reconnected my RJ31X and the rest of the house
wiring and all was well.

The TI could actually have effected the repair in less time than he wasted
cuting out my cable and reconnecting the 8internal wires without the alarm
by doing the right thing. However, I seriously doubt the dolt had any idea
what to look for, let alone how simple the fix was.


Some telcos pay their techs a small commission for "finding" problems
oinvolving customer-owned equipment. Some TI's just want to get out as fast
as possible if the job starts after 2:00 pm because the foreman won't give
them another assignment that late in the day. Others are just incompetent
jerks.


I've had a TI claim a problem was coming from the alarm while I was standing
at the RJ31X with it already unplugged.


I never used to charge for those visits unless the client was really nasty.

Regards,
Robert

=============================>
Bass Home Electronics, Inc
2291 Pine View Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34231
877-722-8900 Sales & Tech Support
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=============================>

Just had a the same type of problem, noise on the line, the phone guy cuts my line and the problem goes away. When I get there I
reconnect to verify it's my problem. Yep the static comes back, so now I pull the RJ31x, but the noise is still there. So now you guys
would say t's not the alarm. But you did run the line from the RJ31X to the main didn't you? So I trace that line and find nothing. But if I
cut it anywhere between the RJ31X and the main the static goes away. For my last guess I remove the line right at the RJ321X and bingo
no static. I replace the RJ31X and all is well.
Now you all should realize like I did that the RJ31X is really a switch and switches do go bad!!

 

[Spike]

This is why Telcoes blame it on the alarm:


I then unscrewed the carbons, removed them and cleaned off an

accumulation of grunge that is so typical of these older models. I
reinserted the carbons, reconnected my RJ31X and the rest of the house
wiring and all was well.
I never used to charge for those visits unless the client was really nasty

whataguy!

 

[Mark Leuck]

Ringer Equivalence Number. helps determine how many devices you can connect to
a phone line and have all of the devices ring properly when someone calls your
#.
Marc Mazzarese
ABC Alarm Holdings
Aquisitions

I've seen a few problems with low voltage on the phone line that can cause
panels to pick up thinking they are being downloaded

 

[fly in the ointment]

The Caddx Ranger panels come to mind.
js

Mark Leuck wrote

 

[Bossman]

Now whenever I get one of those calls, I advise my sub that I will come
and troubleshoot the problem. If it's the alarm, it's no charge. If I find
the trouble in the phone service or customer wiring, my fee will be $150
plus $75.00 per hour. So far, this seems to have worked, and the phone
techs somehow solve the problem.

I do exactly the same thing, only I'm not brave enough to charge the
$150. I usually charge $75, but I don't work on the phones.

Bossman

 

[fly in the ointment]

I haven't collected on it yet. The threat has been enough to motivate sub
to motivate telco. ;-) You just need to set your rates higher than the phone
co. and let human nature take it's course.
js

 

[Mark Leuck]

The Caddx Ranger panels come to mind.
js

Mark Leuck wrote

8900 seemed to have problems, also the ITI Simon 2 was bad at that.

 

[fly in the ointment]

I never used an 8900, but the 8600's were horrible. 8980's occasionally
too. The E versions were a little better.
js

 

[Spike]

You guys are getting yer balls all tied in a knot over nuthin'
Advise your clients to call you first for any telephone problem, if it's
inside wiring, you scoop the job. If you determine and advise it's the
telco, you're out of the loop. The only fly in the ointment there is that
fellow who mentionned the jack and it's connection to the arrestor.

 

[me]

what brand of panel is it ?

 

[robert]

Robert wrote:
The ring is caused by ac voltage. When a phone rings the voltage jumps to
about 90 VAC It is not likely that the phone connection from the alarm
panel is causing this problem. I would start looking for inductance or a
wiring short to ac voltage as a potential. Interesting problem.

 

[Sp]

Is it a hardwired set or cordless? Cordless sets are known for doing that
when they receive an erroneous signal. Some other possibilities are someone
has set the predictor in the CO switch (5ESS) for a more than once-a-day
auto test or the sub is on a splitpair that is picking up power influence to
the point of popping the ringer (most common with solid state ringers vs.
the older mechanical ringers.)

SP

 

[Spike]

What the heck is a predictor and what is it testing?

 

[Frank Olson]

Every phone company employs a fortune teller (predictor) at the CO. She
tries to "predict" which lines are going to cause trouble by "testing" them
with her crystal ball... That's why most CO's are in the "seedier" parts of
town...