ooma and a Brinks alarm system

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brentn
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Joined:Fri May 29, 2009 11:07 am
Re: ooma and a Brinks alarm system

Post by brentn » Sat May 30, 2009 10:42 am

Brinks is coming out on Monday to try adding the *99. I'll post back on if it's successful.

They do have a GSM module, but I have to pay $250 for the hardware and an additional $10/mo to use it. They also have where I can hook it up through the internet, however that's $170 for the hardware and $5/mo to use it. If I wanted extra monthly fees, I wouldn't have dropped Vonage for ooma. ;)

murphy
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Location:Pennsylvania

Re: ooma and a Brinks alarm system

Post by murphy » Sat May 30, 2009 2:53 pm

brentn wrote:Unfortunately I am in a contract with brinks so I can't cancel it, and to be honest I don't necessarily want to. I just want it to work.

It attempted to download the update last night at 2:30am and 2:35am and failed again. It will not make it past the handshake... the call only lasts about 30 seconds.

I will call and have them add the *99 to the dialing number and see if that helps. I will leave my QoS as the proper numbers for now, but will change them to 0 if *99 doesn't help.

Thanks all.
That's *99,
or whatever the Brinks panel uses to insert a delay (comma is the modem standard character for a 2 second delay). The delay is necessary so that dial tone will return before the actual number is dialed.
Customer since January 2009
Telo with 2 Handsets, a Linx, and a Safety Phone
Telo2 with 2 Handsets and a Linx

just4fn
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Joined:Fri Mar 06, 2009 9:46 pm
Location:The State of Washington

Re: ooma and a Brinks alarm system

Post by just4fn » Sun May 31, 2009 6:51 am

Doesn't Brinks call you to add an update? I think you would need to call Brinks and have your number changed to (*99,) (xxx)XXX-XXXX. I added *99, on another line I have, and called my ooma phone number and it didn't ring. Maybe it only works on fax type or data machines. I think the tech when he is at your house can force an update by calling the Brinks phone number. Whether or not he can change it to *99, we will see. If you get it to work with the tech, can you post where in the scanner the tech uses to change the phone number? That way an unfamiliar tech will know how to change the number. Thanks and good luck. All ooma/Brinks owners are counting on you. No pressure
Ooma Telo, Hub.
1958 was a very good year!
No cell phone , no land line- just Ooma
all my eggs in one Ooma basket
I lied- my wife has a cell, but not me!! I like my privacy and not being attached to a phone.

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southsound
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Location:Harstine Island, WA

Re: ooma and a Brinks alarm system

Post by southsound » Sun May 31, 2009 7:12 am

The *99, is for OUTGOING calls FROM your ooma hub. The sequence tells the ooma to force a higher quality of call. When Brinks or anyone else calls into your number the *99, is of no use. It is only recognized by the ooma on outgoing calls. There are some updates on the horizon that will allow us to set our hub for greater quality of service and these changes will most likely impact alarm systems and fax machines. The real impact of the problem now is not just that the panel cannot dial in for updates - if it cannot connect for updates it cannot report a fault. In other words, if you cannot connect for updates you have no monitoring taking place. Alarm goes off and just hope you have a loud siren and neighbors who will call the police.

Just a thought for those with any type of alarm system using any VOIP for connection - schedule a test with your monitoring company to make sure your panel is communicating. Not all panels do a nightly checkin. You may be off monitoring and not even know it. Better to check it now than when some real emergency happens.
ooma customer since February 2009
VoIP hardware: 2 Telo w/3 handsets & Linx / ooma core
Total Lines: 8 / Numbers: 11 / Handsets: 20
Lifetime Premier Member
Friends don't remember what Landline Integration was or why we did it.

just4fn
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Location:The State of Washington

Re: ooma and a Brinks alarm system

Post by just4fn » Sun May 31, 2009 11:42 am

Brinks alarms have the ability and require a weekly or monthly test for communications. Its on the pad. You put in it test mode and the monitoring station will beep the siren to confirm communications. This works every time. I just dont know if the update will happen until ooma will allow the handshake with the provider.
Ooma Telo, Hub.
1958 was a very good year!
No cell phone , no land line- just Ooma
all my eggs in one Ooma basket
I lied- my wife has a cell, but not me!! I like my privacy and not being attached to a phone.

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southsound
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Joined:Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:31 am
Location:Harstine Island, WA

Re: ooma and a Brinks alarm system

Post by southsound » Sun May 31, 2009 12:28 pm

That's good news that your system is still reporting correctly even though it will not do the updates. This tells me that they must use a different speed for the report than they do for the upgrades. Possibly they even use a different reporting number. When the tech is out, why not ask if it is possible throttle down the modem speed for the updates? Since it probably would not affect reporting, it could be a win-win. I know that some areas have bad POTS that plays havoc with other dialin devices like Tivo or ReplayTV so they may also have this problem with updates in those areas. Again, your results will help others!
ooma customer since February 2009
VoIP hardware: 2 Telo w/3 handsets & Linx / ooma core
Total Lines: 8 / Numbers: 11 / Handsets: 20
Lifetime Premier Member
Friends don't remember what Landline Integration was or why we did it.

brentn
Posts:8
Joined:Fri May 29, 2009 11:07 am

Re: ooma and a Brinks alarm system

Post by brentn » Sun May 31, 2009 1:02 pm

I have confirmed multiple times over (and so has Brinks) that my alarm is able to communicate with them. The test that can be completed through the panel works perfectly fine which means my monitoring is working. This is different than the alarm updates that happen once every 6 months though.

I'll let everyone know tomorrow if adding the *99, works or not. The tech is capable of forcing an update through while he's here, so I'll know right away. As I mentioned, up until this point it won't even complete the handshake. I'll know within 24 hours if it works.

brentn
Posts:8
Joined:Fri May 29, 2009 11:07 am

Re: ooma and a Brinks alarm system

Post by brentn » Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:04 am

I'm making a new post instead of editing my last one so that people see there is an update to this thread.

It took about 1.5 hours of trial and error, and luckily I had a very nice Brinks tech who was willing to work with me and let me try things. We ended up getting it all working. He said he's not promising it will continue to work, but we were able to do 2 successful updates, as well as 3 alarm tests.

The prefix he ended up using that worked was: ,,TT*99,
My ooma is in front of my router (although I will be changing that shortly), and I had to set QOS upload/download to 0 and 0.

Just *99, didn't work. It kept trying to dial out in pulse. Having any variable in QOS didn't work, it would fail after 10-60 seconds. I tried everything from 50-100% of my actual bandwidth. After getting everything just right, we were able to get it to work multiple times. So in theory, it's good! He was very reluctant to say it was fixed though. I hope he's wrong.

In theory as long as ooma doesn't change anything dealing with QOS or compression on their end, it should be fixed. If not, I will have to drop ooma and my premier account and move on.

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southsound
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Re: ooma and a Brinks alarm system

Post by southsound » Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:47 am

Thanks for the report on your tech visit from Brinks. Glad that it worked out well for you. One question, however. If something did break and you had to spend the $170 plus $5 per month for a direct connect to the Internet for your Brinks system, wouldn't the savings from using ooma for your phone service still be a financial advantage? Just curious as I am hoping that the new dialing codes continue to work.
ooma customer since February 2009
VoIP hardware: 2 Telo w/3 handsets & Linx / ooma core
Total Lines: 8 / Numbers: 11 / Handsets: 20
Lifetime Premier Member
Friends don't remember what Landline Integration was or why we did it.

brentn
Posts:8
Joined:Fri May 29, 2009 11:07 am

Re: ooma and a Brinks alarm system

Post by brentn » Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:23 am

southsound wrote:Thanks for the report on your tech visit from Brinks. Glad that it worked out well for you. One question, however. If something did break and you had to spend the $170 plus $5 per month for a direct connect to the Internet for your Brinks system, wouldn't the savings from using ooma for your phone service still be a financial advantage? Just curious as I am hoping that the new dialing codes continue to work.
To be honest, if they had told me about my GSM option or internet option in the first place, they could be making more money off of me. The ONLY thing I use my ooma for is brinks. So I would be upset that I spent the money to buy ooma if I couldn't use it with brinks. Overall $5/mo extra isn't bad, it's just the principle of it. That I already pay them $35/mo for monitoring, and I had to pay for the ooma hub.

But I'm happy for now. :)

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