How do I use my new Ooma Telo with my Alarm System?

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snippy
Posts:3
Joined:Sun Nov 26, 2017 7:10 pm
How do I use my new Ooma Telo with my Alarm System?

Post by snippy » Mon Nov 27, 2017 7:02 am

I would like to use my new Ooma Telo to distribute dial tone to the phone jacks throughout my house and to use my Ooma Telo so that my existing alarm system can make outbound calls when it detects a break-in.

In accordance with the instructions provided by Ooma Telo Support (link below) I disconnected my phone company's connection to my house phone wiring but I observed that my home alarm system is injecting 12 volts DC onto the house phone wires. I know this because when I disconnect the alarm system from the house phone wiring, the voltage zeroed out.

From internet search results, I believe this voltage has something to do with enabling the alarm system to "capture" the phone line and make an outbound phone call to my alarm monitoring service provider.

Can someone please advise what I should do? Can I safely connect my Ooma Telo into the house wiring with the alarm system also connected? Will the 12 Volts injected by the alarm system damage Telo?

In an Ooma Forum post (viewtopic.php?f=9&t=21027&hilit=alarm+mode#p139656), it was mentioned that many people use a dedicated Linx for alarm systems. Is this true and if so, what is the advantage of a dedicated Linx as opposed to just connecting the alarm system into the phone lines while the Ooma Telo is also connected?

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Ed K.

How to distribute Ooma to all telephone jacks:
http://support.ooma.com/home/distributi ... ne%20lines

larryk
Posts:67
Joined:Sat Sep 24, 2016 9:48 am

Re: How do I use my new Ooma Telo with my Alarm System?

Post by larryk » Mon Nov 27, 2017 8:58 am

I never had any good results using my alarm system through VOIP, occasionally it would work, but, of course, that was not acceptable. I use this product; https://ipdatatel.com/products/dual-pat ... cdma-wifi/ , which was obtained through my monitoring company and self installed. It works perfectly and gives you redundancy in reporting, if WIFI is down (power failure, ISP down...) it uses it's own cell phone connection to report (battery backup).

murphy
Posts:7554
Joined:Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:49 pm
Location:Pennsylvania

Re: How do I use my new Ooma Telo with my Alarm System?

Post by murphy » Mon Nov 27, 2017 2:40 pm

Proper alarm wiring requires the Telo phone jack to be connected directly to the input jack on the alarm panel.
The output jack of the alarm panel distributes the phone signal to your house wiring. You also have to set the Telo to Alarm Mode in your my.ooma account. Finally the alarm must be using CID (Contact ID) to communicate with the alarm company receiver.
Customer since January 2009
Telo with 2 Handsets, a Linx, and a Safety Phone
Telo2 with 2 Handsets and a Linx

snippy
Posts:3
Joined:Sun Nov 26, 2017 7:10 pm

Re: How do I use my new Ooma Telo with my Alarm System?

Post by snippy » Sat Dec 02, 2017 4:44 pm

Thanks Murphy,
I have connected my Ooma Telo into my alarm system panel as you instructed and have had some success but not complete success. My alarm system successfully called out to the alarm monitoring folks. I can call the Ooma (i.e, call in) BUT I cannot call out from my house phones. I get the Ooma dial tone and have tried dialing out using both 10 and 11 digits numbers (e.g., 703-XXX-XXXX and 1-703-XXX-XXXX) but after a bit of a delay I always get the busy signal. Any suggestions?

P.S. I did switch the Telo back to "phone/fax" mode (from "alarm" mode) but that had no effect.

murphy
Posts:7554
Joined:Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:49 pm
Location:Pennsylvania

Re: How do I use my new Ooma Telo with my Alarm System?

Post by murphy » Sun Dec 03, 2017 3:42 am

Temporarily connect just one phone directly to the phone jack on the Telo and see if you can call out. Your problem sounds like something that Ooma will have to fix with whatever carrier they are using for your account.

If you know anyone else that has a Telo see if you can call them. That bypasses all of the external phone company connections.
Customer since January 2009
Telo with 2 Handsets, a Linx, and a Safety Phone
Telo2 with 2 Handsets and a Linx

snippy
Posts:3
Joined:Sun Nov 26, 2017 7:10 pm

Re: How do I use my new Ooma Telo with my Alarm System?

Post by snippy » Tue Dec 05, 2017 4:32 pm

Success!
Thank-you forum and especially those that replied to my posts. I was finally able to get my new Ooma Telo integrated with my Apex Alarm System. I can now make outbound calls and receive inbound calls on any phone in the house and my alarm system can call out to my alarm-monitoring service provider.
I am so happy. Now I can ditch my local and long distance tele providers and save ~$38 per month.
In summary, here’s what I did:
(1) First I simply connected Ooma Telo to my home computer network and a regular phone just to make sure my Ooma Telo was properly activated, account properly set up, and my Ooma worked before I tried anything complicated
(2) Completely disconnected the TelCo from my house wiring. This is very important and should not be skipped. For me this simply involved unplugging a pair of RJ45 connectors (one for each of two phone lines that ran into my house) located in the outside phone junction box.
(3) Connected Ooma Telo (phone port) to Alarm System Panel via a modified phone cable – I took a standard (6-wire) phone cable and snipped off the RJ11 connector off one end to expose the wires. Then I found out where the wire-pair from my TelCo was connected on the Apex Alarm Panel and replaced them with the two wires connected to the two center pins of the RJ11 connector (in my case the red and green wires). Last I connected the other end of my modified phone cable to the Ooma Telo phone (RJ11) port.
VERY IMPORTANT. Ooma Telo must be connected to the Alarm Panel terminals where the Telco wires normally connect. The Alarm Panel must sit between the telephone provider (now Ooma) and the house wiring for it to be able to properly grab the phone line and make an outbound call when the alarm is triggered.
(4) Set Telo Ooma to "alarm mode" (set via my.ooma.com -> preferences ->devices -> select the little "gear" symbol next to your Telo device). You will know Ooma is in alarm mode because you get a normal dial-tone when you pick up the handset (as opposed to an Ooma-distinctive tone). Sometimes it takes a few minutes for the mode to change from “Phone/Fax” to “Alarm” mode so keep picking up the handset and listening for the dial-tone you are expecting.
(5) Ran the Apex alarm’s communicator self-test feature to confirm that it could dial-out to the alarm-monitor service provider. Did this about 5 times since some of the forum posts indicated that alarm call-outs can sometimes fail. In my case, every test call by the alarm system succeeded.
I hope this post helps you if you are trying to do the same thing.

Good luck,
Snippy
-------------
Customer since November 2017
Telo2 (only)

tenderfoot
Posts:1
Joined:Wed Mar 20, 2019 7:11 am

Re: How do I use my new Ooma Telo with my Alarm System?

Post by tenderfoot » Wed Mar 20, 2019 7:17 am

Snippy:

Thanks for your post. I'm very new to this Ooma thing, but I have a question. After you wire the alarm system per your instructions, what settings to you leave the Ooma Telo on after you've confirmed that your dialer works? Alarm or phone? or is there something else?

Tenderfoot

Ynnad
Posts:1
Joined:Sun Aug 02, 2020 8:34 pm

Re: How do I use my new Ooma Telo with my Alarm System?

Post by Ynnad » Sun Aug 02, 2020 8:51 pm

I'm replacing Uverse phone with Ooma. I have Comcast cable for internet. I have an alarm system. The hub is in pantry and not accessible for more to direct wire the Ooma. It would seem possible for me to connect the Ooma to the RJ-11 telephone wire, which AT&T is currently using, after disconnecting at outside box,since the phone they are providing is in fact VOIP. I can access that wire where it comes into my house.

hartrick
Posts:2
Joined:Sat May 02, 2015 11:40 am

Re: How do I use my new Ooma Telo with my Alarm System?

Post by hartrick » Sat Feb 20, 2021 9:24 am

Yep. That's what I did. It is an annoyance that you have to use "alarm" setting.
Nikola Tesla

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