Will phone (connected to front gate) still ring if I port?

[lopbunny]

We have a gate with a call button, which rings double whenever someone is calling from the gate call box (similar to many condo or apartment units).

I'd like to know if a telephone connected to a phone jack (and NOT to a hub or scout) will still ring double whenever someone is calling from the gate if I port my number to Ooma.

I called Ooma tech support on this question and I was told to check with my electronic gate manufacturer to see if an electronic signal from the telco (when a call comes in) is required to open/close the gate (go figure????). Well, I asked the gate guys and they have no idea what Ooma is, and are talking about connecting four wires to the hub, etc and told me to check with the installation crew from Ooma. I told them "It's not that complicated! I just plugged it in and it works!!!"

There's got to be someone else out there that uses Ooma with an apartment/condo/electronic gate that is connected to the phone line.

Please tell me: Can I port my number to Ooma without losing the ability to open/close the gate from a phone that is not connected to a hub or scout???

[Neubiee]

if all your ports are connected on the same line.. provided there is no other active dial tone on these ports it should work as long as it is connected to a ooma Scout.

so: Cable Modem(or router) - Ooma - phone+wall jack

And then on the other end of the jack hook up a Scout(then your gate phone line - terminating in RJ-11(standard phone cable))

[WayneDsr]

First we need to know if the phone at the gate is an actual phone connected to the landline. Do you get a dialtone on it? Can you make an outgoing call on it?
If it is in fact just an extension of your landline you would be able to use it with ooma after your port. You can plug ooma PHONE output to a phone jack and make all phone jacks ooma live.

When a gate caller calls, how do you answer it?

Tell us more about the gate phone.

Wayne

[lopbunny]

Thanks Wayne.

It is not a phone, per se, at the gate. It is a box with only a call button and a dial pad. You would enter # and the four digit code to open the gate or if you didn't know the gate code, you'd press the call button and I'd hear a double ring on my home phones (that aren't affiliated with a hub or scout).

There are wires in the ground that connect that call box to the gate equipment box, which is mounted right below yet another box...the telco demarc/box on the side of my house.

When someone at the gate presses the call button, I hear a double-ring and I can press 9 to open the gate. This is the same for most gated communities I would imagine.

If I want to open the gate from my home phone, I press *7 then 9. However I only have this ability from the one phone that is NOT connected hooked up to an Ooma hub or scout. It is plugged directly into the phone jack.

Right now, I am keeping my landline alive ONLY for the gate functionality, which is silly! I want to port my landline over to Ooma but fear that I will no longer be able to open/close the gate from the home phone. If/when I port, I don't mind keeping one phone hooked up to the phone jack JUST for the gate but question whether this will work because in order for me to press *7 then 9 to open the gate now, I have to wait for the dial tone.

[WayneDsr]

Are you now using ooma WITH a landline? or is your landline totally separate from ooma?

Wayne

[lopbunny]

I am using Ooma with a landline, which I want to get rid of.

[WayneDsr]

Ok, I was going to ask you to temporarily disconnect your landline at the telco box to see if your gate still worked, but if you do that ooma will stop working.
I'm curious to see if your gate controller will work with ooma.
When you do cut your landline service plugging ooma Phone jack into a regular wall jack should put ooma dialtone on all phone jacks in your house and connect to the gate control box.

Unless someone else in the forum can suggest anything else, I guess I'll have to wait until it happens. Good luck.

Wayne

[bw1]

You should be able to test this before porting your number.

1st try this, unplug your landline from your ooma hub. Does your ooma hub go offline?

If so, you'll need to call ooma CS and have them reconfigure your ooma hub to not use your landline. Then you can run your test and then decide what to do from there - reconfigure your ooma hub to use your landline and begin the port if it works or skip the port if it doesn't.

And if the ooma hub doesn't go offline when you unplug your landline, then you can run your test without calling CS.

[southsound]

You can also get some great information by looking at your telco bill. Many appartment door and community gate systems have a connection to a basic phone line and the intercom at the gate or door is really a speakerphone with preprogrammed access to the resident's phone numbers. The gate company would then provision the phones of any residents with distictive ring to the preprogrammed number. If your system is for your property only and uses this type of communication, then you will see the additional lines and features on your phone bill. If it is a condo or gated community, the extra line charges are paid by the homeowner's association so you won't be able to determine much from your bill - but the HOA will have the information.

[lopbunny]

bw1: Thanks! I unplugged the telephone cord that's in the "wall" port on my hub and the Ooma hub immediately went offline. I'll try calling Ooma CS in the morning to have them provision my hub to function without a landline.

southsound: Thank you too! The gate system is for our property only. It is hardwired via underground trench to a box containing gate wires, and those wires are connected to the network box (the demarc from the telco). So in this case, the gate manufacturer does not provision the gate to ring a preprogrammed number.

I guess the big question is whether my gate requires dial tone to function. If I port my number to Ooma, I will not have dial tone at all on the phone that is plugged directly into a phone jack (and not into a hub or scout).