Way2call disconnects call when HS starts

[Blade]

When HS is starting up and it initializes the way2call, if you are on the phone talking to someone, the call is terminated when the initialzation occurs in HS.

It is like it flashes over to the other line.

Is anyone else seeing this?

[anogee]

Yup, its always done that.

[TrOjAn]

Yep.. it does it too if you shutdown HS during a call.. better hope your not on an important cal when HS decides to reboot eh?

FYI the PCI modem does NOT do that, so thats another 1 to the PCI modem and 0 to the W2C

TrOjAn

[Blade]

Are there any plans to fix this?

[TrOjAn]

Are there any plans to fix this?

Cant see it myself, its a USB quirk..

[Bill Brower]

If you don't route the phone lines THROUGH the W2C then it is not an issue, but then you lose internal VR over the phone.

If you were desperate you could wire a bypass switch that bridges the input and the output wires of the W2C together.


Those are the only solutions I know. If you never use internal VR, and you don't mute incoming rings, just hook the W2C into the wall jack just like any other handset.

[Blade]

This is sad news.

I have all my phones hooked thru the W2C because I use VR over the phone.

I may have to go back to my PCI modem, which is sad because the W2C costs a lot of money and has way more quirks than the PCI modem. Oh well.

[Alconnell]

As long as we're discussing quirks, also remember if you make any changes to W2C while someone is on the phone, as soon as you hit "save" the call disconnects also.

[Rupp]

Guys,
The way the modem works is via relays and if you want the ability to "intercept" rings until callerID is processed or to answer on internal call is to go through the modems build in relays. These relays will sever all activity when these events occurs. Also a save will reset the relays and the modem. This is analogous to saying when my mechanic is working on my car I can't use it or if I shut my car off the radio is interrupted.

[tmcgowan]

It's not a problem. It's a feature!!

[TrOjAn]

I personally dont have an issue with it... however, if Homeseer was 100% reliable then perhaps no one would worry.. its those random lockups that catch you out all the time.

I am still to find out just whats so special about these way 2 call units, my PCI modem was just as reliable.. although the speech quality in the w2c is a little better, I think

TrOjAn

[Rupp]

I am still to find out just whats so special about these way 2 call units, my PCI modem was just as reliable.. although the speech quality in the w2c is a little better, I think

TrOjAn

The distinguishing feature in my opinion is the ability to mute rings before callerID. Other than that I see nothing that would make me want this hardware over the PCI modem. Is that feature worth a couple of hundred dollars, only you can decide that.

[anogee]

It also has the ability to generate ring patterns to ring your phones independent of the phone company, as well as the ability to generate call ID tones. It opens up lots of possibilities if HomeSeer would just add support for these features.

I also disagree with TrOjAn that this is some USB problem or even a problem with the Way2Call. You can try it yourself. Make a call then yank out the USB cable and/or the power cable, and guess what? The call is not dropped. Even without a USB connection or power, the Way2Call still keeps and allows calls. HomeSeer has to purposely screw with that to actually drop the call.

[TrOjAn]

It also has the ability to generate ring patterns to ring your phones independent of the phone company, as well as the ability to generate call ID tones. It opens up lots of possibilities if HomeSeer would just add support for these features.

I also disagree with TrOjAn that this is some USB problem or even a problem with the Way2Call. You can try it yourself. Make a call then yank out the USB cable and/or the power cable, and guess what? The call is not dropped. Even without a USB connection or power, the Way2Call still keeps and allows calls. HomeSeer has to purposely screw with that to actually drop the call.

I stand corrected, I assumed it was the USB being initialised .. so it is HS in which case something can be done.. well done on that.

Re generating ring tones, I tried that and man did it mess with the phones, as for muting calls untill caller id is there?? caller ID is nearly instant, in fact HS announces who is calling just as the phones ring for the first time..... so, like rupp said, is it worth all that money?

TrOjAn

[anogee]

I'm don't think many people really understand Caller ID, although it seems simple enough. Over 20 years ago I was actually one of the engineers that worked on creating the Caller ID standard, at least for NA. In other countries, it might be different.

Caller ID in the US is transmitted as an in-band signal about a half second after the first ring ends, and it completes about a half second before the second ring starts. A modem in the Way2Call (or any caller ID box or phones) picks this up and displays it. So, Caller ID is not fully known until about half a second before the second ring starts.

Caller ID info ONLY is transmitted between the first and second ring. When the second ring starts, no more Caller ID info is ever transmitted from the telco.

HomeSeer has this nice feature, with the aid of the Way2Call, where it can mute the first ring of your phone until the Caller ID info is received. This makes it "seem" like you get the Caller ID before or during the first ring, but it was actually after the first ring. Its just that you didn't get this first ring.

I have this feature enabled, and HomeSeer can actually act on the Caller ID before your phones ring, but there is a downside. If HomeSeer determines that the call can go through, it enables your rings, but since the Caller ID is no longer transmitted, the phones in your home will not receive the Caller ID. Right now, the only way around that is to not mute the first ring, so all phones in your home receive the Caller ID when HomeSeer does.

But the Way2Call has a trick up its sleeve. It can recreate the Caller ID signal between ANY rings and it can send any NAME and Number. So if HomeSeer decided to enable this, you could get a call from your mom, Betty Smith, but HomeSeer could rebroadcast "Your Mom" and that could display on all your phones with Caller ID. You could also have the Way2Call retransmit the Caller ID, so your phones could say "Betty Smith (123) 456-7890." But wait, there is more. Way2Call can ring your phones at any time. Lets say you wanted HomeSeer to ring your phones, display "HomeSeer Message" on the Caller ID, and then speak a message, it could. These are some pretty cool features that are not being taken advantage of.

There are even more Way2Call features that HomeSeer doesn't use, like SIP, for example. That is why the thing costs hundreds of dollars, and the reason why some of us paid all this money for the Way2Call in the first place.

So, number 1, HomeSeer should detect if its on a call before rebooting the Way2Call. Number 2, HomeSeer should consider enabling some of these cool features. If not, then Rupp is right, the Way2Call is one big waste of money.