Acessing Elk remotely using the telephone

I love the Elk's features when it is working properly but every time I try to do something new I find it very confusing.
 
I tried dialing in to my M1 to use the telephone as a remote keypad and had mixed results. It seems to have problems with my Panasonic answering machine. I didn't document the testing but I remember that I did get connected when I could get the M1 to recognize the ring tone and answer the call. Once I was connected everything worked fine. Getting it to connect however didn't seem to work as described in the installation manual. I tried the hang up and call back feature and it worked one time and not the next. I tried letting the answering machine greeting finish and then typed in *** and it would work one time and not the next.
 
To sum it up the results were not consistent so I gave up and disabled it. So does anyone use this feature and can they tell me how they got around the their answering machine?
 
Mike.

Cell phone? VOIP? First suggestion is to change the length of the DTMF tones to long on the unit.
 
Second is to change the values in G29-G42 to fit your circumstances.
 
You need to consider if your machine has "toll saver" on it (disable) and if it's sensitive to the * DTMF tone or not.
 
The variable is the number of rings until auto answer. Can't remember the exact variable but it should be set low, same with callback timer. Want to say the # should be less than the answering machine so it forces the M1 to listen for DTMF tones while the answering machine picks up (answering machine bypass for a normal panel)

DELInstallations said:

Cell phone? VOIP? First suggestion is to change the length of the DTMF tones to long on the unit.

Click to expand...

 
Cell phone and I didn't know that I could adjust the length of the tone.
 

DELInstallations said:

Second is to change the values in G29-G42 to fit your circumstances.
 
You need to consider if your machine has "toll saver" on it (disable) and if it's sensitive to the * DTMF tone or not.
 
The variable is the number of rings until auto answer. Can't remember the exact variable but it should be set low, same with callback timer. Want to say the # should be less than the answering machine so it forces the M1 to listen for DTMF tones while the answering machine picks up (answering machine bypass for a normal panel)

Click to expand...

 
I tried setting the number of rings in global settings to the same as the answering machine. If I set the Elk for less rings than the phone then won't it go off hook and interfere with the phone call or will the phone continue to ring through to the answerng machine after the Elk goes off hook? That could be my problem, I assumed that the Elk should go off hook at the same time as the answering machine.
 
Mike.

If I remember, it's been a while since I had the discussion with Elk, but I want to say it's reverse of a normal burg panel.
 
Think the M1 needs to be set lower than the answering machine so it'll start listening to the line on an incoming, but it won't go offhook unless it gets the *** irregardless if it's on the line with the machine at the same time. Remember, it's in series with the premise wiring so it'll only seize the line when commanded or on  an alarm event. The M1 is only monitoring the line at that point for the command, not off-hook.

DELInstallations said:

If I remember, it's been a while since I had the discussion with Elk, but I want to say it's reverse of a normal burg panel.
 
Think the M1 needs to be set lower than the answering machine so it'll start listening to the line on an incoming, but it won't go offhook unless it gets the *** irregardless if it's on the line with the machine at the same time. Remember, it's in series with the premise wiring so it'll only seize the line when commanded or on  an alarm event. The M1 is only monitoring the line at that point for the command, not off-hook.

Click to expand...

 
Then that was almost definitely my problem. I'll have another go at it with that info. I was working under the assumption that the Elk would seize the line after the set number of rings.