Elk M1G Remote Telephone Control

[benze]

I've had my M1G for quite some time, but just recently I cancelled my Telco vmail and just have a standard answering machine.  So, I decided I wanted to try to dial in and control remotely via a telephone.  But I can't seem to get it to work.  

When my answering machine picks up, I try dialing ***, but I get a message from the M1G saying "Remote Access Not Allowed" and hangs up.
 
My Globals->Telephone control is set to : 2 = Local and remote control enabled
Globals-> G29-G42:
   - Rungs until auto-answer: 10
   - Ring/Hangup/Answer: enabled
   - Two way listen-in: disabled
   - Two way callback time: 0
 
 
When I pick up a local telephone and dial ***, the M1G responds properly.
 
I tried resetting the Local/remote control enabled to disabled, and then back to local/remote, but it has made no difference.
 
Am I missing a setting somewhere?  What can I do to get this working?
 
Thanks,

Eric

 

[elvisimprsntr]

Remote dial in control is so 1970's. Buy the ELK-XEP Ethernet expansion interface and a third party mobile app which interfaces with the Elk M1G.

https://www.amazon.com/Elk-M1XEP-M1-Ethernet-Interface/dp/B000B86V1I

 

[benze]

I already have an M1XEP but I am still trying to get remote telephone control to work such that I can give access to a trusted party without asking them to spend 50$!

I would like to understand why it is not working.

 

[mikefamig]

I recall some talk about the DTMF tone on the Iphone not being the correct length or something like that. At any rate the end result is that the * is not always recognized by the elk.
 
Mike.

 

[benze]

If the DTMF was the wrong length, wouldn't the M1 just ignore it? What confuses me is that the M1 seems to understand and intercept the *** but then shuts down access without even promoting for a PIN.

And although I want testing with a landline, I wasn't on an iPhone. I tried both with Samsung galaxy and Google hangouts.

 

[mikefamig]

After you enter *** the elk should normally ask you to enter the remote access code. In your case it is immediately rejecting the remote code even though you haven't entered one. It seems as if it thinks that you entered an incorrect code.
 
Mike.

 

[RAL]

Do you have true POTS telephone service from the phone company, or VoIP telephone service from the cable company?  VoIP often does not transmit DTMF tones properly, which could explain the problems you're having.

 

[TurboSam]

Try disabling the Rings/Hangup/Answer since that expects you to call, hangup, and then call back.

 

[benze]

After you enter *** the elk should normally ask you to enter the remote access code. In your case it is immediately rejecting the remote code even though you haven't entered one. It seems as if it thinks that you entered an incorrect code.

 
Agreed, but I cannot seem to enter anything after ***.  In fact, as soon as I enter ** (two stars), I get the message "Remote Access not Allowed".  I don't even get that third * in...
 
 

Do you have true POTS telephone service from the phone company, or VoIP telephone service from the cable company?  VoIP often does not transmit DTMF tones properly, which could explain the problems you're having.

 
Regular, old fashioned POTS service.  
 

Try disabling the Rings/Hangup/Answer since that expects you to call, hangup, and then call back.

 
I've tried disabling the Rings/Hangup/Answer, but it made no difference.  I've tried playing with different ring settings, enabling/disabling the local/remote access, but in all cases, no matter what I do, the M1G responds on the second ** and says "Remote Access Not Allowed", and cuts the connection.

 

[shoprat59]

I have not tired this on my elk, but on page 21 of the User Guide it says this concerning operating from and Outside Telephone:
"1. Dial-in to the phone number attached to the control. After a programmed number of rings the control should answer with four short beeps.  If an answering machine picks up, wait for the massage to quit and proceed as follows: .; . . "
 
This could be interpreted in one of two ways:
1) The Elk has to answer before the answering machine (this seems stupid to me) or
2) You have to let the entire VM message play prior to hitting ***.
 
Good luck
 
Tom

 

[Del91574]

You need to make sure the incoming rings is set appropriately to bypass the answering service method, then the cellular device needs to have the DTMF tones set to LONG. The manual statement is also correct.
 
You also need to make sure in globals "remote telephone control" is enabled. That would be what I'm guessing is the answer here based on message #9.
 
Test by picking up your phone in the house and hitting ***. The M1 should seize the lines and you should hear it prompt
 

Try disabling the Rings/Hangup/Answer since that expects you to call, hangup, and then call back.

 
You don't want to do that. If you ever need to dial into the M1 with a modem, you'll never be able to.

 

[benze]

"1. Dial-in to the phone number attached to the control. After a programmed number of rings the control should answer with four short beeps.  If an answering machine picks up, wait for the massage to quit and proceed as follows: .; . . "
2) You have to let the entire VM message play prior to hitting ***.

 
Tried that, but like I said, the M1G rejects the call on the second **.
 
 

You need to make sure the incoming rings is set appropriately to bypass the answering service method, then the cellular device needs to have the DTMF tones set to LONG. The manual statement is also correct.
 
You also need to make sure in globals "remote telephone control" is enabled. That would be what I'm guessing is the answer here based on message #9.
 
Test by picking up your phone in the house and hitting ***. The M1 should seize the lines and you should hear it prompt

 
The incoming rings is actually set to something greater than the answering machine.  This is a normal behaviour; I wouldn't want the M1G to answer incoming calls.  However, once the answering machine picks up the call, the M1G is supposed to seize the line once it hears the ***.  Unfortunately, after the second **, it does seize the line, but immediately rejects the call.
 
Using a local handset, I have no problems.  Dialing *** prompts me for my PIN, etc.  It's only when using a remote dial-in, that the M1G rejects the call after the second **.
 
In the the Globals section, the Telephone control is set to : 2 = Local and remote control enabled.
 
I'm running firmware 5.3.0.  I don't know if this is something that is broken in the version, of if it is a configuration issue in the panel.
 
Can anybody confirm if they have it functional using 5.3.0?  Or even something in the 5.2.x line?
 
Thanks,

Eric

 

[Del91574]

I've got 5.3.0 in mine and it works fine.
 
If it works onsite, then your issue is probably the phone you're using.

Are you using a cell phone? If so, check your DTMF tone length.

 

[mikefamig]

Eric B
 
In message #1 you mentioned that the elk responds normally if you pick up a local phone and dial ***. Have you tried calling the elk using a local phone?

 

[benze]

So, after several hours of wasted time trying to figure this out, I finally found the culprit.  It was actually the answering machine that was intercepting the DTMF and would hang up before the M1G even took control of the line.
 
Thanks to all for the suggestions and hints.
 
Eric