Elk-M1TWA two-way without POTS?

jmistler

Member
Has anyone figured out a way to initiate two-way communication from a smart phone (while away from home) inside the house via the Elk-M1TWA + TWSFs without a POTS line?
 
Perhaps there is a third party app (like Homeseer?) that could connect a smart phone to the M1TWA and initiate the communication?
 
Or perhaps there is a VOIP/SIP solution?
 
Thanks.
 
While I haven't tried this with the ELK equipment, in theory this should work........
 
You can use a VOIP provider and connect it to a Obihia Obi200 or Obi202.  Then you connect the ELK to the Obi's telephone port and it should look like a regular POTs line.  The Obi device can be set up to connect to the VOIP service directly so you would not need any additional equipment. 
 
You could also hook the rest of your home phones up to the device to have working analog phones with a cheap VOIP service. 

This is actually what I did at my house initially.  I knew that I wanted a full VOIP phone system, but didn't want to have to buy all new phones at one time.  I got the FreePBX software running and used an Obi to provide a link between the new FreePBX server and the old analog phones.  This was years ago and I eventually replaced all the old analog phones with VOIP phones, but I still use the Obi to hook up an old school caller ID box to the system so that I can pull caller ID information into my CQC home automation system.  
 
I will say that the most used feature of our PBX system is the intercom function.  It allows you to connect with two-way communications to another extension or group of extensions.  We set it up so that it automatically picks up on the speakerphone so people on the other end don't even need do anything to answer the intercom call.  It is great to be able to hit a soft button on the phone in the kitchen and have instant two way intercom with all the other phones in the house to call the family to dinner, etc.
 
While I haven't done it, it would be super easy to set the system up to be able to call into the home number and dial a secret extension, enter a passcode for security, and then be connected to some or all of the phones in the house on speakerphone to have two way communication.
 
Here is more information on the Obi devices:  https://www.obitalk.com/info/home
 
PS - there are other devices that can do the same thing, but many of them are tied to a specific service - like Ooma.  If that service disappears, or changes it's pricing model, you can't use the hardware with another service.  The Obi devices are not tied to a specific service and gives you the flexibility to change VOIP providers in the future if you need to.
 
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