SC12A and remote phone calling

[rhea]

Installed the new SC12A  and tried remote telephone access.... I have answering service with provider....the manual says I can enter the pin after the message from answering service....  nothing happens as the service provider  prompts me what to do in order to get the message on the system....any way to make the system block the regular phone service and take the line over(Like ADT?) With answering service then it's impossible to connect the console from outside phone?

[Brian H]

Answering Service; like a Doctor may use?

Answering machine you have in your home?

If it is an answering machine in your home. We have a few other reports of entering the PIN Number after the greeting messsage is played. Didn't work.

Are you using another land line phone or a cell phone?

[Jeff M]

As far as incoming calls, they either have to be answered by the SC12A or the Answering service / machine.  You can't have it both ways.  You can set the SC12A to answer the call before the service gets it. 

[rhea]

The telephone answering service is incorporated in my phone provider.. in my case it's Videotron(telephone and Internet).. so the main cable goes into Videotron modem....

[rhea]

Question.. How can I program the SC12A to intercept the phone call before my provider's answering  machine?

[Jeff M]

You want to set the Answer Delay to a low value.  By default, it is set to wait 30 seconds before picking up the line.  This is described on page 27 of the manual under Setting Delays.

[rhea]

Thanx... set the time value to 6... now the system answers promptly and  executes the commands. !
Great help// should read the manual properly next time... Thanx again....

[Brian H]

Though the manual does touch on the delays you can change.
There isn't much detail on what happens when they are changed.

[fredflinstone]

Hi all, I am having similar problems. I have an answering machine at home and it picks up the phone after 20 seconds. The delay in the system is set to 30 seconds, so I would expect the system to work even after the answering machine turns on as per the document and I dont see that happening. Also the manual says even after a person picksup the phone, we can still set the alarm by entering the pin, that is not happening either. It was working before I added the security modules.

[Brian H]

You are not the first person to report the problem with the answering machine picks up as expected but the PIN number will not access the console.
Though your finding it worked before adding security modules is interesting.
I may try that tomorrow as I am still in the testing phases.

[fredflinstone]

Sorry to ask, but is there a fix for this or intend to have one in near future?

[Brian H]

Well we are a user to user forum and have no direct X10 input most of the time.
So is a fix in the works. We may not know.
Same for some versions of the PH508 large Powerhorns not working with the SC1200.

[fredflinstone]

I tried calling customer support and couldn't get anywhere. Do they even have a customer support team?

[Brian H]

Here is the thread on the answering machine and SC1200 combination.
http://forums.x10.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=13977km3nb84nujeomn67uric0&topic=22699.0

[pseeker]

I was testing the sc1200/sc12a console remote access via phone.  Works perfectly for me as I have set on 1 ring answer. 

However, after the alarm triggers calls my programmed phone number then pressing a key to listen to house, then hanging up,  I can not call my security console for remote access. It never picks up. I waited 5 to 10 minutes prior to calling.  I have to disarm manualy for remote access to work again.  Am I doing something wrong?