Hello there,
I have an ADT alarm system, about 4 years old, and I am trying out a VOIP connection (called ooma). I wired the system such that line seizure was occurring, but ADT central station was not receiving the call. I do have Telgard cell backup, which was working.

I read this and other forums and decided to take a look at the programming fields to see if I might bea able to tweak the call out number (with perhaps *99 or *70 to get the calls to go through). My keypad is a Safewatch Pro 3000EN. Unfortunately, when viewing the fields *40, *41, *42, *43 and *45, I used * instead of # and ended up deleting those fields by mistake. Not so smart.

Anyway, I am trying to undo the damage without paying ADT to come out. As for *40 (PABX access or call waiting disable), I think it may have been blank to begin with. This is a residence, so PABX doesn't apply, right? As for call waiting disable, the programming guide says that is for SIA installations only, and my understanding is that this system is factory-set to 4-digit Contact ID format only. Also, field *91 is set to 8,0 which would mean there was no call waiting disable I think.

As for *41 (primary phone number), I could see on the VOIP call log what the toll free number was that the system dialed out when I first tested it (which I assume is the ADT central station number). Can I just put that 10 digit phone number, or do I need *99 with a pause in front of it? Will a prefix screw up the Telgard connection capability?

As for *42 (secondary phone number), what would have gone there? Would that have been blank, or was there a backup ADT central station phone number? If so, how would I find out that number?

As for *43 (Subscriber ID# Part. 1) and *45 (Subscriber ID# Part.2), what number should go there? Is that the last 4 digits of my account number? I'm not sure if "Part." means partition--this system does have two partitions.

The one other question is about field *47 (phone system select). After screwing all this up, I checked some of the other fields, and that one had "5" as the field, which isn't listed in the guide as a valid entry. I changed it to "3," which is the default. Was that the right thing to do?

Do any of these things have an effect on Telgard function?

Overall, if I keep the VOIP for my phone, is it your opinion that I should just go exclusively to cell phone monitoring through the Telgard, or is it worth trying to get the panel to be able to call out through VOIP. My concern is that from what I've read the VOIP connection just isn't 100% reliable, and the panel may think it's made contact when it hasn't such that it wouldn't know to fall back on the Telgard as backup. Is the Telgard considered to be just as reliable as a regular landline?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

 

I'll start with the observation that your best course here really would be to have ADT come out and undo your mess. You may have munged up more settings than you realize.

That said:

The last 4 digits of your account number are what you use for *43. With a partitioned system I'm not sure, but I think the same number goes in the partition 2 slot as well (it's ADT; they don't always do things the way typical installers would).

I have seen the secondary number left blank, filled with the same number as the first slot, and filled with an actual secondary number. That one's something of a "your guess is as good as mine".

No, none of those settings have any effect on the Telguard, as it's not an integrated device. It's a 3rd party add-on.

No PABX/Call waiting cancel were most likely not in use.

 

Thank you for the response.

I took out the VOIP because it couldn't call my place at work, and I put the house telephone wiring back the way it was. The landline phone works, and my phone module (allowing phone to interact with alarm system) works fine as well.

I put nothing in field 40, put the 1877xxxxxxx access number in fields 41 and 42, and put the last four digits of my account number/customer number in fields 43 and 45.

I then tested the system. With the landline plugged into the panel, the panel seizes the line and says it calls out, but the ADT central station apparently is receiving nothing. On the other hand, when I unplug the landline at the RJ31 jack and then test, the cell phone module connects just fine.

I tried doing it with call waiting disable but still no luck on the landline. I called the landline phone company AT&T to have the line quality tested ("pinged"), and it apparently tested fine.

Do you have any other ideas? If not, I'm hoping maybe an ADT tech would just talk to me about it over the phone and perhaps walk me through what I need to do.

Thanks.

 

It's very possible that you have some specific settings that the system needs to reach your regional ADT receiver. Talk to the ADT folks. Now that you are back on a regular landline, they may be able to simple connect to the system and correct the programming.