Questions About Using Rotary Phone with Subset on VoIP Phone Service.'

[Larry]

My local telephone company has discontinued pulse dialing on their service.  So, my vintage rotary phones with subsets are out of commission.  There must be a way to continue using them on a VoIP service like Ooma.com.  I signed up for the service.  Ooma uses a Telo adapter for residential customers.  I was told my rotary phones would work on their system.  Well, they do and they don't. I connected the Telo adapter directly to a wall phone jack so that I can use all wall phone jacks in my home.  I have it configured that way now.  The rotary phones will not dial out but I can receive calls.  But the subsets do not ring.  Do the subsets need to be rewired in order for them to ring?  Is there a way I can dial out on the rotary phone?  If I used the HT801 to connect the rotary phones, is that all I need?  I guess, in short, I'm asking how to do all this with what equipment.  I've been a member of this group for a few years, but I have not needed much help until now.  Thanks!.  Larry

[LarryInMichigan]

Clarification.  The subset will ring one very short ding-a-ling and then stops ringing.

The problem is that the Telo device only provides enough ringing current for one or two ringers.  I have a Dialgizmo connected to my Telo device to convert pulse dialing to tones, and I only connect at most two ringers at a time.  On many of my phones and subsets, I have connected a resistor, between 2K and 4K, in series with the ringer to decrease the current draw.  This way, I can usually have two active ringers connected at any given time. 

Larry

[dsk]

As Larry describes it, it fits my experience too, and even some telco lines has the same characteristics. My guess is that the telco uses similar equipment in their end of the line that we use on voip.  If you coose an VOIP company that allows you to use your own equipment (like Callcentric) you may chose an adapter like Grandstream HT802 that accepts rotary dial, and has a pretty good ringing capacity.  (That is the best adapter I have tested that accepts rotary phones)

[ka1axy]

@Larry
I, like you, use Ooma. I opted to put a Panasonic mini-PBX between my Ooma Telo and my rotary phones to deal with the pulse to tone, and ringer current issues. The Telo is great for what it is, but the Grandstream 802 handles multiple "genuine Bell" phones better (though Ooma's ~$6/mo is hard to beat)

[poplar1]

Many (if not all) ATAs that allow you to use analog phones on VOIP have a very low tolerance for dials out of spec -- whether the speed (10 PPS [pulses per second]), or the make/break ratio of pulsing contacts, or both -- I'm not certain which. The original telephone central office equipment is much more tolerant.

You should not have to rewire the subsets or phones if they were already ringing before -- that is, with only the 2 line wires (red and green) from the dial tone source to the subset.

Also, did you disconnect the modular plug inside the  phone company interface (on the side of the house or wherever the copper line from the phone company attaches to the house)? Otherwise, even if the original phone line is disconnected, you might still have battery from the central office, since they can just disconnect the line by programming, but there still might be battery on the cable pair ( connection to the central office equipment).

What phone company suddenly stopped recognizing dial pulses -- if, in fact, that is what happened? The default programming used to be dial pulse only, since they could charge extra for Touch-Tone.

If you can try going off-hook on the phone company line (assuming you have not already had it disconnected), then just push down the plunger (that hangs up the phone) one time, for about 1/2 second, and release the plunger to see if the dial tone has gone away. This is equivalent of dialing a 1. If the dial tone disappears, then the central office equipment assumes you have dialed "1." -- i.e., it recognizes rotary dial pulses....You can make the same test with your new "line."

A Panasonic KX-T61610 key system will support up to 16 phones, each with its own 2-digit number. You can even connect 2 phones to each voice port, assuming they have higher impedance ringers (634BA Western Electric subset, for example). So up to 32 phones ringing for an incoming call. This system will also convert dial pulses to Touch-Tone for outgoing calls.

[ka1axy]

Also...the Telo, to my knowledge does not do pulse dialling. At least, it didn't when I got mine...possibly the firmware has been upgraded since then. The ringing generator has a fairly weak output current, could only ring one or two of my "genuine Bell" phones.

[Jack Aman]

I use an Xlink BTTN between the house wiring and my cable company VOIP.  It works perfectly, tolerates out of spec dials and actually has adjustments in the settings/firmware for slow dials, foreign dials, etc etc.  On incoming calls it rings a total of five WE ringers strongly in my house and that is without the "extra ringing power" you can command in the settings.  I have several phones with the ringers disabled so incoming calls do not sound like a prison break. The fact that it also connects our cells to the house phones is a bonus.  Recommended.

[Jack Aman]

Another fun thing.  "Landline" calls (actually the VOIP assigned number) ring on the old phones and subsets with the familiar North American ring.  Calls to my cell number ring with the British "ring-ring" pattern.  Calls to my wife's cell ring through with a custom "long-short-long" pattern.  All programmable in the XLink settings.