Will Rotary work on FIOS?

[Sargeguy]

Verizon has been calling me and begging me to sign up.  After Earthlink DSL went AWOL for the third time this month and the out-sourced service tech wasted 2 hours of my time, I decided to switch over IF I can still use rotary.  The sales rep says he's "pretty sure" but that's not reassuring.  What's the story on FIOS?

[bingster]

If you know somebody who has FIOS, you could take one of your phones over and try it out on their system.  That would let you know for certain (if nobody else here has it).

[paul-f]

There are apparently several voice plans available with FiOS.

We went with one of the standard plans and it seems to handle rotary or pulse dial phones with no problem.

Perhaps someone who has the "Digital Voice" option, which is VOIP using an ATA, will comment.

[Sargeguy]

Apparently it will work with FIOS if you don't get VOIP.  If you do get VOIP it might work.

[bwanna]

FIOS is verizon's counterpart to at&t's UVERSE. yes, if you choose to use POTS along with the data signal, your rotary will work. i believe others here use some sort of adapter that enables them to use rotary phones on VoIP. my recommendation is to choose POTS, for more reasons than being able to use the rotary sets. even tho that is a very good reason.

[rp2813]

It makes sense that if the switching office equipment still accepts pulse dialing signals, it won't matter if those signals are being sent over copper or fiber.  VOIP is another matter entirely.

[Jim Stettler]

It makes sense that if the switching office equipment still accepts pulse dialing signals, it won't matter if those signals are being sent over copper or fiber.  VOIP is another matter entirely.

There used to be a requirement to make all new telco equitment backwards compatable.
It probably still applies to analog copper.
There is talk that the FCC wants to require digital telephony. If that happens then the switches probably won't accept pulse.

JMO,
Jim

[DarrenWGaransi]

Yes it will :-)  I have FIOS digital voice.  You just have to make sure that the dials are calibrated-their equipment is quite picky.

[rtp129495]

"There used to be a requirement to make all new telco equitment backwards compatable.
It probably still applies to analog copper.
There is talk that the FCC wants to require digital telephony. If that happens then the switches probably won't accept pulse." -

Thats so the rich corporations can rake in more $$$ forcing people to switch. I really hate the shaft em hard culture when it comes to technology. The poor WE phones, they certianly are a testament to aother time and type of thinking. sadly that thinking doesn't make enough $$$ in todays world.

[Greg G.]

The other alternative is to use something like Xlink, which enables you to use your rotary phone through your cell network.  I tried one for a while, and while it does work, sound quality wasn't great, but maybe they've improved.

[AE_Collector]

There is talk that the FCC wants to require digital telephony. If that happens then the switches probably won't accept pulse."

Ironically, dial pulse is much more "digital" than DTMF is.....1's and 0's, On and Off versus various frequencies.

Terry

[rtp129495]

Thats a very good point it wouldn't take much to make a digital circut read that. hmmmm there are a lot of things like "Dialgizmo" etc.. that will read pulses and translate them into DTMF. I have bought one for a verizon home phone thing I have that shares minutes with my cellphone. It works quite well as an alternate solution.....

[GG]

RTP, I'm with you about the "grab, smash, and loot" economy.  Fortunately there are populist protests across the political spectrum about this (the Tea Party and Occupy) so our folks in Washington may start to get the message that "enough was enough" long ago and it still is. 

If there's a move to do away with central battery telephone service (analog lines as we know them today, that provide power for the telephone sets), we can do America a great service by raising a mighty stink about how that will impact the reliability of telephone service during emergencies particularly power outages.  That's a public safety issue, and given the risk of cyberterrorism and cyberattacks on the power grid, it's also a national security issue.  Bottom line is, the telephone network must, must, must work on the central battery principle, so phones can continue to operate during power outages.  Otherwise people will die in large numbers due to being unable to call for help in emergencies.  We can make a difference on this issue and should do our darndest about it.

That said, if the looters get their way and destroy the network even further, the answer as always is going to be to use a PBX between your rotary dial phone and the outside world.  Panasonic and other manufacturers will for a while produce PBXs that will have all the needed options to interface in both directions.  So if the worst happens, the thing to do is be willing to spring anywhere from a few hundred bucks upward, so you can keep your stuff working. 

Folks here who have Strowger switches in their basement might also consider becoming the local telco for their neighborhoods, by plowing copper into the ground behind all the houses on the block.  I could go into that in much more detail but I'll leave it there for now unless anyone's interested. 

[Sargeguy]

Well I have had FIOS for a year now.  Dialing out is no problem.  Breaking a connection is sometimes difficult when a computer calls, and the REN seems to be lower.