Vista 20P dials central station but does not respond to CS tones

[julianbc]

I just moved into a new home and installed a Vista 20p system after removing a Br1nks 4000 panel.

I have been able to get all the zones up and running along with the keyboards (4) + 8 zones.  I can arm and dis-arm etc.  I have entered in my 4 digit account code in field #43.  I have entered in the CS phone number.  I have set Report Codes on 8 zones to 01 00 (10).  I have set field #48 to 77 (ademco 4 digit contact ID reporting).  I wired in a phone to the alarm side.

I then set the alarm and open a door.  Alarm fires, after 15 sec it dials CS.  CS answers and sends first tone.  The panel does not reply, it then sends next tone, panel does not reply.  It does this a total of 4 times and then hangs up.  Panel then dials CS back and goes through this again.

The panel never responds to the CS tones.  Can you please help?  I have the alarm wired to Vonage phone adapter and I can make receive phone calls on the adapter.  I have used the adapter for 5 years with a GE Concord alarm system with no problems in my old home.

Any suggestions I would appreciate.

-JC

[dilligaff]

Try contacting vonage tech support. I have had times where vonage worked with no problems, but I have had vonage tech support tweak their settings to get some panels to talk to the central station

[SmithWesson]

We have nothing but problems with Vonage, Vista panels just don't like them.

We have had much better success with Magic Jack.
Not that I would recommend monitoring with either but Magic jack seems to be more reliable.

[dilligaff]

Another thing to try is changing the reporting format. I have had troubles with VOIP when using contact id and found that I had fewer troubles when using SIA format.

[Fishlips25]

I've had luck with 4+2 format.

When you have voip there is no guarantee that the system will work with the phone line at all times. You should consider adding a cellphone or internet module to your system.

[steelmf]

I'm betting that it's not responding to the Contact ID handshake. If you are not committed to that format, try another one, as others have suggested. IMHO, Vista20p's don't like VOIP services as a whole. Work really well sometimes, and not well at others, especially with Contact ID.

[DEL Installations]

I'm betting that it's not responding to the Contact ID handshake. If you are not committed to that format, try another one, as others have suggested. IMHO, Vista20p's don't like VOIP services as a whole. Work really well sometimes, and not well at others, especially with Contact ID.

Not really true, the fact of the matter is VOIP does not work well with any digital format, as you are digitizing an already digital signal, so while many do work (and has improved over the years) the end result is VOIP and alarms are not a reliable combination and band-aiding the system by slowing down the signal or swapping to another format is asking for trouble over time.

The suggestion to move to another communication format (cell, etc.) is the best one.

[steelmf]

I think I was reasonably clear in my statement that the Vista20p didn't like VOIP services. I'm sorry if I meant to imply that VOIP was a viable solution for a security system, as I definitely don't think it is. However, I live in a world where we have to try and make things work as well as they possibly can, despite what we feel is best for the client's security.

[DEL Installations]

I think I was reasonably clear in my statement that the Vista20p didn't like VOIP services. I'm sorry if I meant to imply that VOIP was a (snip)

I believe the first sentence is not worded accurately, no matter what the panel manufacturer and type is, as you alluded to further in your statement. It's misleading to say a specific panel has a problem when the fact is the technology is the issue.

The 20P or any dialer for that matter, when interfacing with VOIP, there are going to be inherent issues, which have improved with time, however they still exist.

Just making sure there's clarity and accurate information out there.