Incompatible "AT&T" phone with Uverse Voice

[07stangkd]

I'm one of those unlucky few who has a fax machine that is incompatible with Uverse Voice (Canon MP-780).  I'm partially OK with that as I can see that faxing over VoIP can be a bit tricky.

However, this next issue, I'm not OK with:

I recently decided to replace all the cordless telephones with cordless ones due to radiation concerns (especially with DECT 6.0).  That's a whole different conversation, so I'll stick with my issue.  Being a loyal AT&T employee, I ordered up two ML17939 phones to start my transition.  Both phones have the exact same problem - they either don't break dial tone, or if they do, the call isn't completed and I get a fast busy signal. If I have a message and get stuttered dial tone, dialing *98# to get my messages returns a "You call cannot be completed" message.  I have tried dialing faster/slower/longer, using speed dial, with/without speakerphone, local numbers, local toll, 800#'s and LD numbers.

Prior to being a manager, I was a CPE technician for many years installing numerous different phone systems for our customers.  I've pulled wire, wired up more jacks than I care to remember, and could program them in my sleep.  I'm also very handy with a punch down tool and my whole house is wired with Cat 5 everywhere.

I provide the above details to hopefully gain a little credit that I've hooked up and setup the phones correctly, troubleshot every aspect I can think of, and as I have more than one phone with the exact same symptoms, have potentially ruled out that I just happened to receive something defective.

I sent fairly detailed feedback to the http://telephones.att.com site and was instructed to "Make sure that the power cord is securely plugged into the base and electrical outlet. Make sure the electrical outlet is not controlled by a wall switch."  They also suggested that I unplug the power for 1 minute without batteries and try again.

After swallowing my pride, I determined that they had not read my feedback and decided to try this avenue instead.

I'm about to send the phones back and will probably purchase a Panasonic phone, but my bigger issue is that AT&T is selling a phone that is incompatible with their Uverse Voice phone service.  Can you imagine if our competition caught wind of that?  We're the phone company!  Our own phones don't work with our flagship service...

FYI - One of the phones I'm replacing is the DECT 6.0 AT&T corded phone TL86109, which by the way works perfectly on Uverse Voice.  I just wish I could turn off the Dect 6.0 portion of that phone.

All phones mentioned above are (2) line speakerphones with digital answering machines built-in.  So, they probably aren't the most mainstream of phones, but I have to imagine I'm not the first person to experience this.

[aviewer ACE - Wizard]

07stangkd - My guess is that the phones are set to pulse instead of tone/ Make sure they are generating tones. VOIP does not do pulse.

O have seen dome FAX posts suggesting slower speeds.

[Jafobafo]

First of all, I will not insult you by asking if you had the phone off the hook, or anything like that. If you were a CPE tech, I will assume you know the different between tone and pulse.

I am having the same issues. Multiple phones. I even called the 804-222-1111 number (great test number) and it recognized the correct DTMF tones, and read them back to me. 1-0 worked fine, even * and #. So it is broadcasting the correct tones DURING the call. I even dialed my ConCall number (Also AT&T) and when it connected (I used another phone to dial out) I switched to the 17939, and it did let me enter my bridge number, and password.

The issue muct have something to do with how the RGW dials out. I can only assume the dialtone is generated in the GW as opposed to coming from AT&T themself. I would guess it captures the tones, and then connects, and tries to replay them, and that is where the problem is. I wonder if it has something to do with the millisecond tone that it is sending... Maybe AT&T (during a call) can handle, but not the RGW.

I wonder if there is an updated RGW that will fix this issue.

Just my thoughts.

[07stangkd]

@Aviewer -  I found tone/pulse in the settings, switched to pulse, and tried again at which point, I did indeed hear the pules.  So, I went back in, changed it back to tone and same issue.

I tried faxing at every speed down to 9600 baud.  Actually the issues are very similar.  My fax machine never completes the connection - I get a fast busy signal shortly after the unit attempts to dial out.    

Thank you for the suggestions though!

[07stangkd]

@Jofobafo - Thank you for the reply!

I glad (well maybe glad is the wrong word) to hear that someone else has experienced this same issue.  I know my wife thinks I messed something up in the settings. 

Did you find a good replacement 2 line phone that worked?

Kevin

[aviewer ACE - Wizard]

07stangkd - Maybe Jafobafo is on to something. Did you try his test number? If that says the tones are good, call for an RG replacement. They can send you one. Maybe it will solve both problems.

[07stangkd]

I'll try that # when I get home!

[chicago_mike]

I recently switched to UVerse Voice and happened to buy this exact same phone as well (ML17939). I thought it was a problem with the phone and had a replacement phone sent. Received it today and it had the exact same issue. It won't allow me to dial out any number... always get a busy signal. 

Just curious if any of you had a technician come out to your house? I just talked to tech support and they said their system showed that I have an incompatible phone connected (was surprised they could tell this). They insisted that someone come out to try to fix it. Thoughts?

I tried calling that same number and when I connected the ML17939 (after calling via a different phone first of course), it recognized every number and the * and #. 

[aviewer ACE - Wizard]

Grasping at straws - Did you try both direct button push dialing and auto dial (e.g. speed dial).

The manual suggests background noise could be a problem.

While you should not need batteries, are they installed? Maybe need them after all.

[rproff]

I had the exact same problem with 2 different 17939 phones, but my problem was limited to the second line.  The primary line worked fine for both dialing and receiving calls.  With the first phone, it would not break the dial tone unless one of the numbers pushed was 7, 8 or 0.  After a couple hours with AT&T support, they decided the phone was defective and I should exchange it.  With the second phone, it would dial the number correctly, but I would either get the fast busy signal, a message saying the call could not be completed as dialed, or that I needed to dial the area code first.  This time, AT&T support determined that the phone was not compatible with Uverse. It's very disappointing, because that phone had all the features I wanted, and I really liked how it worked.

I also tried the 17928, which is very similar except no answering machine.  It mostly works, except for two issues.  First, when dialing into my company's conference line, I have to enter a conference code to join the call.  It only recognizes the code about 50% of the time.  I don't have that problem with an old GE 2-line phone I have.  Also, the headset jack is not working properly.  The slightest movement to the headset jack causes the headset to cut out.  I'll be returning this one as well.

[chicago_mike]

Technical support confirmed that the ML17939 is not compatible with UVerse. They're not sure why, but it's one of the few phones that don't work with their service. I bought the ML17929 (OfficeMax) and it works fine without any issues. Similar to the ML17928 except different color and store. No answering machine. 

I returned both new ML1739 phones I had and am glad this is resolved. 

[dlech]

Finally, a real answer to my problem. I was either not persistent enough or not lucky enough to get such answers when I contacted tech support.

I have the ML17939 phone. It actually worked with my Uverse for a little while, then all of a sudden, I could not place outgoing calls. I found that if I used line 2, then I could get it to work. Eventually, line 2 quit working as well. I can still place outgoing calls if I unplug the AC adapter, but then you have to reset the clock when you plug it back in.

After some more troubleshooting today, I figured out that it is a DTMF recognition problem with the residential gateway, the numbers 1, 2 and 3 are not recognized.

If I take another phone of the hook while I am dialing, then 6 also does not work. I read here about a similar problem, so I am hoping I can come up with some type of filter/attenuator to fix the problem.

[dougdc3]

same issue 

tried 2 phones (model ML17929), any movement to the headset jack turns it off

phone otherwise works great but headset jack is faulty

[Galassoc]

Man, I just went through this same exact thing, including returning one phone thinking it was faulty only to discover that the new one doesn't work either.
I wish I had read this thread sooner, but I'm glad that you posted about it because I would have been going crazy trying to figure out what was wrong.