What model Panasonic 4 machine do you have so I can look up the manual. What your talking about sounds like what Cox would call PLO or Permanent Lock Out. Usually only refers to POTS lines, not Packet Switch, but thats the general term.

Also, what phone modem do you have? Theres a way to find it's general settings from the 192.168.100.1 web page, but many have that disabled unless your using the phone modem as a internet modem too. 

phone modem is separate from internet modem.( i've got more equipment under my tv than a central office!) and it's a cisco dpq3212.

my phones are model tga402 (which doesn't show in any panasonic dropdown) with the ans unit being a kx-tg4021.  i have the manual.

i hadn't thought about settings at the mac address for the modem. i've only had it for a short while. but i guess it can be programmed just like the wireless.

busy day. i'll check that out later.

I have the TG-7871 model and it does not have that problem.   If the caller hangs up without speaking, nothing is left on the Answering Machine. 

The newer models of your phone have the call blocking feature that lets you stop 250 numbers. That helps.  You can even set the phone not to ring when a blocked number calls back ( the default is for it to ring once and then hang up). Peace and quiet restored.

In your situation, i would be tempted to turn off the answering machine.  Or buy a phone that lets you take 30 second messages.  See if your phone lets you program the length of the message. 

yak, my phone does allow me to set the record time and the tech i asked online also suggested cutting the time back so i won't be as inconvenienced , but i DO want my friends & family to be able to leave meaningful messages. most times it's important, and it can save us both time to be able to communicate that way.

i've been reading info on this cisco modem cox has fed my phone signal thru, and the only install instructions i see are "setting up your internet modem." this is for my PHONE! the "mac address" per their wording (and the back of my modem), is 8480C7A0546E, which of course doesn't come up anywhere when you google it.

using the mac address mentioned earlier, i can't log in, and it comes up with the name of my internet modem. not cisco.

and are they saying out there that i really only NEED one (!) modem? lord that would be amazing!

socal transplant said:
i've been reading info on this cisco modem cox has fed my phone signal thru, and the only install instructions i see are "setting up your internet modem." this is for my PHONE! the "mac address" per their wording (and the back of my modem), is 8480C7A0546E, which of course doesn't come up anywhere when you google it.

This paragraph confuses me. First, you don't want to post your MAC address on a public forum. It's unlikly, but it can be used to steal service. Second, the MAC address is just a unique identifier. Its like a bar code on a cereal box. Did you maybe mean the IP address to access the modem? You MAC would never be used to sign into anything.

from a cox link:

"MAC Address Label

The S/N is the serial number of the DPQ3212 modem.

The CM MAC is the MAC address of the DPQ3212 modem."

this is the number i gave out.  it does not come up in a google & i do not think for a minute it's worthwhile.  just misinformation.

the address i saw earlier takes me to a log in, but it's for my internet router.  and someone else posted it. i thought it was all the same for everybody. needs a log in. which i can't duplicate. poor me.

what i WAS looking for was the ip address of the modem, to see if i can change any of the parameters there to my advantage. cox can't change what it does not acknowledge.

Looked through this manual looking for CPC or "Calling Party Control" option but couldn't find it. Basically, a answering machine can detect the end of a call two ways, from a lapse of current on the line or from a signal from the provider that the call has ended. For the later to work, your provider needs to be sending that signal, and the machine has to be able to understand it.

To test if that feature is working, have someone call you and start a conversation as normal, then have them hang up. Does the call end? If not, something is wrong and that might be the "line fault" the technician was talking about. At first I thought he may have been referring to the actual loud annoying sound you hear, but now I don't think thats the case. If the call does end, then Cox is sending that signal, your answering machine can't understand it. If thats the case, then the only other way around the problem is to set the recording time to less then it takes for that loud message to play. If you want to know how long that is, just pick up the phone, get a dial tone, and time until you hear the message.

The other option would be to turn the answer machine feature off on the phone, and get voice mail from Cox. I don't normally suggest throwing money at a problem, but if Voicemail already comes free with your bundle, that may be more convenient for you.

PS. For more info, see this thread that I found useful answering this thread.

socal transplant said:
this is the number i gave out.  it does not come up in a google & i do not think for a minute it's worthwhile.  just misinformation.

Yes, your MAC address doesn't come up in google just like your socail security wouldn't bring up anything in google(atleast I hope not!). It has nothing to do with accessing the modem, or configuring it..it's just a label. What I don't understand is what it had to do with the current conversation.

socal transplant said:
what i WAS looking for was the ip address of the modem

That should be 192.168.100.1 but ONLY if your connected to the DPQ3212 modem via your network, or in this case, if you connected your laptop to it for testing purposes. If you have a different modem/gateway for internet, then that IP will bring up THAT modem, because thats what your computer is connecting through.

health, i don't see anything in the phone manual either, but isn't it the same as 'flash time?"  that's how i interpreted this.

also, yes! the thread you referenced is just what is happening. i knew all along i wasn't crazy.  this happens to people.

and i think i can guess what the cause is, but my husband & i will play with the line tomorrow & see if it hangs up and how long it takes.

we are having a lot of interaction with a neighbor right now (building a new fence) and i've noticed a lag time after she hangs up before dial tone quits.  but it's seconds.

based on a prior post, maybe it's time to bite the bullet & buy new phones with more sophisticated technology. i tend to hang on as long as it's 'working."

socal transplant said:
but isn't it the same as 'flash time?

No, flash time is the length of signal that the phone sends TO Cox when you press the flash button. In most cases, this is to enable call waiting. We want the reverse, we need the answering machine to understand a signal FROM Cox.

socal transplant said:
based on a prior post, maybe it's time to bite the bullet & buy new phones with more sophisticated technology

I would call Cox first and see what's available with the phone package you already have. Alot of times, Voicemail is included, just not enabled on the account. If you told them you had a answer machine, they would have disabled it so not to cause conflicts. If you call Cox and find out voice mail will cost more money, then it's just a choice of which is cheaper and which one you prefer.

thanks for clarification health. i worked for southern bell many MANY years ago so i follow some of the lingo.  but the world has changed & it doesn't always mean the same thing these days. by dad was 25 years with western electric & 10 more with southern belle.  this has just changed sooo much!

thanks all for not making fun!~

update! i bought a new panasonic phone system. KX-TGE263. tonight i got my first call that trigger the "phone off hook" on it!

THIS IS NOT MY PHONE!  THIS IS COX!!

health, we tried the call, talk, hang up. it does take a second or two before i have dial tone. is that enough to cause this?

why can't a cox moderator even take notice of this issue?

ask the engineers, who BUILT the phone system, IF cox uses open loop disconnect, and what time sequence is used. in other words, surely they can access their specs.

does anybody out there know how cox phone works? i read that some companies have shut off the open loop to "prevent toll fraud." if they have no interval set, that could be my problem. but if they can't tell me, how can they set it up?

stephanie? becky? ANYBODY out there?

this would be the first of 250 calls i could block...but it was from "unknown" at "unavailable" number.  how the *** do i block that? it shouldn't even be legal.

Hi social,

The purpose of our forums is to allow customers to help each other in service issues. We will only jump in when needed. The thread was flowing in the same trouble shooting process we would have taken and therefore didn’t engage the conversation. 

We still use the POTS and only use VOIP when routing calls on our network.

Were you able to confirm if the answering machine hangs up when someone does leave a message? Do you have any other phones in your home? Does your phone base have satellite phones? 

if someone actually LEAVES a message, the phone cuts off fine when they hang up, although frequently there's a minute or so of dial tone, so i'd say it's not immediate.

if however they hang up just as the machine starts to answer, that's when it does not cut off. it continues to record the "phone off hook" message right thru the beeping.

i have 3 phones in the house, but only one line & only one answering machine.it's a system. and it's only 5 minutes old...latest & greatest technology. i say this because the first thing cox does every time there's an issue is blame it on my equipment. i don't see how it can be. i don't believe there's any "satellite" involvement, or by that do you mean that they all work off one base? that would be a yes.

thank you for your definitive statement about how cox's system works. now i have something to investigate.

well another couple of hours wasted.  i guess this really doesn't answer my question, which was

does cox use open loop disconnect (in other words, CPC calling party control), and what time sequence is used?

btw, i am "socal," not "social."