Forum Discussion

bangpowzoom's avatar
bangpowzoom
New Contributor
4 years ago

Non-Cox home alarm stopped being able to dial out to alarm monitoring center on April 6.

Our home alarm system has worked fine with Cox phone service for over 10 years now.  But on April 6 it stopped working and started getting a failed communication error.  After various troubleshooting steps and verifying that all wiring was fine, I found the following:

1.  If I call the number the alarm system is dialing from my Cox phone line, I get a message saying that the number has been disconnected or is no longer in service.

2.  If I call the number from my cell phone, I get an answer and an immediate computer/modem tone, as expected.

I tried working with someone via Cox live chat, but had difficulty getting them to understand the situation and gave up when I was told that they couldn't/wouldn't escalate my issue because they did not find any numbers blocked on my account, so they couldn't help me.  Cox should seriously re-think their live chat personnel training, because telling a customer with a technical issue that they can't help and won't escalate does not generate a positive image in any way.  In fact, that one interaction has me already seriously considering switching service providers for phone and Internet to a different company.

Just to be certain, I contacted my alarm service provider next and verified that they have not disconnected or terminated service on any of the local alarm access numbers.  I double checked and verified that I still got a disconnected message when dialing the alarm monitoring number from the Cox phone, and that I got an answer by a computer/modem when calling from other service providers.  So, it's back to Cox to try and get this issue resolved.

I need to know how to contact someone who is competent and willing to go beyond checking my account to sort out this issue.  Since the options shown on the web site are to use the live chat, show up at a Cox store, or use the support forum, I'm trying here (I shouldn't have to spend my time and fuel to try and get someone at Cox to look into what they changed which broke my alarm system's monitoring).  It would be nice if the web site's "Contact Cox" page had a number to call for local support if needed, or at least a number for issues that the live chat people are clearly not equipped to help with.

call blocking
Cox
phone
  • JIMMYSAB's avatar
    JIMMYSAB
    New Contributor III
    4 years ago

    Are you on fiber? The set up in some cases involves 3 pieces of equipment:

    1. A white Nokia modem (aka ONT) for the fiber line

    2. A black modem being fed with both an Ethernet from the fiber box above AND coaxial line (which is actually split to feed the phone modem below)

    3. Phone model being fed by a coaxial cable

    I ask because this set up does not support VOIP and the alarm company phone number may be a digital number with an IP network set up (very likely as most companies do this when they need lots of phone numbers). If so, maybe ask your alarm company to assign you a non VOIP number. Another way to test this is turn off your cellular radio on your phone (assuming you have an iPhone). Then enter your cellular menu and enable “wifi calling” and attempt to manually call the alarm number. If it fails, then you know VOIP is the culprit. 

    good luck. 

    • bangpowzoom's avatar
      bangpowzoom
      New Contributor
      4 years ago

      We are still coax to the house, split to cable modem and Cox provided Arris modem which provides dialtone and such.  So basically option 3.

      I'm not using an iPhone (prefer the customization options with Android), but have tested the number using my Google Voice number from the app on my phone and it rings through to the alarm company and gets the modem answering tone.  I'm also able to call the number without issue from my work computer's Skype connection.  The only time I get the error saying that the number has been disconnected is when I dial it from my Cox connected phone.

      • Bruce's avatar
        Bruce
        Honored Contributor III
        4 years ago

        Can you dial and connect to any other telephone number via your Cox-connected phone?

        Cox provided Arris device providing dialtone to the house

        Not to be a pain, but could you upload an image of this device?

  • Andrew_Wees's avatar
    Andrew_Wees
    Contributor III
    4 years ago

    Did your area have phone line outside then switch to voip all inside?

    • bangpowzoom's avatar
      bangpowzoom
      New Contributor
      4 years ago

      No, this has been working for over 10 years with the same hardware and phone line (including the Cox provided Arris device providing dialtone to the house).  It has worked fine until April 6 when something changed.

      • Andrew_Wees's avatar
        Andrew_Wees
        Contributor III
        4 years ago

        Did you always have your phone modem inside the house or was the phone line coming from outside like most pots lines?