@Dashrender said in POTS line replacement:

@scottalanmiller said in POTS line replacement:

@Pete-S said in POTS line replacement:

@pmoncho said in POTS line replacement:

@Pete-S said in POTS line replacement:

@pmoncho said in POTS line replacement:

We also have a call into our Security/Fire Alarm company on the costs of a replacement alarm system is and if it can work over cellular. We will then see which will have the best ROI depending on years of service.

It's highly unlikely that you need to replace the alarm system, as most commercial security systems can be expanded with different modules. Moving from POTS to IP or cellular is very common.

It's also very possible that your alarm system will not work over your AT&T ATA (POTS emulation). Some alarm systems don't use the same signaling as a modem or fax would.

I found the manual online and this is the section describing the transmitter itself.

"Digital Alarm Communicator/Transmitter
Two modular phone jacks allow easy connection to telephone lines. Modular jacks are labeled PH1 for Primary Phone Line and PH2 for
Secondary Phone Line. Two telephone line active red LEDs are provided as well as a green Kissoff LED. The integral digital communicator provides the following functions:
• Line Seizure: takes control of the phone lines disconnecting any premises phones
• Off/On Hook: performs on and off-hook status to the phone lines
• Listen for dial tone: 440 Hz tone typical in most networks
• Dialing the Central Station(s) number: default is Touch-Tone, programmable to rotary
• For tone burst or touchtone type formats: discern proper Ack and Kissoff tone(s). The frequency and time duration of the tone(s)
varies with the transmission format. The control panel will adjust accordingly.
• Communicate in the following formats:
Ademco Contact ID
SIA-DCS-8
SIA-DCS-20"

With regards to signaling, this is the only thing that stuck out to me.

It has for sure more capability than your typical ATA. For instance I've never seen line seizure, off/on hook and rotary dialing. It's likely that they use a specific codec optimized for tones and not talk as well.

Yeah, never seen line seizure either.

Odd, I've definitely seen/heard of this before.

I believe the line seizure in the Fire Alarm is to knock off any device currently using the line to send alert signal in case of a fire.

@scottalanmiller said in POTS line replacement:

@Pete-S said in POTS line replacement:

@pmoncho said in POTS line replacement:

@Pete-S said in POTS line replacement:

@pmoncho said in POTS line replacement:

We also have a call into our Security/Fire Alarm company on the costs of a replacement alarm system is and if it can work over cellular. We will then see which will have the best ROI depending on years of service.

It's highly unlikely that you need to replace the alarm system, as most commercial security systems can be expanded with different modules. Moving from POTS to IP or cellular is very common.

It's also very possible that your alarm system will not work over your AT&T ATA (POTS emulation). Some alarm systems don't use the same signaling as a modem or fax would.

I found the manual online and this is the section describing the transmitter itself.

"Digital Alarm Communicator/Transmitter
Two modular phone jacks allow easy connection to telephone lines. Modular jacks are labeled PH1 for Primary Phone Line and PH2 for
Secondary Phone Line. Two telephone line active red LEDs are provided as well as a green Kissoff LED. The integral digital communicator provides the following functions:
• Line Seizure: takes control of the phone lines disconnecting any premises phones
• Off/On Hook: performs on and off-hook status to the phone lines
• Listen for dial tone: 440 Hz tone typical in most networks
• Dialing the Central Station(s) number: default is Touch-Tone, programmable to rotary
• For tone burst or touchtone type formats: discern proper Ack and Kissoff tone(s). The frequency and time duration of the tone(s)
varies with the transmission format. The control panel will adjust accordingly.
• Communicate in the following formats:
Ademco Contact ID
SIA-DCS-8
SIA-DCS-20"

With regards to signaling, this is the only thing that stuck out to me.

It has for sure more capability than your typical ATA. For instance I've never seen line seizure, off/on hook and rotary dialing. It's likely that they use a specific codec optimized for tones and not talk as well.

Yeah, never seen line seizure either. Of course, there are no lines to seize so the issue should be moot.

Also @Pete-S

My apologies for not specifying. This is from the fire alarm manual not the ATA.

@Pete-S said in POTS line replacement:

@pmoncho said in POTS line replacement:

We also have a call into our Security/Fire Alarm company on the costs of a replacement alarm system is and if it can work over cellular. We will then see which will have the best ROI depending on years of service.

It's highly unlikely that you need to replace the alarm system, as most commercial security systems can be expanded with different modules. Moving from POTS to IP or cellular is very common.

It's also very possible that your alarm system will not work over your AT&T ATA (POTS emulation). Some alarm systems don't use the same signaling as a modem or fax would.

I found the manual online and this is the section describing the transmitter itself.

"Digital Alarm Communicator/Transmitter
Two modular phone jacks allow easy connection to telephone lines. Modular jacks are labeled PH1 for Primary Phone Line and PH2 for
Secondary Phone Line. Two telephone line active red LEDs are provided as well as a green Kissoff LED. The integral digital communicator provides the following functions:
• Line Seizure: takes control of the phone lines disconnecting any premises phones
• Off/On Hook: performs on and off-hook status to the phone lines
• Listen for dial tone: 440 Hz tone typical in most networks
• Dialing the Central Station(s) number: default is Touch-Tone, programmable to rotary
• For tone burst or touchtone type formats: discern proper Ack and Kissoff tone(s). The frequency and time duration of the tone(s)
varies with the transmission format. The control panel will adjust accordingly.
• Communicate in the following formats:
Ademco Contact ID
SIA-DCS-8
SIA-DCS-20"

With regards to signaling, this is the only thing that stuck out to me.

@scottalanmiller said in POTS line replacement:

@pmoncho said in POTS line replacement:

Our POTS line pricing was bumped again and with a call to AT&T we found out that there as a "newish" service AT&T Phone for Business Advanced. This service is suppose to be the replacement for specialty analog lines like Security/Fire Systems, elevators and such. The cost with 3-5 lines is significantly cheaper than our current bill.

It POTS is a requirement, then obviously this isn't an option for you. If this is an option (to leave POTS), why not leave to a business class modern phone system?

First rule of phones: rule out your local infrastructure provider as a potential candidate. It's the one company it is never safe to use.

I was pushed to the local infrastructure company. No one else will provide POTS to our building. CenturyLink (aka Lumous) called one day last year ans basically said bye-bye we're done in a few weeks, figure it out.

I can't convince higher ups to force clients to scan to PDF and then secure email files. Freaking annoying.

@Pete-S said in POTS line replacement:

@pmoncho said in POTS line replacement:

Our POTS line pricing was bumped again

Everything that involves POTS will increase in price exponentially as the companies are trying to get rid of their copper installations.

That will include ATAs as well as they will become more and more legacy, less and less common and more expensive to support.

So I believe the best option is to move away completely from POTS to something current as soon as possible - instead of trying to limp along another year.

Agreed. We are seeing all this now. I saw it earlier, especially when I believe @JaredBusch posted about the new FCC regulations about getting rid of POTS a year or so ago.

@JaredBusch said in POTS line replacement:

@pmoncho said in POTS line replacement:

We also kept one other POTS line for our main fax line also (not my call).

So sorry. Look into http://faxback.com
This is the service that Skyetel uses under the hood for their HTTPS based ATA fax device. If you already have Skyetel service, then just use it there.

We do have one fax line through our VOIP service but is does have it's issues. I noticed others here have talked about their fax service so I am going to check that out this week.

@JaredBusch said in POTS line replacement:

@pmoncho said in POTS line replacement:

Basically they connect to our network and install their "Phone for Business - Advanced device" (I'm guessing just a suped up ATA device) which will allows up to 8 analog that connect to a 66 Block.

You are guessing correctly. It is just a fancy ATA.
Because it is AT&T, I would assume that they are using T1 protocol delivered over IPv4/IPv6 or something similar.

We use to have T1s split out by an MSDT (that is what the old old phone company called them) for 24 lines that worked fine for the alarm system. If it is the same but cut down to 8 then it should work. I just hate the fact they want to charge $500 for this damn device.

Thanks for all the information

We do have VOIP for our normal phone system and I am definitely looking for a replacement for our fax line.

This is one of those times where IT is not the final say regarding equipment. Now that costs are way out of whack, my recommendations are finally being heard. Funny how that works

Our fire system is over 14+ years old and at this time there are no modules available for cellular. I checked myself on this a few months ago but I am harping on our Security service guy to look deeper in case I missed something. We investigated that when Century Link dumped all copper lines in our area last year on a dime. That forced us to go AT&T within two weeks.

We are currently required to have POTS lines for our current fire alarm system which is a PTIA. We also kept one other POTS line for our main fax line also (not my call).

Our POTS line pricing was bumped again and with a call to AT&T we found out that there as a "newish" service AT&T Phone for Business Advanced. This service is suppose to be the replacement for specialty analog lines like Security/Fire Systems, elevators and such. The cost with 3-5 lines is significantly cheaper than our current bill.

Basically they connect to our network and install their "Phone for Business - Advanced device" (I'm guessing just a suped up ATA device) which will allows up to 8 analog that connect to a 66 Block.

I was wondering if anyone else out there has/seen/installed/messed with this service? Also wondering exactly what this "Advanced Device" actually is that they want to charge about $500 for (BIG UGH).

We also have a call into our Security/Fire Alarm company on the costs of a replacement alarm system is and if it can work over cellular. We will then see which will have the best ROI depending on years of service.

@scottalanmiller said in Email auto CC:

@WrCombs said in Email auto CC:

@Pete-S said in Email auto CC:

@WrCombs said in Email auto CC:

Can someone help me understand GSuite email admin stuff??
Customer opened ticket to add her as a CC on another employees emails - we set up the rule yesterday and tested - worked fine from my understanding but ticket was reopened with the notes that when the employee who is copied emails send an email to the other employee from the email that is supposed to be cc'd on all incoming emails - there is no response /cc notification - My thought is because its coming from email that is supposed to be CC'd it's not sending the CC to prevent loop back emails - but I dont know much about it.

anyone have any insight?

Contact google support instead. They are there to help you and they should know how it is suppose to work and what settings to check if it doesn't. And they can probably see things in your account that you can't.

Gotcha. My manager and I were bouncing ideas off of each other on this one and we came to the conclusion that google is being to smart for it's own good - Like it's not copying her on emails being sent to that other employees email from the CC'd email to prevent loop back emails - we explained this to the customer -

Maybe a good chance to step back and figure out the end goal. Why would she want to be CC'd on her own email?

A few users do that here. I asked why and the individuals stated that it was reassurance that the email went out if they see one come into their own mailbox.

I decided to win a different battle.

@Dashrender said in Per User RDP license check:

@pmoncho said in Per User RDP license check:

I want to install a piece of software on the license server this afternoon to finish off a project and it will require a reboot.

I wanted to reboot it in the middle of the day but don't want to cause an issue and get "The remote session was disconnected because there are no Remote Desktop License Servers available ...."

Don't need 30-40 calling with an issue.

wow - OK... While my gut tells me you'd be fine - the issue I would expect you to POSSIBLY get is someone trying to sign in right while the reboot is happening - but otherwise I would expect everything else to just stay running. But don't really know.

I was thinking the same thing. As they say, timing is everything.

Hell hath no fury, like a medical receptionist scorned.

I want to install a piece of software on the license server this afternoon to finish off a project and it will require a reboot.

I wanted to reboot it in the middle of the day but don't want to cause an issue and get "The remote session was disconnected because there are no Remote Desktop License Servers available ...."

Don't need 30-40 calling with an issue.

Poor google-fu today so unable to find a definitive answer.

On Windows 2019 RDS server with Per User licensing, How often does it check the license server for a valid license?

Is it only on the login or does it check throughout the day?

@nadnerB said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

Upgrading Ubuntu on my pi-hole.
Missed the easy upgrade window because... well I forgot to check on it.

Did mine yesterday. I don't have to visit the pi-hole often and forget to upgrade to new OS version.

@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

@pmoncho said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

@nadnerB said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

Projects for new deployments of things, like a phone system or managed services needs to have a discovery phase where the vendor checks what they are deploying into.

I used to think that ^this^ was standard practice.
Apparently it's not, and I'd like to point out that a significant amount of the issues across a few projects that we've had over the last few years COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED.

So much facedesk... That reminds me I need a new desk, this one has a head shaped hole that suddenly appeared.

Help reduce the pain of your next facedesk. It will also reduce wear and tear on your next desk.

I would just sweat and sweat. It would be awful.

lol. Yeah, I thought the same thing. After a while, It would get pretty nasty in there.

It sure does look comfortable, especially if your in a shaded park snoozing up against a tree.

@nadnerB said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

@pmoncho said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

@nadnerB said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

@pmoncho said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

@nadnerB said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

Projects for new deployments of things, like a phone system or managed services needs to have a discovery phase where the vendor checks what they are deploying into.

I used to think that ^this^ was standard practice.
Apparently it's not, and I'd like to point out that a significant amount of the issues across a few projects that we've had over the last few years COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED.

So much facedesk... That reminds me I need a new desk, this one has a head shaped hole that suddenly appeared.

Help reduce the pain of your next facedesk. It will also reduce wear and tear on your next desk.

Are those bult in speakers?
That's some pretty awesome meatware avoidance happening right there!

May have to get a bunch for the team.

Those are for your hands. Google Ostrich Pillow. They have been around a while.

That's awesome

My wife and I have laughed about them and were about to buy one. Though at the time, a few years ago, they still wanted like $129 for one so we declined.

@nadnerB said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

@pmoncho said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

@nadnerB said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

Projects for new deployments of things, like a phone system or managed services needs to have a discovery phase where the vendor checks what they are deploying into.

I used to think that ^this^ was standard practice.
Apparently it's not, and I'd like to point out that a significant amount of the issues across a few projects that we've had over the last few years COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED.

So much facedesk... That reminds me I need a new desk, this one has a head shaped hole that suddenly appeared.

Help reduce the pain of your next facedesk. It will also reduce wear and tear on your next desk.

Are those bult in speakers?
That's some pretty awesome meatware avoidance happening right there!

May have to get a bunch for the team.

Those are for your hands. Google Ostrich Pillow. They have been around a while.

@nadnerB said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

Projects for new deployments of things, like a phone system or managed services needs to have a discovery phase where the vendor checks what they are deploying into.

I used to think that ^this^ was standard practice.
Apparently it's not, and I'd like to point out that a significant amount of the issues across a few projects that we've had over the last few years COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED.

So much facedesk... That reminds me I need a new desk, this one has a head shaped hole that suddenly appeared.

Help reduce the pain of your next facedesk. It will also reduce wear and tear on your next desk.

@scottalanmiller said in Why have mass shootings increased - you thoughts?:

@pmoncho said in Why have mass shootings increased - you thoughts?:

If not then, I think the parents/adults believe it is for their children's mental protection and will do anything to not let them feel bad. The rest of the planet knows in the long term the mockery is detrimental to their children's future.

As a parent, I think exactly the opposite and I see the toll the constant mockery has on others. Kids know very well when they get "praised" for doing badly.

I agree.

@scottalanmiller said in Why have mass shootings increased - you thoughts?:

@pmoncho said in Why have mass shootings increased - you thoughts?:

@scottalanmiller said in Why have mass shootings increased - you thoughts?:

@pmoncho said in Why have mass shootings increased - you thoughts?:

@Dashrender said in Why have mass shootings increased - you thoughts?:

@pmoncho said in Why have mass shootings increased - you thoughts?:

Another possible reason I thought of was, sheer boredom with "idle hands."

Heck, "They started quarreling out of sheer boredom" is used as the example in the Cambridge dictionary.

So to that end:

I'm wondering if lately, the whole trophy for everyone/entitlement mentality is a driving force for younger people doing this.

It's possible. One would think inclusion would give a sense of pride but maybe it is having the reverse affect.

Participation trophies are a form of mockery, not inclusion.

That I totally understand. It seems that the ones handing them out, don't.

Why doesn't it seem that way? I think that they seem pretty clear on their mockery and not taking the kids seriously in any way end to end. Every witnessed education at play in the US? It's mockery to them, for sure.

If they know it then why do it unless they expect something in return?

If not then, I think the parents/adults believe it is for their children's mental protection and will do anything to not let them feel bad. The rest of the planet knows in the long term the mockery is detrimental to their children's future.