Re: Comcast Telephone Service????

[Nomen Nescio <nobody@xxxxxxxxx>]

ABLE_1 said:

>I think that what Comcast is doing is just changing the name but it is still
>VoIP.  I am presently on HOLD with Comcast to as some S-P-E-C-I-A-L
>questions.  This should be fun trying to get some chickie babe to get out of
>the marketing script and give some good info.  Will report what I learn,
>that is I can learn anything.

I found some interesting information on the net, which might help explain
why some VOIP works better with alarm systems than others.

It seems that transmitting touch-tones is a known problem with some VOIP
systems, and it has to do with the "codec" being used.  The codec is the
equipment or program that converts digital data into voice, and vice versa.
Codecs based on the G.711 standard transmit touch-tones seamlessly, but
they generate a 64kbps output.  Other codecs, such as the G.729, compress
things down to an 8kbps data stream, which apparently raises hell with
touch-tones.  Even when using a "full rate" codec such as the G.711, it
helps if "echo cancellation" and "silence suppression" are turned off, but
I have no idea who does that, or how.  The 8kbps codecs presumably cost
less and allow more calls to fit within the same bandwidth.

So, the key to determining whether an alarm system will work on a VOIP
system may be to determine the type of codec that is used by the VOIP
interface.  Assuming the cable companies won't tell or don't know, googling
the part number might produce some useful information.

- badenov