• Yes!  No phone service is necessary.  No special wiring required.  All you need are phones.

There are no compatibility issues between cable phone service and the DoorBell Fon service.  However, please make sure to install the cable phone service so that the phone line coming out of the cable modem goes directly to the DoorBell Fon Main Controller where it is labeled “From TEL Company”.

The DoorBell Fon system will work with almost any phones.  The Motorola brand would be the only phones that have compatibility issues with our system.

Yes!  All updated versions of the DoorBell Fon products are made to work with older versions.  This means if you have a 20 year old Main Controller and want to get a new Door Station intercom, it will work!

There is no definitive number.  The maximum number of phones will depend on the total REN (Ring Equivalency Number).  This number is part of the FCC certification and represents the load that the telephone places on the phone line.  You can typically locate the number on the bottom of your phone set.  The maximum REN that the DoorBell Fon system will handle is 4.6.  If the sum total REN of all of your phones and other telephony devices exceed this number, then the DoorBell Fon system will not ring the phones.

Please note that the actual load a phone has can increase over time.  Older phones might have an actual REN much larger than what is printed.

Use the DP29CI Inbound Relay Trigger to activate your Chime.

The DoorBell Fon system will unlock the door that the phone is in communication with.

Bend out pins 10 and 11 from the removable chip that is inside the Main Controller.

The DoorBell Fon system has a distinctive ring pattern.  A normal phone ring will give you 1 second on, 3 seconds off.  The DoorBell Fon system will give you 1 second on, 1 second off for 3 ring cycles on Door 1.  Door 2 will give you a double ring for 1 second and 1 second off for 3 ring cycles.

If there is no distinction between a regular phone ring and a DoorBell Fon ring, that means the phone itself is generating its own ringtone and overriding what we send it.

Yes, one Main Controller can run two Door Station intercoms.  A total of four Main Controllers can be daisy chained together for a total of eight doors.

The DoorBell Fon system rings for 3 cycles.  If you wish for your answering machine to pick up on the door, set the answering machine to pick up under 3 rings.  If you wish for your answering to avoid picking up the door, set it to pick up after 4 or more rings.

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• Please connect the “To Phones” terminal from the Main Controller to a vacant FXO port instead of FXS.  Treat the DoorBell Fon as a trunk line instead of an extension device.
• If there is no POTS line connected to the Main Controller, please order a DP28N8NC chip and install it inside the Main Controller.  This will provide approximately 28V of line voltage on the output.

• If a regular doorbell button is being used instead of a Door Station intercom, remove any lights or LED’s inside the button
• If any add-on modules are being used such as part number DP29SW/IM or DP29CI, remove them one by one and see if the ringing stops

• The LED remains bright while I press the Door Station intercom button:  Power cycle the Main Controller by unplugging the power, waiting 20 seconds and plugging it back in.  If this does not clear up the issue, the Main Controller will have to be replaced.
• The LED turns off while I press the  Door Station intercom button: Remove the wires or cables from the output phone line labeled “To Phones”  on the Main Controller.  Check the LED to see if it still behaves the same way.  If the Door Station intercom is now ringing normally on the outside, that means there is an excessive load on the phone line.  Reconnect the phone line to “To Phones” and unplug all the phone sets directly.  Plug them back in one by one, checking the LED behaviour inbetween each one you plug in.  If the LED misbehaves before you plug even a single phone back in, then there is something foreign on the phone line.

• The phones still ring: Double-check the polarity on the door terminal.  If the positive and negative are reversed, the LED will not light up and there will be no communication.
• The phones no longer ring:  Check and replace the power fuse on the Main Controller.  It is labeled F1 on the PCB and is a 0.5A, 250VA slow-blow fuse.

• On the DoorBell Fon Main Controller, swap the Tip (T) and Ring (R) of the output phone line.  Some phones are sensitive to polarity, so flipping the polarity will fix the issue.

• The microphone, speaker, or circuit board might be bad. Please order a replacement part.
  

• If the Door Station faceplate is metal, please locate the R11 potentiometer on the Door Station circuit board. Turn the screw clockwise to increase the volume.
• heck the wiring between the Door Station and Main Controller. Use only one lead for each screw terminal. Do not double up if using twisted pairs.
• Bring the Door Station intercom directly to the Main Controller.  Connect it directly or with a short pair of wires.  If the volume is sufficient in this setting, the wiring to the door will have to be replaced.
  

• If your Door Station model has a metal faceplate, locate the R11 potentiometer on the circuit board.  Turn the yellow screwhead counterclockwise to lessen the squealing
• Examine the microphone to see if it has been knocked loose from its seating.  Reposition the microphone to make sure it lies flat against the faceplate.

• I have VoIP phone service from the cable company
  • Check for correct wiring: make sure the phone cord coming out of the cable modem/router is plugged directly into the DoorBell Fon controller to where it says “From TEL Company”.
  • Note:  If the cable modem is in a different part of the house, this will most likely result in backfeeding of dialtone into the DoorBell Fon controller.  It is common for this setup to work fine initially,  even for years, but eventually problems do come up and can even lead to damage to the controller
  • Bench test the controller: if there are no issues with the wiring, plug a phone directly into the DoorBell Fon controller into the jack labeled “.  Remove all other wires except for the ones on the door terminals.  Then try to ring the single phone that is plugged in.  If the phone does not ring, that means the controller needs to be replaced.  If possible, do the same test with a different phone to be more thorough.  If the phone does ring, that means there is an excessive load on the phone line.  This is most commonly caused by too many phones.  Unplug unused phones until the remaining phones are able to ring and purchase a ring booster to enable the other phones to ring.
• I have regular landline service from the phone company
  • Bench test the controller: if there are no issues with the wiring, plug a phone directly into the DoorBell Fon controller into the jack labeled “.  Remove all other wires except for the ones on the door terminals.  Then try to ring the single phone that is plugged in.  If the phone does not ring, that means the controller needs to be replaced.  If possible, do the same test with a different phone to be more thorough.  If the phone does ring, that means there is an excessive load on the phone line.  This is most commonly caused by too many phones.  Unplug unused phones until the remaining phones are able to ring and purchase a ring booster to enable the other phones to ring.
• I have no phone service
  • Bench test the controller: if there are no issues with the wiring, plug a phone directly into the DoorBell Fon controller into the jack labeled “.  Remove all other wires except for the ones on the door terminals.  Then try to ring the single phone that is plugged in.  If the phone does not ring, that means the controller needs to be replaced.  If possible, do the same test with a different phone to be more thorough.  If the phone does ring, that means there is an excessive load on the phone line.  This is most commonly caused by too many phones.  Unplug unused phones until the remaining phones are able to ring and purchase a ring booster to enable the other phones to ring.
• I have Panasonic phone sets
  • On the DoorBell Fon Main Controller, swap the Tip (T) and Ring (R) of the output phone line.  Some phones are sensitive to polarity, so flipping the polarity will fix the issue.

• Unplug the controller and turn the plug 180 degrees. Plug it back in.
• If you have DSL, the data and phone signal must be split before entering the Main Controller. The phone signal will go to the Main Controller and the data signal will bypass the Main Controller and go to the internet modem.
• If you have an alarm system, it needs to be installed in series before the Main Controller on the phone line.
• The static might be caused by the wiring.  To check this, bring the Door Station intercom directly to the Main Controller.  Connect it to a door terminal with a separate, short pair of wires.  If there is not static, the wiring will need to be replaced.

• The problem might be caused by the total REN (Ring Equivalency Number) of your telephone devices (answering machine, caller ID, phone sets.) The total REN should be under 4.6. If the total is over 4.6, you will need a ring booster.
• If the REN is less than 4.6, replace the F2 phone fuse in the DoorBell Fon Main Controller.
• Replace the F2 phone fuse with a 2AG 0.25-0.5A fast blow fuse.

• Unplug the power of the DoorBell Fon main controller. If there is still no dial-tone, check the fuses inside the controller.  Replace if necessary. F1 is a .5A/250VAC electrical fuse and F2 is a .25A/250VAC phone fuse.
• While unplugging the DoorBell Fon controller listen for a dial tone. While powering up the controller again, puck up the phone handset. If you get the Door Station instead of the dial-tone, then your phone set is a non-standard phone set. Non-standard phone sets will send an incorrect signal to the Doorbell Fon controller. You must replace the phone set to get a dial-tone.

Check to see if the LED light becomes brighter when the Door Station button is pushed. If this does not occur, check the (+) and (-) connections on door terminal of the DoorBell Fon Main Controller (black box).  Reverse the polarity if it is incorrect.  If this does not fix the issue, the Door Station intercom will need to be replaced.

• Please reseat the new chip and make sure there are no bent pins.

The microphone, speaker, or PCB on the Door Station intercom might be bad.  Please order replacement parts from the online store here.