Snom m3: An ongoing review

[discodave1977]

I've had my m3's in service for a couple of days, here is what I've noticed so far:

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My wife found a problem with the phone today. She tried calling me at work (using the m3), and goes through the backdoor number we have there, read: IVR. She tried entering my ext # and it wouldn't work. She tried a number of times thinking she mistyped it. When she told me I knew that the DTMF tones were not being registered.

When I got home I tried duplicating the issue on the m3, and of course I could. My analog DECT phone connected to the spa3000 and my soft phones all worked. My ext is 3233 and all the IVR could pick up was 33. So into the m3 phone config I go and I change the setting to SIP INFO which works when the call is routed locally through my spa3000. If I try going through my ITSP it does not register tones at all, DTMF2833, SIP INFO or Inband. I read somewhere that I could adjust the VOIP provider dtmfmode settings. The setting Link2VOIP gave me was auto, so I tried rfc2833, SIP INFO & Inband in that order. Inband finally worked. My backup ITSP Les.net does not use this setting and it seems to work.

I'm not sure if this will cause other IVR's to not accept my tones, but at least this makes my wife happy. She can now call me at work. WaF still holding strong.

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The other issue is all incoming calls are registered as missed on the m3. When I answer a call on it it registers as missed and answered. I'm not sure if this is because I have incoming PSTN calls routed to a ring group (2x m3 and an ATA). I'll try to test this some more.

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The hand set is quite clear on VOIP calls, but can be a tad choppy on local calls through my spa3000. This is most likely the SPA's problem. I've toned down the SPA to PSTN and PSTN to SPA gain a tad to see if this is the issue. I had it at 7, turned it down to 5. I thought that 3 was just a lil too quiet.

The speaker phone works well if you keep the volume down (2 or 3), if it is too high or the caller talks loud you will get some feedback and echo. This applies to PSTN and VOIP calls.

 

[jmullinix]

I have noticed that occasionaly, my M3 will drop a call when I answer it. I will post a bug with Snom and see if they have seen it. I am running 1.16 firmware on mine.

 

[wardmundy]

John: Be sure you upgrade your M3s to the latest beta release. Under the Advanced tab in the web interface, change the firmware path to: /m3/beta/.

That seems to have fixed the dropped calls issue. The missed call syndrome is because each phone considers itself independent so, if you have an extension ringing on multiple phones, the ones that don't pick up the call will show the missed call message. Pretty dumb software design and hopefully it'll get fixed in another 10 or 12 updates.

 

[jmullinix]

Ward, It looks like the most recent Beta is 1.15 and I am currently at 1.16, stable. Thanks for the idea though.

 

[discodave1977]

John: Be sure you upgrade your M3s to the latest beta release. Under the Advanced tab in the web interface, change the firmware path to: /m3/beta/.

I'm on 1.16 as well.

That seems to have fixed the dropped calls issue. The missed call syndrome is because each phone considers itself independent so, if you have an extension ringing on multiple phones, the ones that don't pick up the call will show the missed call message. Pretty dumb software design and hopefully it'll get fixed in another 10 or 12 updates.

In my case each phone is its own ext. If a call comes in both phones ring as they are in the same ring group. If I answer the call on phone A, it will get a missed call and answered call listed on it. Phone B will only get the missed call (not a big problem, the "did miss the call"). Is this the same issue you see Ward?

 

[discodave1977]

I have noticed that occasionaly, my M3 will drop a call when I answer it. I will post a bug with Snom and see if they have seen it. I am running 1.16 firmware on mine.

Any word back from Snom on this dropped call issue? I am seeing calls dropped when I call out and when calls come in.

 

[jehowe]

I have three handsets running 1.16 firmware and do not have the dropped call issue. A couple of FW revisions ago, I did experience call drops where it appeared the base would reset (handsets would display "searching for gateway"). The FW release prior to 1.16 seemed to have fixed that issue for me.

We use these phones a lot (a household with three teens and an active pre-teen at home), and this latest firmware has been very reliable, fingers crossed.

 

[discodave1977]

I dont think this is the registration issue, the phones do not display anything about searching for gateway, the call is just dropped. I had thought it was my Sipura SPA-3000 that was causing the issue, but the wife called someone LD and it dropped on her.

 

[discodave1977]

The m3's and PiaF are out of service. My wife got sick of the dropped calls, and poor audio through the spa-3000.

 

[jehowe]

Sorry to hear that discodave. If you are only using a pots trunk, I'd be tempted to try a pay-as-you-go voip provider and see what the differences are. By eliminating the SPA-3000, you should be able to find the source- or at least get closer to it.

 

[discodave1977]

I took the ATA out of the loop and started using the m3 as a long distance phone only, and still got some dropped calls.

Now I'm wondering if my ISP (Sympatico) is putting my VOIP traffic on the bottom of the priority tree.

 

[mp3geek]

Any news on the DTMF issue? I have a customer with a couple of these with the latest firmware, and they are having the same issue, even internally (can't input the voicemail password). I found a temporary solution is to change the Snom and PBXIAF to SIP-INFO, apply the settings, then change back to rfc2833. They will work for a while and then start acting up again
I have a support ticket with Snom about it, I'll post here if I get a solution.

 

[discodave1977]

I changed it to Inband on the outgoing trunk and Inband on the m3. I had no issues after the change, but, it was only getting full usage for 2-3 weeks after the change.

I won't be trying the PiaF setup until I save up for a FXO card and convince the wife to try the system again.

Let me know what you hear back from Snom on the DTMF issue.

 

[gludwig333]

Purchase a SNOM M3 DECT Handset:

http://www.ludwigitservices.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=37

 

[TheShniz]

Why not just make a single 'Hello World... we sell VoIP stuff' rather than spamming threads?

 

[wardmundy]

Better yet, we'll sell you the SNOM M3's that we used for the Nerd Vittles writeups for half the retail price.

 

[shadih]

Better yet, we'll sell you the SNOM M3's that we used for the Nerd Vittles writeups for half the retail price.

hmmm... how new/old are they? Still in good shape I assume?

 

[wardmundy]

About 6 months old, all charged up, just like new. If you're interested, drop me a note and we can discuss off line.