Dell 1815DN Picking up regular phone calls!!

Tactical:

I wish I could help, because then I wouldn't be having the exact same problem! Nothing more annoying to customers than having the line go dead in the middle of a call. I find that if I hit the cancel button on the 1815 soon enough, the customer only gets a few seconds of dead air and the call isn't disconnected. I am about to try the solution to the "not all faxes come through" problem, and if no success with that, this printer becomes an expensive paperweight. It is a shame, really, because except for these two "deal breaking" problems, there is a lot to like. But I can't run a business with a fax machine that is selective in what it receives, and hangs up on customers!

Mike

Ya; I have the exact same problem. I'm going to call Dell today, but it's sort of funny. Just picks up as if the phone was ringing; except you're already on a call. And it isn't call waiting either; I tried, it doesn't trigger it.

If you receive a call, it'll check and everything's cool.
After a while, it miraculously starts humming.

Same going out. It'll just start connecting after a while.

Everything else is working great! I've got a single line with a TAD connected to it and other phones setup throughout the house (that aren't directly connected to the back of the 1815dn.

Answering machine is working great; fax receives and sends fine, except this one problem. Can't quite put my finger on it...

It'll probably end up being a firmware upgrade of some sort? Haven't been able to find any.

Both of my problems were solved by updating both the driver and the firmware. Hopefully this will solve it for you two as well.

Mike

Thought that would have fixed it. Same thing happening today, after upgrading to V1.03.02.06. Anybody aware of a newer firmware upgrade to fix this problem?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Nah. That's not the problem.
In that case, the setting on the Fax won't allow it to pick up any fax calls.

In this case, it picks up calls; (and more than we want it to).

In the middle of a voice conversation, the fax decides to pick up the line and start humming for no apparent reason.

Get this. I emailed into Dell Tech Support and they closed the case without a single reply. All I heard in the past is that they provide outstanding support; geez, wasn't my experience! :o)

I figure I might as well take it as it is and decide not to buy Dell again.

Ozyov

So it looks like the problem is fixed.
After calling Dell, the nicest lady actually answered the phone and guided me though the fix.

Basically, I did need to do the upgrade to the new firmware, but it appears that the old software leaves user settings still intact.

You have to do a flash reset, in order to get it to start working properly (even after upgrading the flash).

Here's how you do the flash reset (causion, because you'll erase all your settings):

1. Go to Menu.
2. Go to Network CFG.
3. Go to Clear Settings and say Yes.
4. Still in Menu, go to Maintenance.
5. Go to Clear Settings and say Yes to clear All Settings.
6. Once the printer comes up, you'll have to re-configure EVERYTHING!

I haven't experienced this problem for at least a month and a half. Ozy

Nope. That's all I did. Still counting without a pickup.
Did you update to the latest firmware (before the reset)?

==============//==============

Basically, here's my setup:

1815dn plugged into the phone jack.
Answering machine plugged into the 1815dn.
The receive mode is at DRPD* with Rings to Answer set at 3.
The answering machine's Rings to Answer is set at 4.

I would receive or make calls and after about 10 minutes, the thing would start humming on the line.

Being in the tech industry; I figured; new firmware? There it was; version A02 (1.03.03.08).

So I downloaded it and upgraded it (over the network). Took about 15 minutes to complete (you might want to do it with a UPS (just in case the power goes out); I risked it not realizing how long it was going to take).

After the upgrade, the problem was still there. After a few frustrating calls with Dell techsupport, I finally got in touch with this lady. Basically, she got me to do the reset (just like I mentioned earlyer). To date, still hasn't picked up any of the calls. We're usually on the phone longer than 15 minutes.

Maybe there's something different in your setup? It worked for me...
Just to verify, the webserver on the printer says it's at firmware version: V4.01.15(1815dn) 05-27-2006. This can be found under Printer Settings >> Print Server Setup Page

Ozy

Message Edited by ozyov on 03-18-2007 08:22 PM

Ozy-- Mine says Firmware Revision: V4.01.26(1815dn) 10-26-2006 You would think that my newer firmware would be better?

Hey Mathieu,

You have perfectly described the same issue I've got. I'll try the solution-- firmware update and reset-- and let you know if it resolves the issue.

Thanks,
Ethan