Phone Company Services May Disrupt Modem Functionality

When you try to dial out, you may experience several repeated tones and then receive one of the following error messages: NOTE: The number in the error message may be 630 or 692 instead of 680.

Windows 95

Windows NT

This behavior can occur if you are using any type of service provided by your phone company that utilizes distinctive dial tones.

To resolve this issue, use the appropriate method:

Method 1

Call the answering service and remove any messages in storage.

Method 2

Add multiple commas before the number to be dialed. To do so, use the following steps:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click Modems, and then click Dialing Properties.
3. In the "To access an outside line, first dial" box, add commas. For example, to enter a number to access an outside line, it would appear as: ",,,9" without quotation marks.
4. Click OK, click OK, and then close Control Panel.

Method 3

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click Modems, click your modem, and then click Properties.
3. Click the Connection tab, and then click the "Wait for dial tone before dialing" check box to clear it.
4. Click OK, click Close, and then close Control Panel.

There are services provided by phone companies that use distinctive dial tones. These types of systems answer incoming calls at a specified number of rings and automatically takes messages for you. When a message is received the service informs you of a stored message by beeping the dial tone when you pick up the line. Once the beeping has stopped, you can dial out normally. The modem detects this as no dial tone or a failed response.