Hello,

We've had our BeoCom 3 for several years now and I noticed years ago that the time would unjustifiedly be 5 or 10 minutes slow from time to time, although sometimes the phone would keep the time correctly for entire weeks.  I attributed it of course to power interruptions while I was away from the house, etc.

Well, I've just spent 4 days in a row at home while using this phone and I know:

1.  I've had to move forward the clock every day manually by about 10 minutes.  Oddly enough, the jump seems to occur at night, because during the day the clock is fine!

2.  Electric supply hasn't gone off because the oven's clock and the microwave's clocks and the BS 3000 clock, all of which are strictly electric, are all fine.

After experiencing the software issues with BeoCom 5, I am wondering whether the Telephony division is in the habit of releasing, shall we say, less than "well-done" sw?  Could it be that my software version is an "early" version?  Can the sw be updated?

Any thoughts will be appreciated.

Hi,

I have never heard about this sort of problems with the Beocom 3 before... Have you tried turning off the Beocom 3 for a couple of minutes? Just to verify if this is some temporary state or if it is something that keeps happening?
Have you tried writing to B&O on this issue?

I can't remember if the Beocom 3 US can be updated - the Beocom 3 ISDN can for sure, but I'm in doubt regarding the US version.

Regarding your thoughts on the software development of phones at B&O the Beocom 3 and Beocom 5 cannot be compared in any way. They are developed using completely different set ups.

My understanding is that the product is initially launched when the software is expected and tested to be "well-done" though it is known that issues may arrise. Some faults are very hard to find during development and they will occur when the more devices are being used by costumers for a longer period and in ways noone could think of. I was told that Beocom 4 initially had a problem that would show after 31 days. During development and testing none of the devices had stayed turned on for that long because they were software updated more often than that...

How often have you experienced this problem? You state that you noticed it years ago, but has this been a constant daily problem for all those years?

Hello,

Thank you for your suggestions.  I will turn off the telephone for a few minutes and we'll see where we go from there.

I haven't written to B&O.  Good idea, will try that!

When I got home last night, again the telephone was about 12 minutes slow! (Nobody else had been there during the day, other than our cats).

Yes, the problem occurred for several years.... but here are the issues:

1.  The clock on the BeoCom 3 needs to be looked at in order to realize if it is OK.  It is not a primary clock device, by which I mean it is not a big or bright clock such as the clock in the microwave oven which is a bright green, or the one in the BeoLab 3500, which is a bright red.  These clocks you can see at a glance from across the room in any lighting conditions.  As a result, in my case, it may be many days or even weeks before one realizes the clock is displaying the wrong time.

2.  When I notice it and fix it, I have on ocassion irritatedly looked at it the next day, and perhaps the day after, and sometimes it has been fine!  But then one day you look at it... and it is more than 10 mins slow, but usually never more than 15 mins slow, or it shows AM instead of PM. (I forgot to mention the AM/PM crazy issue on this thread, but I mentioned it on this post in July 2009)

3. There's been times, say, entire six months every time, when I have just given up and tried to ignore the problem.  But then one day, I see the clock, fix it, only to see it give the wrong time not too long afterwards!

Oh well.  Thanks again.