Unable to read xml using utl_tcp

We are wanting to pass xml to a server that is within our firewall.  I am using utl_tcp to open the connection, write data to the other server and read the response coming back from that server.  I can see that I am writing data to the server correctly, but when I try utl_tcp,read_text the process runs and never finishes.  So, I wrapped the code in a IF utl_tcp.available > 10 then read.  This function never returns anything else except a 0.