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WECo 557 Answering Service Cordboard

Started by marty, April 12, 2011, 11:20:11 AM

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G-Man

Quote from: marty on March 29, 2013, 12:21:13 PM
Hi All;
I have moved my 557B to a different location, so that I could put in the writing shelf and the Dial, and plug in the Handset..
What I would like to know is CAN I dial out from the Dial and use the Dial and the Handset, just like a regular Dial phone for calling out ??
OR would some of it need to be rewired to do that ??
THANK YOU Marty

Marty-
You should not have a problem with using your switchboard as an oversized telephone set. However, you should be aware that if your board truly is a 557B instead of a 557A, then it cannot be used as a standard pbx since it only has three local extensions that were intended to be used within the offices of the answering service. The rest were outside Secretarial Lines.

And while most of the dials on pbx/answering service switchboards were 10pps, some were rated at 20pps if the central office switching equipment was capable of supporting it.

marty

#31
Hi All;
G-man, Thank You for your response.. If you go back to the beginning of this posting, you will find some pictures of this board.. My question now is How do I make my Dial work, How do I set up the switches and possibly plugs for Duialing out ??
Also, my 557B has ten lines out and 10 extension lines, at present I am only using one of the ten out lines (trunk) to my phone line and 6 of the 10 extension lines for various phones around the trailer..
The Secretarial lines are not used at all at present, this set has 100 Secretarial lines.. and another 40 lines that are just, a jack and bulb..
Jim S. I hadn't noticed till today that you are back, So, a belated welcome back..
THANK YOU Marty

G-Man

Hi Marty-
Are you sure that your board is a 557B? What you are describing is a 557A instead.
Unless someone has hacked it they only came with the following capabilities:

100 Secretarial Lines
5      Central Office Lines
3     Administrative Station Lines (Local Office Extensions)
8     Intercept Transfer Jacks
1     Two Station Conference Jack

Depending on the circuit packs used in your board, you may also have to add a 5-volt power supply for the Secretarial lines.

In any event you should be able to use the attendant's telephone simply by connecting an outside line to one of the Central Office Lines and connecting to it.

marty

#33
Hi G man;
Go back and re-read all of the postings for this board.. And you will see that as far as I can tell from the information that, it is a "B" board.. I think my board may have been connected to another "operator" board or was used in a multi board answering service..
You mention connecting to an outside line with a patch plug and then connecting to it.. But, you didn't tell me How to do that.. Do I pull out the switch below the patch plugs and do I leave it straight up or turn it right or left ??
THANK YOU Marty

poplar1

Marty, the 557B has single cords on cord reels to answer only on the secretarial lines and to answer or dial out on the trunks. Yours has cord pairs with pushbutton ringing keys, and I assume weights for the cords. So it is not a 557B.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

G-Man

Marty-
The difficulty in helping you is in part due to your insisting that your 557A is a 557B, with which there are a number of differences between the two. After reading the previous post I am at a loss as to why you continue to insist is a (B) model. Bell System documents definitely rule that out but point to it as an (A) model.

Rather than dwelling on your misnomer, let's attempt to help you with your project.

Since you already have it connected to power, all you will need to do is connect it to an outside (or other source of dial tone) trunk line. After plugging into that trunk, operate your attendant switch and dial and converse as you normally would.

marty

#36
Hi All;
Ok, its not that I am trying to insist that it is a "B" Board, But, that was what I was told, by the previous owner and He was told that by some one who I thought knew what HE was talking about..
Right now I have it hooked up  as a night cordboard, and so the calls come in on trunk line 10 and depending on which phone I have it plugged into, I can then use that phone to either call out or receive calls..
You mention that I need to "operate my attendant switch" , but You don't tell me which way to operate it.. So, I'll ask again, do I pull it out and leave the handle pointing straight up, or do I point it to the right, or do I point it to the left, while I want to use the Dial ??
But, I have not been able to make the Dial work, When I have the handset with a Dial tone on it, and try to dial, the tone disappears (during dialing) but after dialing It still have just plain old dial tone, as though the dial is not hooked up or not hooked up correctly..
THANK YOU Marty

G-Man

Assuming that your telephone service supports rotary dialing and everything else is ok, have you yet determined whether the dial is 10pps or 20pps?

marty

Hi G man;
I do have Dial service here.. Almost all of my phones are Dial.. The Dial on the Switchboard is the faster one.. 20pps..
I didn't know you needed that information..
Also, I am not using the Secretarial lines at all.. They are just there, collecting dust..
THANK YOU Marty

G-Man

Depending on whom your service provider is, 20pps may not work on some voip services. I also understand that some of their boxes are even intolerant of slightly out of spec 10pps dials.

I seem to recall that you recently offered a 10pps switchboard dial to others on another list. If that is correct you should try it out on your switchboard to see if it will make a difference.

Another thing you may want to try is to use your hand to slow the dial while dialing the numbers one or two. If dial tone does not return then that would indicated that your is dial is  normally too fast.

marty

Hi All;
G man, I never had a dial for sale, must have been someone else.. I have Century Link, for telephone service, and what I have is copper wire.. I can't say for sure, but, I don't think its voip.. I think its some version of ESS.. I can try to find out for sure, from a friend of mine, who works out of the Denver office.. He would know who to contact and find out what is serving my line..
I can try to slow the dial down, and see what difference it makes..
THANK YOU Marty

marty

Hi All;
I just checked with my friend, and we have 5ESS and not voip..
THANK YOU Marty

G-Man

I suspect that a 5ESS switch should easily hand 20pps signaling however, personally I have never had the occasion to try it. You may want to ask one of the 5ESS switchmen who are on the TCI list to make certain.

In the meantime you can try the simple test of slowing it down while dialing either digits one or two. If it then breaks dial tone it would most likely indicate that you will need to replace it with a 10pps dial.

Since the dial is easily removed from its mounting on the switchboard, another test would be to place its pulsing contacts in series with your buttset or a standard telephone and see if it will dial numbers accurately while connected to your telephone line. If it doesn't then the problem is in the switchboard.

marty

#43
Hi All;
G man, I have tried to slow it down, doesn't make any difference.. Since, the other day, when I was using my 1011 butt set, and found that two of the wires had been transposed.. Once I switched them, then the Dial worked in the butt set, before it was very similiar to what the switchboard is doing at the present..
I just took it apart, as near as I can tell, it is fine.. It looks like the origional wiring..
One last question, Does the 557 need Power to call out, with the Dial ?? I know I don't need power to use it as a night station, but to Dial out, would that be different ??
THANK YOU Marty

G-Man

Another thought...

Hopefully you are using an operator's headset or a handset (equipped with a dual phone plug) plugged-in while the talk-dial key is operated? Also you should be using (IIRC) the left Trunk/Station cord plugged into an outside trunk. For now do not plug the right cord into a station jack and try to dial an outside number.

You can read the complete instructions in the documentation you said you have for the 557A switchboard.

Also, as has already been suggested, if the above does not work then test your dial by removing it and temporarily wiring the pulsing contacts in series with a buttset or regular telephone.

Then lift the handset and use it to dial a call on while connected directly to an outside line; not routed through the switchboard.

If the call goes through then the dial is ok.

If not the dial is too fast or has other issues it will need to take a trip to Sunny Arizona to visit Steve Hilsz.