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Home PBX Recommendation Discussion

Started by j.bridwell, February 04, 2010, 11:20:51 PM

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j.bridwell

When we started restoring our 100-year-old house I ran two CAT-6 wires (one for phones and one for Ethernet) into a single gang horizontally on the baseboard.  It's discreet, but gives me numerous options (not to mention better resale when I end up in assisted living someday!).  So now I have a structured media enclosure in the laundry room with all the phone lines running there and a perfect place for a PBX.

I've searched and read the various posts regarding PBXs, but would appreciate any suggestions for the most compact and modern PBX that would allow me to use my dial phones regardless of what the VoIP provider decides to do in the future.  The house has eight phone lines terminating in the closet.

It would be best it the PBX would fit inside the 14x28 enclosure or I could upsize to a 14x42 if needed.

Anyone with strong feelings for any particular model?  The more compact and recent the better.  Thanks!

j.bridwell

Phonesrfun

A Panasonic 308 or 616 would work.  Either one measures about 14x18.  They are a hybrid system which will take your standard 500/2500 type phones, or their own proprietary digital phones.  They are good for collectors because they will take rotary phones, and they send out DTMF to the outside world which is nice if hooking into a VoIP "dial-tone provider".

They are usually good to go right out of the box with the default program, and they are really plug and play.

They are, however built on '80's technology, so they don't have caller ID or voicemail.

They usually sell for pretty cheap on E-Bay around $50 to $75 bucks. 

I am currently using a 616 and it has Vonage and MagicJack feeding it for dial tone, and I have it so that I can dial into my step-by-step switch and outpulse through the Panasonic to the step switch, since you can program a CO line to send pulses instead of DTMF.

You do need at least one proprietary phone to do the programming.

For regular 500/2500 phones, you only need tip and ring running to the extensions.  For the digital proprietary phones, you need four wires running to each extension.

I am pretty pleased with mine.  I have not used any other PBX's, so I can't tell you what to expect from others.  It may be that others won't support the Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) phones like the 500/2500's

And just because I say 500/2500 does not mean to say that older phones like candlesticks and 102's, 202's and 302's won't work on them, because they will.  Also plug and play.

-Bill Geurts
-Bill G

JorgeAmely

Bill:

Another interesting fact of these Panasonic boxes is that each extension has enough drive for 4 standard 500 phones. So theoretically, a 16 extension box can ring 64 phones.

Have you ever tried more than one phone on one extension?



Jorge

dsk

I have tried  3 PBX's
Sun-Moon-Star: may understand pulse or tone, does not convert.
Erifox II understands both, (my converts to pulse, or don't convert) New versions converts to tone, ringingfrequency: 50 / 60Hz.
And the last: Panasonic 616, described earlier in this thread, and makes the 2 others almost useless  in a comparison.

dsk

j.bridwell

#4
Thank you for the recommendations.  I assume that when you mention a 308 or 616 that you're referring to a KX-T30810 or KX-T61610 and NOT the newer KX-TA308 or KX-TA616?

Phonesrfun

Yes, the older ones.  The KX-TA's might have more features, however.  I have not researced them.
-Bill G

AE_Collector

#6
Quote from: j.bridwell on February 04, 2010, 11:20:51 PM
I've searched and read the various posts regarding PBXs, but would appreciate any suggestions for the most compact and modern PBX that would allow me to use my dial phones regardless of what the VoIP provider decides to do in the future.  The house has eight phone lines terminating in the closet.
j.bridwell

Forget compact and modern, go BIG and get a REAL PABX.

Might I suggest this Hitachi GTX400. This one will run 400 of your favorite rotary phones and should support 100 trunks just incase you have lots of traffic. Your existing electrical service in your house should handle it but you may have to limit use of things like the clothes dryer, stove and heating.

The best news...I know where this one is and it is ready to be picked up and moved to your telephone panel in the laundry room.

Terry

JorgeAmely

Very nice Terry. I guess you already have a similar one at home.    ;D ;D ;D
Jorge

AE_Collector

#8
Quote from: JorgeAmely on April 14, 2010, 08:16:44 PM
Very nice Terry. I guess you already have a similar one at home.    ;D ;D ;D

Uuuhhh....noooo. I have briefly considered the possibility of taking just one of the three cabinets as it will do 100 stations with trunks in a single cabinet. Then I wondered if it could have 2 line frames and common control put in a single cabinet so that it could be a 200 station intercom unit. If so, I would think that a couple of trunk units could be jammed into the common control frame so that it could access outside dial tone on a limited basis.

In the end, I still don't know just where I would put it nor do I know how I would move it. I think a fair bit of room would be cleared up in our house soon after it arrived though (once my wife left).

Sooo, I just go visit it every once in awhile. You should hear one of these things operating. I miss that!

Terry

gpo706

I'd have to put it a custom built shed!
"now this should take five minutes, where's me screwdriver went now..?"

Keelan

Quote from: ae_collector on April 14, 2010, 08:25:40 PM
In the end, I still don't know just where I would put it nor do I know how I would move it. I think a fair bit of room would be cleared up in our house soon after it arrived though (once my wife left).

Sooo, I just go visit it every once in awhile. You should hear one of these operting. I miss that!

Terry

Terry,

I can arrange a home for it... It my time away from telephones, I've been hanging about in a world of much heaver antiques. I have gained some knowledge, tools and experience in moving things that have some appreciable gravitational clout behind them!

Keelan

I should also add that I have to agree with Terry. If you're looking for a PBX, don't waste your time with one of those wimpy modern electronic monstrosities. If it weighs less than 500 lbs, it's no good.

AE_Collector

Hey Keelan....welcome aboard! We are slowly getting a bit more interest in switching happening on this forum.

Yes I think you told me (or maybe one of the "lists") about your moving adventures!

I'd love to bring this entire PABX to my garage and fire it up again. I really miss the sounds of a working Crossbar Exchange. This particular one has had some mods done to it to make it into an ACD system in one of BC Tel's Service Centres that is now closed. There is little threat of it going anywhere as the building is also a working CO.

Terry

Greg G.

Quote from: Phonesrfun on February 04, 2010, 11:56:32 PM
A Panasonic 308 or 616 would work.  Either one measures about 14x18. 
-Bill Geurts

Is that what I have, the 308?  Yes, I really like this thing, once I got around to hooking it up.  Now I just have to learn how to program it with that phone, but the default setting suits me just fine for now.
The idea that a four-year degree is the only path to worthwhile knowledge is insane.
- Mike Row
e

Greg G.

Oh, and here's just some of the fun you can have with a PBX!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILUvbF62yB4

My next project is to hook up 5 phones with the right ring tones to emulate the "Close Encounters" tune.
The idea that a four-year degree is the only path to worthwhile knowledge is insane.
- Mike Row
e