News:

"The phone is a remarkably complex, simple device,
and very rarely ever needs repairs, once you fix them." - Dan/Panther

Main Menu

Home PBX Recommendation Discussion

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

Previous topic - Next topic

twocvbloke

Reading the instructions for that SOHO system, it has in the troubleshooting section something about being able to receive cals but not dial out, and it states that the phone is either faulty or not a DTMF phone, so, I would say no pulse-dialling... :-\

Phonesrfun

I worked for a bank in Vancouver (WA) in 1999 to 2001 that had a Norstar electronic PBX.  Most stations were digital, but we had a few analog extensions for a FAX, modems and even a power-failure phone.  The alarm did not even go through the switch.   I think the others went through the switch, but needed to be programmed as analog extensions.  I have no clue as to whether the switch would have passed through caller ID, say to the FAX machine, or if it would have been able to convert pulse to DTMF.  That Norstar system was pretty expensive, as I remember.

-Bill G

AE_Collector

#32
In that time frame, analog stations on a Norstar would have needed outboard ATA's to convert digital ports to Analog ports/stations. Nortel made the ATAs to add to Norstars for this purpose. The ports themselves were never able to be programmed as digital or analog ports. Some newer Norstar BCM's (Business Communication Managers - more modern replacement for older Norstars) had some built in Analog ports but they still could not be programmed to be digital ports.

Terry

BDM

Bill got it, that is exactly what I was asking. Thanks for the info gents and no, I do not have a Panasonic yet, but may just purchase one and use it in my man cave instead of wiring into the rest of the house.
--Brian--

St Clair Shores, MI

Greg G.

Quote from: BDM on March 07, 2014, 08:18:06 PM
Guy and gals, here is my question. I want to keep my called ID, but be able to plug in and use my phones anywhere in the house. So currently I have cable VoiP. What is the recommended PBX to use that offers this while still allowing dial phones and wont break the bank. Thanks for any suggestions gents.

Can't answer that because I only use my PBX on my rotary phones, plus we have a land line.  The modern phones we have that display the caller ID do not go through the PBX.
The idea that a four-year degree is the only path to worthwhile knowledge is insane.
- Mike Row
e

Weco355aman

Hi
As a Panasonic dealer (years ago) i sold and installed many type of phone systems. They were NOT
intentended  to be turned ON and OFF They would be on 24 X 7 365. Yes during a power failures they would go off and restart. Most of the manufactures recommend a ups power supply to protect
the system. These system are all OLD and over time the electronics degrade. They do not use much electricty. 
Phil

G-Man

Quote from: BDM on March 07, 2014, 08:18:06 PM
Guy and gals, here is my question. I want to keep my called ID, but be able to plug in and use my phones anywhere in the house. So currently I have cable VoiP. What is the recommended PBX to use that offers this while still allowing dial phones and wont break the bank. Thanks for any suggestions gents.

Your best bet is an inexpensive Panasonic key system. It will pass cid fsk to your analogue sets. I would recommend that you stay away from the obsolete Nortel systems.





twocvbloke

Quote from: G-Man on March 10, 2014, 01:13:21 AMI would recommend that you stay away from the obsolete Nortel systems.

I'd second that, I have a Nortel Compact system, paid hardly anything for it, the connection box and a phone, only to find out after I had bought it that the ATAs cost a lot of money, and trying to sell the thing on in the past was fruitless cos nobody wants them now, even for 99p, a whole system (well, one phone only) for pennies, and nobody bid on it... ::)

I'm sure someday it'll find some use, by then the phone I have for it will have turned orange, cos it's already pretty yellowed as it is... ;D

AE_Collector

#38
Nortel Norstar systems are great for a home intercom/phone system as long as you aren't trying to use analog phones with it. I used one in my house for years. You want to find black or charcoal sets as the Dolphin Gray sets almost always get discoloured looking.

We probably need to clarify that we are talking Nortel Norstar systems since the Nortel Option 11 PBX system I have in my garage would make a great analog phone system with the right cards in it.

Terry

twocvbloke

Yeah, my Compact system hasn't really got any way of adapting it for analogue phones aside from the ATA2 units that people want for about £30 over here... :o

And I think I only got the dolphin grey phone cos it, like the system, was dirt cheap, it has some UV pen writing on it somewhere and I think it used to belong to a taxi company... ;D

G-Man

This was on the TCI list. Please note that it passes c.i.d. fsk to the analogue stations.

Also the system can be programmed either by a proprietary telephone or with a compatible computer.

He is selling it at a very good price and unlike AT&T/Avaya who has discontinued their analogue key systems and Nortel who is out of business; this is a current offering from Panasonic.

Since it is not mine please contact Jim Shultz on the TCI listserve.






Hi group!

I have a serviced, "as new" Panasonic KX-TA824 for sale. It comes in the original factory packaging and includes all manuals, programming software on CD, and power cord.

Out of the box, this KSU will support three lines and eight stations and has caller ID for three lines installed. The box can be expanded with optional cards up to eight lines and twenty four stations
.
Stations can be either Panasonic proprietary sets, or regular industry standard single line sets, rotary or touchtone....rotary sets are converted to touchtne in the KSU, so this should enable your rotary sets to work with cable modems and such.

Caller ID is passed through the KSU to single line phones or CID boxes as well.

A special telephone is NOT needed for programming, it all can be done with a laptop using the included software.
First $150.00 takes it, shipping will be at actual cost.

Thanks, Jim
[/font]

Dominic_ContempraPhones

Quote from: AE_Collector on March 10, 2014, 10:39:04 AM
Nortel Norstar systems are great for a home intercom/phone system as long as you aren't trying to use analog phones with it. I used one in my house for years. You want to find black or charcoal sets as the Dolphin Gray sets almost always get discoloured looking.

We probably need to clarify that we are talking Nortel Norstar systems since the Nortel Option 11 PBX system I have in my garage would make a great analog phone system with the right cards in it.

Terry

Norstar had analog station modules, but you needed a mickey (MICS).  I don't know if they could take pulse dialing though.  Option 11 analog message waiting line cards could.  BCM had analog direct inward dial trunk modules and analog station modules -- I never tested a rotary phone on those.  Maybe I will.  The trunks could pulse out in rotary, but the stations I believe only accepted digitone.  Don't quote me on that though.

AE_Collector

#42
Yes I have one or two of the 8 port Analog Station Modules for a MICS. They were hard to come by! Of course there were the individual ATA's that could be attached to a digital port on BCM, MICS, CICS. 3x8, 6-16, 8-24 etc. I assume they would work on BCM...never actually tried that. As for dial pulse on ATA's and/or Analog Station Modules.....good question. I suspect DP would work as the ATA's were designed so long ago DP would have been more common then.

Terry

kb3pxr

My home PBX is VoIP, but unless you go with a VoIP provider that allows BYOD, you may need FXO (central Office) ports and that complicates Caller ID. Of course a BYOD provider will allow you to configure your own pulse dial compatible adapter as well.

My system is a bit of a hack at the moment, but only because I'm using multiple ATAs instead of higher port count gateway.

My system contains the following basic (not including power protection or internet) components:

  • VoIP service From CallCentric*, of course you can choose another provider.
  • A Raspberry Pi 3 with power supply, heatsinks, memory card, and case
  • 5 port gigabit (only used on the Uplink at that speed) ethernet switch
  • Two Grandstream HandyTone 502 ATAs (I want to migrate to a GXW4008)
  • Fax machine (not part of the system, but takes a port on an ATA hence the mention)
  • 1 Unisonic Slide 'n Dial (test extension)
  • 1 Western Electric 2500DM set (main desk phone)
  • 1 Western Electric Rotary Trimline (have to have a Rotary here somewhere)

* LEGAL WARNING: Callcentric is not in full compliance with FCC regulations, in order to build your PBX system in full compliance with FCC regulations, you must find the alternate access number for the Telecommunications relay service (the number the phone company actually connects to when you dial 711) and provision a Misc Destination/Misc Application pair to provide this service.

The Raspberry Pi 3 is running RasPBX which is a distribution of Raspian (the RasPi debian distro) with Asterisk and FreePBX installed. Additional command line tools are also available. With RasPBX, you can run the system headless where Incredible PBX (FreePBX with additional addons) may require a keyboard/mouse/monitor for initial installation. The majority of the systems' smarts are here, a little bit of planning and dial plan logic in the ATA or gateway helps with dialing speed (if it matches exactly you don't have to press send (#) or wait 4 seconds).

The Grandstream ATAs interface with the analog telephones with the VoIP system and support pulse dialing. The beauty of this type of system is not only the ability to use older telephones, but any non-proprietary IP telephone (or softphone app) as well. In fact, my experiment today involved provisioning a bit of e-waste (Android phone that is no longer used) as a cordless extension. In this experiment I was connected to the same LAN as the PBX and was able to place a call using the phone without a cellular account.

VoIP is an option worth considering if you want to future-proof your system.