Hi All,

I have just installed 2 partner 6btn phones on the wall of a kitchen restaurant with tile walls and floors.
The owner is pretty anxious about the handsets breaking all the time,which we all know of course that they will at some stage.
Does anybody know of something I could do to prevent these handsets from dropping to the floor and breaking?
Any input is much appreciated.

Paul

try handset cords short enough to keep the handset off the floor

sell them a couple of spare handsets to keep in the managers office

rubber mats on the floor near the phone

The owner is pretty anxious about the handsets breaking all the time,which we all know of course that they will at some stage.

It's just a fact of life that phones in that environment and with those kind of employees are destined to short lives. As Skip recommends, short handset cords may help but I think your customer needs to be made aware that this is par for the course and replacement may be frequent.

-Hal

When we put the phones in on the floor of the NY Stock Exchange (broker to booth) we had a real problem with handsets being smashed and cords being ripped loose.

In the end we had to order special real short coil cords (4-6"). The brokers had to stand right by the (wall) phones to talk and couldn't wander around and drop the phones, tie each other up with the cords or lose their tempers and smash the handsets against the wall.

That took care of the problem for us.

Sam

if you do install short curly cord clip the release pins on the cord to keep somebody from running to wally world and picking up a 25'er.

Can't Partner ports support single line phones? There's your answer. Of course the ports will need a little programming to allow outbound calls, but that may not be a bad thing! And if the phone is ringing, the user won't know if it's IC or C O. John C.

you would still have the same problem with handsets with SL phones

I have a chain of thirteen Mexican restaurants that I service, and they all have multiline Partner sets in the kitchen, front desk and bar areas.

Kitchen phones have the largest number of problems, which have mainly to do with failed/distended curly cords and "greasy" phones with sticky buttons. Still, these problems show up only three or four times a year. That number holds for the entire company, not just an individual store.

My experience also suggests that the cooks need long cords that will reach to the pantry or storage area, which is especially convenient for reordering supplies.

As Hal said, mistakes are a part of life. Even if you had put in an old Nortel with M-version phones (which are more ruggedized than Partner set), you would still have to consider the human factor. No phone is indestructible.

Around here food service businesses love the old Merlin with BIS phones. Every Greek diner has them and even new ones insist on refurbed Merlins.

Now, I don't think the Merlin phones are any more resistant to abuse but I see that they all seem to be serviced by a national or they still maintain a service contract with Avaya. So if a phone dies, a day or two later they get a new one.

My point is that you may want to take advantage of the situation and sell them a service contract that works he same way.

-Hal

I've found that Walker's replacement handsets for Partner phones seem to be a bit more rugged than the original factory ones. They cost more, but the failure rate due to dropping isn't nearly as high. Of course, they only have them for the MLS phones.

Skip, the thing about S/L phones is that they are CHEAP! Throw it away and go to wallyworld, kmart, or your favorite discount phone sales place. They should fail from abuse before they die a 'discount' death. That's what we did for phones in the indoor pool area at motels. Between the plain old waterdrips, HIGH humidity and chlorine in the air, new phone every 6 months,with jack. And lots of extra cable store in the wall. Cut off 2-3 inches of cable, replace the jack and phone, and hand the manager a bill! OR, teach the maintanance guy how to take care of it. (Dang, no return on that idea! But, you do make friends with management! Ya gotta give to get. John C.

Have to agree with John on this one. Go with the SL phones. If you use the quality ones i.e. 2500 sets they stand up better and if you use the cheap ones they are an easy replacement. I have the same situation in a couple of auto dealerships.
The shop guys just aint going to wash their hands before picking up the phone. Chuck

One Idea:
Coat the handset in a rubberized coating so it bounces better. You can get a can of it for like $5 at an auto parts store.

Or best bet just sell them a couple extra handsets like what was said earlier, I mean thier only like $12 with a cord.

$12 w/cord our cost! You got to make a few bucks on the handset, and if you're not selling handset cords for 5 bucks, your gonna go broke being a nice guy. "Nice Guys Finish Last" Customer can buy a throwaway for $12 @ Wallyworld and all kinds of other places. And no service charge! If he WANTS you to take care of it, refurbed 2554, and service charge is going to cost him.......... $100.00 if he's lucky. Show him the numbers and he'll do it himself. If he won't you'd better see if you can buy a piece of his business, he must be makin' money hand over fist! Or he's about to go broke, and you don't want him to do it owing you! John C.

i have done a couple of restaurants, on nortel systems i put an ATA on the extension and install an old 554 with a METAL hookswitch. i use a payphone style receiver with an armored cord anchored to the wall. works very well

Jay, you took the words right out of my mouth, but you need a 2554 (T-Tone.)

Ici, Quebec savoir faire, I guess!

well the 554s work well with the atas as well and make for good jokes. i have an old western electric explosion proof phone that would be good in a kitchen if you want.


the armored payphone receivers can be had for 15$