Today, for the most part, the answer to that question is: eBay, but back when it was a current product, how did a business go from "Hey, we need new phones!" to having a Merlin system installed?

Im assuming there was some calling of their account rep at the phone company, needs and wants were discussed, and a small army of Ma Bell's finest come out and install it, but were there nice glossy brochures, or cases with display models, or sales centers with systems built for demos and training? Or was the customer pretty much left to the mercies of the sales rep, who'd look around and decide for themselves what kind of phones to use?

The million dollar question is: what did all of this cost? It's weird that there's no shortage of information on putting together a Legend or Magix, but I've had no luck finding anything on how they were sold or leased.

Legends and Magixs are 2nd and 3 rd generation Merlin's.
What's now know as the Merlin Classic is the original.

I don't know when the Merlin was actually introduced but I'm pretty sure it was after 1984. It was a replacement for the 1A2 that not only was the first all electronic key system but it allowed plug and play "self installation" by the customer. (Note the first use of individual RJ jacks.) I have a 1995 AT&T Sourcebook Catalog that offers the "breadbox" and 820 KSUs as well as the modules. They could be ordered by calling your AT&T rep or have them do the installation.

As far as cost, you could lease or pay for it outright. The catalog doesn't give prices for the KSU oddly but it does give prices for the cards. For instance, a 4 line expansion card for an 820D is $825.00 and the 10 station card is $625.00. A BIS-10 is $359.00. I see that they have a Merlin Plus Systems training tape and workbook for $20. (Hear that Avaya!!)

Around the same time (the 90's) I remember AT&T Phone stores popping up. Never visited one but I believe they had Merlin and Partner working demos set up.

-Hal

According to John Shelton's "An Overview of Merlin Phone Systems" (2003) The Merlin II....which was the first "digital" iteration of the Merlin platform....was introduced by AT&T in 1989. The Merlin Legend....which replaced the II....was introduced by AT&T in 1991. In 1999, Lucent Technologies replaced the Merlin Legend with the Merlin Magix which was produced through April 1, 2006, when Avaya....due to declining sales....retired the platform.

With the introduction of the Merlin II....AT&T transitioned the Merlin platform from small applications to something more suitable for medium sized businesses (full T1 support and ISDN/PRI/BRI/OPX capability). At that point, the Partner platform supported the small business market.

Due to their complex nature, I doubt that the Merlin II and Legend were ever sold through AT&T Phone Stores. My feeling is that they had to be ordered through....as Hal said....an AT&T....and later....Lucent rep. Once the Business Partner system was established, you could contact one of them to order a system, such as the Magix.

I don't think you could walk into an AT&T Phone Store and walk out with a Merlin or Partner system. As I said, they had demo systems but that's as far as it went. They had for sale all other AT&T branded phone equipment such as answering machines, single line phones, cordless phones and wiring accessories of the day. But the stores were a sales arm of AT&T and ordering a Merlin or Partner was no different than calling an AT&T rep. As far as I know nothing key system related was stocked. I remember being on a job and the sparkie was looking for a 8C/8P biscuit jack to move a Merlin phone and mentioned that he went to a Phone Store and they didn't stock them.

-Hal

Predivestiture you just called the local phone company. They had a home office and a business office side. The business office would assign a rep who determined if you needed key or PBX sizing. Larger sizes got the field engineer side involved. Once size was determined they brought out contracts. You got billed for everything from KSU, sets, extension ringers, long cords, etc. At least that how it was done in Texas. The Phone Stores were for consumer grade items as mentioned. I seem to remember that later you could order SW Bell Freedom Phone systems from them.

Back then, I replaced the 1A2 or 416 Comkey systems with Merlin systems mostly because customers wanted REDIAL!

For new installs it eliminated the need for 25pr. A big plus.

A lot of customers were just happy to have a more "modern" looking phone on their desk.

Working in Century City & Beverly Hills for Pacific Bell all orders came from the Business office. Never saw a rep until after divestiture & it became AT&T. On my first Dimension 2000, before then for the 1A2, Comkey & Horizon, came to us techs in a system programmed form, as to how to program system, & go over changes with the customer, changes would go through the 1st level supervisor to the rep to be OK ed. Went to school for the Merlin 11 in 88 & Legend in 91, is when we started going over the job's with the rep's, as to add equipment that we became more familiar with the rep's ,and what they sold. In some places they had system programmers, who would do all the programming, we just set out the equip, and would do the lines & stations. It was the programmer & rep who would be involved with the customer, and yes they had demos in the rep's office, or would take a future cust to an already working system.

There was about a year in the early 90's when Merlin systems were sold off the shelf by Best Buy stores. Anyone else remember that?

Was it the 206,410 & 820 models

They sold Partners cash and carry at the AT&T stores here. We used to get a lot of their installation business because the store managers were getting pissed over long installation delays and high installation prices. They could sell the equipment cash and carry to the customer, give them our number and have us install it directly. It was a win-win for everyone. They got the equipment sale, the customer got it fast and installed cheaper and we made money.

We did the same thing with Sears Business Systems, who sold Merlin and Trillium systems cash and carry. Our first Merlin 30/70 system installation was a referral from Sears. Those were the days.

Amen to that.......

Im still interested in what someone would have paid if they wanted to buy it outright rather than leasing it. And, other than the somewhat cryptic entries in the Sourcebook, was there much consumer-friendly marketing material? I do have one brochure in my collection. It's packed in a box after a recent move, but I think it describes the joys of a BIS-34.

Considering that my Legend's R7 CKE4 processor was released in early 1999, and the last Magix came out in 2003, I'm surprised how little info there is to be found online.

There are brochures to be found online. Fine tuning the words used with Google can yield some good results.

Actually...the Magix went out of production on April 1, 2006.