I guess your "dealer" wasn't :-)

The 824 has a ton of shortcomings that are solved in the TAW-848 and higher systems (TDA/TDE/NCP). The minimum upgrade for the TA-1232 would have been the TD-1232 at least v5.
They show up on the secondary market for only a few $$$ more than a TA-824 and you don't have to think too much because it's plug compatible and has the same functionality, with a few more bells and whistles than the analog 1232 box.

Carl