Hello. I run a small biz and own a Vertical SBX IP 320 system. Due to forum guidelines, I understand you cannot provide step-by-step instructions.

My goal is to share my situation and get feedback from the group as to whether you think this might be a motherboard issue or possibly some other problem.

I've had the system since 2010. 3 incoming lines (2 in rotation + a fax line that can be accessed for outbound calls), 5 stations (one is an ip phone that i keep at my house which mirrors my extension at the office), auto attendant/voicemail.

No major problems until about 2 months ago. The ip phone at my house started getting kicked off the system frequently (1-3 times per week.) To fix, I would physically unplug the system while at the office and the ip phone would be reconnected by the time i got home.

Couple of weeks went by and I lost the time and date on all phone stations. Stayed this way for another week or two.

Then I unplugged the system one day to reboot b/c my home ip phone was disconnected again. When the system came back up, I had lost all programming. (Ring assignment gone, no auto attendant, no extensions, etc.)

So I got my local tech guy over and he was able to reprogram and get the system back up. Things like the auto attendant were able to be reinstated without recording a new message. So some parts of the programming were saved and just had to be turned back on.

A couple of more weeks has gone by and the system is still having problems. 2-3 times a week I notice my ip phone at the house has become disconnected from the office system. In the past, the system at the office would still be functioning properly. (Receiving calls > routing to extensions > collecting voicemails.

That's no longer the case. Now when my home ip phone has become disconnected it means that my office system is down and needs to be reboot.

Now I get to the office and I find that my handsets all appear working correctly. They display proper date/time/ext #. But incoming calls do not register on the system. Incoming calls do not ring at any station. No station LEDs light up to acknowledge the call. the Auto attendant never picks up. The inbound caller heres the line ringing and ringing and ringing, but the system never picks up or acknowledges the call.

You cannot make outbound calls either. Stations will not pick up an outside line. You initially get a dial tone when you pick up the handset, but when you press 9 or press the line button you get a busy signal and the station displays "Access/Deny."

I can get the system working again by unplugging and replugging the main power cable at the UPS.

I've contacted my tech guy several times. Up until today, he said he has no idea.

Today it happened again and I pressed him for some kind of idea. He responded that he tried to access my system remotely and could not. He says it seems something wrong with the mother board itself. In that case, he says I should consider replacing the main unit.

Does this sound appropriate? Maybe something else?

Can the motherboard only be replaced at a lower cost.

If replacing the main unit is solution, I wonder if my current handsets are compatible with a newer model like the summit (which I believe will email notifications when voicemails are left.)

Thank in advance for you time and expertise.

Mitch