sundance-communications.com/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Vodavi Telephones & Systems Learning Curve- 4896 KSU access

is this a old black rectangular starplus SP 4896 ?
with wedge type analog phones ?you are not going to gain much by pluging in
a computer to the system it's key stokes
just emulate whats on the key telephone ?

The last time I checked, the 4896 was the Digital version of the Vodavi Starplus family and it used 14xx series phones, the 96ex was the 4096 Analog system that used SP616xx phones.

The serial port on the CPU was the one that you used to program it, but you NEVER did because both sytems interface used the keyboard to emulate the phone, as SNC said, and it was quicker to just use the phone!

I still have Vodavi SP customers. Although I've managed to buy back all but 2 DHS systems, the Starplus SP systems wear well in auto dealers and tire shops. My last service call on a Starplus was the one they watered. It didn't grow.

Carl

You are both correct. This system was the largest of the Starplus Digital family, beginning with the 612,1428, then the 2856, and finally the 4896. Each number combination reflected CO/Station capacity. These were also the equivalent to Vodavi's sister product line, the infinite DVX1, DVX2 and DVX3, although the "sisters" used different software and different phones. The programming, cards and cabinets were still the same.

I agree that programming through the phone was easier than hooking up a laptop, but as the original poster mentioned, ext 100 has been assigned to a very busy user. There may not be an option.

Using the serial connection also allows access to ETRACE and CONFIG utilities, where traffic studies and equipment configurations can be viewed, something that can't be done using a phone. Of course, database backup or restore can be done using a laptop as well. It might be an older system, but using a properly connected laptop opens up a bunch of really sophisticated capabilities, often unheard of at the time.

Carl, I am pretty sure that COM3 was actually the default programming port, not COM1 on the CPU card. Of course, this could be changed once programming was accessed. This might not be the most advanced system, but it sure is reliable and well-built. I can't imagine how many of the DVX systems we still have out there under support, but it's a lot. We started installing them in 1992!

Thanks you guys!

With all your info I was able to get into the programming using Hyperterminal and am now downloading the database to a file so I see just what I've gotten myself into here.

The way in turned out to be com3 on a standard db25>db9 cable @ 2400 baud. Found the password scratched into the wall and off I went!

You guys are *the* telecom godz! Thanks again.
:bow:

-Devi

Thank you, Devi for letting us know your outcome. We are here to assist further if you need it.