atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Vodavi Telephones & Systems Helpful pointers for installing SBX systems

We have always been a Vodavi dealer, and still are in fact, but primarily the XTS, XTSc or STSe systems have been what we installed. We are actually just starting on our first SBX systems being installed, and as with any new system that has come out in the past, there usually ends up being some "Gotcha's" along the way to learning the new system's differences from their predecessors.

I have heard through the industry thus far as it pertains to the SBX, that there are a few "Oh by the way, before you do this, you must do this kind of thing". I am starting this topic to see if any of you installing experts now of the SBX would care to share anything that you have found while installing the system, that may not have been as clear as hoped in the manual. Even more specifically, anything that may not be as clearly programmed as maybe described by Vertical's tech support. This is not a bash to them or the SBX. Truly we just don't want to "Reinvent the wheel" so to speak!!

This next week we are actually going to be installing a few of these SBX systems, and as much as we feel we have studied, played with and configured ahead of time, I am sure there will be things that will pop up on site at the most unfortunate time. GOTCHAS!!

We love the XTS, XTSc and the STSe systems, but have heard the SBX is very different in the way that it programs compared to the XTS, XTSc & STSe. Anything anyone cares to contribute will be greatly appreciated, and of course as we start to install more of these SBX systems, I promise to bring back to this group any of our findings that could save another from "reinventing the wheel so to speak".

Thanks in advance for any and all helpful hints, guidelines and ideas for a smoother understanding of the better ways to install the SBX better.

:bow: :p :bow:

No doubt that the unchanged programming procedures since 1991 (other than additional features) makes the XTS, XTSc, STS and STSe much easier to maintain. The programming of the SBX is more similar to the Telenium (IP) system. There is no question that it would be much easier to maintain systems with a uniform means of programming, but I guess that those days are gone.

My biggest beef with this change is for those of us in the office who provide end-user feature support. Our office support staff must now have a strong comprehension of two completely different systems and be able to differentiate between them since literally EVERY feature code has changed.

Thanks so much for that info. I didn't know that all the feature codes had changed. Definitely will make this like an entirely new ballgame! Another downside from us not doing the Telenium very much I guess. We just had better luck using the XTS for any IP stuff, and pretty much stayed away from the Telenium.

Do you have any "Cheat Sheets" your customer support teams use that you would care to share? You know, those down and dirty "How do I do this?, and How do I do that" questions from customers when they call in?

I personally have not looked at the system at all yet, other than at the tradeshows and from the webinars for sales stuff. I know my techs have them up and running on our tech bench, and will be installing them all for the first time this next week.

We are kind of hoping that we can make this SBX our small system offering and do away with the STSe as much as possible, but guess that too will be shown whether it is a viable choice once these start going in.

Any guiding tools, quick cut sheets, cheat sheets or processes from all of you that have already done the SBX are going to be a great help.

Thanks again!!

#1 jacks must be two pair!
#2 if you are using vmail think of it as a feature of the telephones, not as a separate system. The end user will use it as a feature, not a separate piece of the pie. Take a read through the user manual and you will see what I mean.

Steve

Thanks Steve. I am reading all manuals as we speak and starting to see some of the differences. I will make sure my techs get what you have said and I do appreciate your input.

If anything other comes to mind, don;t think it too trivial, I do appreciate all input and ideas to make this all a smoother understanding of the new system.

Thanks again!! :bow: :bow: :bow:

Sorry, Angie. Nothing yet here for cheat sheets. I'm not comfortable with any new Vodavi (Vertical) product on the first roll-out based upon prior experience, so I don't invest a lot of time in them. There are other members here who have bitten the bullet and started selling them who might have some suggestions for you.

I'm sticking with the XTS/STS family as long as possible since these systems are tried and true, dating back to the infinite and Triad days. If it ain't broken, why try to fix it?

Truthfully, that is the way we feel too. I thought I was already behind in even selling the SBX now. I thought they had been out at least long enough to have gotten the first few bugs out. Hopefully I won't be regretting this push now.

I still think their XTS is the best, and most of our customers are in that or the XTSc right now. Our STS customers are having the most difficulty with stability and that is why we are pushing to get the SBX going now, as I think Vertical is even lowering their care and support on the STS more than they really speak about.

Don't get me started with the STS issues, those could go on for days!!

Guess I will be informing this group of what we find when these SBX's all go in starting this next week. Keeping our fingers crossed at this point and do have confidence in our techs, just not sure what to expect in the field.

Thanks again for any and all insight!!

Steve,

Was wondering if you can clarify for me why the jacks have to be two pair? Just asked by my technicians, as the system we are replacing was a DVX+II system, and the 24 button sets for that only needed a single pair cross connect. We are not sure the need for 2 pair is going to be a problem, as most of our sites were always wired with at least a 2 pair jack.

As you know with any "already in place" old sets, some of the jacks may not be accessible, and IF they were inadvertently wired with only one pair of wires, we just want to know what we will encounter. It was our understanding that the second pair of wires was only if you were using the port as an analog station.

This is an existing lawyers office, and some of the existing jacks were up behind walls of lawyers bookshelves. That could prove to be a problem if in the initial install we had split out jacks for any modems, faxes or dictation machines.

I appreciate any clarification on that "2 pair wired jack" need.

Thanks again!!

I was at an expo recently and Vodavi/Vertical was there. I asked about the two pair thing and was told that you can use a single pair. One pair is digital (I believe the #2 pair) and one is analog. It will use either/or you just have to make the change at the jack.

That is what I thought, I just wanted to clarify it since Steve sounded so assured that it must be wired with two pair. Thought maybe I was missing something new. If we are only going to be replacing the DVX+II 24 button telephones with the SBX digital stations, we should be ok with existing jacks as they are wired now? Correct?

In other words, we are not planning any use of analog stations with any of the existing jacks.

Thanks