sundance-communications.com/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems NEC Telephones & Systems Is my elite mail DOA?

I would get an NEC tech to backup your VM database before it crashes.

Why did telephone guy list prices! What the hell is this board comming to? Maybe we should do the google search for these people and just send them a link to where they should buy the equipment! Then walk them through the installation/programing ect. right here.

Tom, why so upset? Telephone Guy didn't give me any specific prices, and nothing I didn't really already know. I'm just a simple by-default IT guy in a small office trying to learn my options. In terms of sending me links, why not? I mean, why re-invent the wheel, so to speak.

I hope I haven't offended; not at all intended. I do appreciate all the info.

I'm getting the feeling my HD is failing. VMS has now quit on me 4 times. The last time, it hung apparently when the receptionist sent 2 voice mail callers in quick succession, one on top of the other. That sounds to me like the HD can't take the doubled activity. I have now switched the card to the "Off" position, in fear that the HD will fail shortly.

Is it possible simply to replace the HD and not the entire card? My VMS card has an IBM Travelstar 3.25 GB laptop HD onboard. Are such HDs still available? If so, can't my local tech simply do a clone backup of the current HD [while it's still possible], and then restore to the new HD?

Translation: I'd rather spend a couple of hundred dollars than a couple of thousand.

Thanks for everyone's input.

You won't have any luck trying to replace just the hard drive.

NEC puts a special serial number on the hard drive in a secure sector that can not be read by any operating system.

Your best bet is to get an authorized NEC BSSD dealer to come out and back up you VM and replace the VM or have the dealer send it off to have the hard drive replaced.

DJ

Knox - as long as we're at it will you please help me troubleshoot a legal issue i am facing - i am thinking of making an offer on a a new house - should i have my contract reviewed or just put an attorney's approval contingency in it? How long should i put in for structural, termite and mortgage contingencies? Should i purchase title insurance to cover my equity or just cover the bank? Should i hire a lawyer or do you think i could do it myself?? Appreciate your help.

Upstateny -- I'm sorry, but I'm ethically prohibited from dispensing legal advice to a non-client. Besides, with you in NY and me in Tennessee, any advice I do give might be considered unauthorized practice of law in NY [I'm not licensed there].

Generally speaking, your realtor [your, not the seller's] may have valid advice based on experience in residential real estate transactions. When in doubt, make a call to a local atty/firm that handles real estate matters. You might be able to get that kind of information in a phone call, for free. Hopefully, you'll talk to someone honest enough to tell you whether or not you need a lawyer. And, if you do need a lawyer to assist in the transaction, then you're already on the phone with him/her!

hhhmmm interesting response.
I have no ill-will toward knox. I just see too much info passed to end users which hurts our business. Kinda like you giving free legal advice. No hard feelings.

Tom, no offense, but I gave him general price RANGES b/c he asked for them. If someone told him that a refurb was $10K, he will now know that he's being taken. In theory, he's going to need to buy a new Voicemail, I was just letting him come to that conclusion at his own pace.

I wasn't offering to sell him one; if you'd like to give him a quote, please feel free. I won't be offended.

KnoxLaw... Dr. PBX has some great advice; if I were you, I'd do exactly that. Tip & Ring gave the same advice.

I think that upstateny was hinting that you wouldn't ask your doctor how to remove your own spleen. But I could be wrong...

Also, CoSessions is a program that is usually used by techs, so as an end user, you normally would not have a copy. It allows access to the hard drive of the voicemail by remote control, much like PCAnywhere on a PC.

Well, how about this? Googling the web to find a less expensive VMS card replacement than offered locally, I found a "REPLACEMENT HDD FOR VMS (4)-U10/20 (Stock # 750578) NEW" for $387.20. I called Telecom Creations and the guy confirmed that it has the embedded information, that it was from NEC, and that it was just a matter of installing and uploading the backup info. Dern sight cheaper than a new card. Anybody got any reason for me to disbelieve this information?