atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Comdial Telephones & Systems Comdial DXP Plus IST Phone Setup

Having problems setting up an IST extension...
I have a Polycom analog speakerphone that didn't perform well enough using a Konnexx box. I have set it up on our IST ports as x180. It can make outbound calls well. But from any extension on intercom or from voicemail, no calls make it ring. And if I intercom from any extension and try to pick up on the polycom (even though there is no ringing), it just gives dialtone. I'm assuming that there's a programming / COS setting that I've got wrong, but without VMMI the programming can be difficult to understand. We have no other analog phones configured, but would like to setup 2 or 3 other polycoms this way. We do have 8 ports of the 16 IST ports already setup for voicemail. Anybody able to direct me to setup instructions for an analog phone?

First verify you have the correct extension number assigned to the IST port. Call a display phone to verify since you don't have VMMI to modify programming.

Hey, you are good. Don't know why I didn't think of that. So... it shows as x173 instead of 180 - I'll figure out why the station assignment didn't match... but interestingly it still doesn't "ring". Just silently sits there with its little green lights blinking instead of a ring tone. I'm clueless about the ring generator but I know I do have one setup on the dxp plus... but does it have to be wired into the individual extension somehow? Do you know of any way to acquire the VMMI if you are an owner of the comdial dxp plus? These things are so old now, they ought to lighten up on the license restrictions.

Is there any way to acquire the VMMI software, or is it still at this age necessary to restrict only to resellers? It is frustrating to need to either figure out all the cryptic settings or pay someone else who gets to use a friendly tool.

Many years ago, Joe the technician, spent several thousand dollars which he had to borrow for travel, room and board and tuition for his training. Joe received a pretty little certificate for his efforts. Fully trained Joe the technician could sell to and maintain his customer's equipment allowing him to make a comfortable living. His customers also made a very comfortable living because their business was very telephone centric. Joe was doing alright! Then economy started a downward trend and Joe the technician saw his sales decrease and then his trouble calls dropped to nothing! Joe started getting calls from his customers wanting him to provide them with his software so they could take over their own maintenance. They too had experienced a business downturn but now they had a full time tech person on staff who was confident in his abilities in telco problem solving. Joe the technician is now unemployed and sits at home answering questions on self help bulletin boards from not so confident tech staff!

haha, very funny. Guess the answer is to drop the old Comdial like a hot potato and get a new VOIP system that has a more open configuration since this thing is old and too cryptic to maintain without the nice interface that VMMI provides. The price that has to be paid for rare comdial experts these days is ridiculous for a small business to pay.

You know, I'm not looking to get into a pissing match here, but I often wonder about this. We all fully expect to pay our doctor, lawyer, plumber, mechanic, electrician, etc. for their expertise, no matter how seemingly simple the issue may be. Any business is in the business to make money (even non-profits have incomes). Bills have to be paid, utilities, rent, insurance, you name it.

Why do people have such a difficult time in extending the same courtesies and expectations to technicians in the telecommunications business? It seems as if more and more, when we aren't willing to give away the farm, the typical reply is "well fine, I'll just go buy an IP system". Is it really that simple or am I missing something?

Yeah it's so simple that eventualy they will pay a hi priced IT,CG, electrician to make it do what they want.

Computer Geeks & so called IT Professionals all tend to think all the answers to the world's problems can be found on the internet.

If they can't find the answer on the net +/or get the equipment they're working on to work, THEN it's the equipment's fault. It's a piece of junk, "is old and too cryptic to maintain", etc. when in reality it's simply beyond their field of expertize and comprehension.

Must be nice to be able to point fingers to everyone else...

Perhaps this particular situation is comparable to ones I used to hear from a carpenter friend. He often said this: "A bad carpenter always blames his tools".

As I drove home tonight, I thought of a similar outlook as I watched many people driving like idiots in the snow. The first thought that came to mind was to think that when they wrecked their car, it was the car's fault. Far be it for them to acknowledge that they didn't know how to operate the car.....It was the car's fault for not being 'tech-savvy' enough for not avoiding the accident.

This whole thread brings to light the obviously inane mindset that if the car doesn't do what is expected that it must be replaced. I feel as if I'm pissing up a rope on this subject.

Bottom line: There's nothing wrong with the car; the operator just doesn't know how to drive it and is looking for excuses. If you can't drive it, then get out and let someone do it who knows how to do it. Simple to me............