atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Other TDM Phone Systems ESI Telephones & Systems ESI IVX E Class Gen 1 VOIP

Let me fill you in a little. We purchased a couple of ESI IVX E Class systems with VOIP for 2 of our offices and were installed by a local dealer a couple of years ago. Except for a few issues it's been a great system, but the main reason we chose this system was for the ESILink features it has and this has been our main problem since it was installed. I really blame it on the salesman since we specifically asked questions about it and he told us wrong, just trying to make a sale which he did for about 35K. That company DID try to get it all working good but was never sucessfull, eventually we stopped using them for several reasons. We contacted a reseller for the area of our satellite office where one of the systems were installed and changed them to being our ESI reseller so that we could purchase some items and hopefully get our issues fixed but everything we did with them went sour and has cost us lots of money. I spoke with ESI directly and they told me that reseller was a lousy choice and suggested another company. Well to keep from making this story too long I'll get to the point. I've reinstalled both of our systems, I've administered all aspects of it, and have spent countless hours learning our system and feel that I have an excellent grasp of how to manage, add, troublesoot and repair most of the components and functions of the system but I certiany don't everything. I'm currently in the process of removing our main system to replace it with a step backwards, a IVX 128+ so that I can send the current cabinet off to repiar. It had the problem when we were still under a service contract but I didn't know enough then and they didn't bother telling us that the new system we bought was malfunctioning. I wanted to see if a firmware upgrade would fix my problem before I send it out. This was supposed to have been done through our last reseller but ESI has no record of any of their events taking place. This is the problem I have now and after it's resolved I will start working on the VOIP. I have a D12 port card and a 684 card that I'm having issues with, in my E Class system the digital extensions show up as IP extensions for both of these cards. The D12 will still work as long as the 684 card is not installed, when I install the 684 card they both work for a few minutes but then any (digital) phone I have connected to one of those extensions loses in and out volume when connected to a CO line but works fine for inner office communications. We bought a used 128+ as a backup for disaster recovery, and I've tested all of our port cardsin it and they all work perfectly, even though like the E Class it does not show the D12 card as an option in the card slot configuration area of Esi-Access 2.8.1 sites configuration. When the D12 card is installed I am unable to view the card slot configuration on either system but functions fine in both systems except when the 684 card is installed in the E Class system and showing IP extensions instead of digital extensions. Also on the E Class ext 121 quit working a couple of months ago, the 612 card at the location has been swapped with a known good one and that one was then verified to be good so that problem must lie with the cabiniet as well. Does it sound like software might fix my port card issue or am heading in the direction by sending my cabinet to ESI for repair?

Thank you for any info you might be able to provide, it has been like pulling teeth to get what info I've gotten over the past couple of years but I will get it thaer eventually.

Also we are getting ready to upgrade our SonicWall and reconfigure our esilink over it's VPN but need to verify its compatibility. In an effort to get our VOIP working better.

Yikes is all i can say. You definitely need a good reseller in your corner. But to answer your question i would consider first getting it to the latest software release. Once you are there do all of the programming via the phone and forget esi access. If that doesn't work swap the box out. ESI-Link is pretty straightforward - what problems are you experiencing??

I don't think Esi-Access is my problem but no matter I can do it through the phone just as easily. I don't think the EsiLink setup will be a problem. But the digital ext showing up as IP ext, this is a problem 15 min after power up these ext can't communicate outside the system. I'm not sure what process I need to go through to get the software upgraded, the last time I tried it was supposed to be done through our last reseller, when I spoke with ESI support they were not aware of anything like this and informed me that that reseller was a poor choice. But did not want to help me, only referr me to another reseller. I don't have any problems going through a reseller if it would get some things accomplished. I do have a hard time getting funding approved for anything to do with the phone system, my boss has been thourghly discusted with ESI products since we got this system and it never worked right. I recommended this system after months of research and believe it is a good system, I just need to get going good if it can. We are also in the process of upgrading our bandwidth from a T1 to 2 T1's at both locations, hoping this will help with voice quality. And also looking into P2P.

1st I need t ofigure out what process I need to follow to get the software upgraded and once this has been accomplished I will move to the next issue.
Thanks

ESI needs to "Poke" a value into the cabinet to change the IP that you are seeing. Poke is Their word.

I have seen this before. ESI fixed it.

How can I get this accomplished?

call a reseller

Mitch, it seems like we have a long way to go and a short time to get there. The first thing I want to know is what software version each system is running. This is easy to figure out if you know how. If you don't know how let me know and we can start there.

John

I read your post again and noticed you are using ESI-Access 2.8.1

Question: Are you sure it is Esi-Acces or could it possibly be Esi-Admin. Esi-Admin is the user version of PC programming. If you actually have Esi-Access I don't want to know how you got it.

John

Your problem sounds like the systm is not recognizing a change in port card configuration. If you are changing port card configurations (e.g. changing a slot 3 from a D12 card to an IVC card , or changing slot 2 from a 612 to 684 card) you should first start up the system with only 1 port card installed. Then add the port cards and boot up again. If you don't the ports will not function correctly.