atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Inter-Tel Telephones & Systems Inter-Tel INT3000 and INT 4000 cordless phones

Do any of you have any experience with Inter-Tel INT3000 and INT4000 cordless phones?

I've been supporting both these models in a small business enviroment. There are about 8 people that use these phones. 5 of them use INT3000 phones and 3 use the INT4000 phones.

The 3000 series seems to work ok, but the newer smaller 4000 series seems to have issues with conversations cutting in and out. We've swapped out the 4000 phones with replacement 4000 phones and the new ones aren't much better.

The reception on all the phones is only so-so.

Do any of you have similar experiences with these phones?

-Scott

Hi Scott!
say pal, I have installed both the 3k & 4k here inole Mich and I have not come across this issue you are having.
The 3k & 4k templates were a bit different " If I recall, been a while ago" but the reception was very good on the 4k at my sites.
And the clients liked both the 3k as well as the 4k Sir!
Sounds to me like you may have an overall RF issue if both the 3k & 4k are only so-so Scott.
Let me know if there is any findings on this Scott!!
Thx Rick

Rick,

What kind of enviroments are you using these phones?

How many handsets are in the enviroments?

You mention I may have an overall RF issue. I've set all the bases up according to Inter-Tel suggestions (spread out the bases from each other, stay away from other electronic equipment).

Do you have any suggestions to try and improve the performance of the 3k and 4k phones we already have?

Thanks for the help,
-Scott

Hi scott!
I have the 3k & 4k's in Small to medium doctor's offices pal.
Have not heard of any complaints either.
I also made sure I followed the factory setup as I'm sure you did Scott.
Mine are all wall mounted and the external antenna's should TX/RX just fine weather they're bases are desktop or wall.
Have you tried changing to a different Digital port???
Just curious all Scott.
Let me know Sir!

Today I did some investigating looking for RF Interference (RFI). I Googled RFI and found that a cheap way to look for RFI is to use a portable radio set to AM on an unused channel and walk around looking for RFI.

I found RFI, quite a bit actually. The worst offenders are the fax machines, cheap 17" Dell LCD displays, UPS thermal printer, and possibly cheap power strips (though that might be from all the power cords attached to the strips).

The dropped calls I mentioned in an earlier post generally occur right in front of the 2 fax machines.

Rick,,,you mentioned that you wall mounted the 3k and 4k bases. Did you add larger aftermarket external antennas or did you use the antennas that come with the 3k and 4k bases?

Thanks for the help.
-Scott

Has anyone here used Wintenna extended range add-on antennas with cordless phones?

https://www.wintenna.com/cordless_phones.htm

I'm wondering if I added larger antennas to the 3k and 4k bases if the dropped calls and dropped conversations would decrease. The manufacturer (Wintenna) is claiming a +5db to +9db increase depending on antenna used.

Hi Scott!
That's good you did a google on RFI Sir!
and it proved our suspicions too!!
And Yes, I have used 3rd party external antenna's in some area's that were close to operating rooms in the past. "Hospital supplied them "
My wall mounts were required because the customer had SO MUCH gear already on the Desktops.
This put the Wall mounts further away from any electrical device.
It would have probably caused me problems such as disc'ts/ Interference etc,etc...
Just love that old Inter-Tel stuff!!! REALLY!!!
Nice finds though Scott!!!

Wintenna's do work well !

Do you know of any other manufacturers of extended range antennas for 900MHz phones?

The only one I came across is Wintenna.

I spoke with someone at Wintenna today and asked them a few questions about their 900MHz antennas.

During the conversation I mentioned I did some 'testing' for RFI. The guy at Wintenna said something like:

"Well, RFI is analog and your phones are probably digital (they are; Inter-tel 3000 and 4000) and the phones already shield themselves from RFI".

Weird.

I'm going to order a few antennas anyways. Do any of you have comments in regards to Wintenna's comments on RFI being analog and not affecting digital 900MHz phones?