atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Avaya - Lucent Telephones & Systems Equipment hibernation

Hi all, I manage the cabling plant and equipment for a summer camp in Maine.
There is a phone network, an Ethernet network and a PA network.

The camp is empty from October to April. Power is turned off everywhere but one house, no other building has any heating. Temperature often goes down to -10 for long periods.

We used to unplug all electronic equipment, Partner ACS, Ethernet routers and switches and store them for winter in the heated building. That's a lot of work.

For the last 2 years I decided not to store the Ethernet routers and switches. My reasoning was:
- this equipment is wall-mounted in well-ventilated places, so any moisture has time to evaporate,
- temperature goes slowly down over the fall season and slowly up in spring, so there is no sudden shrinkage or expansion of electronic components,
- leaving the units in place means less handling by clumsy/clueless crew members,
- power is off, so power surges are not a threat, and there are no thunderstorms in winter.

So far so good, when power is restored in April everything goes back to work.

Now my question is: could I do this with the Partner ACS? Does has anyone here tried this before?
We have the ACS 6.0 with backup/restore card, and a 8-extension module.
Programming is documented and very simple, it takes about 10 minutes to do it from scratch, so I don't mind if the batteries die during winter.

Opinions, suggestions?

Sounds like you have a plan.

"Operating temperature 32° to + 104°F (0° to + 40°C), not in direct sunlight" doesn't apply since it's not operating.

I would remove the batteries rather than let them die in place.


Since you understand the programming you could always have a spare Processing Module for a backup..."just in case".

The programming of the R6 can be saved to the PCMCIA (backup/restore card) prior to shutdown. So, when the system is powered up in the spring, the last known good programming will automatically reload. If it fails to load properly, reprogramming from scratch would be the next step.

Moving topic to the Avaya forum.

I would be concerned with the phones and their LCD displays also. I used to keep a stock in my truck but decided that the heat of summer and the cold of winter wasn't doing it any good. Avaya has specs for storage temperatures someplace. Yours is really a bad situation, one that should have been addressed when the system and network was first installed. It all should have been in the heated building or a closet with a small heater to keep the temperature above freezing. But that still doesn't address the phones. Any with displays I would remove and store in a heated space.

-Hal

I'm going to preface this post by saying I'm not endorsing leaving phones in an unheated environment or moving them, I'm just speaking from experience.

I live in New Hampshire, and it get some kind of cold in the winter around here. I have two Partner phones in two outbuildings. Ok, they're just sheds, but regardless, they are unheated, uninsulated, and otherwise ignored for the duration of winter. One I used to use as a workshop, but since we built a garage, my shop has moved indoors. In each shed there is an 18D series one phone that have hung there for three or four years now. I've never taken them inside. One is so buried, I can't even use it, but I can still see it when I open the door. The other shed has it right next to the door and it frankly surprises me how often I find myself near it when it rings. They still work just fine, the displays are still bright and clear. In my personal experience they have never had a single issue staying out in those sheds through winter. They do, however, stay powered and connected 24/7. I have the means to disconnect them in the house via a single 8P8C plug and jack, but have never felt the need. I put a box with a 2 port plate with 2 8P8C jacks on the end of the conduit coming from the sheds so I could disconnect the phones and ethernet easily, but have never bothered to do so.

As always, your mileage may vary, but in my own situation, they're none the worse for wear being left out in the cold.

And if you're wondering why there's ethernet in my shed, its because I put a wireless AP in the far shed so we have wifi throughout our property. That too, sits out there all winter and has never had a problem. It is just an old Netgear router in AP mode, not any type of outdoor AP.

Thanks all for your input.
We have only one system phone with LCD display. It gets scooped up along with the office equipment at the end of summer and stored in the heated building.
I think next winter I will keep the ACS in the cold and see what happens. They are cheap on eBay anyway.

Thanks for the update. Remember to let up know how it went next Spring.