sundance-communications.com/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Inter-Tel Telephones & Systems Alarm 101 on an unplugged phone

I am receiving 101 alarms on an extension that does not have an endpoint connected. We recently upgraded from an Axxess to 5600. After the upgrade, this extension did not work, but there were no alarms. Mitel had replaced the Amphenol to RJ11 split out adapter, but there was not change. I just shortened our 25 pair cables coming from the PBX to patch panel. The Amphenol adapters are a good 15 feet long. I was getting rid of the excess. Due to the length, I still have to use the adapter and about 15 feet of the original cable. When I shortened and punched that cable, I tested the extensions. It worked. When I unplugged the endpoint, I immediately received a barrage of Alarm 101 emails. It took a number of hours for all of email alarms to be delivered. When I plugged the endpoint back in, the alarms stopped. I read the documentation, and replaced the original 25 pair cable. The barrage ceased. However, I still receive an alarm once or twice an hour. I do not currently have an endpoint connected. Nor do I wish to keep an unused endpoint connected to it. Any suggestions?

Errors can be caused by the endpoint, cable or, rarely, a bad port on the card.

I’d start with the card. Try swapping a couple of DEMs. If the problem follows the card, you’ve got your answer.

If not, it could be a bad Amphenol cable, bad block, bad punch, bad station cable or jack. Try swapping a couple of modular plugs on the DEM, and see what happens. Pull the cross-connect on the circuit in question and see if the error goes away. It’s a pain, but start at the system and work towards the endpoint. You’ll probably have to do some of it after hours, especially at the beginning when you’re taking down or swapping a bunch of phones.

Be methodical in your search and document your efforts. If you “shotgun” troubleshoot and hit everything at once, you might never find an intermittent problem like this. Good luck; this is the stuff that separates the men from the boys!

DND is right on. You may want to get Mitel to repair or replace if it's under warranty.
You could always go to that port and change it to "NONE" instead of keyset. That should stop any errors.

Thanks for the information. I've already swapped out the amphenol cable attached to the Mitel adapter. Which means I've also checked the punch. It will take me a while to arrange time to swap out the DEMs.

I had one of these yesterday; infrequent data errors on a keyset. A methodical search found a bad station cable. I’m guessing that the cable got damaged a year ago when work was done on an adjoining suite, and the electrician ran some wiring through a common ceiling space. Two pairs were completely dead, one intermittent, and one tested okay.

It took three hours to troubleshoot, starting at the system and working through the IDF back to the station. The hardest part was waiting long enough for the station to puke before moving on to the next step.

Layman never seem to understand that fixing a problem is usually a quick function. It's finding the problem that takes so long. Intermittent. A technician's most hated word.