atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Avaya - Lucent Telephones & Systems AT&T Merlin 6102 Cartridge

Now that were back to the card issue...
Sta Specialities..you did what....bypass the
cartridge and wire wrapped the music to the
backplane of the controller...is this what you
just described???? if it is...that is the strangest way I have ever heard of installing MOH
on a Merlin Classic...is that how they do things
on the east coast...it must of taken awhile to
figure out what pins carry the music.

:rofl:

But , He has the card ?

We did it for years when they first came out.
Why pay $495 for a piece of plastic.
2 pins for MOH, 2 for Paging, a wirewrap tool, the blank plate that covers the hole and a .59cent RS
connector, thats all.
No diff from adding paging to a Definity with wires from speaker of a phone, insead of Megabucks for a page card.
I Sold schematics for this (and TIE 612 MOH) in The Gear and some other industry Rags a long time ago. Really hacked them off (AT&T). They sent some threatening letters but backed off. We ran specials, MOH and a radio ,for less than half of what AT&T charged for the empty box.
I have heard many takes on the MOH deal and always suggest a MOH player and roylty free music, but have hooked up many CD players for users from phone system to BGM over page, I personally know of no one hit by ASCAP or any other agency.
Think they just eyeball chain companies and large
Corps. Big Band music (the real thing) has in my
experiance, garnered the most positive comments from callers. It's upbeat and offends no one.

[I] always suggest a MOH player and roylty free music, but have hooked up many CD players for users from phone system to BGM over page, I personally know of no one hit by ASCAP or any other agency.

I do the same thing if the customer insists. I have a clause on the back of all our invoices and contracts that the customer is responsible for all usage and royalty requirements. There have been cases where they have gone after the company that installed the equipment because customer says nobody told me.

BMI, ASCAP amd SESAC all enlist "mystery shoppers" to tip them off. These are just average people basically of the street that they recruit and ask to pay attention to what they hear in stores and on the phone as they go about their business. I know because I have been asked by BMI to do just that. I declined.

-Hal

Brokeda just reminded me of the 3rd party MOH
adapter which surfaced in the 80's. It did work
just fine & was cheaper...OH how we forget.
Whats the cost to ASCAP or BMI for MOH...$5.00 per month...I don't think its all that much....
Regardless of the type of music or medium...the
idea of paying a fee for the right to pump the
sound over MOH has never appealed to me...just
my opinion on the West Coast.

Several months ago, I contacted ASCAP for a fee schedule. Their rates depend on the number of telephone lines & digital ports that the music is to be played on.

The rates for 2006 are as follows:

1->10 lines $214.00/year
11->50 $427.00
51->100 $645.00
101->150 $856.00
151->200 $1072.00
201->250 $1282.00
251->300 $1499.00
300+ $1715

I wish they would have a lower pricing tier for, say 1->5 lines. As it stands, the little mom & pop with, say, 2 lines pays as much as the small/mid sized office with 10 lines.

I suspect BMI's rates are similar to ASCAP's. If that is true, a very small business that wants to play regular music for MOH can expect to shell out close to $430.00/year.

No wonder there are companies that produce royalty-free music for MOH applications!

Thanks Dexman for proving my point....who wants to pay that price for OVER THE AIR music. For all
those in favor of not paying ASCAP their fees and
keeping your customers happy...please raise your
hand!!!!!

I'll admit that while the price for a license at the lower end of the scale seems high, the amount of money to pay for an attorney and settle legal matters is far...far higher.

Somewhere on their website ASCAP lists the fines for violating laws.

My suggestion is go with a royalty-free recording (pay once and play forever). The customer still should be made aware of what can happen if they are caught playing copy written music without securing a license.