sundance-communications.com/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Avaya - Lucent Telephones & Systems Merlin Systems

Hello,

I am new to the forum and I am looking to install an older Merlin 410 or so phone system in my home for convenience and cool looks. I am having a very hard time finding information about these systems and how to program (from scratch!) and install them. I would simply like to have an 'attendant' or operator extension where all incoming calls go to right away so that I can answer them and transfer them if the call is not for me.

I simply need to know how to:

- program incoming call routing
- program extension numbers
- program line buttons (if necessary)
- any other helpful information I should know

Any help at all would be great. Thanks a lot!

support.avaya.com - it's all there...
Mike

Thanks. I'm surprised I didn't come across that already! I will take a look at those tomorrow.

On another note:

Does anyone on the forum own a Merlin system and use it in their home or business? If so, is it a quality system that is easy to use? Because I was also considering an AT&T Spirit system.

Classic Merlin systems were built by Western Electric back in the 80's and many are still in use today.

Having said that, they are....by today's feature-laden standards....obsolete. For example, they do not support Caller ID because there was no Caller ID back then.

Extensions require 4-pair cables and 8P8C jacks for full operation (not too many homes have that).

Still, for a little system, they can be fun to own (as long as you can accept their limitations even with a Feature Pack 2 module installed in the control unit).

Power supplies tend to be a weak spot with the "bread box" units. Touch pads in the standard model series tend to develop problems. That's one reason why buttons were used on the BIS series.

The AT&T Spirit is even more obsolete than the Merlin 410. I don't think Avaya has any Spirit documentation available on the company website.

You would be better off with a Merlin 820D2. That's a bit newer and easier to work with because of the plug-in cards but as has been pointed out these are long obsolete. As with any vintage electronic equipment you should expect problems due to age in general and especially that by the time you get it it probably has had many owners and lots of miles. Systems with weird problems get sold and refurbished means wiping off with a rag.

And no, you don't want anything to do with the Spirit. That was bad news when it was new.

-Hal

Thanks for the tip. I am simply looking for a plug-and-play phone system that is easily set up and programmed. Can you recommend anything inexpensive? Also- I have been looking at newer Avaya Partner 'cards' that fit into those carrier slots, and I was wondering if I bought one of these a Partner system would work with just the one card. Here is a link to the card I am talking about:

https://cgi.ebay.com/Avaya-Partner-...main_0?hash=item4ced799bbe#ht_500wt_1182

Is there anything that I would need with this other than the card and a phone or two to have a working system with just the basic features?

Sure, many Partner modules can be used "stand-alone". For example, a Partner 206 module can be used as a control unit for two lines and up to six phones. All that is needed is a power cord and some wall space.

That card will work on it's own. It will support 3 COs and 8 telephones

And take a good look at the top of the module (left side in the photo). That discoloration tells you that the power supply has overheated and will probably fail about a week after you win that auction

TouchTone, thanks for the information, but I was actually just using that auction as a quick example of what I was asking about. Thanks for the fair warning though, and I will take that into consideration when browsing online.

Ed, thanks for the information on the Partner 206 cards, and I am now actually considering just buying one of those. Would I need some sort of power supply card or processor? It didn't see a power plug (or at least where one would go) in this auction for an Avaya Partner 206 Module R4.0.

Here is the link, and yes I notice the power supply discoloration

https://cgi.ebay.com/Avaya-Partner-...tZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0ff41da9