What is a good brand and where to get them. Not the ones that after a week or so they wind up so tight that when you left the handset it drags the phone off the desk and into the floor. You know the ones.

Thanks,

Hmm Not sure, all of the ones that I use wind up, i have tried several brands.

However, the little plastic un-winding tools that attach to the reciever work really well for me.

https://www.shop.com/op/~S60165_CORD_UNTANGLER_34814756-prod-38052270-50601475?sourceid=298

They cause static after a month or so also.

Darn, sorry can't help ya out.

Mike:

Adirondack Wire & Cable makes good ones. Lynn Electronics also makes very good cords. ICC is a strong contender and I have resorted to using them since nearly every supplier carries them. None of them are inexpensive as compared to the cheap stuff. Be prepared to spend a bit more for the quality.

Mike:

Adirondack Wire & Cable makes good ones. Lynn Electronics also makes very good cords. ICC is a strong contender and I have standardized in using them since nearly every supplier carries them. None of these brands are inexpensive as compared to the cheap stuff. Be prepared to spend a bit more for the quality.

It doesn't make sense to cut corners on what is perhaps the most heavily-used part of any telephone system. I used to spend $6.00 a piece for AT&T's "tuff cords" when they were available. I have never seen one fail. They are still out there, but not the same quality since manufacture was shipped off-shore.

I have tried the ICC's but seems like they to wind up after a few months.

ICC is good. The others are good if Ed says so.

If you see a cord that is wound very tight, try to convince the customer to move the phone to the other side of the desk. The cord usually gets tangled when a right handed person has the phone on their right side (or vice versa). They answer the phone with their right hand, then move it to their left hand so they can write. Then it goes back to the right hand to be hung up. Twist-stops are always a problem sooner or later.

NEWSFLASH - It's not the cords fault. Show them how to untangle it daily and they will be fine. Believe it or not, some people don't know you can untangle a cord very easily. Not untangling a cord is the source of the trouble. Or you could offer those steel braid pay phone cords.
Mark

Ed beat me to it, Adirondack or Lynn. I have a sample board from Adirondack (from many years ago) with probably more than a dozen actual samples of colors and finishes (shiny, matt, etc).

-Hal

I use AllenTel here at the hospital. Seem to work just fine. Biggest thing is, a local supplier has them on hand and I can get them same day. Once apon a time when Sprint was marketing cords I bought a lot of those, but havent seen any in many moons. Doesnt matter how many times you can show someone to untangle a cord they still get trashed.

What about the ones from Refurb supplies. They have awesome prices on coil cords.

Maybe you're taking the wrong path for this.

I just leave a few with the receptionist, or system co-ordinator. They can change them when they want without me going on site.

If they've got a maintenance contract, they're free, if not, they're invoiced.

Dave

I have 170 users in my building using the same brand of cords. 8-10 users are notorious for walking up to me "often" with a twisted mess asking for a new cord. It really has to be a user issue. My switchboard cord is 3-4 years old and besides some ink on it, it appears brand new.

My wife just told me that at her office (a call center), they were forever changing cords & headset until somebody got the bright idea to go around and changed whatever was needed and the persons involved were told "from now on, YOU pay for it. Since then the change was has gone way down.

Dave

Just look at easily twisted cords as a revenue producer! Or loser, on a maintanance contract!
John C.

That is where we get all of ours. The quality is good and the price is right. Get the individually bagged ones.
The only trouble I have with Refurb is color matching some of the more unusual models/brands.

I usually get the ones from Adirondack. They seem to work quite well. DO NOT use the plastic Swivels. They are a huge point of failure on the handset. Plus they usually are a pain to get out. We usually end up with a bunch of them from some vendor who leaves them as a "reminder" for their product.

I used the Adirondack cords exclusively, because they were readily available, and had the colors to match all the stuff. But Graybar tells me that they have gone out of business, and now I am back to buyin Lynn cords. Both of them have always been good cords with a good color match. Had anyone else heard that AWC has gone OOB or did Graybar drop them in favor of Lynn?

Nope they are still around but got bought out.
https://www.wblake.com/AWC/

No kidding. Adirondack makes some awesome-quality cords. I believe that Comdial used them as factory equipment back when their equipment was made in USA.

Well this might catch some laughter but, I actually repair the customer handset cords when the problem is due to the connector. I just cut the old one off and crimp on a new one. You would be surprised the number of times this corrects the problem, it costs less, and it makes most of the contacts understand they need to daily un-tangle their handset cord.
I do agree with the placement of the telephone on a persons desk and if they are right-handed or left-handed. Most users only want it to stop tangling and when they find out what causes it they make the change gladly.
Also at install usually the customer has requested longer handset cords than the 6/7' that come with the phone so I always leave those in the telephone room. When I have a difficult end-user I grab one of those and put it on their phone and tell them thats all I have and I'll bring one back on the next visit or have one delivered.

Ed, where do you get your Adirondack cords?

I haven't bought them in years, but I believe that Graybar and Clifford still have access to them. Of course, Graybar is going to want to sell their house brand, Allen Tel Products. I'd check with Clifford.

Thanks Prez.