Is there a general guideline about how long a phone system should last???

I know that there are alot of variables, such as quality of installation and type of environment, but where systems made in the early 90's designed to only last a certain amount of years???

The reason for this question is that I am working with a company that called me a few days ago, with a Partner and a VS 4.1 vm. The secretary told me that it was there when she was hired and she is with the company 5 years.

Well anyway, the vm konked out, dead as door nail...and they also told me the system keeps dropping calls and phones go dead and then back up...

Is it unique that a partner system that I would imagine is not more then 7 years old be ready for the scrap pile????

I still see TIE Ultracom's still working and that was the first system I installed when I was a newby...back in '82....

Would like to hear some feedback on the life of phone systems......

Most truely. phone systems DO have an imaginary expiration date that the phone system provider doesnt want you to see somewhere from 8-10years. Most times you can keep a system and swap phones and lines and it can fix a problem... but when you are POSITIVE that the system is dropping calls and not keeping business in order... its time for a scrap pile, BUT if you are going to go with the same provider swap some of the old parts to save money unless the company wants bigger...better...out with the old in with the new. A NORSTAR can probably last around 10 years, same c| avaya. Find out how many calls a system is missing or dropping, what parts are wearing down (some systems cards will have a small LED on the inside that gets dimmer as it is "supposed" to be replaced.) and if you can replace the system if it is faulty.



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..::kristopher::..

I have always felt that the longevity of a system is related to several factors. First the equipment must be reliable. But the biggest factor is the quality of the installing company. Many times I have seen perfectly good systems tossed out onto scrap heap only because the customer had no idea what it was capable of - mostly due to the ineptness of the installing interconnect.

[This message has been edited by dwflood (edited May 05, 2005).]

I can't speak specifically for the Partner system you are dealing with but most of these systems will last 10-12 years with no major problems. I have seen quite a few of the R1's still in service and working well. One important aspect of longevity is the way they were installed and the enviroment they were installed in. You still see many Merlin systems in use, they were first introduced in 1984 at the time of divesiture. In my humble opinion the Partner is one of the most reliable systems on the market.

All my Coral systems can be upgraded..so never.

Local County Jail/Sheriffs Dept. has a Toshiba Strata XX with Rotary Dial CO cards and about 40 phones. 1984 or 1985 installed new still in service and still under Maintenance Contract. It dosen't get any better than this. Thank God they don't all keepem this long.

I had just found out from an employee at the company that the Partner system was installed by "some old guy" who disappeared and they cant seem to locate him.....so I dont know its new, used or refurbed until I examine in detail the modules...

The phones dropping calls and going down/back up is probably a symptom of bad keypad membranes. They can be replaced.
As far as system longevity goes, I look at it like having an old used car. As long as replacement parts are available, the maintenance costs a significant ammount less than a new one would cost, and it is still filling all their needs, why replace it?
Voicemails are another issue. Hardrives go down, software gets corrupted, etc....

(Of course, much of our business is from end-users holding onto that 15-20 year old system)
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Avaya Telephone Repair
Toshiba Telephone Repair

[This message has been edited by paul144 (edited May 06, 2005).]

[This message has been edited by paul144 (edited May 06, 2005).]

I find the life expectancy of any phone system as a whole is equal to the life of the power-supply. Phones wear out and some brands last longer than others and get replaced. 10 years is a long time for something to be powered up 24/7. I tell my customers it’s like a TV that never gets turned off. They relate to that. Most manufactures that I deal with engineer semi-conductor tolerances into their product. So after 2 years under constant voltage when a semi-conductor breaks down the rest of the circuit is designed for that and compensates.

The TIE VDS system lasted 26 years.

It has a couple phone die over the years.

The largest problem is after 25 years, the processor went bad.

I was charged a fortune for a used one.

Now that system is taken off line, no one even wants the system for parts.(I still have it if anyone is interested)

It does not make since if you can end up selling a processor for thousands of dollars for someone who really needs one.

Anyway, its remarkable how these phone systems are running 24/7/365 and hundreds of thousands of hours worth on phone calls build to be up 99.99999% rock solid reliability.

Expensive computer servers in companies running something stable like Linux(not microsoft) still probably has to be reset around every month. I have even had something as simple as an expensive calculator go bad in less time than the phone system.

So if you considering how the phone system companies to any other piece of technology you have. Its absolutely fantastic. I don't know how they got to reliable but I wish more electronic products were made this well.

If you are in Texas or Missouri your dial tone could be coming from a Western Electric 1A ESS switch that was installed in the early 70's. When they were installed the engineers said the objective was to have less than two hours down time in forty years. When I read about techs who have there own PBX to play with I remember that I would have to have a five car garage just for the CPU.

The environment plays a big factor in a Partner system. The cases are not vetilated well and the components overheat. We have had many that we go to move, turn them off, and they won't come back up. I bet it is a processor problem. Sometimes the co/station cards also create problems. I think they had a poor design engineered into them.

sort of like a antique car as long as your willing to throw money at it we can keep it going

I have a customer with a tie cx 1648 that I sold her used back in the late '80s processor has gone bad , im trying to intrest her ion something else , looks like shes going to go with refurb processor and some new handsets for the phones.

partner the same way , thing that I find bad are , flex circuits on mls phones , batterys on processor (causing program to drop with power fail ) caps on 206 boards (cuasing static )

keep replacing those as needed and it should keep going

Systems one and all have their problems and they stay pretty consistant for each model. I have repaired many types of systems their cards power supplies and phones. From membranes in partner phones to all the electrolitic caps on many types of power supplies. You would be surprised at the stacks of hardware fixes all and I repeat ALL companys have. The hardest part is after a few years they won't mfg support their products as they are in the business of new sales. Can't blame them its there line of work. The hard part for installers and field techs is making that choice between down time to send somthing out for repair,stocking spares etc. or selling them a new system. Most anything can be repaired as long as its not burnt up. As long as we inform endusers of all their options then you will allways have their business. Because we all want an honest answer. Its called customer satisfaction and should be everyones 1st priority.

My feeling is that the more complex any system is, the more things that can go wrong, and probably will.

My first VCR lasted about 12 years. I still have a 15 year old TV. New VCR lasted about 3 years and my 3 year old TV is already showing problems.

Yes, those are consumer electronics, but I'm guessing that every type of system built today will have a shorter lifespan of the older ones.

I was in communications in the military, and they love to keep 30+ year old equipment in use (along with the new high tech stuff they show on the news).

Many different types of systems (phone and others) are looking more like a PC every day. DVRs, POS, etc running on Windoze OS.
If I don't restart my PC often, I start to have problems.

You could probably keep many systems alive for quite some time with replacement parts. The question is, how much should be replaced before its time to dump it all.