Hello all, I'm new to the forum but have been reading up on some great info here lately (this seems to be the most informative site out there). However, I have ran into an issue recently that I have been unable to resolve through research on this forum, others or in the manual so I was hoping some of the helpful users here could lend some insight.

Background: I have recently been put in charge of my company's phone system with little to no training (the previous admin left me with minimal info). I have been the IT manager here for the past 2 years maintaining the workstations, servers and data network configuration so I do have a bit of technical background.

The phone system server cabinet is a Toshiba Strata CTX100 and I am running Toshiba Network eManager V5.20A11a to manage the phones on my local Windows Xp Pro 32bit machine. In the past I have been able to launch this eManager program from my local PC in order to edit the phone configuration with ease. However, lately when I launch the program (in Internet Explorer 7) and try and "Connect to Client Equipment" I receive the error "Connection failed! Toshiba Phones:ERROR_COULD_NOT_CONNECT_TO_CALL_AGENT"

I have attempted numerous strategies to resolve this issue such as removing my PC from the domain, disabling all antivirus and firewalls, adjusting the security settings in IE7 per settings defined in the manual, connecting via Remote Desktop Connection, connecting directly with ethernet cable into the router attached to the cabinet, uninstalling and reinstalling eManager, etc and have not had any luck.

If anyone has any ideas or comments I would greatly appreciate the help. Again, I am not an expert with these systems so I may be missing something simple... Thank you all very much in advance.

Typically removing the PC from the domain is only required during the installation. Remote desktop won't do any good, as the PBX does not run on Windows. I am not sure what type of router is someone put inside the cabinet.

The most common reason you could not connect is the an incorrect equipement setup, including IP address and community name.The error message is pretty generic and does not tell you why you could not connect.

So I would assume you have already verified that you can ping the PBX processor?

If you already lnow that you have the correct information, and can ping the PBX processor, then the other possibility is that some processor's admin fuction will lockup. You would need to cycle the power to the main cabinet. If you have an Stratagy IES voicemail system then please use proper shut down procedure on that voicemail before powering down the cabinet.

Our office is also in Orange County, if you would like to get everything setup and get some training and info on your system. EManager will probabaly not help you make changes to the voicemail system.

Try running NeM recovery

newtecky:
I removed the PC from the domain per the instructions in the manual but I believe you are correct, that is necessary for installation only. The manual also suggested XP Remote Desktop but I guess I am not sure what OS the PBX is running... The router used is a basic Netgear unit with 4 lines: 1 to the main phone server, 1 into what looks like the voicemail card, a line into the wall and an empty line for what looks like connection for the tech's laptop (currently connected to my PC).

I have not verified the IP but am using the same IP we've used with the system for years (this IP has worked when I've reinstalled/updated eManager in the past). I cannot get the 916 code entered through a phone terminal correctly to verify this IP though, do you know the proper keystroke procedure to do this? I am pretty certain my Community Name is correct.

I have also been looking into the power cycle option and will give that a shot, I have the proper procedure.

Thanks for the offer to help, if I run out of options I may have to contact you and maybe you could give me a quick crash course on this program and system over the phone...

Steve Mull:
What exactly is "NeM Recovery"? I have not heard of this...

Thanks all for the input so far.

Did you recycle the power on the CTX?

NeM recovery is primarily a tool to fix eManager after it gets corrupted by Windows updates.

If you have this little bug, going to prg 916 would very often cause the system to reboot. I had this happen. Customer was not happy to have all calls drop. The good new was that I could get into the system after that happened.

If you think you know the IP address of the PBX, I would ping it, then while pining, unplug the netowrk cable from the processor (card on far left slot with a SD card) and see if the ping times out. Don't leave the network cable unplugged for too long, because the voicemail will probabaly not work correctly while it is unplugged. If you had an Automatic Call Distrubution system (ACD), then unplugging the cable could mess with that too.

If your Emanager pc is local to the pbx try a crossover patch lead direct connection. If you still can't get connected reboot the system and retest. If you still can't get on then you need to verify switch IP and community name. Switch IP was mentioned above but community name can be difficult to check.

Power cycling / rebooting the PBX sounds like the best option right now but I may have to hold off on conducting it until tonight so service isn't interrupted during business hours. To answer phonemeister's question, no I have not tried power cycling yet. How long does a power cycle usually take until the system is back online? Are any settings or messages lost? Also, I have the powering down procedure but nothing about booting up, anything more than simply pushing the power button?

I would like to ping the IP to verify I have the correct info but am unsure how, do I simply type "ping <IP address>" into command prompt? If not, can someone briefly describe the procedure? I see the processor card newtecky is referring to so I can unplug the network cable from it while pinging to see if it times out. I believe I read about a way to verify the IP by entering a string of key strokes (involving the 916 program) on any telephone terminal on the system but I could be mistaken... mentioned here but without the procedure to execute: https://www.sundance-communications.com/forum/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/11/t/003687/p/1.html

Ottersnose: Is the crossover patch direct connection technique just connecting a network cable from my local PC directly into the processor (bypassing the router)?

Thanks again for everyone's help so far.

Yes mate. It eliminates any network related problems but the patch lead should be a crossover type.

Remeber that if you disconnect the cable from the processor, the voicemail system won't work correctly, so reconnect after you are done testing. I would plug into the Netgear data switch thst you described, and unplug the cable to the wall. This would remove the connection to the rest of the network.

Ping test is the same as to computers, from command prompt PING {IP ADDRESS}

The community name and how to enter programing on the phone won't be discused in the open forum.

Settings should not be lost. They are stored by battery and also on a SD media card, as long as the last person that made changes backup up to that card. Voicemail is storerd on a hard drive or flash drive depending on the system.

The PBX should be up and going in about a minute. The voicemail may take longer, 10-15 minutes if it is a Stratagy IES like I believe it to be. After the voicemail has been shut down, just rock the power switch off, then back on.

Ok so I verified the IP to be correct by patching into the processor directly using a crossover cable (that I had to build btw) and pinging it with command prompt like Otternose suggested and got 4 out of 4 replies from the IP. Also per newtecky's suggestion, I pinged the IP, got 2 replies, then unplugged the cable in the middle of the process and it then timed out twice.

So I am now certain my IP and community name are correct. Any other suggestions to enable eManager to connect to the PBX other than power cycling? Like I mentioned earlier, I will power cycle tonight when everyone leaves. Any tips on booting the system back up would be helpful as well. Thanks guys.

Thanks for the input newtecky (I noticed your last reply after posting mine...). The pinging procedure worked great.

The system is backed up by battery and SD card in the processor so I should not lose any settings or data.

Yes, the voicemail system is a Stratagy IES and I will follow those steps when I conduct the power cycle in a few hours. I will keep everyone posted...

I am open to any and all additional feedback, it has been extremely useful thus far and I thank everyone.

Everything should start back up when power is back on. The Amber light on the Stratagy voiecmail means that it is booting back up. When the light goes out, it should be working shortly within a few minutes. If it seems to take a very long time, like 30 mins, try powering the voiemail off (using the power button on the VM) then press again to power it back on.

Power cycling the PBX was a success, I know have full access to the Strata CIX100 system using eManager. Followed the proper Stratagy IES voicemail shut down procedure along with newtecky's steps on powering down then fired back up and was back online within 5 minutes.

Thanks to everyone for their help, I would have been (and was) lost without it.

Now on to figuring out my way around this program...

Great. A software upgrade on the PBX should prevent that bug from happening again. It is pretty random but generally will show up every few months.