Greetings,

We are using a StarPlus phone system (SP7000-00) connected to a SLT Adapter SP7420-00 which is then conneted to a Vodavi Voice Box DHD2G0744, and today, abruptly, whenever anyone dials in, the voicemail doesn't answer, and when we dial the voicemail in-house, none of the keys on our phones work.

Has anyone heard of this before? The system does not appear to be fried or damaged in any way.

On the voice mail system itself, can you tell us which of the eight LEDs are lit, if any?

We have a 4-line Vodavi Analog Dispatch box (and I've cracked it open since it's out of warranty, and all the parts look beautiful), and 4 of the lights are lit up bright red. I couldn't find anything in the manual about whether or not they were supposed to turn green?

When we connect via the Vodavi Admin program, the admin program seems to have all the correct registry settings and seems to be keyed to answer the phone, I believe the problem may exist somewhere in the Starplus DHS Phone box, like perhaps it's not forwarding the rings properly to the Voicemail? I'm not sure.

When you call the VM in-house, does it actually answer?

No, the LEDs won't turn green. They should be lit steadily when the ports are idle, and flash whenever one of them is in use. If anything else is happening with them, then the VM is in trouble.

My suspicion would be that the SLT adapter (7420) may be the culprit, which is a very good thing. Obviously, the Dispatch is functional meaning that the hard drive is still good (that's usually what fails on them).

You'll need to connect a true single line telephone set to all of the SLT adapter's ports and try ringing each one by dialing their respective extension numbers. If you don't ring the phone, then the 7420 has failed. Check back and let us know.

Yeah, it answers, but we just can't push any buttons on the phone as soon as it picks up I don't understand that.

I'll check the ports as soon as I can find out what each extension is (I did not install this system and the person who put it together left no documentation *sighs*)

Thank you for your time, I will try to let you know.

Just hook up the SLT and dial a display phone. That should tell you the extension number.

Sounds like that blasted option card in the DHS system strikes again. The fact that buttons on the phones become inoperable after the call to the VM is answered is yet another of those inexplicable issues.

What does the Options Card look like? Can I yank it out without consequences?

Single line ports on a DHS SLT adapter that are not programmed as voice mail ports will not pass any DTMF tones when you call them. You need to program the ports as Voice mail ports, put them in a vm group and then it should work.

Yeah, but everything was already working.

Chris, the option card can be safely removed from the equation as long as you power the system down before you disconnect it. It has a ribbon cable that connects it to the motherboard, so the card itself can be left in place for the test. For most installations, it's only there for misc. functions, like paging, etc. This card has a 9-pin data connector (AKA "DB9") on one end that sticks out through the cabinet's side. The system will function without this card connected.

You may be experiencing a typical EOL (end of life) failure of this system, where the memory retention battery starts failing. In this case, bits and pieces of programming information are lost. This causes just about anything to not work properly. If this is the case, it is time to invest in a new system. I seriously doubt that your system is less than ten years old anyway and that's a good run for a low-priced product.

Stay in touch.

Oh so you're referring to an options card in the VM not in the DHS? The way you phrased your previous post I thought it was in the main phone system.

Unfortunately we had to hire out to the local tech support shop because the boss needed the phones back yesterday. If they tell us the system is ending its lifecycle we'll have to get something else, but I'm personally hoping it's something fixable or replaceable, money for a new phone system might not be in the pipe.

Reinitialize and reprogram the system. It's VERY unlikely it's an option card. The most likely worst case is the SLT adapter is bad.

I've had the DHS system quit generating touch tones even though it was programmed correctly and working. Other than battery failures, which are easy to replace, the old DHS is pretty solid.

That being said the DHS is cumbersome and very slow with the old Dispatch. There are very nice alternatives at a good price. Your Vodavi dealer might suggest the Starplus STS. It's an economcal replacement for the DHS.

Okey - it turned out the DHS System's database had been completely reset somehow so I had to go through and manually enable all the DTMF tones and remap all the station numbers to match the voicemail numbers, and it works now.

One additional question - this system is TERRIBLE when someone hangs up on the Voice Mail before the mail greeting is complete. The Analog Dispatch just sits there for sometimes up to 10 full minutes if someone's hung up during the mail greet, and since we only have two voice mail lines, if two people have recently hung up during the mail greet, the entire system doesn't respond for 10 minutes. Do you know why this is? Why it won't recognize that the line has been terminated?

(Oh and Deltron, I know the DHS is terrible, it always has been, we're trying to get the money together to upgrade to something else, my boss wants to go VOIP so it's all digital next time. Any thoughts on good VOIP systems?)

The system isn't releasing the calls because it is not being instructed to do so. Your system is either not receiving the loop supervision disconnect signal (99% of the cases) or the system is not programmed properly to interpret it. This is through no fault of the phone system OR the voice mail. It is due to an errant programmer either at the telco or on your site.

The system(s) aren't terrible. They are doing the right thing by keeping the caller on the line because they aren't being told to release them.

Chris, VOIP isn't all digital. It still depends upon the equipment installed. With the exception of the SLT adapter connectivity to the voice mail, your current system is all digital.

Sorry Ed, but I have to agree on the DHS. I have never been big on TCOM equipment. I shed no tears over the last one I replaced with an STS and an inskin HD voice mail.

An all Voip system. If you have to have one, how about the SBX?

Errr...the SBX all VoIP? I don't think so.

Well, I'd be in favor of keeping the dispatch and just installing an STSe too, but aren't we here to offer assistance, not to talk people into buying a new system? I'd put an STSe in there in a heartbeat myself, but something tells me that this issue that the customer is having wasn't planned.

Going from a DHS to a full IP system is going to result in major sticker shock. I think that the boss may have a change of heart when they realize that the decimal point will move over a digit with regard to system replacement cost.

Well, I did mistate a bit..I should have said if you have to have VOIP why not the SBX? I couldn't bring myself to say IP office.

Also make sure the disconnect digits are programmed. The actual string is "#9999" not "9999". The # character should be inserted before the 9's.

KK - First off, thanks to everyone for your assistance, since the phones are working now minus the incredibly-long-voicemail-hangup time issue, which we had before this problem

Deltron - I've pored over this manual's programming database and I haven't found anything called "Disconnect Digits" in the programming system - where in the menu hierarchy is that located? And is it in the DHS or the VM?

Anyway, as for sticker shock, we've already priced a couple of VOIP systems and I've forwarded on the pricing information to our superiors, and they still want to go with it as soon as the cash is in the cauffers (sp), so I'm guessing they're not deterred. Also having the entire PBX/Voicemail system all in one computer with admin software would be really nice, since this Vodavi stuff is *arcane* to understand. Some of the systems we looked at had really robust windows-based line monitoring, menu alterations, etc. But I'm babbling now and it's not really relevant here.

Thanks again for your help.

Chris, the disconnect signal programming is in the DHS manual. Thank you for getting back to us and letting us know the outcome or at least your progress.

I think your frustration with regard to difficult programming is due to the fact that phone and voice mail systems were designed to be installed/maintained by trained technicians. Today, customers are expecting to be able to do this themselves.

The one drawback that people fail to remember with VoIP "all in one" packages is that when it goes down, you lose everything. Sure, you hear that the computer network will be down and that's generally accepted, but for the phone system to be down is out of the question. Something to ponder.

Er, I just found the disconnect digits under the DHS programming database. It won't let me enter #9999, it just blanks out the screen if I type #9999 and hit "Chg". It appears to want all-numeric or all-#'s.

NEW ISSUE - We've recently discovered that even though we pick up the line we're getting empty voice mails. We presently have the Voice Mail system configured to do a Supervised Transfer every time someone dials one of our extensions, it sets the phones to ring and blink, and we pick up and press the appropriate CO Line.

However, ever since the DHS got reprogrammed, apparently we're getting empty dial-tone voice mails even if the VM performs a supervised transfer and we pick it up. Any ideas?

Yes, there isn't a disconnect signal being received from the local service provider or the disconnect signal (digit string) isn't being sent to the voice mail. The voice mail is doing what it is supposed to do: Hang onto the call assuming that the caller doesn't have a touch-tone dial. The caller hangs up, but the voice mail isn't being told that it is OK to disconnect. It allows the "caller" that it thinks is there to leave a message, which ends up being a recording of nothing.

Again, it is not the voice mail's fault. It's not being told how to handle hang-up callers.

The disconnect problem should be easy to check. Call in, have someone answer and then have only the caller hang up. If the DHS keeps the line siezed for more than a second or two then there is little or no disconnect supervision. IF the DHS drops the line and the line key light goes out...then something else is going on here.

Important missing step: Answer the call and place it on hold, THEN see if the line drops when the caller hangs up.

Not necessary on the DHS. If the line port loses power (as in a disconnect signal), it will clear the line even if you are talking on it.

Okey dokey, I did ask you asked. Just to be safe, I did both what Ed asked and what Derrick asked.

1) I called the work switchboard from my cell phone
2) Dialed my own extension
3) Picked up my line
a) In the second test put myself on hold
4) Hung up my cell

Both times I hung up the cell phone, on the Starplus master display phone (which is at my desk,) the CO Line red light went out *less than a second* after I pressed "end call" on the cell. Both times, both voice mail ports remained lit for EIGHT minutes, and both times I got an empty voice mail message containing a dialtone.

Oh one quick added question - would the STS or STSe work with our preexisting crappy StarPlus phones or would we have to buy new phones?

No, unfortunately those phones are not compatible. You could reuse the voice mail with an STSe though.

There's no doubt that you are receiving the disconnect signal from your service provider, which is a good thing. The DHS is not sending a string of 9's to the voice mail to tell it to disconnect.

Excellent, all 9's worked great. It seems to be running flawlessly now. Thanks!

And for the price of even the cheapest STSe and 10 phones, we can very nearly go entirely VOIP for some of the prices we've been quoted.

Maybe, but the STS will work.

Wow, that doesn't sound right at all. I've never encountered a situation where the STSe was more expensive than any IP system.

Then again, open source (free) software, a used PC and SIP phones are a cheap way to provide an IP system.

how about a ring generator on the phone system

NEW Behavior - The StarPlus DHS is still set to give all 9's as the disconnect signal, I just checked, but this morning, spontaneously, we went back to the same old crap as last time, the voicemail is lingering for 8 minutes after the call and leaving us empty voicemails. This was not happening Friday when I entered all 9's as the disconnect code, but the programming tree still says "DIS DGT:999999999" as the disconnect code. I'm really confused as to why that would work Friday and not work now.

Interesting new tidbit - when I set it back to "DIS DGT - EMPTY" it goes back to working. I'm thinking the DHS may just be acting very strange, or it's approaching end of life as was stated earlier.

It may very well be. The system relies upon a memory retention battery that will eventually fail. With the storms that Virginia has encountered over the past several days, it's more than likely that power was interrupted at some point. Even if for only a second, that would be enough to cause the stored data to get mixed up. It's not a field-replaceable battery, so with the exception of a good on-line UPS, you are correct. The DHS KSU is getting tired and either needs refurbishing or replacement.

Let's remember that this system has been discontinued for many years, so it has done pretty well when you consider the fact that it is easily ten years old.