My small office has a DCS Compact with 5 terminals and 4 incoming lines. Today it started doing something odd: Line 4 (designated 704) stopped working. Picking it up from any terminal displays "Out of Service". I checked the incoming line by plugging it into a normal wireless phone we keep in a drawer, and there's dial tone on the line. What's more, if I swap the lines around (replug the line going to Line 3 into Line 4 instead), it's always Line 4 that gives the problem. The other 3 always have dial tone.

I'm thinking this is a hardware issue somewhere in the wires or the brain itself, but where do I start in checking that?

Welcome to Sundance Tech-Talk.


Looks like you may have a bad port on your line card. You will need to get your Samsung dealer involved to replace it.

With a Compact the first 4 lines are on the motherboard so replacing it would basicly mean swapping out the whole case, the only other possibility would be if you have a spare expansion slot to put another trunk card in.

Samsung Tech NZ

The compact has a 4COP removable card, that is most likely the problem!

Thanks! I'll look into getting someone out here to service it. I think the company that installed it for us went out of business, though...

Here's a bit longer of an explanation:

Until yesterday we had four phone lines coming in from the phone company. We decided to switch one of them to the local cable provider to try out their business phone service. The cable guy came and swapped out the phone number we had plugged into Line 4 for the new cable box and line. While he was here, he verified that it worked fine, which was through our Samsung system. We even made a few outgoing calls on the line, no problems (we don't get many incoming calls on that line).

After he left, I remembered that we had hard-wired another outlet to that incoming box from the phone company (the one that was disconnected), so I opened those boxes and moved the wires from that phone company jack to another one so we could continue to use that outlet for our outgoing fax machine. This wiring isn't connected to the Samsung box in any way, but I figured I'd mention it for completeness.

So, at this point we had the cable line going into Line 4 and still the original three phone company lines in Lines 1-3. After lunch, we noticed that picking up Line 4 gave us dead air the first couple of times (no dial tone), then the "Out of Service" message. I restarted the cable box (unplug and replug), removed and reseated all the wires, and the problem persisted. So I called the cable company for tech support. After 20 minutes of them trying to call, reset, etc, I finally remembered that we have a regular wireless phone in a drawer, so I plugged the cable line into that and voila, dial tone!

So at this point, I started hot-swapping the various lines around, and found that it was the Samsung unit's Line 4 that had a problem. I have dial tone on all four lines (three phone company + the cable line), but none of them will give dial tone through Line 4 on the Samsung system. They all work fine on the other lines.

I think that's basically the same thing I said originally, but perhaps there's some crucial detail there I left out thinking it was unimportant...

Thanks again for your insight!

so I opened those boxes and moved the wires from that phone company jack to another one so we could continue to use that outlet for our outgoing fax machine. This wiring isn't connected to the Samsung box in any way, but I figured I'd mention it for completeness.

Don't bet on the wiring not being connected! It will take a good tech to test for that.

It sounds as if you just need a good phone tech to look at the wiring. Show him what you did, that will save you time and money. It would be impossible for us to tell you how to re-wire the jack that you opened.

Glad to see you owned up to opening a jack! :thumb:
I think you may have a simple wiring problem.

Well, I'm not trying to say I know everything, but the boxes I rewired were the two incoming lines from the phone company. I took the two wires that feed the phone jack by the fax machine out of the disconnected box and moved them to one of the boxes that's still connected. I didn't open or go near any of the four line boxes that feed the Samsung unit.

Here's a thought: is it possible that the cable line had a power surge or otherwise overloaded the port? Would it be different voltage than the phone company lines?

Anything is possible, but remember it worked until you made a change. That is the way I read it anyway. You could have a bad port from a surge and if so you will still have to call a tech in to supply and change it. Get a phone guy in there to tone out your lines and check the port. You could have had this fixed by now!

I agree with the diagnosis's here but I would like to add that a single line analog instrument. Like your wireless phone does not need much in the way of voltages to give it "tone" and they are more tolerant of change. The Samsung on the other hand is a little finicky when it comes to attaching things with different voltages. As an example lets say that the POTS from Bell has been pushing 57 volts for the last 7 years to a line card. When a new voltage source is introduced (higher or lower) the line card may act in a severe way. Like loosing your "tone" even when put back to the same source.

Just some added thoughts.

Would this cause physical damage requiring a replacement part, or is it something I could reset through a command at a terminal, like resetting the time?

Replacement would be required!

Do you have someone to call?, we could help you find a dealer.

No, the dealer that installed it for us is no longer in business, so I have no one to call. I'm exploring options for fixing it ourselves while the boss was looking into finding someone to service it. If you have a recommendation in the Orlando, FL area I'd love to hear it!

Not sure if your still having a problem but PM me if you need some help. I'm about 1.5 hours from you.