Hi guys, I have a customer with a merlin plus system running to lines. He would like to add a cheap answering system to one ext. to get messages when he's away from it. He also would like an inexpensive cordless for his sales girl to carry around when helping customers. I haven't wk'd with these older systems, can a basic answering machine be plugged into a port on a bls-10 phone or is a GPA adapter needed? Also can anyone reccomend an inexpensive cordless for this system. Thanks Gary

That's the problem. Customer is too cheap to upgrade from an antique phone system but they want all the bells and whistles the new ones provide. They can't have their cake and eat it too.

The only cordlesses that will work with that system are the Transtalks. Not inexpensive but that's a moot point anyway because they don't work anymore.

I would just put everything ahead of the system and live with it. Plenty of 2 line stuff out there.

-Hal

You could go before the system and add the answering machine to 1 line or 2 if he preferred.

Same with the cordless ,buy an in expensive cordless at a big box store and put it b4 the system.
There wont be any indication cordless is on the phone ,but its alot cheaper then att /avaya cordless.

gpa would work at a phone and answering machine would connect to it.

The AT&T 1772 & 1782 answering machines both could support 2 phone lines. (The 1772 also had 3 mailboxes while the 1782 had only 1 but came with caller ID/call waiting ID capabilities).

When either of these units appears on eBay, they attract a fair amount of bidding.

If the customer really wants to go this route, you can wire one up as Ken & Hal suggested and the customer will be good to go.

Thanks guys, I'll probly do the cordless route before the system, that'll work. The answering system will not. It's 2 owners sharing a store, the 1 owners sales girls don't take messages too well.He wants them to tranfer to his extension, where if he's not in the answering machine would p/u. They share the same lines and these #'s were his originaly so everyone calls him on them. Hal your right, but they each don't want to pay for a new system. Has anyone tried that GPA device? looks like it might work for the answering machine. Thanks again for all your help.

GPA should on co lines ,not sure if it will work

on icm transfered call.

Set needs 2 jacks in back like 10 bis.

They did make an opx card for the old 1030

that comes out of an ext on merlin and put the ans machine on that ,and transfer the call to that ext.
That may work ???

gpa is best,disable voice annouce at his ext. will not work if he is on that ext.need auto answer programed on button his ext. There is line 1 aux port on line card, if you have 2 line cards use aux port 1 for line 1,use aux port 2=line 5, for line 2, use line app. so phones show line 1,then line 5 on phones.---------John

Thanks guys, I have a line on a GPA device so i'll give that a try, and let you know.