I can't believe my boss did this to me, but he found an
AT&T Merlin
6102 Cartridge
Music On Hold And Paging
for our phone system and he wants me to install it...like I know anything about it.
Basically, he just wants music to play when people are on hold. So, I believe we need a receiver/transmitter to plug into a terminal on the cartridge, but I don't know if the receiver/transmitter is a special piece of equipment, or if I can use standard mono output from your typical stereo receiver.
I can plug the 6102 cartridge in, but I have no idea what the:
T R 1 2 M1 M2
terminals are for, or what the
PAGING SIGNAL ON/OFF SWITCH
does, or what the dials for
Backround Music
Music on Hold
do.
Great Web Site.
Thanks.
James
Welcome to the forums.
You have a music on hold for the old Classic Merlin 206-410-820.
Could you confirm that you have one of those systems.
If you do it goes in the second slot down on the right.
That card provides moh / background music and a page interface for your system.
Could you post exactly what you have and the cards now plugged in ?
M1 an m2 are your music inputs.
Before your plug the cartridge in...turn the power off to the Merlin Controller to be safe.
That's it.you can use a radio, CD player...any
media device that has a audio output. Radio Shack
has what you need to attach the device to the MOH
terminals.
If you plan to rebroadcast radio transmissions or commercially available music off of CDs or something of that nature, be sure to acquire the proper licenses.
The exception, of course, is if you use recordings that are specifically marked "royalty free"
when was the last time a customer using a radio,
satellite or CD got busted by ASCAP for playing
music over MOH. Years ago that may have been the
issue....times have changed. Put music across
your MOH card and wait for the "Men In Black"
to come knocking. Do you think your customer is
going to pay ASCAP to listen to music while on
hold...This is not an overhead loudspeaker issue.
This had always been a misunderstood and over rated topic...if it makes you feel better to pay
for MOH, then go head.
Dvader, as professionals on this board we don't advise people to do something illegal regardless of whether you think thay will get away with it.
Dexman is correct in pointing out the legalalities which is the professional thing to do for anyone contemplating using music for any business purpose. If they don't want to take the advice that's their business but at least they were given the right information, not an opinion.
-Hal
Dvader,
It must depend on where you are, because I hear about it every so often here, maybe 3-5 times a year. Mostly it is a warning to stop, but sometimes it involves fines. It is our (and your) responsibility to ALWAYS advise the legal options to our clients - whether they take them or not.
Best advise if you do not want to pay for a true music on hold player for the music is to go out and get an unlicensed classical music CD (I have seen them in many places that sell CD's) and use that.
Steve
I don't advise anybody to do the wrong thing.....
The MOH source has always been a very touchy and
misunderstood issue...this could be argued all day long..its no different than the "right to use" fee inposed by Lucent/Avaya on the Definity
PBX...or paying "Union dues" for the right to
work in a given area or building...
And so on and so forth....
Like I said...We can go all day with this.
Great. The card is not needed if you can get to the backplane pins. Nothing special... the card does nothing other than give you the connections.
I can't count the times someone needed MOH and Paging. I took the unit apart and without the card gave them what the wanted.
Now that were back to the card issue...
Sta Specialities..you did what....bypass the
cartridge and wire wrapped the music to the
backplane of the controller...is this what you
just described???? if it is...that is the strangest way I have ever heard of installing MOH
on a Merlin Classic...is that how they do things
on the east coast...it must of taken awhile to
figure out what pins carry the music.
We did it for years when they first came out.
Why pay $495 for a piece of plastic.
2 pins for MOH, 2 for Paging, a wirewrap tool, the blank plate that covers the hole and a .59cent RS
connector, thats all.
No diff from adding paging to a Definity with wires from speaker of a phone, insead of Megabucks for a page card.
I Sold schematics for this (and TIE 612 MOH) in The Gear and some other industry Rags a long time ago. Really hacked them off (AT&T). They sent some threatening letters but backed off. We ran specials, MOH and a radio ,for less than half of what AT&T charged for the empty box.
I have heard many takes on the MOH deal and always suggest a MOH player and roylty free music, but have hooked up many CD players for users from phone system to BGM over page, I personally know of no one hit by ASCAP or any other agency.
Think they just eyeball chain companies and large
Corps. Big Band music (the real thing) has in my
experiance, garnered the most positive comments from callers. It's upbeat and offends no one.
[I] always suggest a MOH player and roylty free music, but have hooked up many CD players for users from phone system to BGM over page, I personally know of no one hit by ASCAP or any other agency.
I do the same thing if the customer insists. I have a clause on the back of all our invoices and contracts that the customer is responsible for all usage and royalty requirements. There have been cases where they have gone after the company that installed the equipment because customer says nobody told me.
BMI, ASCAP amd SESAC all enlist "mystery shoppers" to tip them off. These are just average people basically of the street that they recruit and ask to pay attention to what they hear in stores and on the phone as they go about their business. I know because I have been asked by BMI to do just that. I declined.
-Hal
Brokeda just reminded me of the 3rd party MOH
adapter which surfaced in the 80's. It did work
just fine & was cheaper...OH how we forget.
Whats the cost to ASCAP or BMI for MOH...$5.00 per month...I don't think its all that much....
Regardless of the type of music or medium...the
idea of paying a fee for the right to pump the
sound over MOH has never appealed to me...just
my opinion on the West Coast.
Several months ago, I contacted ASCAP for a fee schedule. Their rates depend on the number of telephone lines & digital ports that the music is to be played on.
The rates for 2006 are as follows:
1->10 lines $214.00/year
11->50 $427.00
51->100 $645.00
101->150 $856.00
151->200 $1072.00
201->250 $1282.00
251->300 $1499.00
300+ $1715
I wish they would have a lower pricing tier for, say 1->5 lines. As it stands, the little mom & pop with, say, 2 lines pays as much as the small/mid sized office with 10 lines.
I suspect BMI's rates are similar to ASCAP's. If that is true, a very small business that wants to play regular music for MOH can expect to shell out close to $430.00/year.
No wonder there are companies that produce royalty-free music for MOH applications!
Thanks Dexman for proving my point....who wants to pay that price for OVER THE AIR music. For all
those in favor of not paying ASCAP their fees and
keeping your customers happy...please raise your
hand!!!!!
I'll admit that while the price for a license at the lower end of the scale seems high, the amount of money to pay for an attorney and settle legal matters is far...far higher.
Somewhere on their website ASCAP lists the fines for violating laws.
My suggestion is go with a royalty-free recording (pay once and play forever). The customer still should be made aware of what can happen if they are caught playing copy written music without securing a license.