5340 "People" max limit?

[MitelInMyBlood]

Does anyone happen to know what the limit is on the max number of entries you can program into the "people" function on the 5340 (and/or 5330).

Is there any way to add names besides from the keypad? That's fine for 10 or so, but a PITA if you have a big list and need to repeat it across a dozen phones.

Thanks!!

 

[kwbMitel]

Don't know the limit sorry,

For the entries, have you tried using the PC Companion Tool?

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Occam's Razor - All things being equal, the simplest solution is the right one.

 

[MitelInMyBlood]

PC Companion allows you to set up the individual keys on the 53xx at the first layer, but the "people" function is a 2nd layer or drill-down. In other words, I can make the key a "People" key but cannot build a contact list beneath it, or at least if it's possible the 'how-to' wasn't obvious. Interestingly what sparse docs there are indicate that "people" is a non-resilient feature so I'm inclined to believe that the "People" contacts list resides as a file somewhere on the 3300.

Where I'm headed with this is I'm looking for is a spot to put 150 or so contacts (how many can I have?) on the phone WITHOUT resorting to doing it in IOC. IOC looks like a great app, but in my situation the instrument (ideally) needs to be able function independent of the PC.

The specifics here is I've been tasked to come up with a way to replace six TURRETS that have 572 speed calls (!) IN COMMON with each other, which are very nicely labeled on the existing instruments (Etrali) but not necesarily fully mirrored. One turret has 150, another may have 90, etc, but all have the ability to dynamically switch profiles and assume the other's identity, even concurrently. I know we can't do that, but the 'PEOPLE' function looks to solve the labeling issue, provided the directory size is capable of holding 100~200 entries and have some better means of data entry. The "hoke & poke" method is certainly usable, but very-very time consuming. I'm looking for a better way.

The "People" function allows the entry of 8 contacts per page, so how many pages are there? Absent an answer I guess all we can do is try building one up and see where we hit the wall. This would be a very big feather in our cap if we could do it. I'm getting a ton of resistance re replacing the old Turrets, but they're M/D and have simply got to go.

 

[kwbMitel]

Just to be clear, using a contacts list in Outlook is a non-starter because you want a PC independant APP?

How about using 3300 speedcalls and name them for the phonebook.

What is the actual task here.

You have asked for clarification on your solution to a challenge but there might be other, simpler solutions that have not occured to you. (doubtful with your experience I know but it's worth a shot)

PS. I have no Idea what a TURRET is.

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Occam's Razor - All things being equal, the simplest solution is the right one.

 

[MitelInMyBlood]

A TURRET is one of the most God-Forsaken telephone contrivences ever devised by a sick, sick mind.

Fundamentally a TURRET is a trader/brokerage phone capable of concurrently handling multiple simultaneous calls with two handsets, an external goosneck microphone, a speaker and multiple auto-answer ARD lines, with everybody talking at once. There's a virtul sea of multi-color, self-labeling speedcall buttons and a touch screen offering 36 or more single button speedcalls per page and with 8 to 10 (or more) pages. With a turret phone you can work any desk on the floor from any desk on the floor, or work all desks from 1 desk.

When you see news coverage of brokerage houses or stock trading floors, the weird-looking phone in front of the trader is a TURRET. The concept is the trader, with two handsets, can have a supplier on one line and a customer on the other and by using push-to-talk (or optionally push-to-mute) buttons can literally be in the middle of the call negotiating a profit for himself by buying as cheaply as he can from the supplier and selling as high as he can to the customer, all at the same time. One caveat.... by actual system design no two calls can be joined together into a conference. You can make conference calls, but the user has to originate to all parties. (The Mitel add-held feature breaks this fundamental rule)

In most basic terms the Mitel 5560 IPT is a dumbded-down TURRET with only a tiny number of the features of a real brokerage house telephone, but someone thought there was a market for it so the 5560 is what it is. Most real trading floors would have no use for a 5560 because it cannot begin to do what an honest-to-God Turret can do. A couple big names in Turret phones today is IPC (biggest) and Etrali/Orange (Div. of France Telecom). There are some others, but those are the two I'm familiar with. During the height of the Enron scandal we had a 300-seat trading floor with an Etrali turret system operating as a key system slaved off of an SX2K using E1 Etsi Q.sig trunking. I still have 6 of the original 300 still in service and it's those 6 I have to find a suitable way to replace W/Mitel IP phones without compromising features, or at least being able to come up with a workaround.

Most IPC systems are slaved off Nortel systems w/line-side T1 trunking. Nortel professes to offer Q.sig but.....

The key here is the users are unaccustomed to having to "look up" anything or have to spell anything from a keyboard. They want to be able to look *AT* a static or scrolling display and hit a button and have the phone place the call. The "People" function seems to come closest to that requirement.

Putting in speedcalls and "naming" them in the teldir requires a lookup function. BZZZZT no look up.. Look **AT** and choose. That's not to say we wont end up having to go that route, but right now the people function looks most attractive, short of keeping the existing relic in service.

 

[kwbMitel]

Thanks for the insights.

No suggestions, good luck

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Occam's Razor - All things being equal, the simplest solution is the right one.

 

[Mitelmatt]

how about using YA with the Turret? Now supported? Justs a thought

Playing devils advocate though, Mitel never really intended for it to be an IPC or Etrali.

When sold right the turret has got a great fit. Have deployed it a couple of times and have never needed to go back once installed. There is also other features coming. i.e. goose neck mike, hoot and holler etc

 

[MitelInMyBlood]

If not to compete head-to-head in the Trader/brokerage floor market, then what's the purpose? Absent the expansive speed call capability (and ease of programming & using those S/C entries), it's unusable on any trading floor I've ever been on. The first question from the user would be, where's my speed dials?

Back to the task at hand, YA is a possibility, so is IOC, but YA desktop client requires a server and both marry the phone with the PC, which is something I would prefer to avoid doing, if possible, because to put the app on the PC means introducing it to the "official corporate load" which means getting our desktop application support people to support it. We have very clear lines of demarcation in client side support and ne'er the twain shall meet (PC Desktop Apps & Telephone/data networking). The moment you blend those two together you invite finger-pointing when something doesn't work.

YA Lite (the old free ver 3.09) doesn't require a server but isn't compatible with Office 2K7.

I've looked at the 5560 IPT from the standpoint of using it with a single handset and taking advantage of the 96 line keys, but that's an awfully expensive phone, though may be our only option. (Etrali Turrets were $4k each tho). Maybe time to order a 5560 and get one in here to tinker with.

 

[MitelInMyBlood]

OKAY - found the answer.
Max. number of "People" entries on the internal contact list of the 5340 is fifty (50)

So much for that idea....

 

[chadmiller]

I'm fairly new to the mitel realm of things with only having had our system online for about 2 months now but don't you get the HTML developers kit with the 5330/5340 phones.. Couldn't you build some type of HTML application that was essential a bunch of speed call buttons that could be updated from wherever you house the html application at? Please if I'm wrong someone step up and say so right away before this gets hashed out way to far.

 

[kwbMitel]

yes, Chad has it right.

You can create a HTML page with whatever you want. Buttons, Speedcalls, Pages, whatever.

Not every phone needs to have the same format or be enabled at all.

Only experimented with the tech but the theory is sound.

Everything gets stored on the 3300 as well so the PC separation meets the requirement.




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Occam's Razor - All things being equal, the simplest solution is the right one.

 

[MitelInMyBlood]

Is that the HTML Developer's kit from Ingenious?

 

[chadmiller]

I was given a copy of it from our VAR.

 

[kwbMitel]

Ingenious is one source.

Any web developer could do it.

I have very limited experience and I was able to manipulate some of the canned examples provided off the Mitel Web Site to accomplish some basic tasks.

Someone with experience could do pretty much anything.

Coffee anyone?

*******************************************************
Occam's Razor - All things being equal, the simplest solution is the right one.