A bit off topic- Favourite telephone era / system

[tdmneil]

I had a catch up and few beers the other night with some ex colleagues and as always we were remembering the old days, anyway the subject came up of favourite era and systems in the past. For me it has to be the mid to late nineties when Nortel ruled the World, I knew the Modular (MICS) and Startalk inside out, there was nothing that I couldn't do on it. From rls.3 onwards it was bulletproof. I did work a lot as well with SX20, SX50 and SX10 which were good systems (Nortel never had a good console like the SX50 though which was a shame, caps modules never cut it really). I never really liked BCM- I did it for years but they were just too damn unreliable. And, I really miss the days of big installs like putting in an Option 81 or SX2000 with 1000s of extensions, you'd be onsite for months with a good team of guys and the changeovers were always white knuckle rides. I know everything moves on and there is probably an element of rose tinted glasses and to be honest I'd rather rebuild a failed 3300 or IP Office than an Option 11, but I definitely miss those days as I pretty much work on my own nowadays. Anyone else got a favourite era?

 

[danramirez]

I have good memories of the sx2000 light, that was the system I started working with. I considered it very strong, reliable and you could do everything your custormers asked you for. I remember when I had to install the first 3300, I didn't use any IP extensions, it was only the 3300 controller and 4 sx2000 peripheral cabinets with one NSU. I didn't rely on IP telephony and maybe the main reason was because I had no idea what an IP address was. After a few years I started using google to learn about networking, switching, routing, dhcps, vlans and so on, then I did a lot of courses with different vendors (including mitel). These days I only install the 3300 and all applications around it, and I can't see myself without voice over IP. But yes, I do have good memories of the 2K.

http://www.hatkana.com

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[Billz66]

We only started with Mitel at 3300 Release 8 so we never experienced any SX Installations

Did some large NEC installs with TDM handsets that were as you said white knuckle.
I still remember sitting on an old tag frame in a hospital 2 metres in the air doing a 3 way splice of 3000 Pairs for 2 weeks straight so that we could pull out the tag frame and have a krone frame instead .

Nowadays cut-overs are Uneventfull - either an ISDN move from one system to another or a Number port into a Sip trunks Service.

No handset rollouts at time of cutover or double jumpering of extensions , kids have it easy these days ....



If I never did anything I'd never done before , I'd never do anything.....

 

[kwbMitel]

@tdmneil, Do you find yourself wishing for the good ol days when cellphones were heavy enough to be used for self defence and you had to carry around a battery pack if you wanted it to last more than a few minutes. How about when Long Distance charges were 50 cents a minute to call a town 50 Km's away. Oh, I know, how about lugging around spools and spools of back breaking 25 pair cable. My history dates back to the early '80s working on 1A2. You will never find me wishing for those days. Today, I usually sit in a comfortable chair programming systems 1000's of kms away. I don't have to run cable anymore, rarely use a ladder, I have steel toed boots but I can't remember the last time I wore them. Todays systems challenge me in ways the old systems could only dream of. We were experts on those systems because it was easy to be so. I got into this industry because even 18 year old me could see that it would always be changing and I would always be learning and I would never be bored. Even 18 year old me would be surprised at how accurately he predicted his life. I love that there's always something new to learn and I'm constantly amazed at how little I knew just a year ago comared to today. My favourite system is the one around the corner, next month, next year, that's going to blow my mind with its capabilities and allows me to create in ways 18 year old me could never of comprehended.

I will give one favorite moment from the past though. I was working in an old psych hospital and there was this long service corridor about 500 feet long with a slight incline. We had to lug those spools and spools of cable up that slope on large flatbed dollies. I'm sure you can see where this is leading. On the way back, someone (not me I assure you) thought it would be easier to simply ride the dolly back down the hallway. Long story short, no bones were broken and we are all now wiser for it.

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[jrgood0852]

I don't care what the PBX or Centrex lines were behind it, but give me good old key equipment (1A2) anytime. A complete work horse!

Always look out for the next tech. because one day it will be you!

 

[kwbMitel]

@jrgood0852

1A2 - how much of your time was spent looking for cable faults. Mine was roughly 90% tedious boring frustrating mindless ...

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[tdmneil]

I definitely don't miss running hundreds of metres of 50 pair through hospitals and army camps that's for sure. Especially now that I do 3300 and IP office (glad BCM is all but dead and buried) the features and integration of these systems is mind blowing. But I think these days I miss the camraderie of working with a good team of people, socialising after work etc. Doing thigs remotely is definitely good, but it can get a bit lonely if you don't see anyone for days at a time. But to be honest, kwbmitel, I do miss the old days, music was better, clothes were better, people were in less of a rush and for me the hardest thing that I cannot get used to is working in a world where far too much emphasis in the industry is put on making as much profit as possible even if it is to the detriment of looking after our clients/customers. It never seemed like that back in the old days. Granted, profit is the reason why we're here, but the balance needs to be redressed to retain long term customer relationships... Now I'm just rambling!

 

[jrgood0852]

I hear you, KWB. Depends on who did the wiring and the upkeep of it don't forget. I'm just saying, simpler times in a way. Not from a labor point of view of course.

Always look out for the next tech. because one day it will be you!