Before Norstar there was the Northern Telecom Vantage System

[GordonKapesMZ4]

You all may like my current posting on my blog titled "Before Norstar, there was Vantage." So who here remembers Vantage and what was that whole system about. Why didn't it catch on? I found a really interesting article published by a telecom analyst from 1988 dissing the upcoming Nortel release of the Norstar. He was commenting what a flop Vantage was and he was determined that Northern would never be a key system leader. Well that guy should have been fired.....as we all know Norstar was the best system ever sold in the world....and the most sold.

So share your Vantage stories, I am curious!



"Keep the Peace, Use RLS"

http://www.joetheucxguy.com

 

[allworxguy]

Vantage was a piece of crap. Pre Norstar TIE and Intertel made the best key system, IMHO

Marv ccna

http://www.telemarv.ca

Sales, Installation & Service for Norstar, BCM, Samsung & Allworx Serving Ottawa and Eastern Ontario since 1990

 

[earjuice]

Vantage 8 and 12 were the precursors to the Norstar 6x16. At that time Vantage was all we had for businesses and it worked fine until the new and improved products started to arrive on the scene. The Vantage system was a 4 wire system for sets and thus we had to do a lot more cabling to accommodate the Client's needs. Vantage was far superior to the other system available at that time...Panasonic, Trillium, Bus Com, etc. I had no issues installing the Vantage systems but they did take longer to install then the Norstar 6x16 or 8x24.

 

[GordonKapesMZ4]

Thank you for the info. What's the difference between standard Vantage and Vantage Esprit?

"Keep the Peace, Use RLS"

http://www.joetheucxguy.com

 

[epcompx2]

State of Nevada had quite a few of these... We called them DIS AD Vantage!

 

[KE407122]

Worked on the Vantage 12 and the 48 in the late eighties. About the earliest I seen installed was 1982.
You could stop the Beep-beep on Hold with a minature phone plug in the MOH jack or a creative twist with your needle nose pliers tearing the jack right off the board. By the late eighties had worked on many different key systems.

Technically, they were reliable, however I saw a few on the wall that were still under ridiculous lease terms. The owners were angered, not necessarily with the Vantage system but at what it would cost to break the contract. They would buy new and bypass both the switch and the vendor.

I wasn't a big fan of the Norstar and, likewise, the BCM.




KE407122

"The phone was working fine before it knocked over my coffee.

 

[curlycord]

Wasn't the Esprit just a vintage of sets?
The big ones were Modular sets for add-ons.



=----(((((((((()----=
curlycord

http://www.curlycord.com

Toronto Canada

http://www.telcopc.ca

 

[GordonKapesMZ4]

Did the Esprit sets resemble Meridian sets?

"Keep the Peace, Use RLS"

http://www.joetheucxguy.com

 

[allworxguy]

The Esprit set worked on the Vantage 4,8,12. You needed a special card for the 48. It used the same button caps as the Norstar phone and came in 4 varieties.

Marv ccna

http://www.telemarv.ca

Sales, Installation & Service for Norstar, BCM, Samsung & Allworx Serving Ottawa and Eastern Ontario since 1990

 

[GordonKapesMZ4]

Thanks Marv,

Those look like pretty reliable sturdy phones. Do you remember what ring tones they had on the esprit sets? Were they Norstar or just the old school unity weak ring tone. You may not remember, but I am just curious. Were these digital sets or electronic key set? What's the difference?

Thanks!



"Keep the Peace, Use RLS"

http://www.joetheucxguy.com

 

[shads1234]

The Vantage PBX or Key system whatever u call them was the cutting edge technology of the mid eighties - was very good
system - it replaced the older key systems such as CM1A1, 3Lines and Hold -and Manual systems like Corded Boards - I installed and maintained
quite a few vantage systems and had no issues with them - The were eventually succeeded by more modern technology like in any other industry

 

[flafoneguy]

I remember I had to install HF/Spkr adapter or was that Iwatsu Omega III? Actually wasn't the speakerphone a big modular tray that the phone mounted on to? I'm flashing back.....

Mike P.
flafoneguy

Is it close to beer:30 yet?

 

[KE407122]

http://www.wedophones.com

This site has manuals for a number of Northstar, Vantage products and a number of Bell System Practices.

Vantage 12
Vantage 12 Mini Installation Guide Jun 1982

Vantage 24 - 48
Vantage 24-48 System Programming Overlay Dec 1985
Vantage 24-48 System Survey And Programming Dec 1985
Vantage 24-48 User Guide Dec 1985






KE407122

"The phone was working fine before it knocked over my coffee.