Complete newbie plea for help (Legend/Magix information) 2

[JoeinLaf]

Gentlemen:

I am not adverse to doing research, but I seem to be at a loss as to where to start - looked in faqs, and many google searches eventually brought me here - any help would be greatly appreciated.

I recently inherited a small business from my father (i.e, VERY tight budget) which has a Merlin Plus 820D system; 3 phone lines and two employees (5 phone stations total). Phones are HFAI-10's. I want to at least upgrade to BIS-10 phones and voicemail (currently one line has a home answering machine patched in and the other rollover lines have to be off the hook for it to pick up), but can't seem to find a cheap 'classic mail' unit?

I see that Merlin Legend systems and phones seem to be pretty cheap on ebay, but I need to find out which modules do what and what I need to get to accomplish my needs (I just want working speakerphones, voicemail and caller ID).

Can anyone help me figure this out of at least point me to some documents that I can figure it out with. I am reasonably technical (can build computers, handle most software), but I admit that telecom terminology is a mystery to me - for the life of me I can't figure out what a trunk is, although from what I see on the Avaya site it might be something to connect to physically separate offices?

Any help? Thanks, and I apologize for bothering anyone if this is inappropriate.

 

[SYQUEST]

For documentation for free: support.avaya.com

For equipment purchase or repair try: metrolinedirect.com

Your request is NOT inappropriate! We are all here to learn something...

....JIM....

 

[HiDesert]

It appears you need more than documentation to help upgrade the
820 to a Merlin Legend....the voice mail can be tricky for a newbie....there is alot to deal with ...get a Avaya tech to assist
you...

 

[CarGoSki]

A trunk is 1 phone line. Could be analog loop start or analog ground start or analog centrex or analog DID or digital T-1. T-1 trunks could be emulated gound start or emulated loop start ot Tie or DID or PRI.

Chances are that you have 3 analog loop start trunks.

 

[JoeinLaf]

Thanks all. I'm trying to learn; if possible I'd like to understand all of my equipment! Does anyone know where I can pick up a used classic mail unit?

 

[Dexman]

For the voicemail, eBay would probably be your best bet. Every once in a while a unit will be listed.

ATL telephone sets do not support Caller ID...even if the units are the models with an LCD. For any extension that needs to see Caller ID info, you'll need to purchase MLX or ETR sets, an R7 Legend processor and expansion modules that are designed to work with Caller ID and support the telephone sets you choose to use.

My pick would be the MLXs.

I "FEATURE 00

 

[merlinman]

My two cents......

I would go with a Legend R7.0, 1 408 MLX-Module (CID Equipped) and 1 408 (or 008) ATL Module and either a MERLIN MAIL 007 (2 Port), or a MERLIN MESSAGING R1, AND FOR SURE, an MLX-20L telephone to program with.

This way, you could keep your old sets (No caller ID on those) and move up to a Legend System that can accommodate voice mail.

Also, with the Legend as opposed to the older Merlin designs, you can use your Laptop or Desktop to do the Administration function also.

Now, there would be a somewhat LARGE learning curve to get around, but it is most certainly do-able.

It is good that you want to learn, and we all understand about "TIGHT BUDGETS", but for only a few buck$ you can move into a system with much better features.

Later, if you decide every one wants CID, then you have the System Hardware to support it.

http://home.comcast.net/~merlinman