From Panasonic to Norstar ... need some help

[MichaelDOM2005]

Hello friends:

I'm REALLY frustrated right now, and am just about ready to dump our current phone system and go for a Norstar system. Here's the deal:

1. We have a Panasonic KX-TD1232 phone system that totally sucks. It cannot ring multiple extensions without a bunch of headaches; it cannot display caller id information correctly; and a host of other anomalies.

2. At another place where I work, we have a Norstar system. Now, I don't know much about Norstar (other than programming) and buying these types of systems. The system version that we are using right now (according to system programming) is 30nCG20 NAT. I'm not sure what that means or how old the system is, but boy is it a great system!! It rings multiple extensions, it displays Caller ID with no problems, and I really enjoy the features that it has ... MUCH better than Panasonic.

If we would switch systems, I would think that we could pick up a used system on eBay - I see a lot of them out there. But exactly what am I looking for? How do I know what is a newer system and what is an older system?

We have our punchboard all done from the Panasonic system. Would it be pretty easy to put things into the new Norstar system, or is it going to be difficult (lots of rewiring)?

I would really appreciate your help and guidance in helping me find a system that will do what we WANT it to do, and not be frustrated so darn much!

Thanks for all your help - this forum has been of INVALUABLE assistance to me!

Regards,
Michael.

 

[MarvO1]

Looks like you have a Norstar MICS R1T1. And if you like that one, you should see them now. Even more nice features than your current one has. Yours came out in 1994.
How many users do you need to provide for, and do you use voice-mail on it?
Your punchboard should be able to convert quite easily.
Give us a few more details of your requirements please.
One of our sales reps will be right with you.
(Just kidding, no sales pressure here)

MarvO said it

 

[jerryreeve]

according to
faq799-2156
you have a R1T1 trilingual (meaning the displays can go to three languages eng, sp, and fr)

if you look at a system on e-bay etc you will be probably seeing the part number only and would need to get a translation to the version from that. end result is that you would want to get the newest software you can get hold of, preferably in the ver 2 and up. you get more features with each release of the software and so far the releases have been improvements.

Norstar is a 1 pair system while panasonic is a 1 or 2 pair system (help me out here guys and gals) with the bl/wh pair being an analog phone and the or/wh pair being a digital phone (or so the appearances seemed on the last one I pulled out, i was more interested in getting the new system up than in what the old system was doing) so you may need to either tone the jack back to the punch blocks to ensure you are on the right pair or open the jack. (I elected to tone it back and only had problems with one jack)

most of the headache you would have would probably be in the programming of a new system butthe good news is that the default of a norstar is pretty good out of the box.

how big are you looking at needing, in other words how many lines and how many stations.

If you can get hold of one of the installer guides it would help explain instillation to you.

JerryReeve
Communications Systems Int'l
com-sys.com

 

[MichaelDOM2005]

Hello friends:

Thanks so much for your reply ... MUCH appreciated. Maybe I can tell you exactly what I'm looking at, and you might be able to offer some suggestions and maybe some ballpark figures. Maybe you could even point me in the right direction for some good pricing!!

Here is the setup:

+The system currently has 3 lines, and 1 private line for someone in residence. Two of the 3 lines are in use constantly - one line is dedicated Auto Attendant. We really don't need additional outside lines - we're not a huge business.

+The thing is that we need lots of EXTENSIONS!! So far, I have figured 22 extensions. I would like to get up to 32 extensions available, so if need be, there are extra extensions available should they be needed.

+All of the extensions need to be digital. They will be a mix of 7100, 7208 and 7310 phones, with one 7324 for the receptionist. We are also in need of paging, and only digital stations will broadcast a page through their speakers. That's becoming really important for us.

+We do need voice mail. Does Norstar only make 4-port voice mail systems? We don't use it that heavily, but it is used. We would like Auto Attendant for after hours and for the weekend.

+We HAVE to have Answer DN's!! Those are LIFESAVERS, and it's for this very reason that Panasonic totally loses.

+The punchboard that we have right now has a mix of digital and analog extensions. There are a few digital (like 6 or 7), and the rest are analog. We would dump all of the analog stations and make them all digital. I'm sure I'll need an installer's help with this part - I know nothing about the wiring process - only the programming stuff.

--------------------------

I think the main problem here is that when we got this Panasonic system 5 years ago (I wasn't around at that time), they really didn't see what their needs were, and this system was totally not appropriate for the uses of our business.

I have looked on eBay and have seen the Norstar 8x32 systems (that's 8 lines and 32 extensions, right?). That would be PERFECT for us I would think. When it says 32 extensions, does that mean that all 32 can be digital extensions?

That said, what would we be talking in terms of pricing for a system like this, with voice mail and caller ID? Maybe someone could point me somewhere that has great deals on Norstar stuff.

Can you explain the software cartridges in more detail?

Thanks for ALL of the help.

-Michael.

 

[MarvO1]

I will try to add some more information on the hardware side for you.
The 8X32 system you mentioned is actually what is called an 0X32 MICS (Modular Integrated Communications System). Meaning there are no lines on it to start with. The KSU has 2 slots for adding trunk cartridges. Each cart. will give you 4 loop start lines. Soooooooo, the system you saw probably has 2 trunk carts in it already to give it the 8 lines, but watch this carefully. It might not actually have the line carts.
Yes, it has 32 digital station ports built in.
Being modular, the system will keep growing by adding additional trunk and station modules if you need to.
Software releases: R1T1, 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, 6.1. (I THINK that's all of them)
Each release added a few more bells and whistles.
By 4.0, they added Hunt Groups, which replaced ILG's and they work great. At 4.0, they also changed the software cartridge to a two part system, so anything 3.0 and below needs an upgrade kit to convert to the two part system if you need software upgraded to 4.0 and above.
By 6.0 they added SWCA (System Wide Call Appearance)which also works great for certain applications.
That is some of the Norstar MICS basics. Hope it helps.

MarvO said it

 

[commsguy]

your looking at roughly low $20Ks

commsguy

http://www.convetech.com