IP 1140e high rate of failure

[nessman]

I have a customer with a number of 1140 and 1220 phones that we installed about 5-6 yrs ago. I've replaced just about 1140 they've had, some even 2-3x (likely replaced with refurbs) - while most of the 1220's are just fine.

Their 1140's experiencing all sorts of issues - just plain dead, clusters of keys not working, making squealing noises when idle, etc.

Is there any kind of recall program with Avaya to actually replace these 1140's with ones that will last more than a year once and for all? The customer's PBX is under a PASS contract. Not that I don't mind stopping by to visit these folks - but they paid good money for a phone system that's going through 1140's like crazy.

These are being fed via Nortel ERS 5530 PoE switches which are on UPS's... but I don't think it's a PoE / power / surge issue... otherwise, the 1220's would be going down as well. And it's not just one part of a building - but across their enterprise.

Thanks.

 

[KCFLHRC]

There is a power board in the 1140's that goes bad. No actual recall but it is a known fact. The power board is field replaceable. We have done in the neighborhood of 3000 of them at 2 of our buildings.

 

[KCFLHRC]

See here also

http://www.bluemunkey.com/?p=47

 

[nessman]

We send them off to a vendor who repairs them for us. Not exactly sure what they do with them - although I'll get a few back as 'refurbs' that still have the same customer configuration info in the phone when I go to provision it. Just looking to see if we can break the cycle and give the customer a break from calling us every other week to replace a dead/dying 1140.

Has Nortel/Avaya actually ever come out and admitted it's a crap phone?

 

[KCFLHRC]

It's a great phone, just a crappy power board in some of them. Kinda like a Good Chevy truck with a Ford engine.

 

[Tman45]

Yes, we are moving to Cisco at our Corporate for this very reason - there was an Avaya PCN for them and also the upper-left corner of the screens will go bad. This is where I ultimately found out about the issue:

http://www.bluemunkey.com/

It looks like his web server is down right now - but I have also posted extensively on TekTips about this issue:

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1641634

 

[jeclarke]

We named the issue we have with our 1140's "GARBLED SPEECH" our callers can't understand what we are saying and our words sound like its garbled. Would this be the power board failure as well? Has anyone experience the same type of issue?

 

[Tman45]

No the GARBLED SPEECH is most likely a CODEC mismatch or Network/VLAN issue (from what I have read). Our speech is really clear - we use g.711 and VLAN with QoS. We sometimes get jitter or QoS alarms with Softphone use but those are not tagged with the VLAN.
The only phone hardware issues I have heard of are power board, upper-left screen display, and bottom row keypad issue * 0 #

 

[jeclarke]

Thanks for that info Tman45. I probably should have mentioned that the garbled speech only occurs with the handset. The hands free and the headset mode works perfectly, that's what makes it so puzzling to me.

 

[Tman45]

I have only had one issue where the headset and handset ports were reversed in a refurb phone. We have not had any 'garbled speech' via handset. We have had static only which usually requires coil cord or handset replacement.
This could be happening if you are using OEM handsets and non-OEM cords.
Sorry I should have asked if it happened via handsfree or headset - sometimes I just assume.

 

[DavidSigma]

The "garbled speech" in 1140/1120 is a hardware problem inside the phone. Nothing to do with software, there is an Avaya PCN on this subject. They recommend to replace the unit if you are under service contract. The problem is present mostly on sets produced in 2009-2011. As for the power board they sell those boards for $6 for 90 pcs. minimum. Newer phones have another power board that doesn't have this problem. Also in newer sets the "garbled speech" problem was taken care by Avaya. The black point in the upper left corner can be minimized if the back lite is not on all times.

 

[GordonKapesMZ4]

No reason to remove a great Nortel/Avaya switch. Going over to Cisco is plain stupid when you can replace these phones with 1200 series phones if the 11xx give you so much trouble. Why replace the backbone when only the handsets are giving you trouble? I am sick of hearing people ditching their Nortel switches that are fully supported by Avaya to Cisco. My opinion, Cisco phones are bland and boring.

"Keep the Peace, Use RLS"

http://www.joetheucxguy.com

 

[Tman45]

I should have been more specific for GordonKapesMZ4. We are maybe moving to Cisco to replace an old Siemens system so we aren't replacing any backbone <so to speak>. We will have to integrate in with a CS1000 though - just seems a better long term solution versus our current Nortel option (or expensive Avaya). If you didn't know, Cisco, has actually become far more competitive since 2008. I did not know this and just learned about it last month with their competitive quote. We may still end up going to Avaya, but I am definitely ditching the Nortel product line since we have had issues with 2000 series, 3904s and 1140s now ... all a bunch of crap products if you ask me. Has cost us TONS of valuable employee time (since we lack resources here).

 

[nessman]

FWIW - the M2000 (and M7000 series for Norstar) are by far very reliable. The phones I'm replacing during service calls are almost all 15-20 years old... some older.