Meridian Mail

[Donebrokeit]

I have a hotel customer that has an Option 81 and a shelf style Meridian Mail system. For access it has an RS 232 connection to the back of the shelf. I have lost terminal access to the system. Due to renovations in the office, the access terminal had to be moved. I disconnected the terminal and relocated it. Once I reconnected the terminal all was well for about 20 minutes. I could access MerMail OK. Then a message popped up on the screen about "Critical Alarm". I pressed the appropiate F key to silence the alarm and then the terminal went dead. How can I revive my connection to MerMail ? Right now I cannot talk to MerMail at all.

 

[GHTROUT]

I'd say if it's not the terminal itself, and you can't talk to MerMail, then you might reboot mail. Take all tapes out before rebooting.

[©] GHTROUT.com [⇔] Resources for Nortel Meridian/CS1000 System Administrators - You Can Hire Me Too

 

[StanleySteamer]

Meridian Mail in a hotel usually has three separate access ports.
- GAC (Guest Administration Console) terminal
- PMS link
- main admin console

Most guest check-ins are done on the hotel's PMS (Property Management System) which in turn sends a check-in message to the Meridian Mail via the PMS link. The Mail then passes the check-in message to the PBX.
The GAC terminal is usually only used by hotel staff for accessing guest mailboxes as backup when there is a problem with the PMS. It doesn't have full access to Meridian Mail.

Sounds like you relocated the GAC. The critical alarm was probably telling you that the PMS link was down. Maybe that should have been relocated along with the GAC.

Before you do anything you need to get on the main console port to see what the status of the Meridian Mail really is.

 

[johnpoole]

i assume you've power cycled the term? when i have a i/o port problem i connect a laptop at the port itself.. that's takes any wiring problem out of the mix.. the critical alarm was not your port dying.. i can't send an alarm out that says the port is dead... what was the alarm? and the post may be right, at times the only way to talk again would be to reboot... i've never removed backup tapes, they booted into service after power fails for decades, tapes in place.. during hugo we must have had 200 that got a hard power cycle.

john poole
bellsouth business
columbia,sc

 

[GHTROUT]

When the backup tape is in the drive during a reboot, it delays the startup because the system thinks there *may* be a boot record on the tape.

Eventually it will boot from the HDD, but taking the tape out speeds things along.

[©] GHTROUT.com [⇔] Resources for Nortel Meridian/CS1000 System Administrators - You Can Hire Me Too