Merlin II AT&T System - help request with reward...

[Bob Nelson]

Here's the deal: My company isn't a telephone company - at all. We're bench techs, field service, etc., in the electronics, computer, networking, security/surveillance and two-way radio fields. We're in a geographically isolated area of the US and so, occasionally, I get asked to do things I'd prefer to stay away from but need to keep my customer happy. Such is the case here...

A small firm needed to move, on short order, their office. They had an old Merlin II system and nobody that could move it - and the one telephone guy in the 60 mile range said he'd be happy to sell them a new system but didn't know anything about their Merlin and couldn't move it for a month anyway... Sooo... I was asked if I'd take it on as part of their IT movement requirements, to which I foolishly said I would.

I carefully documented the connections, etc., and moved the system to the new location, wired in new jacks, etc., and restored the system to life (mostly). Smally caveat, I didn't get to pull the phones from the old location - including the receptionist's 7318H, so I didn't get a first-hand view of how it was connected, nor preserve/secure the station to my satisfaction for the move. Overall, things are working except for this tweeky issue I can't resolve. I'm looking for someone willing to provide advice and happy to kick down some PayPal bucks for a successful resolution to this problem...

Here's what's going on: They have a receptionist's station that is labeled 7318H01A. All calls from 6 lines are supposed to ring at that station (which they do). However, the station only rings once at that station (the light indicates that the line is ringing, but no additional ringing sound at the receptionist's station). About 2-3 seconds later, all the "group phones" ring and can be answered and the call properly completed. If the receptionist can catch things quickly, before another extension picks up, she can manually select the ringing line and answer the call. I was told that the way the system worked before the move (of course, that makes it my fault... LOL) was that the receptionist's station would ring 3 times and if she didn't pick up, then it would go to the group and her phone would continue to ring, allowing anyone in the group - or reception - to pick up the ringing line. Testing the system out, I noted that this new behavior happens on all 6 incoming lines.

What I've done so far: Tested all the desksets and the receptionist's system to ensure incoming and outgoing calls behaved properly, as well as deskset-to-deskset calls work properly. Pulled a manual for the 7318H and read it cover-to-cover, but didn't see anything helpful. Toggled their after-hours switch (thought maybe it thought it was in after-hours mode or something along those lines). Now I'm trying to wade through the Merlin II Release 3 System Manual to see if I can glean some idea that may solve the problem.

So, I'm after some cheating answers so I have some clue about this system, namely:

Is there a way to get a dump from the 7318H to see what has been programmed into the buttons? (I'm assuming the problem here is relatively small and maybe some "feature" was turned on/off during the move)
Any idea of a situation that would cause the problem cited, and a solution I can test?
Other than, "Take that old crap out in the parking lot and burn it," any other thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

Bob Nelson, Westside Technologies
Aberdeen, Wa

 

[cvrbob]

on the left side their is a slide switch, slide it down to the p ( program ) touch a line button dial * 37 ( ring ) to all lines , then return switch to center position

*36 is delay ring
*35 is no ring

 

[Bob Nelson]

I'll give this a try shortly and see how it goes. Keeping fingers crossed... I'm assuming I would need to do this for each of the incoming lines.

 

[merlinman]

*37 is for All lines.

It would be better for all to get a MERLIN LEGEND Processor (Plug and Play - AFTER PROGRAMMING) Better 'cause it can be REMOTELY PROGRAMMED and they could also get Voice Mail. They're cheap too. But, as I said, Some programming would be required, but considering this is probably set up in "KEY MODE", it wouldn't take much.

Just a thought.

http://merlinmanswebpage.yolasite.com

 

[Bob Nelson]

No Bueno!

Tried the command, above, and didn't see any failure/complaints from the command (receptionist's) station when entered. However, testing still resulted in the same behavior.

I know the plan is to replace the system at some point in the relatively near future. Problem is having enough support to ensure the transition goes smoothly (probably over a weekend) and a feature-set that serves their needs. Given that I'm not a telephone guy, getting someone in to do that is a problem for them. We have a Panasonic dealer in the area, but I don't think that's the best solution for them from other deployments I've seen here.

 

[wireboy]

perception is reality


bob, what the end user believes to be true is undoubtedly true in their mind. to the end user it worked exactly as they have described, but...all that aside, read the abbreviated ringing feature, consider that the continued ringing they heard was actually from nearby telephones and decide if station 10 is only getting the first call as a member of a calling group or something else. merlinman is the recognized merlin resource on this board.

42

 

[Bob Nelson]

In the prior office the receptionist was in an office well away from the other offices. I'm not confident she would have heard other phones ring at anywhere close to the same audio level as she would hear her own.

Beyond that, especially after reading the System Manual and trying to wade through the options there, I'm still at the same point:

1 ring, line light blinking green. 1 ring of silence (I hear a second ring on my call, but not at any of the office phones), then subsequent rings are ONLY at the outlying desksets and not at the receptionist's station. I also note that during that first ring I can pick up the receptionist's handset and I'm connected to the caller, but on subsequent rings I have to select the line to pick up the call at her station. Even after the *37 programming.

Does this behavior sound correct? LOL, I'm going to have a hard time selling her on the idea that it's all in her head, but I'm willing to try.

 

[cvrbob]

thinking back its been a while to change the ringing , is thru the system programing, it was slide the switch down to p touch the conference 2times, them i believe the first intercom is for telephone programing button and the second is for system , read your display when you locate which one it is , then telephone prog you enter the station number or you maybe able to touch dss button then do the ringing *37, it's been a while, but without it being in front me,it hard to remember,away back

 

[Bob Nelson]

I'll go in over the weekend so I can screw with their system without disrupting them and see what I can find. Yes, this system appears to have been installed around 1983.

I'll let you know what I find.

Bob

 

[Bob Nelson]

Well, I took both approaches - system and phone - and was unable to cause a change to how this operates...

Again, I'm not a telephone guy, but my gut is telling me that what is going on is something like a call forwarding type situation - ring once at the receptionist's desk, then roll things over to someone else. I thought this might be related to night services, but in either state of that button I get the same result. I've read the manual cover-to-cover and I don't see anything that gives me an idea.

Anybody still service the Merlin II in the Olympia, WA area? Might have to bring someone in to resolve this...

Thanks!

 

[cvrbob]

yes its probably controlled under follow me, there must be a button lite on the console to control it ,see what you find in your manual about how to set it up , it made be under groups

But MM idea to put in a release Legend 7.0 is the best way to go, I upgraded my last 2 Merlin 11 in the mid 90's and one is still going today, it can be remotely programed , I would give MerlinMan a call the Merlin release processor with a clam shell are cheap

 

[Bob Nelson]

I'd love to, but one of the things I tried doing over the weekend was to read how the system is currently programmed so I have a reference point if I screw things up. Apparently, that's not how this system works because most of the hierarchy terminates with entering a new code, never really showing you what's currently programmed. That scares the bejebus out of me, since any hardware changes may cause me a great amount of grief (and I'm not a big fan of grief... LOL)

So, let me ask you: Is the hardware (the cards/CPU) programmed, or does all the programming reside in the desksets and the control center/receptionist's station? If that's the case, then I guess rolling the hardware over wouldn't be terrible. I was trying to figure out how to make the print function work, but I'm assuming there's some interface they're missing that would plug into a serial or parallel printer to dump the system's brains onto paper. Screwing with someone's (generally) working system and killing their telephone ability (especially an attorney's office) is just bad juju.

I'll find MerlinMan and have a conversation with him. Let you know how it proceeds...

Thanks for your guidance and help - much appreciated.

Bob

 

[WikiTech]

By design,when the voice terminal (Telephone) is off-hook, the phone will only audibly ring 1-time then flash through the remaining ring cycles.It doesn't matter if you are programmed for immediate ring.

 

[Bob Nelson]

Interesting tidbit WikiTech - that sounds similar to what's going on. I wonder if the hook switch is messed up. I'll have to check that out.

Bob

 

[WikiTech]

The switch hook is fine. This is the design. If your receptionist is using a headset, she is probably missing 40% of the calls.
Receptionists are supposed to control call traffic flow by placing current call on-hold, answering calls then placing those on-hold. If she has a back-up group answering calls, she will not change.
Good Luck

 

[cvrbob]

actually with the console you have you do not need to enter any codes
slide switch to p (program ) touch conference 2 times
in the display should show something like system, lines , centel , and more with the buttons under neath as the choice
the data and programing is kept in the processor , for printing was serial at 1200 baud

 

[Bob Nelson]

WikiTech - yeah, her phone is on the hook and doesn't use a headset. I clearly have not made friends over there - everyone else is tired of their phones ringing, and she's somewhat "special" when it comes to melting down because things aren't going her way.

CVRBob - Yes, I'd figured that out - but no change to the underlying issue. I'm trying to encourage them to upgrade their system after they just spent about $30k to move. They aren't really receptive to the plan... LOL

 

[cvrbob]

go central program put in your console sta , then look at what the lights show , look for green , which you will touch read the display just dont hit enter , if the light goes out ,touch again to put the light back on, what is the feature ?

then go the other station that are ringing and do the same