Moving from PBX terminal to a Windows PC?

[Mattiekrome]

The telecomm room where I work is getting pretty cramped for space! As of now we have 1 standard sized "L shaped" desk with the following on it...

3 - Monitors/terminals (1 PBX, 1 Octel, 1 Windows PC)
3 - Keyboards (same as above)
2 - Dot matrix line by line printers (1 PBX, 1 Octel)
2 - Windows PC's on KVM switch (WIN XP, WIN 2K)
1 - Mouse
Lots - Papers, post-its, manuals, misc. clutter, etc...

I am throwing around the idea of removing ALL of this equipment and starting from scratch. I would like to have one "beefy" Windows PC to act as my PBX, Octel, and companion "terminals" as well as a standard networked PC (will see minimal use). This also means getting rid of the dot matrix printers, and add a networked laser printer of some sort. Also thinking about getting a multiple monitor setup built, so the PBX, Octel, and PC can each have their own desktop.

I have seen our AT&T support tech log into the PBX using his laptop + serial cable and some type of hyperterminal session. This is how I would be getting my connection to each device. I have heard talk of this procomm plus software, and from what I have seen alot of people like it and recommend it. Anyone have any issues with using it in the past? User friendly?

And is there anything that I am missing with this proposed setup? Perhaps I am grossly overlooking something that is staring me in the face that could cause this whole thing to fail? Info or advice? Thanks!

 

[EddieDuece]

Procomm works well. I use a product called ZOC from Emtech. That works well also. You can set the PBX up on you LAN so you don't need the serial cables as well. You would use the rlogin protocol on the LAN.

 

[morgansdad]

Procomm has my vote also.....

 

[johnpoole]

best bet is procomm.. nothing else comes close.. even if you don't use scripts it's the best out there..

here's a great tip.. install additional comm ports in the pc. then you can have mail and the switch and ? open at the same time.. then just use alt tab to switch between them..

i've worked for sprint, bell and at&t, they all provided procomm.. hypertem will work but then so will dos..

john poole
bellsouth business
columbia,sc

 

[SteveLord]

Here's my setup...sure the pro's here will call it ghetto, but FREE

1 Terminal
1 Windows2k PC /w Procomm, PCAnywhere and Hamachi (free VPN software)

This lets me control the PC /w Procomm from my office, laptop when I am on the go and even from home, while bypassing any router issues. Can also put notes into text files and transfer it between PCs.

Procomm 4.8 was like $110 on eBay when I bought it.


IT Admin (PBX Newbie)
Nortel Option11
Version 1411
Release 21
Issue 7+
MerMail 10.7.2

 

[EddieDuece]

The nice thing about having the PBX's on the LAN is that you can have multiple switches up at the same time. And the scripts aren't that bad either.

 

[Mattiekrome]

Thanks for the input everyone. I've done a little looking, and from what I have found, Procomm doesn't/wont/cant/might run on XP (which is the PC it will be installed on). I have also read that it was bought out by Symantec, and then pretty much fell out of existance several years back, which explains the lack of XP support.

As for scripting, its something I've never used on the PBX. Might just go with a hyperterminal solution, its free, easy to use, supported on XP, and the "biggest" feature for me was the ability to write to a log file.

From all the high marks I'm seeing everyone give Procomm, it might mean going back a couple generations and building a new WIN2K PC just to use Procomm. I might also try to use HostExplorer, as its already installed on the PC (never tried to build a connection to the PBX/Octel on it though)

And for putting the PBX on the LAN, with all our corporate mandates on security policies and procedures, it looks like it might be more trouble than it's worth.

 

[morgansdad]

HMMMMMMMMMMMM don't know where you got your info, however I have Procomm 4.8 from Symantec loaded on all of my XP machines and have yet to have a problem. Works like a champ.

 

[Mattiekrome]

OK, I just talked with my corporate contact to find out the port settings that I can use hyperterminal to get into the Octel system, and she mentioned that she uses ProComm on XP as well and hasn't had any problems with it. Looks like I might have gotten some bogus info. Procomm it is!

 

[LeeMcCauslin]

You probably heard that Procomm wasn't supported on XP (I think they stopped developing it before XP came out? maybe?) but it still does work like a champ.

 

[SteveLord]

The words "Does not support XP" = "We most likely won't help you with problems if you tell us you installed it on an XP system"

I have it installed on an XP Home laptop. And I did the same thing you are doing, which was find feedback on it and I honestly don't remember someone on here claiming to have problems with XP.




IT Admin (PBX Newbie)
Nortel Option11
Version 1411
Release 21
Issue 7+
MerMail 10.7.2