Norstar MICS mounting, precautions 1

[troythered]

Ok I have a somewhat long story so here I go!

The company I work for has a Norstar Plus MICS ksu with two M12x0's connected to it. They have not been mounted to the wall but are just laying on a few computers in the room. We have older and no longer used equipment on the wall that was supposed to be replaced by our new norstar stuff. The telephone guy just got the norstar stuff running and has disappeared on us.

I am going to remove the old equipment from the wall, and secure our new stuff to the wall.

Are there special mounting brackets that need to be used with these norstar boxes? I lifted one up gently and saw holes but I'm not sure if I can use them for hanging from screws.

I'm sure the units have to be powered off if I'm going to be messing with them. Is there a special procedure for this?

Is there anything else I should know or look into? So far I've been reading up on wiring punchdown blocks and the color codes of phone wiring and anything else phone related so I can get a firm grasp of whats going on in there just in case something gets pulled off the wall.

I think I remember that you can't leave them unplugged for an extended amount of time or it will lose it's configuration. I may be wrong of course. Am I supposed to notify our T1 provider that our lines are going to be down while I'm doing this?

I am in no hurry to do all this. I am the company's computer guy so while this is all foreign to me now if anyone can point me to a nice README or HOWTO or any other boring documentation I will surely read it.

My boss doesn't know another telephone guy in our area, and for the prices I've been asking around about, can't afford one either.

If I've left anything out about this please ask away! I will be able to find out anything you need to know.

Our software version on this thing is 4.1.

 

[trvlr1]

There is a mounting bracket for the top of each of the units, then a screw hole at the bottom for security. If you are not familiar with the wiring codes, you might want to try securing them without disconnecting any cables if possible (you state the original tech had it all working)Unplugging the units for a period of time should not cause any issues, but again if you can get away without unplugging, so much the better.
That all being said, I would still recommend getting an installer to come out and take care of all these issues for you. Getting to know someone who can take care of things now and in the future is always good. As you noted it is not cheap, but how much is it worth for your business to be without phone service if you do have issues?

 

[troythered]

Yeah I see where a bracket can slide into the top of the units. I'm going to make my own to mount them with. Also yeah, I see where I can put screws into the bottom of them so I'll be doing that as well. I've downloaded and studied the wiring diagrams for everything and feel that I can tackle that in case anything happens.

As for keeping them plugged in, the power wires are wrapping around some of the rj21 cables so I'm going to have to unplug them to move the boxes and get them on the wall. So just to be sure, I just have to unplug the power cords, mount them on the wall, and plug them back in? Do I need to contact our ISP/T1 provider and let them know the phones will be down for 5 minutes? Do I need to power off their equipment, or do I just need to ask them what to do with it?

I'm still searching for an inexpensive technician out there to have on standby in case the worst happens.

Thanks for the help!

 

[trvlr1]

You should have no issues unplugging and replugging the units. If you are only taking the circuits down for a few minutes, just go for it. If you know you can get hold of your providers tech quickly thats one thing, but usually you end up having to open a ticket and that can take a while to filter to the right person. Worst case you open a ticket to have them reset the circuit.

 

[troythered]

Thank you for your time trvlr1, I have contacted our provider and they also said that it will be ok for the short time they will be unplugged.

Yeah I called them and made sure they can get someone out here in case something goes wrong also. I'm pretty good at learning all things technical but I've only been studying this phone stuff for the past week and I hate failing. I have learned a lot though, and look forward to perusing these forums for more stuff.

 

[curlycord]

Modules not a problem on time,its the main cabinet that hold the programming...if old enough system it will have a weak capacitor.
A good vendor will have a RAD with them and do the backup also, a good customer will purchase one so the vendor can do backups remotley and any changes required for a lesser fee as well.


=----(((((((((()----=
curlycord

http://www.curlycord.com

 

[Bob3470]

This is a pic of the mounting bracket. The old were metal and the new plastic. If you dont have a mounting bracket you can use a large washer with a screw but leave it loose on the wall so the ksu can slide onto it. The washer would slide up where the center tab would go. Then fasten the botton of the ksu with screws.

 

[troythered]

Thanks Bob I'm going to order those brackets just to be proper.
And curlycord, thanks for bringing up the capacitor issue... With my luck yeah they'd get unplugged and lose their programming. Which brings me to the next question...

Whats the default programming on this thing? Ours is set up for all incoming calls to ring on extension 221, but anyone in the office can pick up the line because their phones will show the incoming calls on the line. I was fooling around with one of the phones with a manual I downloaded and found that I could make it ring as well with an incoming call and when I just pick up the phone it will answer the call.

Sounds like the way it's set up now isn't too complicated... I plan on writing down the settings for the all the phones and if I have to, reprogram them myself?