how to program opx line to dial x's

[hardybob]

have 2 loc's with opx line between them. replaced old comdial with norstar 3x8 but can't figure out how to dial x's between sites. line listed as opx is also a business line that calls come in on. any help appreciated.

 

[Deweyhumbolt]

An OPX is like a remote analog station. You need an ATA on one side and an analog trunk port on the other.

Adversity is Opportunity

 

[hardybob]

i guess i'm confused because the small comdial system i replaced only had the 2 lines going into it and nothing else. i replaced the system with the 3x8 norstar. this location is the small satellite location from the main location which has a MICS. do you think the comdial had something built into it, or just used a button that was programmed to do something i may not be familiar with? thanks for the help.

 

[Deweyhumbolt]

I presume the MICS has the ATA and all you need is to connect that OPX to one of your 3 analog trunk ports. Use your butt-set to grab dialtone off your OPX and dial a valid DN # at the MICS. From the MICS they need to dial the DN of the ATA, which should show in the display when you dial the MICS.

Adversity is Opportunity

 

[jerryreeve]

hardybob: what you need to remember is that OPX means off premise extension, that means you have remoted an extension from your system to a remote location. this dates back to when your options for a key system were analog only, so the telco is taking an analog signal from your system and sending it to the other end (including a ring voltage to incicate that the line is trying to contact the off premise user) this has been done traditionally in two ways, if the distance is not too far there is an amplifier at your premise that bumps up the signal so the other end will work as if it is right where you are. the second method is to do the same at the telco office with a bunch of other equipment to allow signal to be sent a long way.

OK you probably didn't need that but remember that you need to treat the OPX line, at the system location, as an analog extension where you turn it over to the telco. you need dial tone, talk voltage, and ring voltage to make it work. test it with a regular phone or butt set.

at the remote end treat the line as a CO from the phone co. you should be getting dial tone, talk battery etc from the telco (providing you are delivering it to the telco). test it with a regular phone or butt set.

Dewyhumbolt is making an assumption that you have an ATA in place, if you don't have one you need to get one since the ATA is the only way to get analog dialtone, talk battery etc. out of a 3X8

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Hill?? What hill??
I didn't see any $%@#(*$ Hill!!
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JerryReeve
Communication Systems Int'l
com-sys.com

 

[hardybob]

thanks jerryreeve and deweyhumbolt. sounds like i need to go back to the location (2 hr drive) and do some more testing. this info gives me alot to work with.

anybody know if the Comdial may have had a built in ATA? if not, i have the same connections that were on the Comdial. one of my two lines had OPX marked on the biscuit jack which confused me since it was a business line. if the OPX is indeed one of the telco lines at the remote loc, do you have to program the 3x8 to know that you are dialing a 3 digit extension rather than a 7 digit number? i tried dialing a 3 digit extension from both lines when on site and that didn't work. i also tried dialing an 8 first, 9 first, etc. but that didn't work, either.

 

[jerryreeve]

who is local and who is remote?? who provides the DT???

If there are business calls (Dial tone, ring) coming in on the OPX line to the 3X8 location then that should be plugged into one of the three line ports of the 3X8 and selecting an outside line makes you an extension of the comdial. access then is determined by the comdial programming.

try dialing 0 on that line and see what you get. if you get the receptionist at the other location then it is an opx, if you get telco operator then it is not an opx.

again test it with a plain old telephone or a butt set.

----------------------------
Hill?? What hill??
I didn't see any $%@#(*$ Hill!!
----------------------------
JerryReeve
Communication Systems Int'l
com-sys.com

 

[hardybob]

thanks much. will test and let you know the results.

 

[hawks]

Just because the biscuit was marked OPX does not mean it really is one. Plug an Analog phone into that biscuit and try to make a normal call no 8, 9 ect.. just a normal telephone number and see if it goes through.

 

[hardybob]

thanks, hawks. i think i've got enough add'l info now to hopefully figure out what's going on there. worse case i'll tell them we're pulling out the opx ckt and they can dial like every other location does. we really don't support opx ckts at our locations anyway.

 

[jerryreeve]

an opx is a grandfathered contract with the telco. I don't think there are any more telco's that let you lease opx lines anymore for the price of an existing one. make real sure that they don't need it before you tell the telco to cancel it. the cost to get a new opx service is tremendous compared to just letting the old one idle for a few months or even years.


----------------------------
Hill?? What hill??
I didn't see any $%@#(*$ Hill!!
----------------------------
JerryReeve
Communication Systems Int'l
com-sys.com