Norstar Meridian System: DASS2 -> ISDN30e

[Norris68]

I'm not sure if should be in the Norstar or Meridian forum. I am not a telecomms engineer, but have unfortunately inherited reponsibility for our system.

Firstly, sit down in case you hurt yourself when you fall over laughing! We bought a Toshiba Strata CS PC-based system to replace our Norstar Meridian system. We have recently had problems with Strata and want to sort out the Meridian system to use as a backup in case the Strata system falls over completely. When we got the new system we had our ISDN primary rate lines changed from DASS-2 to ISDN30e.

Our system has a release 2 DASS 2 software cartridge which cannot handle ISDN30e lines. I understand we can get a second-hand release 3 modula+ cartridge for about £250. [ul][li]Is this sufficient?[/li][li]Do I plug the RJ45 lead from the NTE straight into the DTI card? (Currently has BNC leads)[/li][li]Has anybody got a modula+ card they want to sell?[/li][li]What would I need to be able to do voice mail & CTI? (Apart from an engineer who knows what they are doing!)[/li][/ul]Many thanks in advance...

 

[Jay2003]

You should be able to exchange your DASSII to ISDN on the meridian no problem from a second hand vendor without much cost. This would save you the hassle of purchasing new cards for the Strata system and also getting your telco to re-program them back to DASSII.

Do you have voicemail on the Meridian. If you are unsure what you are looking for dial 7000 internally, This is the most common access DN for voicemail. If you receive feedback asking extension or password then voicemail is sussed, just some configuration to do on mail and pbx.

You also need to duplicate you cabling from the D-Mark to the telephony devices and also from the devicers upto the desktop. Are the telephone anaolg or digital. You could use a manual A-B switch to do this, Not instant but workable.

CTI however would probably end up being too expensive for a backup device. Depends on what budget you have.

Jason.

Where's the button @.

 

[Norris68]

Thanks for your reply. As I mentioned, I have been told I need a rev 3 Modula+ software cartridge. Assuming I get this and plug it into the CCU in place of the rev 2 cartridge, do I connect the NTE directly to the DTI card with a standard RJ45 (CAT-5) drop cable?

We used to rent a voicemail box which has since been collected by the supplier. What sort of box would it have been? Can you give me some model numbers so I can check prices with second hand dealers?

I realise CTI would be expensive, but I/we really hate the Toshiba system and have no confidence in it whatsoever. I would like to price up a fully functional system based around the Norstar Meridian exchange. Maybe one day I could persuade my boss to accept the fact that the new system is cr*p and go back to the old one - LAN-based (and hence fairly cheap) CTI was the main selling point of the new system though.

 

[Jay2003]

I am uncertain about about the first paragraph as I don't deal much with Soft PBX's any more.

If you visit nortel.com and lookup callpilot this would give you your voicemail. There is also certain CTI that you can achieve with this. If you can sort the budget then go the whole hog and purchase symposium, Call routing, Skills routing etc. More for call centres than anything but well worth the outlay with call pilot.

Jason

Where's the button @.