posted
The small counseling office I work for just bought a new building, and with it we inherited a Toshiba Strata DK 280 system and about a dozen DKT2020-SD and other model station phones. Being the geek that I am, I was thrilled. This has gotta be better than the "fake phone system" GE phones we currently have.
However, this system is waaaaay out of my realm of experience, and I have no idea where to begin. I've found some of the manual downloads after spending hours with my good friend Google, but I'm still not sure where to start. I've even tried calling a couple of local (Atlanta) companies that "claim" to service Toshiba systems, but no one seems to want to return my call. I guess since the 280 is an older system they'd rather deal with new systems they sell and can make more money on. Heh... not to sound peeved or anything!
Here's the complete scenario (you may want to print this out, take it to bed, and read it as a sleep aid). First, a few pictures:
The boss had AT&T turn on a single phone line last week. I have no idea where that is hooked up -- just that it's somewhere in the stuff in the bottom of the first picture. Eventually we'll have the three lines from the current office (just a few doors down) moved here.
I grabbed one of the desk sets hand headed from room to room (dodging contractors armed with paint rollers) and tested several jacks. They all worked, and each jack displayed a different extension and name on the phone. This used to be a medical office, so there were things like "Exam 2", "Biomedical", "Breakroom" and the like. So it seems the system is, for the most part, working. The boss and I hooked up a couple of phones, and I was even able to call from one extension to another. However, when I press the "Line 1" button on the phone, I get nothing. I guess this is because that new line isn't really hooked up to to our stuff. Also, I haven't found the jack for the magical extension 200 -- but I didn't really look for it, since I didn't find out about it until after I'd left the new building.
I did notice a couple of jacks in the telephone room that were labelled "CO1" "CO2" and so on on this other box thing, and If I recall the wires had been cut on them. Actually, there were very many cables that had simply been cut, and I have no idea where they should have gone.
So here is my first big question: With the help of people here, can I get this thing working with the four lines (actually, three, one will be for fax) we'll eventually have? Or, do I need to keep calling around and pestering people until I can get someone to come out and hook us up? Really, given the stress of all that has to be done for the move, I'd rather have someone come out -- I have far more than enough to do as it is. But, of course, the geek in me wants to do it myself.
Any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
posted
Well first off the dk280 and the phones you have will probably give you many years of service.
Second the phone lines being mixed in all "that stuff on the bottom " Looks like fire ,burgler and god knows what.
So if I were in your position I would locate a local guy Toshiba dealer or some one who knows Toshiba or basic telephony to get you up and going with initial lines and basic programming.
You need to inventory the mystical cards in the box to see what you have and where you can go. There are various plugins including voice mail.
I would also purchase installation and programming manuals {link above ]
Once this is working you have a better shot @ maintaining the system .
Desi are the people that sell the paper inserts that are on the phone ,not exactly a priority in the place you are right now.
Lastly any professional in this business is not looking at you as a pest. The people in this industry are well trained and respond to a call like yours everyday .
-------------------- Take a look at this especially the restoration link and see what these guys did. www.34restoration.org/ Posts: 4095 | From: Aquebogue,N.Y. | Registered: Apr 2004
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quote:Originally posted by KENB: Well first off the dk280 and the phones you have will probably give you many years of service.
Woot!
quote:
Second the phone lines being mixed in all "that stuff on the bottom " Looks like fire ,burgler and god knows what.
Even below the alarm stuff. There's this big "pipe thing" (god i sound like a newb) with our building number on it in orange stickers, then a gray cable with a big centronics-looking connector that goes into this panel that says AT&T on it, with these funny looking blocks & some phone-jack connectors. Then wires come out of that -- the ones not cut anyway -- and go to other stuff.
quote:So if I were in your position I would locate a local guy Toshiba dealer or some one who knows Toshiba or basic telephony to get you up and going with initial lines and basic programming.
If only they'd call me back. LOL. Will try some more tomorrow.
quote:You need to inventory the mystical cards in the box to see what you have and where you can go. There are various plugins including voice mail.
Good idea! Didn't think of that.
quote:I would also purchase installation and programming manuals {link above ]
Will have to see what the boss says about that.
quote:Once this is working you have a better shot @ maintaining the system .
Desi are the people that sell the paper inserts that are on the phone ,not exactly a priority in the place you are right now.
Lastly any professional in this business is not looking at you as a pest. The people in this industry are well trained and respond to a call like yours everyday .
I knew the people on this forum would be able to point me in the right directions. Big thanks to everyone who has replied!!!!
Anyway, like I said, I'll try some more phone people. Actually, one of the manual links above is someone in metro Atlanta -- www.phonemanuals.com / www.phoneman4u.com -- I have this good feeling that he'll be able to help.
If not, I may be begging you guys for more help. I'm not looking for freebies/handouts --the company has no probs paying a qualified pro to come out and hook us up. It's just that I have 2 weeks to get this thing up and running before we move.
Again, thanks for everyone's help and suggestions so far!
Posts: 13 | From: Newnan, GA (Metro Atlanta) | Registered: May 2008
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Hopefully a pro can get your dialtone from the big pipe on the bottom to the gray box on the top , make a few stops in between if your using fire/burg alarms
-------------------- Take a look at this especially the restoration link and see what these guys did. www.34restoration.org/ Posts: 4095 | From: Aquebogue,N.Y. | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
I'm happy to say that I've got someone local to help with my dk280. Today I talked to John at Manuals Plus / www.phonemanuals.com / www.phoneman4u.com (listed in the manuals section on this very site). I figured if he was listed here, he was probably reliable. Thanks y'all!
As for what's inside the cabinet, here's what I found when I pulled the cards one at a time (power off, of course!)
1x RCTUA3 (Why does this "Processor Card" have an RCA audio cable stuck in it?) 3x PDKU2 (24 digital desk sets, right?) 1x RCOU1 + RCOS1A (does this mean what I think -- 8 lines? Woot! Only need 3.) 1x RSTU2 (For 8 analog phones, yes?) 1x RSSU1A (Serial Port Interface Unit? What's this do?)
No Stratagy VM, huh? GRRRR. There are these two small single-card cabinets that contain boards like I've seen in other telecom setups, so maybe, just maybe it's in one of those. I'll dissect those next.
Getting in and working on the system should be much easier now -- contractors should be done with paint & carpet tomorrow, Thursday at the latest. We still haven't set a move date, but I'm sure with John's help, we'll be ready! He also told be about something called "Dual Service" (I think), so maybe we can have the phone's going in both places with the same numbers. The new building, as I mentioned, is only a very short walk from the old place. Maybe AT&T can get us going.
Again, thank you all for your generous help! You have no idea how much stress you've helped relieve. Plus, my geek neurons are doing the happy dance because they're learning new stuff.
Posts: 13 | From: Newnan, GA (Metro Atlanta) | Registered: May 2008
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posted
While the RSTU2 can be used for standard analog phones, it was probably used for an external voicemail box. Unfortunatly, one popular VM for this system was a PC based Stratagy, so if the former tenant got rid of all the "Computers", the VoiceMail may have gone away with them.
Posts: 108 | From: Wilmington, DE, USA | Registered: Jun 2004
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JK -- When we first looked at the building, there was indeed a PC in the phone closet that is now gone. Dollars to donuts that was a PC-based Stratagy.
My guy is coming out Monday to train me and get us configured, so I'm excited about that. In the mean time, anyone have any good ideas for a relatively inexpensive VM solution that will work well with this system? Even used IVP8s on eBay seem really expensive. But, the Boss does want some simple auto-attendant functionality -- "Press 1 for hours, Press 2 for directions," etc. Thoughts?
Posts: 13 | From: Newnan, GA (Metro Atlanta) | Registered: May 2008
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You mentioned you have a RSTU card. Do a visual check on the RCTU card again if there is a DTMF receiver card (i.e. RRCS-4/8/12) as I am sure you might need to generate DTMF tones when using the analog phones to call to places where they might need you to press the "*" or "#" buttons.
The RCA on the RCTU card is for Music on Hold (MOH) which you can connect to a radio or CD player but make sure you check on the copyright licensing first before you plonk in a Michael Jackson CD.
Posts: 129 | From: PETALING JAYA, Malaysia | Registered: Jun 2006
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posted
The RSSU is a serial interface card. It has a line cord coming out of it. Where does that run to? My guess is that they were using it for SMDI vm integration. It would have plugged into the back of the p.c. with a DB-9 serial adapter. The card can also be used for external modem or terminal access to the system for programming.
-------------------- Pat Austin Teleco Inc. Product Manager/Sales Engineer Adtran ATSP TCTE/CTP Certified
posted
Wow, thanks everyone for the additional info!
Sorry for not replying sooner, but I got a touch of food poisoning or something that kicked in *while* the phone guy was training me yesterday. Ended up at home in bed with a 102 fever. LOL! Anyway, before that John got me hooked up with a full set of DK-280 manuals, plus punched down a couple extra lines, then we did a little programming. He got me squared away where I should be able to handle most of the basic stuff now. Y'all were absolutely right -- my local guy was extremely helpful and knowledgeable.
We did discover that the RCOU1 + RCOS1A seems to be dead for lines 3, 4, 5, and 6. Lines 1, 2, 7, and 8 are working okay. Kinda weird, but it's okay because we only have 3 voice lines. The RSTU2 had two lines punched to it that were coiled up, and the John seemed to think those were plugged into the external VM. We also found we've got Porta Systems lightning arrestors --which he says are very good -- but nothing's hooked up to it at the moment. He showed me how to wire that once AT&T moves our lines over.
@MrEngineer -- I'll take a look at the RSTU card. But, I don't anticipate us using any analog phones right now -- unless that's needed for voicemail. We had plenty of DK2020s for all the offices, plus spares!
@p2ii -- The cable that comes out of the RSSU goes -- you guessed it -- nowhere. It's just hanging there. No idea if they did the SDMI thing or used it for programming or what. Maybe external access, because there is a "modem" written on one of the 66 blocks.
Anyway, other than the stomach bug, it has been a blast learning about all this. Now, I just gotta get a good punch down tool and I'm set for the moment. Thanks again everyone!
Posts: 13 | From: Newnan, GA (Metro Atlanta) | Registered: May 2008
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posted
The RSTU was almost definitely used for voice mail not analog phones.
-------------------- "90% of the politicians make the other 10% look bad" Henry Kissinger Posts: 210 | From: columbus, ohio | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
What does it mean that I'm starting to think, "I need to do xxx, that's program yyy?" Posts: 13 | From: Newnan, GA (Metro Atlanta) | Registered: May 2008
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The Toshiba DK 280 is working magnificently, and has been running without a hitch now for a week and a half. No big bells and whistles, but it suits this small office quite well.
Here's the final inventory of boards:
RCTUA3A Main Processor RRCS1A 4 Circuit DTMF Receiver Subassembly RCOU1A 4 Port CO Line Card (2 ports dead) RCOS1 4 Port CO Line Card piggyback (2 ports dead) RSSU1 RS-232 Option Interface PDKU (x2) 8 digital telephone circuits RSTU2 8 standard telephone circuits
Hopefully I'll be adding a RCIU Caller ID board and also add some kind of VM soon -- we're tired of the bundled AT&T voicemail we have now. Maybe we'll replace the wonky RCOU/RCOS CO line boards with a single fully working RCOU. Ordered some desis from desi.com, should be here tomorrow or Friday.
So, one last big THANK YOU to everyone who's helped. Thanks to YOU, and my phone guy, we got the system up and running for our big move.
Woody
PS -- if any of you guys find yourselves on the southside of Atlanta, PM me. There's cold beer or other frosty beverages with your names on it!
Posts: 13 | From: Newnan, GA (Metro Atlanta) | Registered: May 2008
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