atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Other TDM Phone Systems Nitsuko-Tie Telephones & Systems 124i questions, please ?

I am setting up a very small office for a friend and will be changing from an absolutely ancient Comdial system to a nicely less ancient Nitsuko 124i.

It is already running (breadboarded) so I can learn & program it.
It came with an NVM2000 with NVM2002 v5 s/w, and that is also running with 2 ports connected.
I found and got and printed the voluminous docs for it too...

In the NVM2000 there are 2 ISA cards, 1 full-length Rhetorix and the other 1/2 length unbranded.
I got some help from a man more familiar with these than I and the ports on the 1/2 card weren't fully working, so it has been shut off in the s/w and is no longer used.

Since this system is really a perfect match for this tiny office with the need for only a single voicemail box, my one worry is how many times I've seen the old/ISA based NVM2000 written about as prone to fail and expensive to replace.

My questions:
1)
Is there an easy/cheaper way to get the single VM box needed via PC - single box - or even via using a simple answering machine on an analog port ?
2)
I've read what posts as I can find here and seen mention of using Asterisk for VM only as well as vague mention of other software-> would anyone please point me to what may be usable, PC based and would have inexpensive cards I could put into an ordinary PC for the VM s/w ?

Thanks !

Depending on the size of your office why not just buy a new system? I mean a new NEC DSX or ESI 50L or whatever in that size range you could get something with a warranty. You are installing a system that's been discontinued for a decade and I would bet after you add up all the time and effort being put into this you could get a small key system installed with warranty for very little a month if you lease it. Just a suggestion. Of course you could always get voice mail from the phone company too for the lines as well.

We considered installing a brand new 100% VOIP system, phones and all.

The truth is that the 124i was doggone near free, and that the uber-ancient Comdial system is meeting their meager needs completely EXCEPT that the phones are falling apart and they are not worth replacing for a 2nd time.
(Besides - this dinosaur of a new-to-us system has about 2000 more features than there will ever be any use for here !)

I respectfully submit as an idea:
Alot of folks these days seem to come across like a salesman representing the "NEW! IS! BETTER! co."

By way of contrast:
Some of us actually ENJOY getting incredibly long use out of already old stuff that was built to last and actually do not mind taking the time to do things like re-insulating the cracked wires on the PSU by hand, with great care.

Here in the boondocks there actually are quite a number of very successful businesses which are still using and have zero complaints about these 124i systems -EXCEPT- that the expensive NVMs died and could not be fixed; and I have it straight from the former Nitsuko tech I spoke with that he would be bankrupt by now if he hadn't switched to Samsung systems because these 124i systems...just ...last... forever !!!

(Please pardon my country boy ways, I mean no offense !)

No offense at all. If you have the time and patience to spend on something by all means do so.

Here is a thought from where I come from:
In my neck of the woods time=money. Time is something you can't get back..no matter what, so by all accounts, probably the most important thing in life (IMHO).

I also grew up in a farming community.

The 124i's do last pretty well. But, like all systems things with moving parts can and do wear out (voice mails especially). I wouldn't say new is always better, but I would say that depending on how important phone service is to you..and only you can gauge that, sometimes you have to invest in infrastructure to keep things running and not have down time. You can, depending on company size you can eat up a few grand in an hour in lost wages for people being idle.

No offense taken nor given.

talk about the wrong product for the application .

any business no matter where its located or its size needs reliable communications . I agree its time to upgrade to a more more reliable platform .
thee is a reason the 124i was free , the last one I replaced was scrapped

like coral tech said , time is money and what if your solution winds up dropping some messages and they lose the business as a result then where is the saving .

I would second VM from the Telco for this Application

The I-series had "engineering oversights".

When the Aspire series was released it came with a few "engineering oversights" and a few it inherited from it's predecessor.

Finally the NEC UX5000 has been released...yes with the same 'engineering oversights" from the original platform the i-series.

Guess what? The manual never got smaller...kind of like Microsoft Windows version whatever.

Good Heavens !
I already have the 124i running quite satisfactorily and unless some glaring problem shows up it will be staying; this is not a question.

It seems as if NOBODY has paid attention to what I said right at the start of this thread:

->The ancient Comdial KSU is enough EXCEPT that it's phones have been replaced too many times and THAT isn't happening again.

Think - please - if a REALLY, incredibly ancient Comdial system is sufficient, the 124i is WAY ahead of THAT !!!

The system choice is already settled - so please quit bashing it now.
(Perhaps you'd like to come visit and take not ONE, but TWO whole Comdial systems WITH phones home with you - they'll be FREE !!!)

I asked these questions and STILL would like some usable info in direct response to what I asked, please - if anyone knows:

1)
Is there an easy/cheaper way to get the single VM box needed via PC ?

2)
I've read what posts as I can find here and seen mention of using Asterisk for VM only as well as vague mention of other software-> would anyone please point me to what may be usable, PC based and would have inexpensive cards I could put into an ordinary PC for the VM s/w to gain analog access through ?

(Yes, I know we can use the telco's VM system-> that is also NOT what I asked...)

Thanks for any USABLE INFO !

PS: The documentation IS truly awful !!!

not to a trained Nitusko tech , Its not meant for a DIY novice

No chepo PC solution that I'm aware of .

Losing your attitude will go a long way to getting help here

I am not a DIY novice - and also not specifically a Nitsuko tech - but my PBX work did start 1/2 my lifetime ago with PBXs programmed with dumb-terms and even THAT documentation was noplace near as cryptic and useless as the Nitsuko/NEC stuff.

And seems to me that someone else up there ^ has also said the docs were a bit silly.

I only asked here because this place has a separate Nitsuko-Tie forum, and I have been unfailingly polite, but it seems as if nobody here who's visited lately has the answers I need and those who have replied would do the Nitsuko folks a service if they'd just quit discouraging folks who WANT to use this stuff.

If a person reads what I wrote an imagines it as being meant/said with a smile (as that IS the case...), then the mention of ott-ee-tyude would not come into play.

With or without pointers I will muddle through somehow - it's just a different sort of tech gear after all, and I AM a career tech !

Thanks.

you where given "good USABLE INFO " , I really hope your not charging anyone for this , you are doing them no favors whatsoever .

as a long time "PBX Tech " ( I assume you do know the 124i isn't a PBX ) you should realize something that old is running on borrowed time and is likely to fail at any point


you do realize Nituko hasnt existed in a dozen or so year ...but as a long time PBX tech off course you do

At least 15 years ago, I sucessfully integrated a Key Voice VM system to a Nitsuko Onyx. It works because the Onyx sends integration digits to the single line port programmed as a VM port and the Key Voice has the mode of waiting for the digits before anything else happens. I probably burned about 16-24 hours making it behave and the customer probably used it for a couple of years before he replaced the system.

Your Rhetorex board is probably a full-length ISA board designed to run under DOS. I would think any modern software, Amanda, my Brickmail :-), or anything that's trainable would do as a starting point. You just need to sit down with the service codes table and start testing. If you can score Amanda software, it will actually run for 3 days in the "demo" mode while you test it. It's not practical to keep rebooting the box every 3 days, but it would give you an idea of how to make a system work.

Carl

Thank You Very Much Carl.

Now THAT is truly USABLE info !!!

Given that this old plug has both analog and digital cards (and spares...) my thought was to merely program it for busy/no answer transfer to either sort because all that is happening is really a few POTS lines coming into a single station, answered and/or transferred to one other station-> or not, in which case it will roll to VM.

No extension selection will be used and the callers will simply either reach a person or the single VM box.

This stuff reminds me of the truly ancient PC h/w that I still have in use that is utterly reliable like the K6/2-350 system I use for a business firewall that runs 24/7/365 and only requires MAYBE monthly restarts - and the old, slow, big IDE drives that never seem to get any data errors.

What seriously tickles me at this site is the sponsorship (ownership ?) by Usedphones.com !

My sincerest thans Carl, and Best Wishes !

Like Carl I have installed Key Voice voicemails on the 124i. Very feature rich and has the integration already figured out in the initial install menu. I probably have a software key around here for that application. PM me if you interested.

Ah-hah !!!
Even more encouraging/good news - great.

In the meantime I have been looking into Carl's suggestion and found that Amanda SOHO has direct options for the 124i and even natively supports the voicemail-only mode I am aiming for - wahoo !

Better still - it's only about 1000 times simpler than the NVM deal and is flash based; how cool is ALL that ?!
The doggone thing is small, inexpensive, draws little power and has very nice capacities (can you tell I already read it's nice, short, concise docs ?).

Thanks Very Much.
I genuinely and sincerely appreciate you nice folks who've pitched in to help me here and now I feel like there is definite movement in a very positive direction with this system.

You know normally, I don't respond to posts like this but you are being particularly belligerent to people that are trying to give you some helpful advice whether you believe it or not. No one is beating up on your i-series system just giving the simple facts. Your posts are rather unfair to say the least.

How's that giant rear-view mirror working for the back pedaling? A direct quote from your FIRST resopnse. And this is PHONE SYSTEM TECH SUPPORT. Who are we supporting?

Yet, the OP is belligerent because you told him to "just change out the system"?

And we wonder why some posters just cut and run....

that's no reason for the OP to get belligerent and no reason for you to get sarcastic with Coral Tech ,Carl

the OP was offered some valid opinions and options . there was no need for him to cop a attitude , if you dont care for the advice given then move on

sometimes the best support is to suggest a realistic approach

Lets keep this on topic .....

Who is back peddling or has reading become optional in schools now?

"Will be" changing as opposed to up and running live? Am I missing something here? The opening post CLEARLY states that this will be an install of another system that is currently in place. So Carl, where is the problem making a valid and legitimate suggestion to something that is clearly going to "be" a "for the use of the term" a new install? I really hope he enjoys his i-series system and get a new voice mail that will work with it. Simply pointing out an alternative is somehow construed as bad or not listening? As Mr Spock would say, "Fascinating".

smallhagrid, back in the day when the NVM's and the Vanguards were giving out we USED to install a product call Prophet Lite by executive voice? I believe they use to have software called VUP and a integration patch that allowed it to speak with the i-series and/or onyx systems. I haven't seen them around for some time but those voice mail systems were solid state, fairly inexpensive and seemed to work well. The ONLY real issues I remember on them were the power supplies seemed to fail after some use. I do not know if they are around anymore but you MIGHT find one floating around somewhere.

Smallhagrid.

You mentioned the use of a answering machine.

I have several systems out there with just an answering machine. I even have one with 4 answering machines! It is a matter of what you can provide and at what cost the customer is willing to pay. When someones VM dies, and they are not heavy users, and they need some time to budget for a new system, this is a viable solution.

This job sounds like a Buddy job where payment will be parts + beer

So, to answer your question. The NVM is expensive to replace and is a bit tricky to program. Is it good, yes. Is it worth $ to repair, doubt it.

The i-series uses (I believe Carl pointed out) integration digits. These integration digits can be rather long with *****s and originating extensions and called extensions and forward/recall reasons,Line numbers and caller IDs. SO depending on what VM you get, you can customize what the VM does when it recieves these strings. A lot of these VMs even have built in digit grabbers or utilities that walk you through setting up your integration. The SOHO sounds like a perfect fit. but like I mentioed earlier, if all you want is a general mailbox, then an answering machine will work fine.

Also, keep in mind, we here try and do a "best practice". WOuld I put in a 124i as a "new" install, absolutely, I have plenty laying around that I can put together and feel rather confident having them run for years. I would also let the customer ( Usally a non-profit, or a buddy's house) that because this went in for free, don't expect it to last a week. Would I do this as a "business practice"? No. With someone's business, the fact that their business may depend on a phone call can dictate that the need for "newer" hardware. Keep in mind that suggestions are made with that thought in the forefront of our minds. We look at trying to look after a customer, foster a relationship, and ensure that the customer can keep the phones ringing.

Problem has been solved with the original poster.