alans@spked.UUCP (Alan Smith of IM) (03/31/89)
We are currently in the process of planning for a move to a new
building with our own phone switch installed, twisted pair network
prewired in the building, etc.
Intecom, a PBX vendor, is trying to sell us (and is getting close to
successful) a PBX that does voice, asynch data (rs-232), AND
Ethernet. Additional twisted pair are needed for the Ethernet but it
sounds like it can do it.
I, the current PC net manager/planner/trainer/installer, am a bit
nervous about the claims of Intecom. I'm still looking hard at a system
like Synoptics Lattisnet (twisted pair Ethernet) for our net.
Anyway, is there anyone out there in net-land that has some experience
with the Intecom equipment that can give me(us) some real examples of
whether this stuff works or not?
Any help you can offer would be much appreciated.
Alan Smith
US Army Corps of Engineers
650 Capitol Mall
Sacramento, CA 95814
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{{seismo|ihnp4!}lll-crg|sdcsvax|{decvax!}ucbvax}!ucdavis!spked!spkim!alansshoward@ucqais.uc.edu (Steve Howard) (04/11/89)
In article <288@spked.UUCP>, alans@spked.UUCP (Alan Smith of IM) writes: > Intecom, a PBX vendor, is trying to sell us (and is getting close to > successful) a PBX that does voice, asynch data (rs-232), AND > Ethernet. Additional twisted pair are needed for the Ethernet but it > sounds like it can do it. ... > Anyway, is there anyone out there in net-land that has some experience > with the Intecom equipment that can give me(us) some real examples of > whether this stuff works or not? The following statements are MY PERSONAL OPINIONS ONLY and not necessarily those of my employer: I don't know what specific model of switch you are looking at, but I would carefully check with SEVERAL other Intecom customers before making a purchase--and then I would still consider other options! Our switch is being/was installed by South Central Bell Advanced Systems. It has two exchanges in the 513 area code, and it has another that is used only internally. Overall, I'd estimate that there are around 15,000 phone lines. The original bid was for about $26 million (it has easily exeeded that amount). It sounds like the switch you are considering purchasing has some capabilities similair to ours, but on a smaller scale. Here is a summary of what I have seen: 1) VOICE - Call quality is OK, but calls will sometimes get disconnected. The phones go out of service for no reason (which requires a repair call to get it turned back on). The phones (especially ones with ADIs) will hang/lock up every now and them. This can usually be fixed by unplugging the unit and plugging it back in. (The repairman stated that this was a "logic" problem in the phone--and that unplugging it will reset it (Hmmmm?)). 2) ETHERNET - There is a device called a "LANmark" (sp?) with a modular jack, and a 15-pin ethernet jack, that plugs between the wall and your voice phone. Intecom states that the switch will support ethernet at a 1 Meg/second transfer rate via this device. The switch has some smart-routing capabilities--only packets destined for you will actually arrive on your segment. Unfortunately, as far as I know, nobody here has been able to get it to work!! (It was said last week that it was just some timing parameters and find tuning that needed to be changed, but I don't believe it). 3) DATA - This is currently the largest problem with our switch. Each phone line that does not have a lanmark can have one ADI (similair to a modem). The ADI can be used to make calls to local on-campus hosts or to off-campus hosts via a modem pool. The ADI sits dormant until you are ready to make a data call (at which time it usually remains dormant :-( ). To activate the ADI, your device must Toggle DTR. If the ADI wakes up, you must send the ADI autobaud sequence a dash-equal-dash-equal-dash-equal-da... Then, when it doesn't work, you try again, and again, and again. When the ADI finally responds you can select your host. Hopefully, your host is on campus. On campus data calls work great. But, if your host happens to off-campus, you are in trouble. It usually takes about five tries to get one successful call through the modem pool (this gets quite expensive when it requires a long-distance call for each try :-( ). South Central Bell claims that the Intecom engineers have been working on it (at least thats what they said four months ago!). I have yet to see any improvement. Note: I haven't even mentioned calling from off-campus into our hosts-- --talk to our UUCP contacts for horror stories :-( If you have any questions about this (I've left out most of the details), feel free to send e-mail. Also, I would LOVE to hear from any satisfied Intecom customers (it might make me feel better about this thing!!). Standard Disclaimer: I have no relation to Intecom or South Central Bell Advanced Systems except that I am one their many dissatisfied users at the University Cincinnati. -- Steve Howard Univ of Cincinnati College of Business Administration (showard@uccba.uc.edu) UUCP: {pyramid,decuac,mit-eddie}!uccba!showard