Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!decwrl!sdd.hp.com!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: zellich@stl-07sima.army.mil (Rich Zellich) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Looking For Entry "Intercom" Phone Message-ID: <10142@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 26 Jul 90 18:35:04 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 46 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 517, Message 8 of 9 Speaking of phones used as an intercom ... does anyone have any recommendations (or pointers of *any* kind) for these things? My condominium building has a Trigon phone in the courtyard; this phone allows a two-digit code to pulse-dial residents' regular seven-digit numbers through a dedicated residential line to the CO (we had to get the line connected from one of the residences to get a residential rate). It also looks for a "5" DTMF tone and, on seeing one, sends an electrical signal to two solenoid-operated locks in upper-level entry doors. The Trigon has died - two batteries hard-soldered to a circuit board are now trash, and the service company says they have to send the board back to the manufacturer to replace the batteries, expected to take three weeks or so and cost at least $300! They will also sell us a replacement - "better", what- ever that means - system for about $1000. I have talked to one local business phone supplier so far, and he has spent almost two weeks researching possible replacements, with no luck as far as I can tell (no call-back, anyway, after one followup to make sure he hadn't forgotten about me). Considering I can buy a whole Panasonic PBX cheaper than the $1000 they want for what amounts to one memory-phone with one added feature (looking for a tone, and activating an electrical signal for 10 seconds), both the $300 repair and $1000 replacement costs seem just a tad steep. One catch is that the phone is out in the weather, on our mailbox wall under an overhanging entry deck, so it has to be waterproof and also able to take extremes of heat and cold (the Trigon doesn't like anything below about twenty degrees F, and is apparently only moderately moisture proof). At this point, we're considering just buying a memory phone, if we can find a weatherproof one, and ignoring the requirement to remotely open solenoid-operated locks (that circuit has been mostly out of order for over 18 months, anyway). We *must* have at least an 18-number capacity, and 36 is desirable (the downstairs units have open access to their doors, so don't really need the phone access). Any help would be much appreciated. Rich