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From: goldstein@carafe.enet.dec.com (Fred R. Goldstein)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Help Needed With Panasonic KX-T2355 on Rolm System
Message-ID: <12251@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 17 Sep 90 16:17:37 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 653, Message 5 of 9


In article <12142@accuvax.nwu.edu>, matt_mcgehrin@pro-graphics.cts.com
(Matthew McGehrin) writes...

>First off, I feel sympathy for you. Rolm is a monster of a system. I have many
>friends who attend colleges with Rolm systems installed and it is a pain in
>the a** to use. It re-defines the word simplfy. I know people who before Rolm
>to dial a operator you would dial '0' , but with rolm you may dial 678 then 0.
>Also, I thought that 'non-Rolm' phones are not compatible with the network.

To be fair, Rolm systems are not "monsters"; they are, however,
moderately difficult to program and use.  Thus if they are not
carefully installed by somebody sympathetic to human factors, they can
be a bear.

A "single line" analog interface on a Rolm is reasonably compatible
with any standard telephone.  Only the proprietary Rolmphone and ETS
interfaces aren't.  I've attached lots of ordinary things (answering
machines, speakerphones, 1A2 key, etc.) to Rolm lines.  No sweat.

What makes Rolms tricky is that they use a human interface model
that's optimized to allow the fully-priv'd business phone user, even
with a 2500 set, to have more features than any other set's 2500 set.
It's a 'two call' model, totally non-standard.  Once you learn it, you
can do a lot.  But hardly anybody ever seems to learn it.  The
engineers who designed it in 1974 enjoyed it, probably for its hack
value.  The Rolmphones with lots of buttons are easier to use,
thankfully, but of course you then need a second (analog) line for
your answering machine, modem, etc., just as with any fancy PBX. 


Fred R. Goldstein goldstein@carafe.enet.dec.com
                 or goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com
                    voice:  +1 508 486 7388