Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!apple!agate!telecom-request From: DREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu (Douglas Scott Reuben) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Need ComKey 416 and Multiline Phone Information Message-ID: Date: 26 Mar 91 03:02:38 GMT Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 92 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 239, Message 6 of 9 I have a few ComKeys myself, and it works pretty simple: You need to get a hold of something called a "91B Wiring Block", which were (are?) manufactured by Western Electric. You may be able to get these through AT&T parts, or through the AT&T catalog, as they still sell (expensive) ComKey units. Perhaps companies like Graybar have these as well. In any event, once you get these blocks, it is pretty self explanatory. All you do is connect your incoming phone lines to modular sockets on the "91B" block, and you are set. Each block can accomodate two lines. Both the red/green and yellow/black pairs are used, so you would put "line 1" on the green/red pair, and "line 2" on the yellow/back pair, and then "plug" this wire right into the "91B" block. (I think this is called a RJ-14 type jack, but I can't remember right now.) You can also re-wire the wires inside the "91B" block, if you have some odd sort of configuration of lines coming in, ie, your "Line 1" is yellow/black and you want it to be that way on the ComKey as well. If you want more than two lines, it becomes complicated. In order for the ComKey to take four lines, you need a "different" "base/power unit. I'm not too sure about this, but it seems that one of the base/power units (the larger units) will power lines one and two, while the other base/power unit powers lines three and four. I have looked extensively at all the markings inside and outside of the power units, and see no indication which would easily tell me which one is which. There are movable blocks inside the unit (under the DSS/intercom page buttons), but I dunno if they have anything to do with selecting whether the unit runs L1/2 or L3/4. I found this out via experimentation with the equipment I have, and there is perhaps a much simpler way to connect all four lines. (Perhaps something like a "91A" block, etc?). In any event, assuming you have all the right equipment (ie, the blocks, and two power units, one to run L1/2 and the other to run L3/4), you may want to select the intercoms. To do this, open the tab with the Bell System symbol on it, and underneath you will see four switches and one, long, sliding switch, with numbers one to ten on it. These numbers correspond to the DSS buttons, and if you select "2" on the sliding switch, every time anyone presses DSS button two (leftmost one on the bottom row), your speaker will go off. (The "tab" you are supposed to remove may just say "ComKey" on it - I've seen ones which do NOT have the Bell logo on it, for some odd reason.) The other four switches are for lines one to four, and they will tell your specific phone what line to ring on. I usually have only the main phone ring on all four lines, and the rest are silent, so the main phone gets 1-4 as "on", while all the other ones have 1-4 as "off". You can also change these whenever you want, so if you want to temporarily disable ringing on one line, just turn "off" the corresponding switch. And yeah, the cables are a pain. Almost like the 25-pair amphenol cables on 1A2 systems. I think this was a hybrid system, between the old 1A2 key phones, and the newer, electronic systems. I recall that a few years after the ComKey came out, there was a similar system, but without the amphenol. I can't recall the name right now, but I think AT&T still sells those as well via its catalog. But the 25-pair cables have their uses: I've managed to combine a ComKey unit which had a burnt out speaker/amplifier card to work with my 1A2 system by just cutting one wire. And, if I remember correctly, the only reason I had to cut a wire on the ComKey was because I like the red HOLD light on the 1A2's to be lighted to show that the power is on, and this modification somehow messed up the ComKey. (I think this can be done on each individual phone without sending power down through the whole system, but I was lazy.) I wouldn't suggest connecting a ComKey to a 1A2 unless you don't mind blowing a few things out on it, since 1A2s can be wired slightly differently from installation to installation, and I don't think they were ever intended to be used as part of the same system with ComKeys. So perhaps it is best not to experiment unless you don't care what happens to the ComKey. (And use an unpowered/slave unit if you do try this ... I've never tried to connect a ComKey power unit to a 1A2 system! (The 1A2s, of course, don't have any cards to blow out, at least not in the phones themselves.) Anyone have any ComKeys they want to get rid of? I'm looking for a speakerphone unit, but AT&T wants to charge something like $400 for this, which is a bit too expensive for me! I could also use a new touch-tone pad and an amplifier card, but AT&T will not sell these to me. Hope this helps (and was essentially correct :) ), Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu // dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet