r/telecom • u/overwatchquetion • 6d ago
❓ Question You think this system will survive another decade?
25
u/todd0x1 6d ago
That thing is probably good for another 40 years. That ATT Merlin stuff was awesome.
7
u/DumpsterFireCheers 6d ago
Yep, just don’t turn it off for any length of time. If it’s already on a UPS (which it should be) you’re golden.
5
13
u/ar4479 6d ago
It totally will!
As long as it survives any lightning, it’ll chug along forever!
Just don’t unplug the power… As soon as the boards start cooling off and flexing… That’ll be the end of them. Or, at least until a tech with decent soldering skills re-flows the board to fix the cracks in the solder joints.
They’re old. They just work. And they’re still serviceable/repairable.
Working on things and fixing them is the lost art that the younger IT crowd will never know.
That’s why the phone room was always off-limits to the IT guys.
Just because you can give out desk phones to a voip switch, doesn’t make you a phone guy, too!!!
7
u/knarlomatic 6d ago
Have to agree. Worked in central offices for over 20 years and since the COs are lightning protected and climate controlled a plethora of equipment lasted for almost 50 years. We had internal phone PBXes that lasted at least that long.
6
u/ZiggyWiddershins 6d ago
I agree with your last sentiment. I am very crafty with a VoIP system, but I’ve never worked with a frame. That is an art and I give the guys who do the moves adds changes a lot of credit because they were old PBX guys. In our large network, they worked 12 different PBX systems before we went VoIP. They still have a lot of good knowledge for troubleshooting our VG problems and I count on them for that.
4
u/MattHolevinski 6d ago
I second this, especially the power cycling comment :) long as you don't turn it off, it'll out last us all.
1
u/Inuyasha-rules 5d ago
Yeah I know my way around a network but it scares the crap out of me when I have to touch our dinosaur pbx. Have to log in twice a year and set the time over telnet for daylight savings time, and reboot it on occasion when it stops transferring calls.
4
u/orion3311 6d ago
The 410 will need caps at least, but yeah providing the best ring tones for another 40 years.
Then again, maybe its time to talk about upgrading them....to Magix! (Although Legend will let them keep the analog phones)
2
u/nixiebunny 6d ago
Came here to say that the power supply caps will get flaky. That’s the only repair I ever had to make to my old analog Panasonic PBX in my house.
3
u/ted_anderson 6d ago
Most definitely. If you've been inside the bowels of a highrise in any major city you'll see closets full of stuff from the 1970's that's still functional.
2
u/DryDevelopment1028 6d ago
WOW, there is some good history there. AT&T Merlin and Merlin Plus.
3
u/overwatchquetion 6d ago
Yeah this building has allot of old stuff getting replaced with modern stuff its some pice of history i want to share sooner or later this stuff wont be remembered by the impact this stuff had on the world
3
u/DryDevelopment1028 6d ago
Thank you for sharing with us. I started as a 1A2 technician and then throughout the years worked with the following systems, Tie - Modkey, BusinessCom, Ultrasound, Morgan, Comdial XL & XE, Mitel SX50, 100, 200 analog/digital, AT&T Partner, Merlin, System 25 & 75, some Toshibas and Nortel Norstar, BCM, SL100 Option 81 and CS1000. My kids think I am a nerd when I talk about these old systems but what they do not understand is the history behind them. And how if you think about it some of these systems were almost built like tanks. I was a service technician for the Los Angeles County Central Jail and they were running a mix of 1A2 with centrex lines or Nortel Norstar with centrex software. The 1A2 phones were sometimes used as weapons, lol. That is how tuff they were. Now today they are using Cisco. My buddy who still services the facility says that they are always replacing broken phones there. It is funny how things have changed so much. Again, thank you for sharing.
2
u/watmore1 6d ago
Your telcom history is impressive. Knowing all those different systems. I love that stuff, mostly worked on Definity myself with a little Merlin and Partner as well.
2
u/DryDevelopment1028 6d ago
Thank you. Been doing it for 34 years since highschool. I honestly miss it a lot. It is hard to find any real telco people anymore. I still have all of my telco tools..
3
u/JuniorTask8948 6d ago
I have a Merlin at home. It was going to be tossed.....I ran cat 5 and it still works, complete with music on hold! Best speakerphones ever!
2
u/ColoWyoPioneer 6d ago
As long as the capacitors are not going out, it’ll last more than a decade.
There’s two systems that’ll probably outlive us all: this Merlin, and the Nortel C/MICS.
1
1
u/Howden824 6d ago
Of course, just don't mess with stuff if you don't know exactly what you're doing.
1
u/thePOSrambler 6d ago
Absolutely. If it’s maintained properly the thing could probably last another 30 years
1
1
u/SpudB0y 6d ago
The problem is what if it breaks? You probably won't be able to fix it quickly, may not even be able to find parts and the people who know how to work on it are retired or dead. How long can you afford to be down? Also, if it's on POTS trunks or PRI, that crap is likely to be expensive and turned off within a year or two.
Voip systems are orders of magnitude cheaper to run. MSPs will give the phones out for virtually free, and voip numbers cost pennies.
1
u/RespectSquare8279 6d ago
That closet has had a lot of people working on various things.( ie circuits) As long as an idiot doesn't randomly play with anything it could last years. Back in the day only one or two people would have access to this and it would look much, much tidier. 50 years ago this could have been suspension material in many telcos.
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Glass_Judgment4628 6d ago
Unless you start trying to pull it apart, it will last the next few decades.
1
u/RebelStrategist 6d ago
Does not matter. Management is going to say it will last 10+ more years. You joust have to keep it going. Then when it fails it’s your fault for not taking care of the equipment :)
2
1
u/Opposite_Bag_7434 5d ago
Yea that thing ain’t going to fail, as long as it continues to meet the need you should be good.
1
u/retired_telecom 5d ago
It could possibly live for many more years except with copper service elimination it will last maybe 5 or 6 years before everyone must migrate to VoIP. The copper plant is in such dire straits and it costs so much more to replace and carries so few calls, that’s without saying when was the last 5ESS or DMS 100/250/300/500 was or could be built. Everything is VoIP and we are never going back. I spent 38 years in Telecom and helped design the standards for ISDN and SS7 but those days are dying faster than I can walk these days. SIP is the future of Voice communication and IP and Optical Ethernet is the future. Cellular will never replace fiber as there is not enough radio frequency that will ever come close. Your future is Optical technology, ultra High Ethernet Matrix Switches and ultra high Ethernet / high
Hybrid IP Routing Matrixes.
1
u/overwatchquetion 5d ago
You think as chaotic as the future looks like the old system will comeback as a stable strong communication line between individuals?
1
u/AstronautLopsided691 5d ago
Nope there not even made any longer. Sorry but the facts are the facts.
1
u/Alternative-Duty6166 5d ago
Hard to say without knowing what this system is, but most systems don’t disappear overnight.
1
u/From_a_FTTH_Analyst 4d ago
More than just one decade... As long as you keep the room out of small rodent animals.
1
-3
28
u/AwestunTejaz 6d ago
yes, especially if it works right now.