AbleComm: Panasonic Phone Systems & Phones.
tips & hints
© 1997-2002 AbleComm, Inc. All Rights Reserved. tipsnew.htm 12/26/02 
Email  Newsletter  AbleComm.com Home  AbleComm.info Home

Optimizing & troubleshooting your phone system
Email your suggestions to add to the list     Click for more tips

• If you are programming a digital phone system or the KX-TA1232, and your phone does not have a PROGRAM button, use the PAUSE button. Remember that both "program" and "pause" start with "P."

• Instead of mounting your voice processing system next to the phone system control unit, mount it near one of your computers, so it's easy to make programming changes. It won't take up much space; and the wiring is very simple -- much simpler than extending a serial cable 50 feet.

• Bad 7200 series phones. It's fairly common for Panasonic digital 7200 series phones to have bad and/or intermittent audio on the handset, and it can get so bad that the phone has to be replaced or sent to Panasonic for repair. Here's a great do-it-yourself fixit tip from Bertel Schmitt:

• Sometimes, first is really second. When installing a Caller ID circuit module in the KX-TD1232 or KX-TA1232 control unit, remember that the module for the first four lines goes in the lower section of the control unit. Make sure all the pins in both ends of the module are lined up properly with the sockets on the main circuit board.

• Sometimes, second is really first. In the Panasonic digital phone systems, the programming documentation, for such features as line ringing, identifies a digital pair of wires as (jack number)
  "-1" and the analog pair as (jack number) "-2". This nomenclature is the opposite of the sequence for the pairs on a 66-type punchdown block.
   

  For example, the first pair wired to a 66 block (white/blue, the analog pair of the first "jack") is used for the eXtra Device Port on a digital phone or an analog phone in another location, even though programming identifies it as 1-2. The second pair (white/orange, the digital pair) goes to a Panasonic digital phone and is programmed on Jack 1-1. BIG THANKS to Randy Kauk for this important reminder.

• Panasonic digital phone systems can provide two kinds of Call Waiting, and it can be very confusing.

• If a multi-line analog phone (including the KX-T7880, 7885, 7894 and 7895 cordlesses) doesn't work in a Panasonic digital phone system, make sure XDP is DISABLED for the particular jack (program #600). Also make sure that you are using a line cord with four conductors, and that all four wires in the jack are live. If it doesn't work in one of the last four jacks in a KX-TD308, there is a good chance that the system does not have a KX-TD30870 analog expansion module.

• If you are adding a KX-TA62470 expansion module to a KX-TA624 control unit, it must be installed in the slot closest to the front of the cabinet; and a 3 x 16 system will have phones numbered 101-108 and 117-124. Only the KX-TA62477 can be used in the middle section, and it enables phones 109-116.

• If you are replacing an older analog KX-T123210 or KX-T123211 with a new KX-TA1232 or KX-TD1232, you have to make a minor wiring change to connect the outside phone lines. The older systems used RJ11 single-line jacks, but the new models use RJ14 two-line jacks. If you don't "double up" in the jacks, the phone buttons for line #2 won't have dial tone, and the buttons for line #3 will have line #2. The buttons for line #4 won't have dial tone, and the buttons for line #5 will have line #4, etc.

• Electronic stuff can be weird, even perverse. Computers and phone systems do things that make absolutely no sense, are totally illogical, and may seem physically impossible. We went through a week of torment trying to install a KX-TVS200 voice processing system with one 4-port KX-TVS204 module, on a KX-TD1232 phone system.
   

  The first of the four ports (#165) refused to answer, but the phone displays indicated that we were indeed calling the voice processor's first port. Ports 166, 167, and 168 worked fine.  Even though it seemed illogical, we followed Panasonic's advice to swap wires, re-punch wires and replace wires. We also replaced the VS200, replaced the VS204, verified the port service settings, defaulted both VS200s, tried different extensions on the D1232, deleted and re-did the program 117 settings that specify which jacks the VS200 are connected to... and nothing helped.   The ultimate cure was was very simple. We disabled program 117 and plugged a regular digital phone into the jack where we had tried to use the voice processor. The phone worked fine. Then we re-did 117 to specify the voice processor jacks. The sky cleared, the sun shone brightly, the birds chirped happily, and all was well with the world. BIG THANKS to Panasonic tech wizard Rich for his help on this one.

• IMPORTANT KX-TA1232 NOTE: when programming a Panasonic voice processor to use with the KX-TA1232, if the voice processor Quick Setup section doesn't list the KX-TA1232, select KX-TD1232, not the analog 1232!

• Voice Processor Tip: Instead of starting with a "custom service" menu, record a brief "company greeting" message (KX-TVS75, 100, 110, 120, 200, 220, 300, 320) or replace system prompt #819 (KX-TVS50, 80 and 90) with a brief announcement, such as "Thank you for calling Honest Charlie's Used Cars." If there is an emergency or temporary change in your company's schedule, you can call in from anywhere and change the opening message to something like "Thank you for calling Honest Charlie's Used Cars. Because of Hurricane Hilda, we will be closed until Wednesday," but you won't have to re-record your big main menu.

• Trouble programming your VPS? If you can't get your computer to communicate with your KX-TVS75, 90, 100, 110, 120, 200, 220, 300 or 320 Voice Processing System, shut the power off, turn the little rotary switch from zero to one, turn the power back on, and turn the rotary switch back to zero. (BIG THANKS to Panasonic tech wizard Denton for this life-saver.) The process is different with the KX-TVS50, 80 and 90. Shut off the power, move the "DIP" switches to right, left, left, left. Turn the power back on, and move the switches to left, left, left, left. BIG THANKS to Panasonic tech wizard Frank for his help on this one.

• If your PC can't communicate with a Panasonic phone system control unit, do a system clear and reset. (You will lose all programming and return to default settings.)  CLICK for more info on PC programming.

• A Panasonic digital phone system can automatically correct the displayed time based on information sent with Caller ID, once a day. Change field (or "bit") #1 of area #05 in program 990. Some manuals show this as field #30.

• If your phone system seems hopelessly messed-up, with weird light patterns, strange sounds, non-functioning features, etc, shut it off for a minute or two, then turn it back on.
   

  There's a very good chance that the trouble will go away, without paying a penny for repairs. This also works for computers, cordless phones, appliances, calculators, even cars. Microprocessors (smart circuit chips) can get confused; and like human brains, they often work better after a rest. Lots of "defective" products work perfectly by the time they arrive at the repair place. If the malfunctioning machine uses batteries instead of AC, pop them out for a little while. In a car, carefully disconnect a battery cable.

• When diagnosing a malfunction, test every piece of hardware that is involved. You'd be surprised at the things that can be improperly manufactured, inadequately tested, or ruined by human contact. We recently installed a phone system, and the door intercom wouldn't work. We replaced the door speaker, and then the intercom module, and were about to replace the entire control unit, when I decided to check the cord that was plugged into the intercom module. That stupid $4 cord -- which had no right to be defective -- had caused the problem. It wasted our time and annoyed our customer. We'll remember it, and you should, too. Anything can be made wrong, or messed up. Things that people touch are more likely to get messed up than things that don't get touched.

• You can eliminate the alerting tone that people hear when you join a conversation, by changing field # 13 in program # 990 in the digital systems. This is good for managers who have to monitor staff members who interact with the public, and for kids who want to listen-in on parents' or siblings' phone calls.

• People often forget feature codes, so program some buttons to activate important features with a finger tap or two. Set up buttons to page all phones, activate and deactivate call forwarding to an answering service, switch from day ringing to night ringing, etc.

• Even if you don't care about providing music-on-hold, a radio plugged into your phone system's control unit can provide background music or radio through your phones' speakers. The sound will stop when the phone is in use, but you can also program buttons for RADIO ON and RADIO OFF.

• Great idea from Chris Arndt: Connect a weather radio for weather-on-hold, and weather reports at all system phones when you tap a button for background "music.".

• Connect your fax line to an unused "CO" line circuit, and set it for a distinctive ringing sound (on a digital system). When a fax comes in, everyone who should know about it, will know about it, even if the fax machine has a low ring and is stuck in a back office.

• Panasonic phones systems are very robust. They are hard to kill, but can be temporarily wounded. If your system crashes and you can't bring it back to life by resetting, disconnect all the wires going to your phone jacks. Then plug one in. If the phone works, keep re-connecting the others until you crash again. Once you find the bad wire segment, disconnect it and inspect it. Chances are, you'll find some damage to the wire, or maybe something soggy in the jack. If you have an outdoor jack, check it first.

• If a phone is dead or intermittent, try it in another jack that you know works OK, to see if the trouble is with the phone or the jack. If you determine that the phone is faulty, swap its pluggable parts with another phone to zero-in on the defect. Most-likely sources of trouble (starting with most-likely): handset cord, handset, line cord, phone base, jack, wire between jack and control unit, control unit.

• Things that people touch are more likely to break than things that don't get touched. Wire outside a wall is more likely to have problems than wire inside a wall. Phone equipment in an active office is more likely to have trouble than phone equipment in a locked closet.

• With a KX-T123211D, KX-TD1232, KX-TA1232, KX-TD816, or KX-TD308, if one or several phones don't work, particularly in the highest-numbered or lowest-numbered jacks in each group of eight (but not the first eight in the D816), there is a very good chance that the 25-pair Amphenol plug has come loose from the female connector in the control unit, or in an expansion module.

• If a phone has been unplugged and plugged back in and doesn't work, make sure that both ends of the cord are snapped in securely. On a digital phone, make sure its line cord is in the jack labeled "TO EMSS" (7200 series) or "TO MAIN UNIT" (7400 series).

• If an analog system phone's speaker works, but the handset doesn't, check to see if the headset/handset switch is set for a headset.

• If an analog phone is dead and you're sure it's plugged into a live jack, check to see if the Program/Set switch is in the Program position. If it is, move it to Set.

• If you need LOUD volume coming out of a Panasonic phone, you can easily connect a public address "horn" speaker. This works well at pool cabanas and in factories. You can get one at Radio Shack for about $40.You'll be surprised how far voices will carry with no additional amplification. The normal microphone should work quite well, too. You can modify a Panasonic door intercom speaker the same way, if you only need intercom capability. Modifications like this may void your warranty -- BE CAREFUL!

• If a phone has lights, but no sound, check to see if one of the buttons is being kept pressed-down by the plastic overlay sheet, particularly on first-generation phones like the KX-T61630 with 12 auto-dial buttons. If a button has slipped behind the plastic, wiggle it so it pops though the proper hole, and you'll avoid a $75 service call.

• A 2-line cordless phone can work very nicely in a Panasonic phone system. Connect each line to a different extension port from the control unit. Remember that the hold button will hold a call in the phone, but NOT in the system -- you'll need to use the flash button for that.

• Unless you really want visitors at your front door to be answered by a robot voice, make sure that any jack you're using for an answering machine or voice mail, is programmed NOT to ring on calls from the door intercom.

• Paging announcements will not reach ordinary single-line phones that lack the speakers found in "system phones." Here's an easy trick that can make all your phones ring from an intercom call: Connect one station port to a CO line port. When you call the intercom number for that station port, it will send ring voltage to the CO port, and ring all phones that are programmed to ring. If you have a digital system, you can program internal all-call calls to sound different from external calls. If you have enough ports, you can program this even further, with different zones (groups of phones that can be rung by dialing a number).

Email  Newsletter  AbleComm.com Home  AbleComm.info Home