Your Digital Phone System has died, but is it terminal?

Like any digital or electrical device, system or appliance, digital phone systems are susceptible to occasional downtime. Fortunately, however, the reasons for this are often minor, meaning that the problem shouldn't be terminal, with a few simple diagnostic checks usually helping to pinpoint the issue.

Whether your digital phone has suddenly died on you mid-conversation or you have arrived back at work on a Monday to find it lifeless, not panicking and understanding that going through a simple checklist of probable issues will help you establish the reason and have you back making and receiving calls again as quickly as possible.

In all likelihood, the problem will fall into one of two categories: a fault somewhere on the side of your line provider, or a disruption to your own power supply and, if you have one, your Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS).

Our checklist will start with the former.

An external line issue

If the time and date display on your digital phone is still showing, then your system is still receiving power, even if you're unable to make an external phone call. In this case, try making an internal or intercom call from one phone on your system to another.

If this call successfully connects, then you can feel confident that the problem is out of your area of responsibility. This means calling your line provider and explaining you have a 'line problem' will, 90% of the time, lead to them finding and fixing the issue themselves.

The only real, common exceptions to this are adverse weather conditions such as rain, snow, ice, or intense cold physically affecting the wires, or a deliberate tampering of them; usually by human hand, as rodents chewing through cables isn't as common as the urban myth might have you believe.

Either way, reporting the issue to your line provider as soon as you can and letting them investigate is the only real course of action available to you.

An internal power issue

If the time and date display on your digital phone isn't showing, then your system is for some reason not receiving power.

If this is the case, your first port of call should be your phone cabinet, to check whether your system is still properly plugged in and the power switch is set to 'On'. It might sound implausible that somebody would either deliberately unplug or switch off your phone system, but it can sometimes happen inadvertently by office cleaners who have been looking for a power point to use for their own equipment outside of office hours.

However unlikely this might sound, it absolutely has to be the first thing you check. If everything in the phone cabinet appears normal, then you probably have a dead power supply, meaning a call to your phone system supplier (not your line provider) to discuss the problem will be the next step. This is part of their expertise, and they are well versed in dealing with such situations and getting people back up and running in good time.

For those with an aforementioned Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), which are designed to provide back-up power for 15-30 minutes in the event of a short blackout, a dead phone system is a timely reminder to check if this unit is still operational too, especially after experiencing the kind of brief or sudden power cut that it should be protecting you from.

If you find yourself in any of the situations above and your usual phone system service provider or supplier isn't able to help, Simpson Telecom Group can, including carrying a supply of spare parts and reconditioned equipment for most common phone systems, including Nortel/Norstar, Avaya IP Office, Toshiba, and Panasonic.

Whatever your telecom needs, contact us today to see how we can be of service.