KX-TA824
 comments and advice

824comments.htm
uploaded 29 August 05

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  GENERAL  
 
  1. Even if you are not going to use Caller ID, you will miss a lot of convenience if you don't get display phones. They're very important for use with the built-in voice mail, and for programming features in individual phones.
  2. In any location where you want to see Caller ID, the KX-T7736 is a better choice than the 7731, because the bigger display can show both name and number at the same time.
  3. Voice quality of the built-in auto attendant and voice mail is absolutely first class. It will not embarrass you. Because recordings are on a chip, not a hard drive or tape, there is nothing that can wear out or crash, and messages play immediately.
  4. Caller ID information can be sent to simple CID displays and phones with CID displays, and to PCs with CID-capable modems.
  5. The caller ID log works like recent versions of the KX-TA624, and better than on KX-TD or KX-TDA or KX-TAW systems. You can program the 824 to log all calls into a common log that can be viewed at any display phone, and it can log both answered and unanswered calls.
  
  DOCUMENTATION  
 
  1. The KX-TA824 is supplied with four manuals and a CD-ROM. The FEATURE MANUAL is the most important, because it tells you what the system can do, and refers you to pages and sections in the other books.
  2. The OPERATING MANUAL is the second most important, because it tells you how to do the stuff that's listed in the Feature Manual.
  3. The printed books may be more convenient to use than the CD-ROM, but the CD-ROM may be more up-to-date.
  4. The CD-ROM gives you a much bigger image to read on a PC screen, than the small printed books, so you may want to print some pages on 8-1/2 x 11 paper.
  5. If you want to work from the CD-ROM, copy it onto your hard drive. You'll be able to access the PDF files much faster than if you have to keep reading from the CD-ROM.
  6. It can be hard to find things. If you want info on telco voicemail, you don't look under V or T or P or C in the index. It's in the L section, for "local carrier-based voice mail service."
  7. When you find important pages, bookmark them with little plastic Post-It Notes.
  8. The installation manual says that the 824 should not be installed near a computer. You can ignore the warning.
  9. The manual also says that you should use one-pair wire for single-line phones, answerers, modems, voice processors, etc. That's stupid. There is nothing wrong with using multi-pair wire, even if you need just one pair.
  10. The installation manual shows door openers and a door bell being connected directly to the relay terminals on the KX-TA82461 module. They can't work this way. The module supplies a momentary switch closure. You have to provide a suitable power supply.
  11. When the manuals talk about a pager, they don't mean a beeper you clip to your belt. They mean a paging system ("public address" system). Pan has kept this bit of stupidity through many generations of manuals.
  
  COMPONENTS  
 
  1. The KX-TA82470 can handle up to 8 phones (phones 117-124), but does NOT provide capacity for any additional phone lines. It costs only a few bucks less than the 82481 (which can add two lines), so it's generally not worth buying unless you're absolutely certain that you'll never have more than six lines.
  2. Two different versions of the KX-TA82493 Caller ID card have been made. Don't worry if you have two different ones.
  3. Automated Attendant ("press one for sales, press two for service") is built into the 824 (FREE!), but it can only handle one call at a time. The optional KX-TA82491 module gives you another port to handle a second call, and doubles the recording capacity to six minutes. It's probably not necessary for a home (unless you get lots of wire-line calls), but is important for business.
  
  PROGRAMMING  
 
  1. If you want the FLASH button to activate phone company call waiting, use program # 110 to change the function of the flash button to EFA.
  2. If you want to use a built-in tone alert instead of an external source of music on hold, change program # 111.
  3. You can program a single-line phone, fax or modem to automatically grab an outside line, instead of intercom. Use pickup dialing ("hot line dialing" -- section 1.3.50 in the operating menu. You can program a 9 to use the first available line, or 81 for line 1, 82 for line 2, etc.
 
  USING THE SYSTEM  
 
  1. Panasonic phone systems are designed to connect you to the intercom circuit when you pick up the handset or press the SPEAKERPHONE button to make a call. You can program your phone to connect you to the first available line or to a favored "prime" line, (see section 3.1.2 in the Operating Manual), but it's much better to get into the habit of dialing on-hook. Just press an un-lit CO line button and make your call. When someone answers, then you can pick up the handset.
  2. While you can use the speakerphone feature for outside calls, you will sound much better to the other person if you use a headset for handsfree conversations. The 7700 series phones made for the KX-TA824 system have convenient 2.5mm headset jacks, but unfortunately, their output level is low. AbleComm has high-output monaural and binaural headsets to solve the problem. CLICK for monaural info and ordering. CLICK for binaural (two ears).
  3. You can make an announcement through the speakers in all of the phones if your press Intercom, 330. If you want to speak to someone, say "(name) call 43." When the other person picks up the phone and dials 43, the two of you will be connected in a private conversation and all of the speakers will be shut off.
  
  BUILT-IN AUTO ATTENDANT & VOICE MAIL  
 
  1. You can't transfer a call directly to someone else's voice mail box like you can with an external voice processor. As on Panasonic's KX-TG4000 system, you can transfer a call to a phone, and if it is busy or unanswered, it will be forwarded to its mail box. If you are using the system in a business, and someone will be away for away, his or her phone should be programmed to forward ALL CALLS (not busy or no answer) to voice mail, to save time by not ringing the phone before the call goes to voice mail.
  2. Unlike Panasonic's external voice processors, the built-in voice mail system does not provide vocal user prompts, but because it is so well integrated with the 824, it does provide information and instructions on the phone displays. If you call someone else's mailbox to leave a message, your screen will show "Please Wait" and then "Now Recording."
  
  EXTERNAL AUTO ATTENDANT & VOICE MAIL (voice processing system)  
 
  1. You can use a Panasonic voice processor, such as the KX-TVA50, with either two or four ports. The number of ports determines the number of simultaneous conversations the voice processor can handle.
  2. If you use just two ports, you will use "APITS" integration, and connect to jacks 7 and 8 in the KX-TA824.
  3. If you use four ports, you'll use in-band integration, connected to jacks 7, 8, 15 and 16. Those ports will have slower operation and fewer features than if you used APITS (for example, no Live Call Screening or direct access to mailboxes).
  4. If you think you'll need four ports, we recommend the KX-TAW848 instead of the KX-TA824.
 
  TROUBLE  
 
  1. If one phone is acting funny, press Intercom, 79, pound (the electronic enema).
  2. If several phones are acting funny, briefly shut off the 824 and then turn it back on.
  3. If that doesn't solve your problem, try unplugging all lines and wiring, and try plugging in one or some phones directly into the 824. You might find that one phone or wire segment has a defect.
  4. If that doesn't solve the problem, reset the system to the factory default settings If you can get into programming, use program 999. If you can't get into programming, use the CLEAR switch and RESET button. See section 4.1.5 in your Installation Manual.
  5. If that doesn't solve the problem, send the 824 to Panasonic phone system repair in Suwannee GA. Call 770 338-6550.
  
  CAUTIONS  
 
  1.  
  2.   If you are using an external voice processor such as the KX-TVS50 or KX-TVA50, password-protect all mailboxes, including 998 and 999. If you don't, a hacker can mess up your system and make expensive calls. Also, block calling out from the jack(s) where the voice processor is plugged in (programs 405-407). If you need to have pager notification, use toll restriction instead of disabling all outgoing calls. The boss should assign all of the passwords; and hide the list in two safe places. If you've been hacked, check the list of mailboxes, and eliminate any that shouldn't be there.