AT&T 518-455-317 manual Auxiliary Equipment, Requirements, Connecting Standard Devices

Auxiliary Equipment

You can connect many types of telecommunications devices to your system without expensive adapters or additional phone lines. Many industy-standard, single-line devices will work with the system regardless of the manufacturer:

■Touch-tone, rotary, and cordless telephones (such as those you might have in your home)

■Fax machines

■Answering machines

■Modems

■Credit card scanners

There are several other devices that may be compatible with the system. For more information, refer to the list in Chapter 4 or contact your local AT&T Authorized Dealer. Also, see Chapter 4 for advice on setting up auxiliary equipment to work effectively with the system.

Requirements

An industry-standard device must meet the following conditions:

■It must be non-proprietary. That is, it cannot be made specifically for use on a particular telephone system. (For example, you cannot connect an AT&T MERLIN® system phone because it is specifically designed for use on a MERLIN system.)

■Its Ringer Equivalence Number (REN*) cannot be greater than 2.0. (The REN is shown on a label on the device, usually on the bottom.)

■You can connect a standard two-line device to the system, but for best results it should be installed and used as if it were a single-line device.

Connecting Standard Devices

You can connect a standard device so that it is on an extension by itself, or so that it shares an extension with another piece of equipment (either another standard device or a system phone) as long as the REN of the two devices together does not exceed 2.0. (System phones have 0.0 REN.) For example, you can connect a standard phone and an answering machine to the same extension. An extension with two devices connected to it is called a combination extension. You cannot connect two system phones on one extension. The PARTNER II Communications System Installation guide provides installation instructions.

✶REN is a measure of the power it takes to ring a phone. The typical home phone line handles 4.0–5.0 RENs; each extension jack in your system handles up to 2.0 RENs.

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