Topic: Conference phone compatibility with the MBX IP?

[mike_c]

This forum doesn't seem very active, but hopefully somebody sees this and knows the answer. We have an MBX IP phone system, but would like to get a Polycom Soundstation for the conference room. Are these compatible with the MBX? If not, does anybody know a similar device that is? Thanks!

[NFCphoneman]

If you have analog ports on the MBX, and you get an analog Polycom, you'll be fine.

[mike_c]

Thanks for the reply! This was one thought we had, but would like to use digital if possible. Do you know of any MBX-compatible digital conference phones similar to the Polycom? Otherwise, I suppose we will use analog.

[RATHER BE FISHING]

Analog only for now.

[mike_c]

Okay. I'm pretty new to business phone systems in general, learning as I go. My only question is, will something on an analog drop be able to still call the other internal phones on our MBX IP system? I tried plugging an old phone into one of our analog ports and it seems to pipe me straight through to an external CO line. Can't call internal phones from it. Maybe this is a configuration thing?

[NFCphoneman]

Yes, it can be configured to dial internal extensions.

[mike_c]

I know I posted this almost a year and a half ago, but I got a Polycom connected to the analog line. There is one huge problem though, conferencing functionality does not work. We actually got the Soundstation Duo hoping initially to connect the phone via SIP, but were unable to make it talk to our MBX IP. Are these even compatible in this way? Our phone system supplier told us it is, but I'm starting to believe he was wrong. I've tried everything I can think of to make it work via SIP.

[NFCphoneman]

It should be able to work with SIP, but you'll need a SIP license for the MBX. Don't think you'll get any additional functionality with SIP.

[mike_c]

I had enabled the demo license, but was still having no luck. SIP will not give us conferencing capability anyway though? That's too bad, we'll need that for sure. Can you recommend a full-duplex digital speakerphone that might do what we're looking for? We've been using a regular SBX IP 24-button desk phone for conference calls, and the half-duplex really causes some issues sometimes when we're trying to have conversations. Thanks for your help!

[NFCphoneman]

There are no specific conference phones for that system, only SIP or Analog.  What are you trying to do that you can't? Conference multiple outside parties?  If so, have you tried using the built-in conference rooms?

[hitechcomm]

After all this time, maybe you should call in a trained tech.

[MacGyver]

Perhaps I'm missing something in the flow of this thread, but if I'm understanding you correctly, the Polycom is operating as an analog phone, it works fine, but won't conference.  If that's the case can you tell us what isn't working as far as conferencing?  When you try to conference, are you using the instructions for the Polycom to conference or are you using the instructions for the MBX?  You may have to try different keys on the Polycom to find out which one is actually working as a flash for the what the MBX interprets as a flash, but for back to basics troubleshooting we need to be using the instructions for the MBX, not the Polycom.

[RATHER BE FISHING]

In a situation like this I put an analog full duplex speakerphone alongside a digital set in a conference room. Use the digital set to set up the conference and add the analog conference speakerphone in the loop as a user.

[mike_c]

Thanks for the help all. What I ended up doing was just replacing the normal digital phone with an Edge 8000 VoIP phone. That seems to have resolved the half-duplex issue and everybody is happy. I'll use the Polycom in analog mode in a smaller conference room where they never need to do multi-line conference calls.