Anyone familiar with a 3Com NBX100 VOIP system?

[StingMe]

I've been asked to find a new home for a 3Com NBX 100 VOIP system (communications center, analog converter, and phones) - is there any way to get the system up and running to test without a "live" line or service? The system was working when removed from a now defunct small office (yet another victim of the down economy) but I'd like to try to confirm its status. Do I need to use a WinPC to interact with the NBX?

I'll have to break out a manual and do some searching online to figure out exactly what I've got but any guidance will be greatly appreciated - thanks!

The system basically looks like this one: http://voipproducts.com/wp-content/uploa...051061.jpg

[space-time]

I don't know about that system in particular, but I was able to unlock many Sunrocket VOIP boxes and then there are several free services where you can connect those boxes to test them, for example I use gizmo (aka sipphone) and make many free international calls this way. At some point I had 2 or 3 such boxes in my house when testing and I was making calls from one room to another just to test them (and tease the wife)

Good luck.

[StingMe]

Hmmm...looks like Gizmo5 was acquired by Google in November and will be absorbed into Google Voice.

Yeah, I was wondering how you get a number assigned to a VOIP device - I guess that's a service that was probably offered by the office's ISP. Will look for a free alternative as I delve deeper into details of the system. Thanks for taking the time to respond - maybe others will chime in as well

[space-time]

StingMe wrote:
Hmmm...looks like Gizmo5 was acquired by Google in November and will be absorbed into Google Voice.

Yeah, I was wondering how you get a number assigned to a VOIP device - I guess that's a service that was probably offered by the office's ISP. Will look for a free alternative as I delve deeper into details of the system. Thanks for taking the time to respond - maybe others will chime in as well

yes, it was acquired by Google, but it still works fine.

When you create an account, they give you a number. Then you enter this number (and the password) along with server and port info in the VOIP box (usually they have a web interface) and then that's it. You get a dial tone. This is for simple VOIP boxes though with 1-2 lines, the one you have there seems like a more complex one. Good luck.

[StingMe]

Per Google's MO they have suspended new accounts for this service, hence the need to find another :-)

[ShoKashuki]

Hi,
I used this system at my business about 10 years ago. It doesn't take a winPC system to configure it; you can use any web browser as long as you know the systems IP address and the login. There's the rub, however, these systems were built to ensure they were "secure" so you'll need the login credetials (Linux backend).
Finding the IP address is a snap, plug it into the network and search for the MAC address and translate it in the ARP table.
The easiest way to see if it's working is plug it in and connect a couple phones to the network it's on. They will find the NBX via MAC so no need to worry about subnets (VLANS might be an exception). The phones will light up with an extention and you'll get a dial tone and you can dial between IP phones. In order to connect outside you'll need the admin password and then configure to access your connection to telco.
I actually used mine to connect my US aerospace HQ to our Eurpean sales office using the Internet as the WAN link. It was great back then, but today it might be good for just a small office using POTS. One of the great features of this system was it included everything (Music on hold/transfer, CTI, voicemail, white noise, etc.). The hardest part of deploying this was taking the stuff out of the box.