atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Panasonic Telephones & Systems TDA Certification

MrGemini is only too right. Am I a hack or slammer ---- I installed 43 624s last year and I have a picture of every one of them with the owner standing beside the backboard --- SMILING!!!!!! And, yes, I have always made more money off of installs I had to straighten up than what I made off my own sales. Internet sales for Northern Telcom is a real money maker for me. I see more of them than anyone elses. The other is the KC gangs of "Certified Dealers" selling whatever the latest thing (meaning cheapest) is this week then can't be found to stand behind it. I've been here in the trade almost forty years (less 4 in CA) and have run my own company for twenty two. So this market doesn't bear 1000 set systems, but it sure makes a nice place to live and still pay the bills. Give me More 624s.

KLD that's great. Sounds like you are doing good installs and keeping your customers happy.

My point about the 624's is that they are at one end of the spectrun compared to the other Panasonic products, I fully expect to see them sold at Home Depot if they are not already.

The very reason that most of the KXTA 624 systems you see that look like crap is because anyone can buy them as well as the fact that these are very often sold as "plug & play" over the internet.

You are so correct. It may be like throwing a deck chair off the Queen Mary but I will never do business with any of those internet companies that will sell to my customers at the same price I pay. They are the competition, they cut into all of our profits and I will not support them.

-Hal

Thanx, Hal. I bid a system for a company and they bought a NT over the internet, then they called me for the install!!!! Time and material. They weren't sold the right things so there was a lot of time and material. Another bid (to a lawyer) went to an internet NT. They still did't have the VM working. I wouldn't service it until the seller's warranty was up. Time and material to straighten it up. Birch has dumped a lot of NT around here. Guess what?---- I'm still straightening them up. Mostly lawyer offices.
And you're right about commitments and sales quotas ---- If I were in your area I could produce those numbers --- not here.

And Panasonic is not the only one playing that game. I know the frustration. I have been in the industry long enough I can call dealers I know to get what I need IF and WHEN I get a big one. They get theirs and I get mine.

Once again, thanks for understanding that we little guys have a niche also --- but I can't slam the trunk lid on my Pickup (Har Har).

KLD sounds like your doing some clean installs. Brother. Working here in LA we see about 1/2 & 1/2, either it's some one-man trunker, or some quasi-telecom install (alarm/electrician/computer-tech, replete with crimp on connectors and a lil' buttie pro). Or you get to see an artist’s work, someone with all the materials, never sparing cost and time for quality and perfection. Either it's perfect or a complete shambles, rarely see much in-between. Hey man those 624's isn’t nothing compared to a KX-TD(A). Everything is super-simple with the old 816's and 1232's, way easier on a computer then via DTMF. Allot more reliable, am seeing some failures but rarely, seen lots of fried Analog cards, toasted sets and the like. Got to keep 'em cool for sure. Sure those Kansas winters don't hurt.

Yes you are right you need to call Panasonic to register the tda system to enter programming. Not a dealer no register and no access to the system. This is the best thing Panasonic has done in a while. This protects us dealers from the Internet sellers selling these systems and under cutting us. This protects our investment and time to get certified. What could be wrong with that? I for one am sick and tired of being under cut by the internet and hackers. This is not a hobby for me this is what I do for a living and have been for 27 years now. It is about time.

I realize this is a little off-topic, but this thread has already gone a bit astray, have you noticed you can't share a dsl and tda signal on the same cable, unless it is new cat-3 or cat-5? The DSL won't work, seen it twice now. Of course I'm not taking any chances, easier to run two feeds if it's gonna have DSL. Have you ever used the new 2.4 (7680) near a car with an alarm? Try it!

This protects us dealers from the Internet sellers selling these systems and under cutting us. This protects our investment and time to get certified. What could be wrong with that? I for one am sick and tired of being under cut by the internet and hackers. This is not a hobby for me this is what I do for a living and have been for 27 years now.

If you put it that way about all I can say is Amen. I'm all for it.

-Hal

I wholeheartedly agree with you on that. There are so many companies that absolutely prostitute themselves into selling at such rediculously low prices that they couldn't possibly make any profit, short of a few hundred dollars. I guess they can afford to do this because they don't provide any real support, installation or service. Who is left stuck, the end user the customer.

We used to be Comdial dealers from 1990 to 1998. There was a company in Virginia, Chesapeake Communications that sold us Comdial Inntouch systems for less than I could buy them from Graybar or North Supply. They were brand new. I believe what causes them to sell so low is that there are different levels of dealerships and different discounts offered by the manufactures based on the volumes they sell. They can't maintain their "elite" dealership status by just selling what they install. They couldn't install and service all those systems unless they hire 20 telemarketers,10 salespeople and 10 installers and hit the market around the clock. Therefore, they sell the largest volume to other companies in order to get the low prices for their installs. They don't even care if they make a profit.

We used to sell about 7 Inntouch Comdials per month for over 8 years straight here in South Florida. Then Comdial discontinued the system and came out with the new Inntouch Concierge, which was a great system but required certification. When you have installed that many systems what could they possibly teach you. We even solved their gliches that their own tech support couln't solve. We stopped selling it and Comdial practically went out of business a few years later.

The problem that is created is that ignorant end users and unknowledgeable installers give Panasonic a bad name. The features don't work properly and who does the end user blame: themselves or their installer or Panasonic. Panasonic. (That system is a piece of shit is commonly uttered). They tend to run a much tighter ship on the TDA products which allows you to benefit if you are certified. You have to register the serial number with Panasonic. We have installed a few and it is an incredible little system.

The problem they have is that they have no local training (at least for us). They should have some on line training courses or have it available in more cities. Every Panasonic we have installed we have not touched or serviced in years (they are rock-solid systems if installed properly).

After getting certified on the DBS only to have them discontinue it. I don't see the need to get certified. Especially with other systems out there which don't but you thru the hoops just to sell their systems.

Can you share what the requirements are to become a dealer? Is there a requirement for:

A storefront operation?
quotas?
protected territory?

Also, Is the KX-TDA basically the replacement for the KX-TD? I guess they are dropping the KX-TA as well?