I have a strange problem with random phones at random times going off hook by themselves and making a long tone until the user picks up the handset and hangs it back up. I have been keeping record of the different phones doing this and they are not tied to a specific card. So, I don't think it is a particular DTIB card going out. I have several different types of phones on the system: 12&24btn Infinite/display and non-display modles plus 30btn LKD display phones. This is an XTS system Eng. Ver3.50.2-3FE3. Any suggestions on troubleshooting this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,

Try a 2 pin line cord and disconnect any unused pairs that are connected to the jack. This has solved the issue for me in many instances of the same problem that you are describing.

Thanks oobie, I will give that a try.

I've seen that many times when a single phone is going bad. Its one condition where non-authorized repair centers are not worth using. If anyone has had better success than I have in this regard, please chime in.

Several phones going bad all at once? That I haven't seen. Is it possible that one phone is phantom dialing to those other phones? What do all the displays show?

I tried changing all the problem phones to 2 conductor pinouts on the line cords. This had no affect on the problem though. I haven't yet verified if there is anything on the display when the off hook squawk condition occurs.

I had one phone that used to randomly phantom dial the operator & other extensions before I changed from a DVXII to an XTS phone cabinet. This is one of the problem extensions now. I did change this person's phone out prior to the cabinet changeover which seemed to resolve the phantom dial problem.

However, knowing that this same extension is one of the ones currently having issues, it is possible that just the port and not specifically the phone itself is actually having a problem. It could be phantom dialing again. I did re-use the same DTIB cards from the old DVX system.

In my experience, I have only seen this condition when phones go bad. Why you have so many is a new one. But if you have two DTIBs and can swap them, you can see if the problem follows or stays at the phones. If it stays at the phones, I would then examine the site for any possibility of EMF or RF type of interference.

I had a bad DTIB cause this kind of problem. Phones would go off hook, call each other, page the whole office and call the operator. It was a lot of fun for awhile.

Thanks MNDAVE and Derrick. I think I will try and get another DTIB card and see if anything improves after replacing my suspect card. I will report on the results. Thanks again.

I'm assuming the phones squawk when you are answering the phone. This is just a thought. Had a STSe squawk when answering the phones. Caller ID ring delay was not set. I set the delay to 5 & squawk was gone. Not sure if this your problem, but it was mine.

David

This squawk happens at random times to random extensions and it occurs while the handset is onhook. The phone just randomly goes offhook and a Long squawk (Tone) comes from the speakerphone and continues until the user picks up the handset and and hangs it backup up again.

As an update to this situation; This is not always an offhook squak issue, many times it's just one phone calling another phone at random times. I have multiple people complaining that their phone will randomly just go offhook and dial another extension. No real pattern. My phone seems to like dialing extension 102 quite often, even while on the phone talking to someone else. One thought, I have a 100pair cable terminated between 2 buildings with a CIRCA fused grounding board at each end connecting my phones in Bld 2 with my phone system in Bld 1. It causes some strange issues sometimes. Could this be part of my problem? If anyone has any other Ideas, please let me know. Thanks again.

This is not a good message. But I had the same issues with a customer. I tried everything I could think of to no avail. Finally lost the customer. I think the Problem was Emf or RF like Dave said, but I could never prove it.

I would ground the unused pairs.

I had a similar problem a few years ago. We ended up putting the problem phone on a shielded cable and have not had a problem since.

Any suggestions on how to locate the problem phone or phones? There are multiple (10 or more) phones doing this.

Did you ground the unused pairs like Dave had mentioned? I always ground the unused at the equipment end. Somewhere in my life I was told to only ground one end. The equipment end is the best. I just automatically do it anymore.

If all of the problem phones are on the feed cable, then you have a ground issue at one end or the other. Could also be a distance problem. try to double-up pairs on one or more to see if it helps.

The feed cable and punch boards are grounded in the remote building however, somebody forgot to put in a building ground for my phone sytem and cable feed to my main IT systems room in this building. I am trying to get maintenance or the building electrical contractors to come back and put in a grounding bar. That should go a long way to resolving this issue.

not sure if this is an option but if you have a water line in teh ceiling you can get a ground strap and run your own ground wire. Like #12 thhn.

While that's true in some cases, many water line feeds are now plastic, so you need to make sure the line you're grounding to is not plastic. Also if there is a water meter you need to strap it out. You should common (bond) all grounds, otherwise you're looking for trouble.

The electrical contractor finally ran a ground line into my new IT Room. I now have my phone system and cable connect between BLD 1 and Bld 2 grounded out. (Both Ends) I will just have to watch and see if this phantom dailing & squawk issue improves any.