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63-474: The system was designed at the beginning of the 1980s prior to the Bell System Divestiture as a modern electronic replacement for the dated electromechanical 1A2 Key System . Earlier Bell attempts at an electronic key system, such as Horizon and Dimension , were not as successful as were the much larger systems; in fact, Dimension was a PBX. The Merlin was the first small electronic system, replacing

126-401: A $ 25.6 billion deal, retaining the name Bell Atlantic, and then with non-Bell GTE on June 30, 2000, to create Verizon Communications in a $ 70 billion deal. Verizon sold all of its wireline operations in northern New England ( Maine , New Hampshire , and Vermont ) in 2008 to FairPoint Communications for $ 2.7 billion; a new operating company, Northern New England Telephone Operations ,

189-463: A $ 900 million bid, and was announced as the winner of the assets on September 14, 2009. In 1985, Performance Engineering Corporation (later PEC Solutions) was formed to offer technology services to government customers. On June 6, 2005, Nortel acquired PEC Solutions to form Nortel PEC Solutions. On January 18, 2006, Nortel PEC Solutions was renamed Nortel Government Solutions. On December 21, 2009, Avaya acquired Nortel's government business as part of

252-469: A 25-pair Category 3 cable necessary for line access and button/light controls, with some receptionist telephones requiring a 50-pair or 100-pair connection for one attendant console. The Merlin system (and its predecessor the AT&;T Horizon system) was designed to eliminate the outward complexities of 1A2, including the difficult and expensive 25-pair cable. Engineers were able to utilize electronic switching in

315-632: A call. In this way, the implicit subsidies of the Bell System became explicit post-divestiture. These access charges became a source of strong controversy as one company after another sought to arbitrage the network and avoid these fees. In 2002 the FCC declared that Internet service providers would be treated as if they were local and would not have to pay these access charges. This led to VoIP service providers arguing that they did not have to pay access charges, resulting in significant savings for VoIP calls. The FCC

378-420: A former Western Electric subsidiary). In return, it proposed to give up ownership of the local operating companies. This last concession, it argued, would achieve the government's goal of creating competition in supplying telephone equipment and supplies to the operative companies. The settlement was finalized on January 8, 1982, with some changes ordered by the decree court: the regional holding companies received

441-598: A single (1) pair. This made the Magix easier to install and more competitive in the marketplace, as most other digital PBX systems only use a single (1) pair to each station/telephone. Due to declining sales and the introduction of the IP Office product line, Avaya retired the Magix on April 1, 2006. Despite being over two decades old, the Merlin's modern electronic features and legendary Bell System era quality and durability still make

504-440: A user on an active telephone call could still receive a paging announcement on their phone’s desk speaker simultaneously. AT&T described the signaling channel on the data pair as “analog multi-line telephone protocol (40 kbps)” but no further details were made available about the protocol. Attached here is the pin-out diagram of the new "skinny cable", only requiring 4-pair Category 3 cable, to each telephone set while providing

567-649: Is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Morristown , New Jersey , that provides cloud communications and workstream collaboration services. The company's platform includes unified communications and contact center services. In 2019, the company provided services to 220,000 customer locations in 190 countries. In 1995, AT&T Corporation renamed their subsidiary AT&T Technologies to Lucent Technologies and spun it off in 1996. Lucent subsequently spun off units of its own in an attempt to restructure its struggling operations. Avaya Inc.

630-561: Is connected directly to a CO line port on the Merlin Plus control unit. Callers using the door phone can press a button at the building entrance to ring a telephone in your Merlin Plus system. An auxiliary alert device (such as a doorbell, chime, or tone generator) can be connected to the door phone controller so that it will ring when the door phone button is pushed. An optional electric strike plate release can be obtained for door operation to permit

693-454: Is connected to an available port normally used for a proprietary Merlin phone extension is used. There is no limit to the number of BTMI units can be connected to a Merlin system, as long as an extension port is available for each unit. Any standard analog telephone device, such as a cordless phone or analog computer modem, can be connected to the BTMI's phone port. Through Merlin system programming,

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756-504: Is home to the AT&T Global Network Operations Center and is the headquarters of AT&T Corp., the long-distance subsidiary of AT&T Inc. The new AT&T Inc. lacks the vertical integration that characterized the historic AT&T Corporation and led to the Department of Justice antitrust suit. AT&T Inc. announced it would not switch back to the Bell logo, thus ending corporate use of

819-418: The 820d but featured an Automatic System Access (ASA) processor coupled with a voice synthesis capabilities and a Busy Buster . The ASA processor provided users with call forwarding, direct extension dial, and system answer capabilities. The busy buster allowed users to have the 820d2 automatically retry a busy number every minute for up to 10 minutes and notify the user when the call was connected. Both

882-463: The 7303H01D 10-Button Membrane Voice Terminal were available as: 7303H01D-03 (BLACK) 105217509, 7303H01D-58 (WHITE) 105217517, 7303HO1D-104 (BROWN) 105217525, 7303H01D-139 (GRAY) 105217533, 7303H01D-142 (MID BLUE) 105214541, 7303H01D-143 (BURGUNDY) 105217558, 7303H01D-144 (CINNABAR) 105217566, and 7303H01D-215 (MISTY) 105217608. According to Steve Mak, an engineer who worked in the Merlin division (codenamed Antelope) at Bell Labs/Western Electric, "Black

945-674: The ASA and Busy Buster required a their own voice terminal port to function. In the early 1990s, the Merlin II and Merlin Legend debuted with even more features and expandability, and new MLX telephones, but the system was also backwards compatible with the original Merlin telephones. In 1999, Lucent Technologies introduced the Merlin Magix as the replacement for the Merlin Legend . The Magix's carrier

1008-571: The Bell logo by the Baby Bells, with the lone exception of Verizon. Due to discrepancies between the pricing of the "old" AT&T shares and the new "when-issued" shares, investors were able to make risk-free profits, most spectacularly Edward O. Thorp , who made $ 2.5 million in what was at the time the NYSE 's largest (nominal) block trade. Avaya Avaya LLC , often shortened to Avaya ( / ə ˈ v aɪ . ə / ) and formerly Avaya Inc. ,

1071-628: The Bell trademark, Bell Labs , and AT&T Long Distance. It also proposed that it be freed from a 1956 antitrust consent decree, then administered by Judge Vincent P. Biunno in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey , that barred it from participating in the general sale of computers and required it to retreat from international markets (which consisted of relinquishing ownership in Bell Canada and Northern Electric,

1134-444: The Bell trademark, Yellow Pages, and about half of Bell Labs. Effective January 1, 1984, ownership of the Bell System's many local operating companies were transferred into seven independent Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), or "Baby Bells". This divestiture reduced the book value of AT&T by approximately 70%. The breakup of the Bell System resulted in the creation of seven independent companies that were formed from

1197-467: The Call Report and System Feature Report features and transmits the material from the Merlin Plus system to a printer or to a PC with a standard RS232-C, 1200 baud, serial interface. You can connect the data collector to an available voice terminal jack on the control unit. The data collector can hold up to one full page of printout, 60 lines of 80 characters each. The collector disregards any material over

1260-454: The Com Key 416. The Merlin system was originally sold in two-line, six-telephone (206); four-line, 10-telephone (410); and eight-line, 20-telephone (820) configurations. Later, there was a further 10-line, 30-telephone configuration, and with the addition of an expansion key service unit (KSU) the system could accommodate up to 30 lines and 70 telephones available (1030 and 3070 respectively). Later,

1323-498: The Merlin Plus created a system initially configured for four lines and 10 phone extensions with built in Feature Modules previously purchased as a separate module on the original 206, 410, 820, and 1030 control units. Merlin Plus was expandable to up to eight lines and up to 20 phone extensions. For larger installations, AT&T System 25 PBX was an advanced digital switching system that integrates voice and data communications. It

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1386-470: The Midwest-Kendall . SBC Communications (named Southwestern Bell Corporation until 1995) purchased Pacific Telesis in 1997 for $ 16.5 billion, creating an organization with about 100,000 employees, an annual net income of $ 3 billion, and revenue of about $ 23.5 billion. SBC purchased Southern New England Telecommunications in 1998 for $ 5.01 billion, and Ameritech in 1999 for $ 61 billion, creating

1449-543: The NYSE began under the symbol AVYA. On February 14, 2023, Avaya once again petitioned for protection from creditors during restructuring under Chapter 11 with a restructuring plan already agreed on with their creditors. On February 15, 2023 the NYSE announced that shares of Avaya no longer qualified for listing on the New York Exchange and would cease to be traded there. Although the proposed restructuring plan would wipe out

1512-455: The Other Port on the underside of most Merlin voice terminals, providing power and voice connectivity in one proprietary Other cable. The connected analog device shares the extension and call of the Merlin phone it is connected with. Connecting a standard analog telephone to the proprietary Merlin system requires an external adapter unit called a Basic Telephone and Modem Interface. This device

1575-611: The RS232 serial port to the PBX. The default password was systemx5. The 1A2 Key Telephone System and later ComKey series (4-16, 7-18, 14-34) had the following problems which the Merlin system sought to solve with a microprocessor design: The Merlin system fixed these problems by: Merlin phones were offered in a variety of high-gloss plastic color choices of black, midnight blue, charcoal gray, white, chocolate brown, burgundy, and cinnabar (red). For an example of model numbers including color codes,

1638-609: The United States. AT&T would continue to be a provider of long-distance service , while the now-independent Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), nicknamed the "Baby Bells", would provide local service, and would no longer be directly supplied with equipment from AT&T subsidiary Western Electric . This divestiture was initiated in 1974 when the United States Department of Justice filed United States v. AT&T , an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T. At

1701-485: The antitrust case, but no longer automatically received Western Electric equipment, and were no longer bound to use AT&T as their long-distance provider. These companies were: Regulatory changes brought about by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 allowed the Baby Bells to merge with each other or with non-Bell companies. Subsequently, a series of mergers and divestments has left six companies owning parts of

1764-408: The breakup was that local residential service rates, which were formerly subsidized by long-distance revenues, began to rise faster than the rate of inflation. Long-distance rates, meanwhile, fell both due to the end of this subsidy and increased competition. The FCC established a system of access charges where long-distance networks paid the more expensive local networks both to originate and terminate

1827-403: The breakup, which had become much more lucrative with the rise of dial-up Internet access in the early 1990s. Even this, however, would not save AT&T Corporation. It would soon be absorbed by one of the Baby Bells, SBC Communications (formerly Southwestern Bell), which then co-opted the AT&T name to form the present-day AT&T Inc. Following divestiture in 1984 and the creation of

1890-489: The caller to unlock the door by entering a preset code on the door phone keypad. The electric strike plate can also provide an alarm that sounds when the door is opened by unauthorized means or is not closed within a certain amount of time. Although the door phone controller can be configured to connect to either a Central Office (CO) port or a station port, it is recommended that only the CO port connection be used. The CO port to which

1953-585: The charges for nine years, at which point all access charges would then be phased out. Another consequence of the divestiture was in how both national broadcast television (i.e., ABC , NBC , CBS , PBS ) and radio networks ( NPR , Mutual , ABC Radio ) distributed their programming to their local affiliated stations. Prior to the breakup, the broadcast networks relied on AT&T Long Lines' infrastructure of terrestrial microwave relay , coaxial cable , and, for radio, broadcast-quality leased line networks to deliver their programming to local stations. However, by

AT&T Merlin - Misplaced Pages Continue

2016-586: The classic Merlins very popular telephone systems with small businesses. Merlin sets shared over 50 pieces of plastic with digital telephones of the Dimension PBX as well as membrane switch technology (a first use in AT&T), reducing product introduction costs in 1983. The 1A2 phone system was the only multi-line telephone system solution for many decades, but it also had feature limitations, complex cable management, and high maintenance cost for adds, moves, or changes. Each 1A2 multi-line telephone required at least

2079-740: The company had a presence in approximately 190 countries. The company claims that its cloud services are utilized by over 90% of the Fortune 100 organizations. Avaya enterprise customers include Apple, AT&T, Dell, CVS Health, as well as government organizations. Avaya sponsors the IAUG users' group and training programs for IT professional certification in the use of Avaya's products. Avaya provides business related equipment for its customers such as cameras, collaboration units, conference phones, headsets, IP phones, room systems, Vantage, and wireless handsets. These devices are compatible with various options for

2142-422: The company's assets sale. In October 2019, Avaya entered into a strategic partnership with RingCentral and together, introduced a new unified communications as a service solution called Avaya Cloud Office ("ACO"). RingCentral also contributed $ 500 million to be the exclusive provider of the new Avaya UCaaS offering. Avaya's headquarters are at 350 Mt. Kemble Avenue, Morristown, New Jersey 07960 US. In 2020,

2205-418: The control unit (KSU) instead of switching in the phone itself so all the Merlin system telephones were more like mainframe dumb terminals (AT&T actually called them voice terminals instead of “phones”), reducing telephone cost and simplifying troubleshooting. The Merlin system introduced a new wiring design of eight wires (four-pair) that allowed the system to deliver two voice paths to each desk phone so

2268-513: The door phone controller is connected can be dedicated to the door phone controller, or shared by a CO line and the door phone controller. Because the Merlin system was designed to support only Merlin phones, the General Purpose Adapter allows for the connection of non-Merlin equipment such as cordless phones and answering machines. The General Purpose Adapter is a small box about the size of two packs of playing cards and connects through

2331-419: The following: Merlin systems were administratively programmed and customized using special dial codes and button presses through the phone connected to extension port 10 with the phone's T/P switch moved to the P position. Unlike the smaller Merlin systems, System 25 was programmed using a System Administration Terminal (SAT). The SAT was a dedicated, password-protected computer terminal continuously connected to

2394-472: The former Bell System as of 2024. The breakup led to a surge of competition in the long-distance telecommunications market by companies such as Sprint and MCI . AT&T's gambit in exchange for its divestiture, AT&T Computer Systems , failed, and after spinning off its manufacturing operations (most notably Western Electric, which became Lucent, then Alcatel-Lucent , now Nokia ) and other misguided acquisitions such as NCR and AT&T Broadband , it

2457-422: The high tariffs set by AT&T for broadcast customers, the split of the Bell System into separate RBOCs, and the end of contracts that the broadcast companies had with AT&T. AT&T was allowed to enter the computer market after the breakup; observers expected that with Bell Labs and Western Electric, American Bell would challenge market leader IBM . The company's post-breakup strategy did not work out

2520-413: The largest U.S. local phone company at the time. AT&T Corporation , the original parent, was acquired effective November 18, 2005, by SBC, which renamed itself AT&T Inc. and began using the ticker symbol "T" and a new AT&T corporate logo. The new company then acquired BellSouth for $ 85.8 billion on January 3, 2007, with FCC approval. Bell Atlantic merged with NYNEX on August 18, 1997, in

2583-468: The late 1970s to the early 1980s) due to some stations not being equipped yet with ground station receiving equipment to receive the networks' satellite feeds, and due to the broadcast networks' contractual obligations with AT&T up until the breakup in 1984, when the networks immediately switched to satellite exclusively. This was due to several reasons — the much cheaper rates for transmission offered by satellite operators that were not influenced by

AT&T Merlin - Misplaced Pages Continue

2646-491: The mid-1970s, the then-new technology of satellite distribution offered by other companies like RCA Astro Electronics and Western Union , with their respective Satcom 1 and Westar 1 satellites, started to give the Bell System competition in the broadcast distribution field, with the satellites providing higher video and audio quality, as well as much lower transmission costs. However, the networks stayed with AT&T (along with simulcasting their feeds via satellite through

2709-465: The need for rewiring. Feature Package 1 (Available for use in Classic Merlin 206, 410 only): Feature Package II (Included same features as Feature Package I plus the following) Music On Hold Music On Hold/Paging Power Failure/Extra Alert Used only with the Merlin Plus system for logging calls or configuration to a printer. The Merlin Plus system Data Collector uses information from

2772-414: The one page limit. The Merlin Plus system is set to have the data collector and the printer connected to voice terminal jack 19, but the administrator can connect the data collector and the printer to any other voice terminal jack in the system, except jack 10. A door phone controller (DAC-1Z) can be connected to your Merlin Plus system to allow employees to answer calls made from a business entrance. It

2835-594: The order of lines selected for outgoing calls can be set for when the analog user dials 9 to make an external call. Other Merlin telephones can be called by simply dialing the Merlin extension number from the analog phone. Call waiting is available for the analog user, although can be disabled for computer modem use by moving the BTMI-2 mode selector switch to the Data setting. System features such as call hold, transferring, last number redial and saved number redial are available through

2898-558: The original twenty-two AT&T-controlled members of the System. On January 1, 1984, these companies and the local operating companies placed under them were: In addition, there were two members of the Bell System that were only partially owned by AT&T. Both of these companies were monopolies in their coverage areas, received Western Electric equipment and had agreements with AT&T whereby they were provided with long-distance service. They continued to exist in their pre-breakup form after

2961-583: The same multiline functionality of 1A2 and more. It uses the RJ45 connector to connect each phone (voice terminal) to its associated extension jack on the Merlin control unit (KSU). For sites with previously installed 1A2 systems, an adapter was available that could simply be connected to the Amphenol connector commonly used by 1A2 telephones. It would convert one 1A2 phone extension's connection cable to up to six RJ45 connections for AT&T Merlin phone extensions without

3024-661: The seven Baby Bells, the service within the LATAs remained regulated until 1996, when the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was passed. Following this, the Baby Bells began consolidating among themselves. Section 271 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 also established a way that regulators could approve BOCs to enter the interLATA market in regions where they provide local exchange service. In 1998, Ameritech sold some of its Wisconsin Bell lines (covering 19 exchanges) to CenturyTel , which merged them into its company CenturyTel of

3087-655: The shares, several securities dealers announced that they would begin making a market in Avaya shares effective February 16, 2023 using the symbol AVYAQ and trading 'over the counter', i.e. a securities dealer is a counterparty of each trade. On May 1, 2023, Avaya Holdings Corp. completed its financial restructuring, emerging from bankruptcy owned by its former creditors as the private company Avaya LLC. Since 2001, Avaya has sold and acquired several companies. Through Nortel's bankruptcy proceedings, assets related to their Enterprise Voice and Data business units were auctioned. Avaya placed

3150-567: The time, AT&T had substantial control over the United States' communications infrastructure. Not only was it the sole telephone provider throughout most of the country, its subsidiary Western Electric produced much of its equipment. Relinquishing ownership of Western Electric was one of the Justice Department’s primary demands. Believing that it was about to lose the suit, AT&T proposed an alternative: its breakup. It proposed that it retain control of Western Electric, Yellow Pages ,

3213-539: The use of special DTMF codes. Message Waiting lamp illumination is compatible for analog phones that are equipped with that feature. Bell System Divestiture The monopoly position of the Bell System in the U.S. was ended on January 8, 1982. AT&T Corporation proposed by in a consent decree to relinquish control of the Bell Operating Companies , which had provided local telephone service in

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3276-403: The way it had planned. Its attempt to enter the computer business failed, and it quickly realized that Western Electric was not profitable without the guaranteed customers the Bell System had provided. In 1995, AT&T spun off its computer division and Western Electric, exactly as the government had initially asked it to do. It then re-entered the local telephone business that it had exited after

3339-422: Was 80% of total phones sold and much harder to maintain quality because of the high gloss defects actually showed up more pronounced than the other colors. At its peak, we were producing as much as 5,000 phones a day at our Shreveport manufacturing facility." When the membrane phone series was replaced with the new SP- and BIS- phone series, these color choices were all eliminated except black. The original Merlin

3402-576: Was acquired by CenturyLink (now Lumen Technologies ), an independent telephone provider, bringing Qwest Corporation (originally Mountain Bell), Northwestern Bell, and Pacific Northwest Bell under its control. While based in San Antonio, Texas, since 1992, AT&T Inc. moved its headquarters to Dallas by the end of 2008. The name change came after AT&T's merger with BellSouth, as well as with southeast-region telephone operations. Bedminster, New Jersey ,

3465-517: Was created. Operations in Vermont were later split into Telephone Operating Company of Vermont , but continued with FairPoint. In 2010, Verizon sold 4.8 million access lines in 14 states, including Verizon West Virginia (originally The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company of West Virginia), to Frontier Communications . US West was acquired by Qwest in June 2000 for $ 43.5 billion. On April 6, 2011, Qwest

3528-459: Was designed to meet the business communications needs of customers in the 30 to 150 station range. And it not only provided the features of a state-of-the-art private branch exchange (PBX), but also allowed data to be switched point-to-point without first being converted to analog format. This capability was used to set up connections between data terminals, word processors, personal computers, and host computers. The system provided 256 ports to support

3591-530: Was given effect by the court's order November 28, 2017. In December 2017, Avaya requested a federal judge to reduce their commitment to the Earthquakes' stadium name agreement. After Avaya vacated their naming rights, the venue was renamed Earthquakes Stadium in 2020 and PayPal Park in 2021 after PayPal bought the naming rights. On December 15, 2017, trading in Avaya Holdings Corp. shares listed on

3654-433: Was left with only its core business with roots as AT&T Long Lines and its successor AT&T Communications . It was at this point that AT&T was purchased by one of its own spin-offs, SBC Communications , the company that had also purchased two other RBOCs and a former AT&T associated operating company (Ameritech, Pacific Telesis, and SNET), and which later purchased another RBOC (BellSouth). One consequence of

3717-400: Was metal and, as such, modules were not encased inside plastic shells as they were with the Legend. The Merlin Magix supports new 4400 series digital telephones as well as older MLX telephones, but it does not support the old ATL series telephones. One important item with the conversion of Legend to Magix, is how MLX telephones use 2-pair wiring and the newer Magix/4400 series phones only use

3780-543: Was renamed Avaya Holdings Corp. On November 19, 2014, Avaya was confirmed as the naming rights partner for the San Jose Earthquakes ' new stadium, officially called Avaya Stadium , paying $ 20 million over a 10-year deal. On January 19, 2017, Avaya Inc. and related affiliates including Avaya Holdings Corp. petitioned for protection from creditors during reorganizing under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. A restructuring plan for Avaya Holdings Corp. agreed upon during mediation

3843-515: Was replaced with the Merlin Plus system in the late 1980s, using circuit cards to be expandable to 8 lines and 20 telephones, much like the original 820 model. The original Merlin Plus was dubbed the 820d . It is identical in features to the earlier Merlin, the 820, with the Feature Package 2 cartridge installed. Following the 820d was the 820d2 . The 820d2 included the previous features as

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3906-521: Was split on this issue for some time; VoIP services that used IP but in every other way looked like a normal phone call generally had to pay access charges, while VoIP services that looked more like applications on the Internet and did not interconnect with the public telephone network did not have to pay access charges. However, an FCC order issued in December 2011 declared that all VoIP services would have to pay

3969-447: Was then spun off from Lucent as its own company in 2000 (Lucent merged with Alcatel SA in 2006, becoming Alcatel-Lucent , which was purchased in turn by Nokia in 2016). Avaya Inc. were listed on the NYSE using the symbol AV from 2000 to 2007. In October 2007, Avaya Inc. was acquired for $ 8.2 billion by Sierra Holdings Corp owned by two private-equity firms, TPG Capital and Silver Lake Partners . On June 6, 2011 Sierra Holdings Corp.

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