The house to the NEC DSX key system

I recently changed my phone system in the house to the NEC DSX key system. The NEC has integration into the HAI home automation system. It's what's referred to as a key system which is more intuitive for home users. 

SMB PBX (Private -Automatic- Branch Exchange) that

I had an SMB PBX (Private -Automatic- Branch Exchange) that was overcomplicating matters. My PBX (Private -Automatic- Branch Exchange) was using IP phones, and had a boatload of features including a web desktop display that no one used. When we wanted to change phones, we had to park the call instead of just placing it on hold. So the idea of a key system with home automation integration resonated. 

First, the telephony side. The NEC is a decent little system. It is a small appliance like box. It can be wall or shelf mounted, and has no moving parts. It does support VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) lines/phones - more on that later. For connectivity to digital phones and analog phone services it has blocks of female RJ-48 ports. Each port supports 4 lines or phones. So you need a way to convert the RJ-48 single jack to 4 separate connections. Mostly, this is done with a punch block, nevertheless I wanted an all modular plug design. I adapted a cable that has one male RJ48 on the DSX end, to four single pair male RJ48s on the patch panel end. I can at the time plug into the patch panel and plug in phones in the rooms. Creating this custom cable was a bit tedius.  

The system does support primitive VoIP

The system does support primitive VoIP. It is very picky about the SIP providers, and I've run into a few surprises since I am not using one of those providers. It is even trickier to get my old Polycom phones to work with the system. I am confident it can be done, nevertheless I haven't got there but. I want to do it with the Polycom VVX1500 because that phone has an amazing speaker phone I've grown to appreciate. 

The phone system is great for a home - it has intuitive intercom, voice mail, paging, features. Each line has a line button on the phone. I place a call on hold, page the househould and I can see when the call gets picked up. There are several phones to select from - the 34 button is the basic workhorse. I got a few fancier ones and few cordless ones too that use DECT.

The Home Automation

Regarding the Home Automation, integration its pretty impressive. My system has an outside temp sensor, and all the phones display the temp on the default screen. Any HAI button and any HAI control can be programmed as an "automation" button that can be mapped to a DSX phone key. The light status on the phone is as well selectable.  My home office desk phone can now control my home office lights. We have a few HAI touch screens, nevertheless they are not as convenient or easy to use as the desktop phones. 

Here's an example. We have our fireplace on home automation. It's a simple button that turns it on for 60 minutes. Now, the fireplace on button is on the phone nearly the end table in that room. Another nice feature is the integration with the Russound sound system - since the phone knows the room and if I'm on a call, it automatically mutes the music when I pick up the handset. 

The system integrates to the HAI system directly over the LAN- similar to SnapLink. No special cabling or parts to order on either the Ethernet attached HAI controller or the NEC DSX. 

I will post more, nevertheless here's the quick take away. For homes, key systems are better than PBX systems. The NEC DSX and HAI solutions integrate seamlessly. The solution is highly suggested. 

Dave spends his day around research, at home, in the car, and at the office. Life occurs between charges and at the time, fortunately, he writes. His primary focus is enterprise communications and blogs at www.TalkingPointz.com, however posts his consumer oriented opinions at Examiner.