I was trying to remember what PBX that was and I just found my old notes. It was a NorTel NorStar/BCM with a T7316E+T24 for the receptionist and 40 each T7316E and T7208 phones for the employees along with two ACUs and 8 analog lines for FAXes and modems.
The software was clunky and not 100% correctly configured by the vendor, but I was able to correct the oversights and omissions. My biggest gripe with the software was the inability to "dump" the configuration database -- I had to tediously extract the info entry by entry and create a spreadsheet, notice the discrepancies, correct them, and update the spreadsheet.
Now here's a "funny" thing. I noticed there was no entry for the name portion of outgoing CID, so I entered the company name and thought I was finished.
Several hours later, the Office Manager asked me if there was something wrong with the phone system since no phone had rung all afternoon. Long story short, I discovered that a non-blank entry for the name portion of outgoing CID had somehow disabled the system. After blanking the company name, everything began working fine again. This was annoying because I explicitly stated to the vendor when ordering the system that I wanted both the company number and the name to appear on called-parties' CID displays.
The vendor later stated it was "some problem" with the CO and there was nothing that could be done. I was dubious because a colleague who installed a DMS-100 at HP in Palo Alto CA was easily able to cause "HEWLETT PACKARD" to appear on CID displays, but I didn't have time to pursue the matter further.
Does that ("nothing could be done") make any sense? I'm guessing the line to the CO was a PRI, but the BCM chassis was locked and I never had a chance to examine what was inside the two cabinets. The CO is in San Mateo CA (El Camino and 28th) and I'm reasonably certain it's a 5ESS.
The reason I'm asking is because I was easily able to cause any number display ("650-xxx-nnnn") to appear on CID per the requirement of company "main" number for all except certain sales, marketing and executive personnel who needed to have their specific extensions appear on CID displays.