The Vista 350 telephone and the birth of SaaS
Warning: this is a retrospective post… don’t worry, it concludes with a happy “today” message for the Software as a Service industry (SaaS).
In 1988, the top song was George Michael’s Faith… or Tracy Chapman’s Fast Cars – depending on the chart. Not a bad soundtrack to this post. I had just joined Northern Telecom’s lab – Bell Northern Research.
One of my first projects was to design a phone (correction: “consumer appliance”) that would enable third party interactive services to be delivered via ordinary analog phone lines. This project was sponsored by the Bank of Boston and BellSouth. We hacked up a data protocol, built a few hundred phones and conducted trials for the “home banking machine” in Nashville. That was 1992. The phone was code-named SESAME … as in “open Sesame”…a new portal to service. By the way, the awful acronym stood for Subscriber Enhanced Services Access Made Easy. The phone is pictured here – a three line bit-mapped display with softkeys.
The results were “OK”… but the phone looked just like a phone. There was no way the device could support a $250 price tag. 
Back to the drawing board. The next year we created the concept for the Vista 350… the market research was definitive: no one was going to pay $350 for a “phone”. So Northern (soon to be Nortel) compromised. We got to build the Vista 350 (with it’s large display and softkey interface.) We also build the Vista 250 – with a tiny display and hardkey interface. The 250 was going to sell for $250. Both the 350 and 250 operated on the same firmware. Common sense would dictate that the cheaper version of the product would prevail. So wrong.
The 250 didn’t see the light of day! The 350 took off beyond everyone’s expectations – eventually selling a couple million units. The analog protocol developed to deliver data over ordinary telephone lines ended up as a Bellcore standard (TR-1373).
But did people buy it for access to those third-party services that was the genesis of the project? No. The Vista 350 (branded in Canada), PowerTouch 350 (branded elsewhere) was just a great phone. It didn’t need a user guide. The softkey user interface was contextual… everything made sense. The industrial design was out of this world at the time. It’s still influences industrial design for current VoIP phones. Its design was even honoured with its own Canada Post stamp… The industrial designer was friend and colleague Cliff Read. We share a couple of US patents on that one.
The 350 began its retail life in 1995. At the same time, the web was catching fire – growing exponentially every week. Companies saw the web as the future delivery pipe for their services.
Despite it’s huge success as a product, the 350 failed as a services appliance. Despite its failure, we learned it was possible to open up the “fortress telco” to deliver third party services. We also learned that the quality of the user experience has a huge impact on margins and customer loyalty.
Ok – so the 350 wasn’t really the “birth” of SaaS. It was just another step towards Service Oriented Networks.
So, fire up your old “Minitel” and comment this post!
I also love the Vista 350, and I have purchased 3 of them over eBay in the last few years. In my government office I have put the supplied phone in a drawer and connected my own 350. The display and user interface is intuitive and useful. Most important for me, however, is that the speaker phone works better than most anything else on the market.
i am trying to find a way to unlock my directory. i can’t remember how but would appreciate your assistance. thank you kindly it’s the 350 vista bell phone.
Hi Ruth,
This is great being to do support 15 years after I designed this phone…
You just have to press the Options key and scroll down to directory lock which should display an unlock softkey.
I have a Nortel vista 350 and love it but the LED display is now unintelligible as it is missing a lot of parts of the letters and numbers. Is there anything that I can do to recover the display or do I need to buy a new phone?
Hi Pat,
The large LCD display of the Vista – although rugged – can suffer from stress over time. Unfortunately there’s no reasonable way to fix it. There’s likely a tiny internal crack where the liquid crystal has been leaking out – that’s why the characters have been slowly disappearing. The good news is that refurbished 350s are cheap to buy on ebay. Otherwise chack out the latest models at http://www.aastra.com (analog phones – north America).
I, too, am trying to unlock the Directory on a SaskTel Vista 350 phone. Unfortunately when I try Options – it does not show a directory option, and when I press options and hold it also does nothing.
My 80 something parents really love this phone and will not let me change it out. Appreciate your help.
Hi Joan,
Look for for a lock / unlock menu item in the options list. Otherwise – not sure what would work. Maybe give SaskTel a call
Hi Joan,
I too had the same problem with no unlock option. After a lot of searching I found and downloaded the manual.
To unlock the directory
press options
press hold
press # key
this should work
Hi Mitch,
I have always wanted a 350 and out of nowhere I managed to get a used one last week. It’s great to hear the story of how it came to be. Fortunately mine seems to be fully functional, except of course for the additional services with all say “Future/Futur” when accessed. I suppose they should actually read “Past/Passé”.
Thanks!
Hey Neil – Glad you found your 350!
Those “futur” features are pretty funny. That’s the holding spot the telcos were going to use to deliver “leading edge” services like interactive home banking. No one expected the WWW to catch on so fast! “Passé” is right
I work for Avaya (before that Lucent, and TKM)
We developed leading edge interactive home banking services for the Vista 350. We also developed credit card, student loans and other services. We enhanced many existing IBM DirectTalk IVR applications to use the IBM DLLs for ADSI phones.
Many companies made significant investments in screen phone applications… the extremely low screen phone call volumes didn’t justify maintaining these applications.
Hey Brian, thanks for the comment.
Vista Powertouch 350 was a huge success by Nortel standards (as it sold nearly 4 million units) – yet that’s insignificant market share for service providers. To compound this, very few ADSI phones were developed by other vendors… Final nail for ADSI – even screen phone users didn’t use the interactive services (people just liked the “big screen”).
Live and learn!
thanks for the reply about unlocking the directory, it’s been a great phone for me so I’m passing it on to my dad
Hey there… I got one of these used last week but there is no power adapter. I notice it takes 16V AC. I’m wondering if it’s safe to use a 16V doorbell transformer to power it… or do I need to buy something more special than that? How robust is the phone as far as living through power fluctuations etc? I can’t wait to get this running. My parents have had one for years and I have been jealous for most of that time
Hi Sean – I’m not sure… but V350 power adapters are available on ebay for about $10…
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Nortel-AC-Power-Adapter-Vista-350-390-450-Venture-TAD_W0QQitemZ270115157621QQihZ017QQcategoryZ41374QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Cool, thanks!
Wow its great to find a website about the history of the Vista 350. Just out of curiosity, when did models such as the vista 100, 150, 200, 3500cw, etc all come out if the 350 came in 1995? Also, whats with telephone companies not selling many Aastra phones anymore?I had to buy my new vista 470 at radioshack and couldnt get it at the bell store.
Thanks Matt, this old post about Vista has becoming quite the gathering place for many people looking for 350 answers.
Nortel was one of the creators of the original caller ID services. These were developed in the mid 1980s. In 1988 we launched the first telephone with caller ID built into it. Before that people had to buy separate boxes just for the display. The first caller ID phone was the short-lived Maestro. After that came the Vistas – which was actually a Bell brand. The 100 – 200 series. Some of those were business phones that integrated caller ID.
After the success of the Vista 350, Nortel teamed up with Sanyo to build the first cordless phone with caller ID in the handset. That was the Nomad. Another success. Then, Nortel decided to get out of consumer products altogether – selling the line and brand to Aastra.
Alas – there hasn’t been much innovation in consumer phones since. All bets have been on cell phones and VoIP services.
I have a model 350 that I’ve had for a long time. Recently, the incoming calls light quit working as well as the list of callers. I’ve gone through the options several times, but it still doesn’t work. Any suggestions? There have been only a few calls shown, but weeks (or longer) apart, so it appears to work once in a great while. Any suggestions?
Hi Sandy,
Try the same line with another caller ID phone (if you have one) to make sure you’re getting the ID delivered properly from the phone company. The phone Co’s line cards have a limited lifespan and occasionally need to be replaced.
If your second phone works ok – then you know it’s the Vista’s fault. Could be a bunch of reasons why. Check to make sure the power adapter is working properly – ID won’t be logged if power is off. As a last resort, you could try “resetting” it – but this isn’t easy. You have to open it up – disconnect and reconnect the internal battery (don’t try it unless you’re a whiz at soldering!).
good luck!
LOOKING TO CHANGE THE NUMBER OF RINGS FOR PICKUP TO RECEIVE MESSAGES. THE PHONE WORKS GREAT BUT I CANT FIGURE OUT HOW TO CHANGE THE NUMBER OF RINGS. BEFORE RECEIVINF A MESSAGE. AS OF KNOW IT HAS GOT TO RING 10 TIMES BEFORE THE MESSAGE COMES UP. ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED. THANKS SHARON.
Hey Sharon,
If it’s a Vista 350 – it doesn’t have a built-in answering machine. You probably have a voice mail service from your phone company (maybe even visual voice mail). They’ll have instructions on changing the number of rings.
Just wanted to say thanks for the tips here.. I got a power adapter from the local thrift store and am finally up and running with this phone.
The only downside is that I keep hitting “9″ to dial out because in my subconscious, I feel as if I’m using a “work phone” at home!
I have voice mail which has the indicator set to on. My Vista 350 used to display “message waiting” and the red light blinked when I had a new message in my voice mail. I moved to a rural area that did not offer the light indicator for new message but you do get the indicator tones when you pick up the phone. I just got a new vtech cordless phone and the red blinking light indicator does work on it so apparently the service is available in my rural area now but it is not working on my Vista 350. Is there a button to turn the “message waitng” and the indicator light on & off ? I know you can clear the light and “message waiting” if it doesn’t go off, but is there something you need to do to start it working ?
Sometimes I feel like “doctor Frankenstein”… I may have created the Vista 350 – but I don’t know where it’s going… The amazing thing is that people still have them – 10+ years after its introduction. Network technology changes… I’m not sure why the MSG waiting light wouldn’t work with your current telco (despite being rural – it’s still a digital end office”)… maybe the many readers of this post can offer suggestions…
I have had a 350 for some time. I also have two lines which I plug into a different phone. I just noticed that there are two phone input jacks on the bottom, one labeled “1″ and the other “2″. Are these for separate lines? One phone lines works just fine in either jack, but when I plug both in, the phone doesn’t work and I get an “extension in use” message.
I also just noticed a “print” jack. What is that for? How is it utilized?
Is there anywhere I can download a manual.
Thanks.
Hi Lee,
You can download a pdf of the manual here:
http://www.florenceinc.com/docs/en/Vista350-e.pdf
Thanks. I looked everything via Google, but couldn’t find one. It answered my questions.
Hi Lee – you must have a pretty early version of the 350! The “print” jack was my doing… alas. My vision for this phone was that it would have a tiny thermal printer attached to it where people could print out their callers lists and other things… so the developers built a printer jack. Unfortunately Nortel never built a printer. Soon the jack was eliminated from production.
I still think it would have been cool to print out records of who called you, or who you called…
Mitch,
Just wanted to thank you for your work on the Vista 350. It’s a fantastic phone with design traits that have been universally praised.
We just put our unit back into service after three years of not having a phone line. It works beautifully aside from some deadlines on the display
. On the off chance that this type of failure has a quick fix, please let me know.
I’m thinking of getting a couple used units for spares and parts as its just such a nice phone to use. Thanks for you brilliant work and for shedding some light on its origins.
PS – Are you still in Ottawa?
Hey Naresh, thanks for the praise. It was a team effort (as they say…) I’m happy this thing is still popular (15 years later… and yes I’m still in Ottawa!)
Not much you can do for display failures. If you have an early modular version, try and cleaning the contacts (or just blow of the dust.)
I would like to know how many redail calls can be storaged at one time.
Clifford Wong
5
Hi,
Any chance of getting more in-depth technical information?
But this Aastra still selling them they probably own all the information….?
My 392 (newer because of a second addition) is saying Services full when trying to call the the Bell Ontario 1-800 numbers to initialize it.
Frank
P.S.here are some Canadian numbers for software downloads:
Initial configuration: 1-877-2-473-5328
Remove ads (a.k.a. “What’s New”): 1-877-434-4442
Config. / change financial services: 1-888-419-1717
Voice mail interaction w/ the screen: 1-877-611-1010
Interactive i-Select e-Support: 1-888-673-7222
1-888-847-8235
None of these make my 392 work
P.S. 2 I was an old BNR Vendor support type..(here in Ottawa) former site of sugar shack..
P.S. 3 thanks for the extra info here
Hi ya Mitch – can you tell us what the 2 phone line jacks are on the bottom – can this phone work with 2 lines? what else were they for? Thanks for an awesome product – I love mine still!
Thanks Paul!
One jack is just a parallel to the phone line. It allows you to plug in another device like an answering machine. The other jack is a strange one – it’s a printer jack. My idea was that you could plug a mini printer int the phone to print callers’ or message lists. Unfortunately Nortel didn’t like the idea and never built the printer. In some early models of the 350, the printer jack remains!
I have been looking for 10 years on how to remove the ads!
It is great to have the time displayed without having to press goodbye all the time!
Thanks Frank for these numbers!
Bruno.
P.S. : the printer port is a very good idea.
What a neat story! Thanks for your great design and your willingness to help keep the technology alive today!
I received my 350 10+ years ago as a free gift from the phone company and have kept it close by me through several jobs and companies. This past year I took a job 3000 miles away from Toronto, all the way to Califoria, and yep it got packed in the car for the road trip so I could start being productive right away!
One question, it seems my phone still believes we’re in Toronto. I guess the original initialization location sets the timezone and none of the Canada toll-free numbers work in my area. Any way around this?
Cheers,
Jo-Anne.
Thanks Jo-Anne. It’s been fun hearing the stories.
The services in your phone have been programmed by Bell Canada. You can reset the phone to eliminate all these “special” features – but it’s not that easy. You have to open the phone up and find a small battery. Undo it for a couple minutes and the phone will lose the Bell programming.
Another option is to find out from your local phone Co. if they stilll have services scripts for the Powertouch 350 (that was the American name).
Good luck! Mitch
hi I have a vista 350 and it was ringing earlier today and then all the sudden stopped when incoming calls come in. All the other phones in the house work though. Is this a common issue with the vista? The ringer does work. I played with the volume. It just doesn’t recognize incoming calls anymore and flash the light and ring/show call display.
Is there anything at all on the display – or is it blank? I assume you’ve checked the power adapter is plugged in. If you have one of the modular versions, try unplugging the module and blowing some air onto the connectors – they might be dusty.
When you play with the volume control – is the handset on hook? Does the ringer sound at all?
…or maybe it’s just an April 1st thing…
the ringer does work if I play with it. I am going to try and fiddle with the adapter. Although the screen does work. I thought of that. I plugged another phone into this extension and called and it worked. So I guess I need a new base? I found a guy selling them is why I ask. If I need to get it all though blah.. hehe
thanks for the help
ok so I just plugged it right into the demarkation jack or whatever it’s called and tried to call and it didn’t ring at all. I didn’t have the ac adapter plugged in though but that shouldn’t prevent it from ringing. So is it the entire phone? The base? The screen part???
Hi,
We have a bell vista phone. We wish to purchase another one, where can I buy them, in Toronto.
c.ricco@sympatico.ca
Hey Carmela – I believe The Telephone Depot sells them…
http://www.telephonedepot.ca/
I’ve been calling Bell about the Vista 350 and nobody was about to help me, so I’ve searched on Google a lot and from YOU. Thanks so much for this information. I’ve been trying to update the directory (delete some and add others) and could not not any information. On reading the above posts, I’ve been able to find out the info I needed. Thanks so much for this thread.
Like everyone else who posted here, I love the 350! I started working for U S WEST in 1995 and purchased my 350 through a company special in 1996. It is one of the few things I still have and use from that long ago!
Similar to other comments, my screen is going bad, but everything else works great. The quality of the speakerphone is second to none, I can use it without the other party knowing.
I reached this article as the result of researching the “line 2″ feature as the manual wasn’t clear. From your comments I gathered it isn’t for a second line, its for a extention on a single line.
Thank you for posting this article, and thank you for your teams contribution to such a great phone.
Hi Mitch,
Late but kudos on the 350 !
FYI – My Mom’s 350 screen “died” so I bought her the Aastra 390. She loves it but….the speakphone feature is not compatible with sympatico. Aastra knows of the problem but has no solutions as a “fix”.
Interesting eh, Bell Canada sells it but it doesn’t work with their internet service.
Now we’re looking for alternatives, yes, with the big screen feature that she loves so much.
What a dilemma to find something that will work.
Take care & keep designing “easy to use” products.
Randi
Thanks Randi,
Appreciate the feedback. It’s odd that new (wired) phones today generally suck. Unfortunately no one is really designing them like they used to – via design labs like Nortel’s BNR or AT&T’s Bell Labs.
Thankfully most of the wireless manufacturers invest heavily in design – RIM, Nokia, Apple, HTC… among others.
Thans to all who provided feedback on getting the Vista manual online. Great help.