9608 vs. J179

[rcc1000]

Hello all,
Just wanted to get some input what people prefer for either IP phones.
I haven't installed very many of these but have installed both. Mostly do 9508 digital phones.
Have a customer that's a County Courthouse & they have a separate Public Health building they want to put (starting off with 25) IP phones in, working off the Courthouse's IP Office 11.0 system & network.
I have good luck setting up the J179's to be able to take home (or anywhere) & still be operational & I know can put in a WIFI card, so those are pros for using them.
My boss, doing the bid, asked me what I prefer & I guess I'm not sure what the Pros vs. Cons are for each of them?
He wasn't even sure if you can still get the 9608's new?
Currently the Courthouse's system only has the 9508 digital phones.
All replies would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[AvayaRed]

I like the look and feel of the 96xx series as those are some of my favorite phones (9641GS are a very good looking phone) but I would go with the J179 if buying in 2022 since the 96xx are old and the 9608 is EOS (

https://download.avaya.com/css/public/documents/101050147).

Adding the WiFi/Bluetooth card to the J179 provides flexibility with going wifi (not as reliable as wired connection) and Bluetooth for wireless headsets and the OpenSIP firmwear may come in handy in the future if you need to use with 3rd party platforms.

https://www.avaya.com/en/documents/fs-j179-ip-phone-uc8095en.pdf

Hope this helps

 

[sizbut]

Because of the way the IP Office drives most of the feature menu on all these types of phone (9500, 9600 J100) there's really not much of any issue is terms of usability. Anyone who has used one will have minimal problem switching to the other. Strong argument for mixing simply based on what you can buy at the best price when more phones are needed.

So if you have to choose, most of the decision can be left down to the installability/maintainability differences. And personally SIP wins. As you've found, its much easy to handle when it come to remote extensions.

Whilst the 9600s are rapidly heading for full end of sale and even end of support for some model, you can still find them from non-Avaya sources even if Avaya has emptied their warehouse. But J100's are where the ongoing improvement and fixes are and (please don't shoot me guys), if the customer ever wants to switch from IP Office to Cloud Office, the J100s can be reused whereas the 9600s become paperweights.

Stuck in a never ending cycle of file copying.

 

[derfloh]

I like the option to enable the Webinterface for J-Series phones to check the settings for errors (even remotely). But I don't like that you have to reset the J-Series phones to get sind new settings.

IP Office remote service
IP Office certificate check
CLI based call blocking
SCN fallback over PSTN

 

[tac84]

If it was me, I would protect my future investment and go with the J179.

Thanks, Tim
Adelaide, Australia

 

[gwebster]

@derfloh - The SIP J100 can be programmed to periodically poll the http server for any changes to settings. If those changes can be applied without a reboot, it will do so. If a reboot is required, it will reboot.

 

[IPGuru]

Pros for 9608:
It looks like the 9508 that are used to in the main building

cons:
It is going end of life

J179 Pros:
Current product
Optional Wifi/bluetooth
can be easily configured for homeworkers if needed.



Do things on the cheap & it will cost you dear

ACSS

 

[rcc1000]

Thanks all,
Looks like I'll recommend the J179, which I figured most would have chosen.
Kind of off the topic, but boss just asked if anyone would know the status of digital phones?
Is there an upgrade over the 95xx series?
Figured since Avaya pushing the Cloud base maybe not, but is there even any plans for a different digital base phone?
Thanks again

 

[AvayaRed]

Correct me if I am wrong guys but 9508 is the latest and most likely last digital set to be made by Avaya. Avaya wants everyone to move to the cloud and everything be IP and SIP Based.

A lot of FED/DOD and hospitals still use digital sets and H.323. Because of that, the 9508 is most likely going to last longer than the other 96xx series because they do not want to invest in building another digital set (my prediction but I think most will agree since all we hear from Avaya is cloud).

You may want to stick with the J-series 100% on your order other than digital in the event you need to go to cloud like @sizbut stated to flash the firmware and reuse the phone for cloud.

Hope this helps