avaya for residential applications

[mmico]

I Know Avaya's ACS was and is made for commercial applications. I install this phone system in residential homes all the time. My question to this group is. Will Avaya ever make this phone system for residential use. I think the ACS is great, easy to install and very easy to use. But there are features in other systems that the ACS should have and I can't understand why Avaya management has never changed there mission. I sell Avaya systems for
residential and commercial jobs, but I try to be honest with my customers and sometimes there are better systems to install in a home.

 

[joe8762]

What features specifically are you talking about? I've installed the ACS in many homes and find the feature package compatable with Res. needs, ie; door phones, ringing, paging, analog extension ports, ease of programming.

 

[telprog]

I have put many of them in homes also and don't know of what features you are asking about, seems to do anything the customer wants for home use.

 

[mmico]

The door phone is to big. I have one on my house but its covered by a bush. If I owned a multi million dollar home, there is no way I would let anyone install it unless it was recessed into the brick.It would be nice if Avaya spended the R&D money to make a smaller door phone.

The 9040 is a great phone I love it but in a residential application with kids it doesn't work. Its to expensive and Iv'e had problems on residential jobs. People just want a good cordless phone that works.
Another feature Customers want is call waiting with caller Id ( I think Panasonic offers this in there phones)
I am a loyal Avaya dealer and will continue to sell the Acs . These are my only issues and I realize you can use other manufacturers door products and cordless phones,but why should we have to.

 

[telprog]

On residential I use a standard cordless that the customer chooses, and for door box's I go with Viking.

 

[itpphoneguy]

Hi mmico,
We have installed many in homes, with the Partner Door phones recessed into the brick. The Viking will ring continuosly though, good choice. Overall, I think the ACS is almost perfect for the home except for CLID on pots phones (incl portables). IP office would be another good choice. You would need the definity 64XX phones to get paging through the phones. Given the $$ of the houses you are talking about, the ip office should be an easy sell. Most will be happy with the Partner.
-Chris

 

[Ghostin]

If they can afford a system in their house, why are they using call waiting instead of a second line? The ACS does offer call waiting, but I have never tried the caller ID portion of it. I stated in another post that the Nortel ICS is a good residental system, as is the smaller NEC systems. Just depends on what your looking for.

 

[mmico]

I appreciate this type of forum But everyone is avoiding the issues with this phone system. I know there are work arounds that can be used,but why should we have to. This system has been around long enough for Avaya to address these issues if they wanted to. They don't consider residential home systems a money maker. If they wanted to they could spend the R&D on this product. I think its a missed opportunity for Avaya and could make selling this product in the residential market a no brainer

 

[Ghostin]

I think your point about a moneymaker for residence is right on. Most phone systems are designed to meet the needs of 95% of the users. For the other 5%, which includes residental, there is not enough return to make it profitable to make a different product. Example, only residence installs would ever use something like call waiting. You would not find that in a typical business application. Since a residental customer is a fraction of a percentage of the product sales, they aren't going to make any changes to accomidate them. It happens all the time. I hate to tell a customer that their particular application they want to do won't work, but sometimes I have no choice.

 

[itpphoneguy]

Hi mmico,
Actually, the Partner does have call waiting, as Ghostin mentioned, and a flash button (recall F03) for using a line feature. I haven't used "call waiting" either. Avaya is continually adding features to this amazing little system, so let's see what toys are in ACS 7.0.
The fact that pots phones work on this system makes it more suitable for home use than a Nortel switch (always buying ATA's) and it's much simpler to teach a home oner how to program it. Failing the Partner, what's wrong with the small IP Office solution?
-Chris

 

[Ghostin]

Chris, are you talking about the Avaya IP office for a home solution? I can't imagine why anyone would want to do that. What is your thought?

 

[itpphoneguy]

Hi Ghostin,
Well, Avaya does make smaller IP Office systems, and they include a firewall / router for high speed internet. We are talking about higher end homes, so the cost is not way out. The IP Office does pass caller ID on pots phones. The 4400 / 6400 phones are more trendy looking. On top of this, personal voicemail (lite) for each extension at no extra charge. The system is extremely flexible in programming.
My choice would be (and was) a Partner ACS. But, what's wrong with an IP Office? Just trying to provide an alternative to answer the above concerns.
-Chris

 

[Ghostin]

I was thinking on cost and maintenance, but you have a good point: When money does not matter.....

 

[mmico]

Thanks for the feedback. It would be nice if you could use the ip office in residential applications but it won't work. People just want telephones that work with out a lot of hassles. The ACS is still my telephone system of choice. Like I said in a earlier post. There are a only a couple of features that would make it a GREAT system for residential use. Until then its a good system that works good and is very easy to use and program.
Thanks
Mike