Cisco Call Manager Vs Mitel 3300 1

[yeahbutno]

Hi, its been mentioned to me that management are thinking of replacing the Mitel 3300 telephone system with Cisco Call Manager,can anybody who's had experience in both or Cisco Call Manager have any views on this.I dont know much about the Cisco stuff but I regulary work on the Mitel stuff.Currently the Mitel is performing well and has been for a couple of years.
Which one would be best suited for their reliability,performance,maintanence,upgrades etc.?Reliability is of upmost importance and systems rarely can be taken out of service for upgrades due to system is running in an emergency service environment!

Any feedback would be mostly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Lundah]

Then your IT department must have money they don't know how to spend. CCM isn't as solid as the 3300ICP, IMHO, and Cisco charges a boatload of cash for maintenance and support.

I'm assuming there's reliability issues? One thing to remember with a VoIP system, it's only going to be as good as your network. If you have a crappy LAN, the PBX will suffer as well.

 

[yeahbutno]

First thing, whats IMHO?
At the moment reliability for voice is good enough but there has been issues of voice packets being dropped over the network,now and again,but its constantly improving.Obviously, management then seem to think its a 3300 issue where I've repeatedly told them that the issues lie within their network! they're thinking of ripping out all the Mitel 3300's and replacing it with CCM.
Personaly, I think its crazy or even suicidal especially when they're dealing with emergency calls and stuff!

 

[slapin]

I'll buy 3300ICP from you...
Just let me know.

Addressing your network problems, are you using Cisco for your LAN and WAN? Do you have QoS in place?

I'm a Cisco Premier Partner, VoIP specialty...

 

[TheMitelGuy]

If you think you have problems now, wait until you see the Cisco work. This is a Mitel forum, so take this as you wish, but remember when reading this, I work on Cisco and Mitel. I'm certified on 7.1 of the 3300 and 5.0 of the CCM.

If you go Cisco you will have the following problems:
- Cisco voice is much more demanding then Mitel voice, you need a stronger network to support Cisco voice. Mitel is much more forgiving. Trust me, Cisco phones will reboot mid-conversation if the quality isn't good enough, Mitel will continue to try and work.

- Cisco requires numerous forms and web pages to program a single user (Mitel requires only 1, period.)

- Cisco phones on a hardware level have low quality. We have come to expect a 15% DOA rate - NOT A WORD OF A LYE.

- Cisco phones on a software level, there isn't a week goes by that I don't have to reboot atleast 3 Cisco phones - NOT A WORD OF A LYE.

- Cisco will push SmartNET, and if you do go Cisco make sure you purchase it you will need it for software patches and your DOA phones.

- Cisco's phones are MUCH more expensive.

- Backing up, restoring and upgrading core software is way more work then Mitel's.

- Common things like changing DSS/BLF, speed dials etc. require a reboot of the phone to be activated.

- Mitel will work with you on anything and tell you management if they have a problem with Mitel, get Don Smith (CEO of Mitel) on the phone. HE WILL TAKE YOUR CALL and HE WILL MAKE SURE IT WORKS if it is a Mitel issue (doubtful). Try and get John Cambers on the phone (ha!).

Again, you can look at this as a "Mitel Guy" shooting off his mouth, or you can look at this in a serious way and know the person writing this works on Cisco and Mitel every day. Trust me, stick with Mitel, your management are fools if they buy Cisco's marketing.

Post back to this - there are a multitude of people in this forum and MITEL that will help you.

 

[yeahbutno]

slapin,
ALL the switches and routers on the LAN/WAN are Cisco's (various types).
Unfortunately, I dont look after the data side of things but I know the guys that do look after the network have got QoS in place.The size of this network is fairly big seeing I look after 21x 3300,4x sx2k,with approx 46 remote sites hanging off the 3300 mentioned!Also,there are loads of various mitel applications on the network i.e. speak@ease,UM6510 etc.
There isnt that much of an issue now with the voice, It does now and again flare up from time to time from various sites, but in general its ok.
I'm not in a position to sell you any 3300 but if things change I'll let you know.

 

[yeahbutno]

TheMitelGuy,
First,thanks for your reply.
Its good to hear some feedback from guys that have got experience on both systems.From your response I can feel that my inital thoughts seem correct and that CCM isnt what its all cracked up to be.

My reason for posting this on the Mitel Forum was really just to see if anybody from Mitel background like yourself has experienced both systems.Then you can comment fairly on it.Again thanks.

 

[TheMitelGuy]

I'm not totally against Cisco, they have cool looking phones, but their solution does not work 100% error free. If I wanted a superior voice system (VoIP) I would look to Avaya, Nortel and MITEL before Cisco. Cisco has a good name and good support, but the product is far from perfect. And at a cost that is outragous. I'm sticking with Mitel forsure. Just wait, Mitel is picking up steam and market share quickly.

 

[T8keiteasy]

Wel..
This is a MITEL forum...it seems we don't really like Cisco (and have good reasons)...

Check what Cisco guy's like in the CCM at :

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1324448&page=1

At this date there's no answer...lack of ideas ???
It would be interessting to have their point of view.

For my part, I've been experienced on version 2 (i know !!!) and some friends on version 5 of CCM.

I would say that, evene if their improve their stuff, Cisco seems they want to please their users (color screen, great sounds for the bell)...then ??? what ??

As you perhaps know, French telephone systems (MATRA, ALCATEL) used to provide lots of functionnalities....
French users are much more than complicated for their telephone systems to work properly as they request...

MITEL provide a great partnership (have you ever tried to send and E-mail to Cisco to ask questions about ideas that could improve their system ? Yes ? but did you receceived any answers ???

Beyond the quality of the MITEL product, they are "kind of" open systems for partners...

Think about what you'll do when the system is installed and you need to improve it !!!!
Go with MITEL, and you'll save money and be more efficient in your work..

MITEL is about us...no joking...

Regards to everyone !

Now, it's about French users too !!!