Issues/Complaints/Recommendations

[mrdenny]

I am currently evaluating IP phone systems for purchase by my company. We have 1 main office, and 2 small satellite offices which will need to be services by the switch as well. I am looking at either the Avaya or Cisco products.

I was wondering if anyone would be able to point out any issues or complaints that anyone has regarding either of these platforms. Or if anyone can point me to a web site which shows side by side features so that I can make the most informed decision possible.


Denny Cherry

 

[capitol31]

I'd prefer Comdial over those two. Comdial has an excellent IP solution with it's FX II platform and its a bit moe affordable than the other two. You can see it at

http://wwww.comdial.com

 

[cronn]

Mr. Denny,
Have you looked at the 3Com NBX solution?
I can't speak on the Avaya side of things, but I have
dealt with the Cisco Call Manager solution.
Its cumbersome, expensive and an overkill for a small office. I supported Cisco products for 6 years and I must say they do have very intriguing products and very feature rich but most businesses (especially small businesses) do not need all the features.. another side note on Cisco if you want to get into unified messaging its a seperate product and seperate server for the software to run on.

Check out the 3Com solution as well - very low cost and has tons of features that i'm sure you'll like.
Not knowing how many users you have at your offices, here is a general idea for a config.

Small config for you would consist of -
(Main office)
3C10111C NBX Chassis with voicemail built in
3C10110C A call processor blade (required)
3C10114C Analog line card (Optional -for local PSTN connection)
3C10132 IP on the Fly site license
3C10226PE-US 2102PE Business IP phones
or a 3C10248PE-US 2101PE Basic IP phones
3C17205-US 4400PWR 24port 10/100 switch with power over ethernet

(remote site)
3C10111C NBX Chassis with voicemail built in
3C10110C A call processor blade (optional)
3C10114C Analog line card (Optional -for local PSTN connection)
3C10226PE-US 2102PE Business IP phones
or a 3C10248PE-US 2101PE Basic IP phones
3C17205-US 4400PWR 24port 10/100 switch with power over ethernet

Hope this helps..
3Com NBX link is

http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/...3&selcat=Telephone+Systems+&+Applications

Cronn
A believer in choices..
www.route3c.com

 

[mrdenny]

I suppose it would have been more helpfull if I gave some information about what were looking for, and how many people there are.

We have our main office with about 80 people in it, and 2 remote offices. Each with about 6 people in it. We currently have 3 phone switches, which make long distance phone calls to each other to connect inter-offce calls.

Some of the big features that I'm looking for are:
Single switch to handle all 3 offices
IP phone system
Wireless phones available
Inteligent call routing to save money on long distance
Caller-ID on the phones
Office Paging
Conference bridge
Ability to add an ACD later as needed.
Easy integration with email routing software such as Mustang/eGain/KANA/Cisco e-Mail Response/etc
Voice Prompt Menu's for call routing

The reason that I'm trying to narrow my focus to Avaya and Cisco is that I have several years evperiance working with Avaya Definity switchs and have also been certified on the Cisco ICM/NAM product, as well as worked with the Cisco IP switch in the past.

Denny Cherry

 

[luv2ski]

try either bcm/norstar on main site with a mck extender on remote site

 

[europe]

Just go for the Avaya, that my 2 cents

Please let me know if the information that was provided is helpfull.
Edwin Plat
A.K.A. Europe

 

[IPSI]

I would highly recommend going with Avaya. If you want to use mostly IP telephones you could go with an S8300, or if you are goign to use mostly digital and analog phones, go with a Prologix. With either of the systems you can use MultiTech gateways at the remote offices, which would give you limited survivability for under 4K per remote location.

To get some good ideas about issues with each system, check out the Avaya forum and the Cisco Call Mangler forum.

IPSI

 

[IPGuru]

The cisco probably has better data capabilitys that the IP Office but for voice call handling go for the IPO
it is more than capable of most data requirements (advanced router features are rarely used)

 

[avayaman]

Go with the Avaya. Nothing wrong with Cisco Call Manager, we sell them, but they are lacking in telephony features.

Paul Beddows
Avaya Implementation
Telus
Vancouver, Canada
E-mail via

http://www.vancouver.hm/email.html

 

[mrdenny]

From everything that I've read here, and elsewhere it looks like the Avaya product is going to offer more of the features that we are looking for.

Thanks for all your comments.

Denny