PaulChernoff
IS-IT--Management
Perhaps unbiased isn't the best phrase. I am looking for a new phone system for my office (80-100 users, single location). I've been looking for 5 years and this is the year to pull the trigger. Staff have helped me evaluate handsets for doing basic tasks. We have made some basic decisions but am looking for information to help evaluate between the options. We have a Avaya Definity 75 v3 (last had software upgrade around 20 years ago) which is ill suited for our office. We do not use Microsoft Exchange for e-mail and are an almost all Mac shop. I'm not a phone guy, I'm the IT guy and was handed the phone system around 5 years ago. I have learned my way around phone punch blocks and basic PBX functions.
Hosted vs. Premise. I am leaning towards premise, hosted seems very expensive for us but I am still looking for others' experiences with a few hosted vendors (iCore, PingTone, HotBed Tech).
We are going VoIP. We had our oldest cables tested 2 years ago and they did well under heavy traffic. We are planning on 1Gb phones so I will not have to add extra wiring. We will need to replace our switches and firewall but I want to do this anyway and for various reasons this will only happen if it is made part of the phone purchase. I am evaluating an Avaya system with digital phones if I needed to keep costs very low but right now I should be able to do VoIP within my budget.
For premise based solutions we have narrowed it down to Avaya, Cisco, and Kerio Operator (branded version of Asterix). Each has their plus' and minus'. Each system should serve us well and each has its plus' and minus'.
How do I know if a dealer is top notch? For Avaya I would prefer to stick with our current support company but another company has come in much lower. In looking at all of the bids this one company is a good $20,000 lower than everyone else for hardware/software/installation. What is a good way to find out the quality of the company.
What is the life expectancy of these PBXs? I am not expecting to get 20 years out of it (and I think we are pushing it with our current PBX). But certainly more than 5 years. I can see replacing the PBX in around 7 years but I don't want to have to rebuy licenses or phones. Or do I treat a phone system like a computer system and assume a shorter life span than in the past? I am trying to build 10 year cost projections. We will be using Tenant Improvement funds for the purchase so we will be paying cash, no lease (I realize this makes us an oddity).
I am finding Cisco a bit more expensive to buy than Avaya (Cisco dealer is reworking the proposal to lower costs) but the maintenance costs seem a lot higher. My accounting folks want me to keep operating costs below current costs. With the Avaya systems this isn't an issue.
One advantage of Cisco is that they make their own Phones, switches and firewalls. I am thinking that this may result in a better system by having an integrated ecosystem, but perhaps not. Most Avaya dealers are offering non-Avaya switches and then have me buy contracts from the manufacturer. I want to be sure that if we have a phone problem I have just one number to call, no matter the cause of the problem. I am only considering vendors with lots of data network experience.
So I still feel like a phone newbie and looking for any guidance to make a decision in the next few weeks.
Hosted vs. Premise. I am leaning towards premise, hosted seems very expensive for us but I am still looking for others' experiences with a few hosted vendors (iCore, PingTone, HotBed Tech).
We are going VoIP. We had our oldest cables tested 2 years ago and they did well under heavy traffic. We are planning on 1Gb phones so I will not have to add extra wiring. We will need to replace our switches and firewall but I want to do this anyway and for various reasons this will only happen if it is made part of the phone purchase. I am evaluating an Avaya system with digital phones if I needed to keep costs very low but right now I should be able to do VoIP within my budget.
For premise based solutions we have narrowed it down to Avaya, Cisco, and Kerio Operator (branded version of Asterix). Each has their plus' and minus'. Each system should serve us well and each has its plus' and minus'.
How do I know if a dealer is top notch? For Avaya I would prefer to stick with our current support company but another company has come in much lower. In looking at all of the bids this one company is a good $20,000 lower than everyone else for hardware/software/installation. What is a good way to find out the quality of the company.
What is the life expectancy of these PBXs? I am not expecting to get 20 years out of it (and I think we are pushing it with our current PBX). But certainly more than 5 years. I can see replacing the PBX in around 7 years but I don't want to have to rebuy licenses or phones. Or do I treat a phone system like a computer system and assume a shorter life span than in the past? I am trying to build 10 year cost projections. We will be using Tenant Improvement funds for the purchase so we will be paying cash, no lease (I realize this makes us an oddity).
I am finding Cisco a bit more expensive to buy than Avaya (Cisco dealer is reworking the proposal to lower costs) but the maintenance costs seem a lot higher. My accounting folks want me to keep operating costs below current costs. With the Avaya systems this isn't an issue.
One advantage of Cisco is that they make their own Phones, switches and firewalls. I am thinking that this may result in a better system by having an integrated ecosystem, but perhaps not. Most Avaya dealers are offering non-Avaya switches and then have me buy contracts from the manufacturer. I want to be sure that if we have a phone problem I have just one number to call, no matter the cause of the problem. I am only considering vendors with lots of data network experience.
So I still feel like a phone newbie and looking for any guidance to make a decision in the next few weeks.