Which System Would You Choose?

[TheCardMan]

If you were to recommend a system for 10 stations, 6 Hunting POTS Lines, Voice Mail, Auto Attendant, what would you recommend. Looking for a system that can be simply installed and left alone. Reliability is very important.

My first thought is Partner ACS, but wanted to get opinions on other easy and reliable current installs. A system where you can install it and never have to go back to if necessary. No IP solutions.

Thx.

 

[DigitelD]

Nortel is the way to go. No question about it.

SHK Certified (School of Hard Knocks)

 

[Phoneguy69]

Toshiba CIX is a great switch. Used to have a lot of bugs, but the warranty is solid and is easy to administrate with software. Great system if you think your going to grow and you can add VOIP later.

 

[orypecos]

-Most of the Nortel phones are hideious in my opinion, but that is only looks.
-If U are going to have to use Avaya phone support, then U never know what U are going to get. Some of the best technicians in the world, or the meanest lazyiest cads: U never know. Unless you get one of the good ones extension and call them only.
Avaya has a tendency to stop supporting systems quicker and quicker and make sociopathic decisions on the corporate level that can be very iritating. But at least their web support is mostly free still, where many other systems require a maintenance plan to access the web manuals and such.

 

[jneiberger]

Why not ShoreTel? The ShoreTel system includes voicemail, IVR, auto attendant, email integration, and telework functionality. How many other systems give you that for such low cost?

I don't even own any ShoreTel equipment but I'm looking at them for a couple of sites. I think there's probably a reason that they keep beating the pants off the competition in customer satisfaction surveys.

 

[jneiberger]

Whoops...if I'd read the entire post I would have known the answer. "No IP solutions."

Oh well. I'm curious...why restrict yourself to non-IP solutions?

 

[aarenot]

partner acs r6, previous post listed equip, although, i have had no trouble with over 50 r7's.

ip office is also a good solution, and can be deployed as an ip solution, or using digital phones. ip phones, or links betwen sites can be added later if you choose to connect sites across your multiple site network. i would consider going with a system capable of ip, even if you do not use it, as you may want to down the road. the pricing for the ipo, and the partner acs are similiar. at 6 lines, you may want to consider using a circuit instead of pots lines for telco service. if expecting to grow over 6 lines, definitely consider a circuit rather than pots.

 

[rfpup]

Ericsson BP compact, It can be an interesting solution also.

 

[brokeda]

Avaya 1x sounds like a clone of the Astra peer to peer VOIP system. Phones 225 4 line gateway 175.

 

[aarenot]

if you are not going to go with a circuit for your lines like pri etc., might as well get a used piece of equipment. pots has not had any real serious upgrades in capabilities in the last ten years other than clid. unless you need some new feature that new equipment may have, which are very few for pots lines applications, go with a used, one generation, or release back from the new equipment. partner acs 6 should be great,refurbished, used, or new in that order would probably be my recomendation, and in the order of least cost.

pots lines do not have much for capabilities, so the systems do not have much to work with, which means newer releases of equipment have fewer impacts on your application of the technology. most new features that a system with pots lines can do well are few, and far between. so why spend money getting a state of the art system with lines technology feeding into them that is as old as i am. drop in a used, or refurbed system and save yourself some money.

check out the capabilities of centrex lines, and if you would benefit from those features as well. the partner acs can do some possibly beneficial things with centrex lines vs non-centrex.

 

[nascomm1]

I'm in with the Partner ACS

 

[mentallimit]

My vote would be for Toshiba. I have put a number of these in places where they work on cars and they are covered in dust and grime but still run like a clock. The phones are very durable as well. No complaints here.

 

[JediBMC]

Well, the answer is somewhat dependant on your situation. Although you stated that you want something that needs little to no support, that does not address the simple question of who will support it when it eventually needs something done?

If this is a system that you will personally be responsible for maintaining, go with a system you are familiar with. If you have installed Partner systems in 10 other facilities, why make an exception here?

If, however, you are doing an install only, you will need to determine which system has the best support available. A Panasonic system may run for years without a problem, but if there is no one to support it when a problem has occured, you have failed your customer.

I am personally biased towards Avaya systems. This is based on my experience with them and the fact that I have NEVER had trouble finding a service company that supports them. But, your area may be very different... so do your due diligence. In the long run, most of the small PBX systems have similar features and similar up time statistics, so it comes down to the question of supporting it when there is a problem.

-Brian-
Semper Paratus

 

[TeleLion]

Ericsson MD-Evolution, is a great buy right now, the price is right and the features are great, Automated Attendant, analog, digital, Mobile and IP extensions, Voice Mail, battery for power failures, analog trunks, BRI, and PRI. The system depends on boards and licenses, the system can be as small as 4 analog extensions and 4 digital extensions and 4 analog trunks, and can grow up to 36 analog extension or 36 digital extensions with 36 analog trunks and one PRI and up to 128 IP phones, very nice, highly recommended, the MD-Evolution is the small to midsize PBX evolution.

To MD or not to MD that is the question

 

[bwtc]

We have been very happy with the Norstar MICS that we own.

The "basic" version allows 0 lines & up to 32 "stations". Up to 2 "trunk modules" of 2 lines apiece can be added to the KSU.

The nice part about this system is that it is expandable & will grow with your business.

Nortel also makes a CICS. If you are not planning on growing beyond your current needs (never say never!), this may be the road that you'll want to go down. But... you cannot expand the system (outside of adding a few more sations).

 

[grumpyone60]

Get a Partner, Norstar, or Panasonic and call this thread a 'dead horse'

 

[1043]

I have installed at least 20 systems since this thread started.

 

[Gregson]

I have worked with many systems since I started in 1982. I have to say that for small to medium size systems, you can't beat Inter-Tel Technologies. It does cost a bit more but the features cover everything out there. Also, if a new version comes out, it is built as a step up from the current chassis etc, so you do not have to forklift the current system. Downfall is they have only about 8 conference call ports. Usually that is not a problem. I do not work for them so this is my own opinion.
Nortel is a popular system if you tend to trust trends.
NEC is stable as well and the NEC 2000 is built for small to medium solutions.

 

[PhoneSol]

Lots of good systems out there, make sure you get an installer that is certified in the product and one that YOU feel comfortable with.

While you are looking look at ESI (

http://www.estech-esi.com)

and I can point you to a great reseller in your area. For the price, it is the most full featured system on the market (just my opinion, save the flames).

If interested email me at sales@phonesolutionsinc.com and I can get you in contact with the local reseller. (we are in the Tampa area, FYI)

Good luck.

 

[aarenot]

I used to install ESI, They had a single integrated processor for the ystem, and voicemail. It made the integration sweet between the two since they were one.

Have they come any distance on actually offerring a full set of features traditional to phone systems? They did not have much for features say 5 years ago, but that may have changed. They were a great system for an office with less than 8 phones then, when the customer was more interested in price than in features.

 

[orypecos]

If you can do with 4 lines coming in and 9 stations altogether, you could go with a Panasonic KX-TG4000B and you wouldn't have any wiring except to the console. The other stations are all cordless and the system has an built in autoattendant and voicemail. All for about $1000. Other makers have similar cordless solutions, but the lines in and total stations are severely limited. It has outcalling too.