Which VOIP system would be the best fit

[eric007]

Hi folks,

Considering a new IP phone system and wondering what system would be the best fit. The Cisco network has been upgraded with-in the past year so I feel it is ready. I am looking at Cisco, Shoretel and Avaya. I will be the only person supporting it and I am not a Cisco engineer, but do know some basics of Cisco gear. For the past 10+ years I have managed a Nortel Option 11 and will be doing my own adds, moves, changes, etc… Here are the basic requirements.

One main site and 4 remote sites all connected by fiber on the same network

Needs to be redundant

Needs to be feature rich, possibly some video in the future, but a very limited amount

Ease of management is important

Integration with Exchange 2010

100 digital phones and 50 analog lines

One Call Center with 12 full-time agents and grows occasionally to 40 agents, 4 or 5 different ACD groups

All suggestions are appreciated. If you can point me to any case studies, that would also be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[trvlr1]

If you look to upgrade your current system to IP, you can likely retain all your existing phones etc as well as some of the hardware that you are familiar with, then transition over at your pace to IP instead of a drop dead date. You will also be able to use your existing knowledge of the Option 11 to your advantage. Please don't go in thinking it is going to be the answer to all your problems and it will cut your expenses in half, because that is unlikely.

The bottom line though, is to talk to your local vendors to get quotes for what you want and looking in to just how good each of them are. Get references and check them out. If you have an existing relationship with one of them and you trust them, so much the better for your peace of mind. All of the systems you mentioned will do the job, its more the service you will get that you need to be concerned with from the local vendor.

 

[GSmitherman]

I have experience with both ShoreTel and Avaya. There is really no comparison. ShoreTel blows Avaya away. The only Cisco experience I have is replacing them with ShoreTel. If you have specific questions, feel free to ask me.

 

[GordonKapesMZ4]

I'd simply update your option 11 to the latest mini version of the CS1000. You can keep your existing Nortel phones or begin using 11xx series IP phone sets, which function and act very similar to the M2xxx and M39XX sets.