Looking for a Phone System
Yisbik
vendors, Toshiba (Strata DK system) and the Lucent (Partner system). Both
say that they have the better phone system.
Any suggestions for an expandable phone system for an office which currently
has six employees?
Where could I find an honest review of various phone systems of this type?
Have searched with no luck thus far.
Thank you in advance for any help provided.
Keith Brown
ones that offer a variety of models and will install and service your new
system. Inter-Tel (I have been told), is one of the more popular models out
there for a small office situation.
--
Keith Brown
CallCom International
http://www.callcom.com
Yisbik <yis...@yetii.com> wrote in message
news:sc880ek...@corp.supernews.com...
: I am looking into a small office phone system. So far I have spoken to
:
:
:
:
:
Rich Campbell
need modems to work through the phone system without speed degradation?
What kind of growth do you need or want? Are you interested in CTI (Computer
Telephone Integration)? Unified messanging (fax email voicemail)? Is cost the
only motive to determine what system you get? Are you interested in leasing?
Wireless? Not knowing what your needs are...I suggest the ECI Telecom Coral SL.
IMO the best system of it's size class period. The OLNY reason I say this is
that I know that whatever you needs or growth is this system will take you
there. It's definately not the cheapest but, this system goes from 0 ports to
6,500 ports...thats growth. And, the system is well made and won't be out of
date for a long time. The sofware is the same on all Coral systems so upgrading
is a snap. If cost is your driving factor, this system is possibly not for you
but, I can say for certain that you won't be replacing this system because you
can't do something with it or you outgrow it.
Rich
n...@itelecom.com
Forget the Coral-you can't afford it and there are better Internet
PBX's out there if you were looking for one. Go with the Lucent Partner
It is modular and will grow with you. You can add voice mail later,
just power down, slide the module in, power back up and program it. We
have a Lucent Partner II 4.1 and it hasn't even purped. The voice mail
is rock solid too. Toshiba is a good system but I wouldn't buy one.
Thank me later.
David
In article <sc880ek...@corp.supernews.com>,
"Yisbik" <yis...@yetii.com> wrote:
> I am looking into a small office phone system. So far I have spoken
to two
> vendors, Toshiba (Strata DK system) and the Lucent (Partner system).
Both
> say that they have the better phone system.
>
> Any suggestions for an expandable phone system for an office which
currently
> has six employees?
> Where could I find an honest review of various phone systems of this
type?
> Have searched with no luck thus far.
>
> Thank you in advance for any help provided.
>
>
--
David M. Russell
President
Integrity Telecommunications, Inc.
http://www.itelecom.com
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Rich Campbell
pair cabling? Besides, the Coral has a card option voicemail as well...and
it's a hell of a lot better that the VM put in a Partner. And lets talk
about ACD...yeah right on a Partner? Gime a break. But, seriously...just
poking some fun here. This is apple and orange....Yugo->(Partner) and
Mercedes->(Tadiran). The Partner is a good switch if you don't need
anything special...growth not real awesome but it is a solid basic system.
Like I said before, if you plan on doing any fancy stuff better look a few
more horses under the hood.
Rich
Yisbik
feel that it will be more than enough for our needs
<n...@itelecom.com> wrote in message news:8a3mrp$5er$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
Alfredo De La Fe
cable has four pairs in it, and it is a bad idea to only run one cable per
workstation anyway.
As for ACD groups, the partner has very limited ACD/Call Center
functionality, but it's a solid system that gets the job done, and you stand
a real good chance of it not breaking down on you. Not to mention that it
is an American made and engineered product, manufactured by Lucent that has
amazing quality control.
-Alfred
Enhanced Communications, Inc.
http://www.nylucentdealer.com
Rich Campbell <ric...@mediaone.net> wrote in message
news:38C56DFE...@mediaone.net...
> I have put in plenty of partners...haven't they learned to get away from 2
> pair cabling? Besides, the Coral has a card option voicemail as
well...and
> it's a hell of a lot better that the VM put in a Partner. And lets talk
> about ACD...yeah right on a Partner? Gime a break. But, seriously...just
> poking some fun here. This is apple and orange....Yugo->(Partner) and
> Mercedes->(Tadiran). The Partner is a good switch if you don't need
> anything special...growth not real awesome but it is a solid basic system.
> Like I said before, if you plan on doing any fancy stuff better look a few
> more horses under the hood.
>
> Rich
>
> n...@itelecom.com wrote:
>
Alfredo De La Fe
Technologies, Nortel and Toshiba.
All three make an excellent product, although I am more partial to the
Lucent Partner than the Toshiba, that's why we opted to become Lucent
Diamond Business Partners (This means that we sell Lucent product
exclusively). Programing the Partner is a breeze, and if you need something
simple done you can be walked through the programing over the telephone
instead of needing a technician dispatched. In addition, you can get a 4
mailbox PCMCIA voicemail solution for the Partner that also has an
autoattendant for under $400.00, as you may know by now after calling a few
places, voicemail is the most expensive item of your system.
I suggest that you shop around, check references and go with new equipment
as opposed to refurb. (We sold refurb for several years, the 10-20% you
save over new is not worth it in my opinion.)
-Alfred
Enhanced Communications, Inc.
http://www.nylucentdealer.com
Yisbik <yis...@yetii.com> wrote in message
news:sc880ek...@corp.supernews.com...
Rich Campbell
there are "better" alternatives. I don't know very many people who run more
than a single voice cable for a workstation. Most systems use 1 pair per
phone. This, in essence, would allow up to 4 staions to be connected at that
location....more than adequate. I also agree, used equipment is usually not
worth it. I agree that for a "key" system the partner is usually robust enough
to handle it. However, it has been my experience, ala only 15 years in the
field, that most companies sell a product then either make excuses or simply
say they cannot do something the salesman has promised. Little things like
robust LCR/ARS, ACD, GROWTH, TRUE ANALOG PORTS, ISDN...ect. These are the
things that seperate the men from the boys. I can give you an example...we had a
Tadiran version 6...put in some time ago late 80's? It was y2k compliant.
Also, all the circuit cards, and phones could be upgraded AND supported to the
latest software level. How many systems allow for that? I had a customer that
had an ISOTECH/Executone systems put in 2 years ago...the company that installed
it didn't even sell them a y2k compatable system. I say if you are going to do
something that requires some muscle, shop around, ask questions...and make sure
you ask about service....because you can have the best system in the world and
doesn't mean squat if your service is poor.
Just my 2cents
Rich
Alfredo De La Fé
that has the "potential" of going to four, three or even two stations. As
for the other points, if I have a customer that requires "true" ACD
features, I would offer them a Merlin Magix system. The price isn't that
much higher, and it has true call center capabilities. Another great
feature of the partner is that the ports can accept either a Partner
telephone or an analog device.
As for growth, the Magix (and Legend for that matter) can take Partner
telephones.
If you ever exceed 30 telephones you can always upgrade your system to a
Merlin Magix and not have to replace the telephones.
I geuss I am just cautious. As someone that used to be a technician out in
the field, and now does sales, I can tell you that I have seldom had
problems with Lucent equipment. The problems I did have were because the
salesperson did not do their job right of determining the customers needs.
On the other had, I have worked with Tie, Toshiba, Panasonic, NEC and
Northern equipment, and the only equipment that I would feel confident
recommending would be Nortel. (Although, the larger systems are a nightmare
to program- I >>HATED<< programing the Option 11)
Now that I own my own company, it would have been very easy for me to make
us dealers for any number of manufacturers. I would be making more money
selling a product at a slightly lower price, with a lower cost and I would
have had less of a commitment, but I also would not have had the level of
support and quality of product that I have, now that I am a Lucent dealer.
-Alfred
Enhanced Communications, Inc.
http://www.nylucentdealer.com
Rich Campbell <ric...@mediaone.net> wrote in message
news:38C98709...@mediaone.net...
Rich Campbell
aweful hairy to program. Well, I still say the Tadiran product is much better
engineered than the Partner. It has everything you could ever want and the
reliabilty is awesome. This is the type of system you buy if you plan on
keeping it for the next 10-15 years. The reason you have to run more than one
cable is because the partner requires 2 pair per phone. Which, doesn't seem
like a big deal now but, I have seen in MANY places where you are using feeder
cable and instead of getting 25 telephones on that feed you can only get 12
partner phones or any two pair system for that matter. I guesse the biggest
difference is that my average systems are around 100 keysets. When it comes to
the small end, we really don't compete with Partners and such. The only time we
ever see Partners are when we bid on networked telephone systems, ala school
systems, banks and such. Then it's really easy to blow the competition away
with Tadiran's QSIG networking and wireless.
Rich
Alfredo De La Fé
telephones. The only time using single pair sets is advantageous (In my
opinion) is when you are reusing existing wiring and they originally ran
quad, or the wiring is in real bad shape. I run extra wire because you
never know what the future will bring, and you also don't want to run more
cable if they decide to add a modem, fax, second telephone and that credit
card machine just HAS to be on it's on line... For a typical office I try
to run four Category 5 cables using a universal system. (Any of the four
cables can be used for voice or data.)
For a system that will initially have more than 20 telephones I usually
recommend the Merlin Magix. The 4400 series telephones on the Magix use
single pair.
-Alfred
Enhanced Communications, Inc.
http://www.nylucentdealer.com
Rich Campbell <ric...@mediaone.net> wrote in message
news:38CBB285...@mediaone.net...
