sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information New and Need Help Learning about Phones

Hello!
Found this board and looks like everyone here knows a lot about phone systems. Just looking for some general help. First day on a new job and it is now my duty to purchase an entire phone system for our office of 12. I am a teacher by trade so I am starting out at with very little knowledge. We've had 3 companies in with 3 different quotes and I'd love some advice.
Any takers?

Hi Melanie
What kinda of advice are you looking for?
Do you want another quote?
Do you want to discuss what youve been quoted?
Do you want to discuss what your company needs?

Melanie, I would hate to be in your shoes. There are lots of dealers out there who would try to sell you anything whether or not you need it. Your job is not so much purchasing a system but learning as much as you can so that you can make an informed decision, not rely on a sales pitch or price. That's where we can help.

Tell us about your company. You have already mentioned 12 phones, how many lines? What have you been looking at and where are you?

Give us your thoughts and as much information as you can and we'll see if we can help.

-Hal

Thank you so much!

We have 6 lines, 12 phones, and a designated place for a fax machine.
I am most concerned about the quality of the equipment, and of course each one looks great on paper and each salesperson thinks theirs is the best. UGH.

Systems quoted are
Avaya Partner
Tadiran Emerald ICE
NEC Elite IPK

Any thoughts on these?

In a case like this the most important thing is finding a vendor you are comfortable dealing with. I personally install a ton of Partners and our customers really like them. With a bad install, even a great system can appear bad. I would talk to the people you have quotes from and see who is the most straight forward about your wants and needs.

They all seem pretty straight forward and knowledgable. NEC person just voluntarily mentioned that Taridan and Avaya were low end products. Taridan was "such, such, such low end." Is this true? Am I allowed to ask that on this board? Really trying not to offend anyone, just trying to cut to the chance.
I figured the Avaya would be okay as I am seeing/hearing about that as I stumbled around the web. I am finding little info on Taridan.

Melanie:

In what city are you located?

As far as the equipment goes there's more Avaya in service than any of the other two, which means there's more of it available and more who can service it. Your welcome to click here: Avaya Partner pricing. or the Sundance logo link at the top.

Maybe I'm biased (being an Avaya dealer) but I don't think anybody would consider Avaya to be a low end product. Typical mud slinging.

You are probably familiar with Avaya, their name has changed a few times. They used to be Lucent, before that AT&T and before that the phone company. So they were around before any of those other guys were even allowed to be in business (1986) and were born of Western Electric and Bell Labs.

Important thing to remember about Avaya is that you will ALWAYS find someone to handle your problems because they are so popular and have been around so long. Avaya will ALWAYS support their products even those that have long been out of production.

When considering a manufacturer I always recommend that the customer take a look through their phone book for other dealers handling that same product. If the dealer you are considering is the only dealer in your area to handle that product you are going to be in trouble if for some reason you become unhappy with them or they give you poor service. That kind of thing happens all the time.

While I'm on my soap box I have to mention gray market. Make sure the dealer you are dealing with is an authorized dealer for that product. The way to find out is to contact the manufacturer and ask. The reason I say this is that anybody can get anything on the internet these days. So, put an ad in the phone book, buy on the internet and you are in business.



-Hal

Melanie as Hal & the ape said the vendor is the most important part of your phone system. Check around with other businesses in your area find out who is good and who is bad. Decide what features and how much growth you will need and purchase accordingly. And do make sure it is authorized dealer or most mfg. won't warranty it.