sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Which System for These Requirements?

Not that it really matters but if 5 of the 20 are remote then I would only be just over 3 times your budget

Mike, your asking for a nice car on a horse and buggy budget.
One thing to keep in mind is "How important is phones to your business?" Most businesses will say it is very very important.
And it isn't always best to make a decision based on price alone.
My suggestion would be to contact about 3 local vendors in your area to come in and give you a bid. Ask for references from all 3 and check them out. A big part of any phone system is the vendor you choose to hook up with. Most systems today can do anything that you have stated that you would like to have, but the service behind the sale is the most important thing IMO.

And as for you budget, you may want to think about leasing in order to get what you need to start with instead of taking what you can find cheap.

If you do it the way you are doing it by saying this is how much we think this should cost and then "bugeting" that amount you are going to get zilch. You need to find out what things really cost first.

-Hal

If you decide on a "budget" before you talk to your local vendors, DON'T TELL THEM what the amount is.

Mike, no one else has mentioned this, but most systems that will do all you want, can be purchased without all the bells and whistles, but configured to upgrade easily. Then add them later, as each need becomes critical. Just remember 2 things. Doing it that way will cost probably 30-50% more, due to inflation and reprogamming for new goodies. And you'd better add the goodies within 2-4 years. This industry sometimes moves unbelievably quickly! You might ask for bids based on the fact that the upgrades will happen and how much will they cost, if done to an exhisting out of warranty system, today. But, in the end, references, references, references! Try to buy from an established solid, reliable outfit. Ask for references, AND CHECK THEM! John C.

If money is tight look at leasing.

I might add that I get potential customers all the time that see places like Staples selling phones for $100 and automatically assume that a system phone is the same price. Then they assume that the KSU and installation shouldn't be much more. This is like comparing buying steak at a supermarket to eating at a good restaurant.

-Hal

A used Samsung DCS with an SVMiE will do all of that for under $5k, minus the remote IP phones.

I think 'remote phones' ie 'IP phones' is the price inflator. I was talking with a guy the other day that wanted basically everything, 80 phones - and he looked at me and asked 'what would that run, about ten grand?". I tried my best to smile and say politely 'no' ....

The only way you could work within that $5K budget is if you configure the phone system yourself. I don't know what your technical expertise is but take a look at Switchvox because this is simple enough to configure using the UI. If you know linux and can learn Asterisk then this would be even cheaper although all the programming would be done in the command line.

For $5K you could get the Switchvox SoHo appliance and cheap cheap phones like Grandstream or Aastra.. although I recommend Polycom (more expensive). I don't see anyway you could include the switch in this price range nor will you be able to afford on-site support.

Also, since most FXO gateways or cards come in configurations of 4, if you can change that requirement to 8POTS, you'll save a few hundred dollars.

Hope this helps. If you are interested in Switchvox, drop me a line and I can discuss further. Switchvox has it's pros and cons but with your budget I think it's your only hope.

OH!!! Also, another thought is the Asterisk AA50 appliance which you can purchase with 8FXO ports for less than $2K. This will be about $1-2K less than Switchvox but it doesn't come with as many features and it's slightly more difficult to configure.

Either way I think both options should satisfy all your requirements. Hope my 2 cents are useful.

Alright folks...this thread is over a month old. The original poster has not responded with further info so the issue probably has already been resolved.