sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information we need to buy a new phone system

JWRacedog, thanks for taking the time look up up to see what we do.

We would keep our system but it just doesn't have the capability to do what we want it to do. Your suggestion is good but that would require us to pay someone to come in and do it. We are going to try to go it alone because we think its do-able. If we get stuck, we'll pay someone to help us. In our situation, we are getting less and less telephone calls and even less faxes - that thing hasn't rung in about a week. Our sales are way up and telephone calls are way down. I would say 90% of what I do is via computer so the need for a whopper phone system is really not there.

I fully understand if you don't have a clue you probably shouldn't attempt to try to install you own phone system. But the fact of the matter is we have tech resources here, our company buys, sells, repairs, networks HP mainframe hardware. I know its not quite the same but we have a lot of electronic knowledge over here. We have moved about 4 times in the past 13 years and we taken down, rewired, & set-up our system every time we moved with out a problem.

This Talkswitch system looks really simple and that's all that we need. By the way, why isn't there a Talkswitch forum on here?

Well, we don't allow bashing of systems, so you may just need to read between the lines.

You may also want to consider a Vertical/Vodavi STSe or SBX system. Since you've had very good success with the other Vodavi, why not stick with the same brand? In other words, if you bought a 1995 Ford and drove it for 15 years with no problems, wouldn't you consider another Ford? Just a thought.

That may be all very true, and yet partly to blame for your present issues.

A properly trained tech in whatever system you decide on can tweak it to do things you didn't even think possible, either with programming or added hardware.

Please note: Not all programming tricks are readily available in the literature you receive. Sometimes years of experience makes all the difference in the world and yes sometimes experienced techs know things that aren't known to tech support....just from our experience in solving problems for our clients.

Some of the largest invoices from any skilled trade come from just these types of situations.

Jesse, Welcome to the forum! I am considering the above members who have responded to your post. Do you know that you just received the combined advice of a couple of hundred years of professional experience? Is this a great site or what?
Please keep us posted on what you finally decide upon!

And how it turns out. :rolleyes:

I see things differently having had customers buy a system where service options are limited and they get stuck.

A good vendor is key, but more important question is: How many other vendors do quality work on the brand being proposed.

Go with a major, established brand with a large marketshare in your area, and multiple vendors, is what I advise buyers. If a vendor goes out of business, you will have options. It also keeps the price of add-ons at reasonable rates because the vendor does not have you by the, well, neck.

Locally we have had vendors, mostly start ups, start selling the latest sexy phone system only to realize that it is not the easiest to stay in business, and go out... and leave a (small) base of customers with no local suport. We even changed out a couple 2 year old systems last year because their vendor went out, and it was too expensive to service this little known brand with a distant service provider.

So, in my opinion, the product you buy is #1. Not from the sexy feature standpoint, but in the number of long established firms who can service it. In my market about 50% of firms that have been here 10 years or longer work on Avaya. Plus Avaya has their own techs you can call (expensive) but they are here.

Why go with a system based on features or the strength of one support choice? Why not go with a good system where you have several back ups for long term support if needed? You would not buy a car where you could only get the oil changed at one shop, would you?

Just my 2 cents. A bit different thinking than most.

I'm not sure but will the Partner mail call fdw from a mailbox to a cell phone?..I'm sure the pc cards won't (2x4 or 2X12). Not even sure the PICA cards will even send a notification..from memory I don't remember...but I think the partner mail will send a notification...a little more expensive compared to the small pc cards...I've never heard of a mailbox of any kind being able to call forward to another number.

But I could be wrong!!

BrianS wrote:

Right on, and I want to know just where all these sexy new phone systems are coming from. Seriously, it seems like every week I see a new "Telephony Appliance" box being advertised, always VoIP, and always from a company I have never heard of before.

Every time I see one of these new boxes I think of the movie "The Road to Wellville." After the success of Corn Flakes, about a thousand new companies popped up out of nowhere, all intending to make a killing in the breakfast cereal business. My favorite scene was when the young guy gets off the train in Battle Creek, Michigan, and is instantly accosted by dozens of hustlers trying to sell him shares in new breakfast food companies.

Jim
**************************************************
Speaking from a secure undisclosed location.

test-ok - With the small partner mail you transfer to the extension, then the extension is forwarded to the cell phone. It takes two lines but works good.