atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Recommendation for Phone System

Ken, you should already know the answer.....

'Cause it WILL last for years...

as well the refurbishers have inventory for YEARS. my refurbisher has 2 4 foot shipping containers filled with norstar parts in his yard

My take would be completely different than what most have said. When I buy anything that might need long term service and support I say "How many other firms in the area service this brand or product should your office get hit by a plane during your next company meeting?" In otherwords, if the provider goes out of business, retires, dies, or I want to shop later on for a better price, I try to buy a product that more than 1 firm locally can service.

So, when buying a phone system ask "Who elses services this brand in this market?" With Avaya- think PArtner ACS or IP Office, they have direct (although expensive) staff in most areas, big regional re-sellers, and 2 local guys (1 being us). The customer is completely covered if I leave the business.

That to me is one of the most important buying criteria if you are looking for a good long term product.

Ok. Time for my two cents. I reject the idea of an absolute when it comes to any purchasing criteria. A purchase is always subject to personal biases and affected by many factors. I have operated as a vendor for over 20 years. Over 10 years ago, a service customer refused to purchase a new phone sytstem from me. Why? Because my product was unfamilar to her and my company was too small to be around very long! Well, shortly after purchasing her "better researched system", her manufacturer AND vendor BOTH went out of the phone business. MY PRODUCT and MY COMPANY are STILL HERE! Another customer with multiple sites used our services and products for years. I sold several phone systems to the main campus and to all their branches. When it came time to upgrade to a networked system several years ago, they seriously looked at another vendor and an Avaya system. My competitor came in with a proposal topping a quarter of a million dollars. My proposal was HALF of that. After weathering every argument against me and my product, I won the bid. I won it because of my length of service and track record with this customer. Then, two years ago, a new IT director came in such a huge ego that it was beneath him to even talk to anyone who was not part of one of the largest corporations in the business. Yes, the new IT director chose to first dump us and then go through larger vendors with higher rates and who were not intuitive to their needs. Three of the largest dealers for my product were not able to satisfy him and he was too adament to return to me. He blamed all the shorcomings on the need for another new system and now, they have spent, God knows how much, so that they could have a "good" system from a "good" vendor.

So save the preaching. Customers buy new cars and computers without even a second thought. A phone system doesn't have to last for years and years anymore even though they can. The pricing is just a fraction of what it used to be not that many years ago. A phone system is not a house and it is not something that you are married to. Buy what meets your immediate and near future needs. So what if only 2 or 3 others sell the system? So what if 20 or 30 others sell the same system? There is a lot of parity in systems today and it is the job of the vendor to assess the customer's requirements and fit them with a system accordingly. If a used system fits the bill, go with it. If a shiny new system fits the bill, go with it. This is not a once in a lifetime purchase. If you have money to burn, then go with the biggest and most expensive company you can find. If you have to be prudent with your purchase, then do your due diligence. People with simple formulas are an impediment to me and to many others here on this board who run and operate a small business.

My position is and always will be, to find a vendor who you are comfortable with. Then let them recommend a system for you. End of story.

Yeah, what do IT people hate phone vendors?

"My position is and always will be, to find a vendor who you are comfortable with. Then let them recommend a system for you. End of story." And pray they are in business next week. I have 5 pages of old yellow page ads from just our small rural area where people opened shop, sold whatever was sexy at the time, and did not make it. We continually replace systems where customers were unable to get service cause they bought whatever the guy they felt comfottable with was selling. Smarter buyers often look at long terms servicabiltiy from multiple vendors. Not a formula, just a smart way to buy phones. My 2 cents.

And in this corner, we have...
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In retrospect, Brian has the more appropriate suggestion for this OP. Upon close examination, I see Brian is from Idaho and serves a greater metro area of 122,000 which includes Wyoming while the OP is from North Dakota whose largest city has 95,000. This is a better apples-to-apples comparison than to my metro area.

Since the total population of the above 3 states is less than the Twin Cities greater metro area population of 2.9 million, different rules need to apply. My comments apply for major metropolitan areas where even the most "minor" brands are installed by the hundreds and thousands and have any number of vendors trained to service them.
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Dave I will agree back. In metro areas the rules of buying are different where there are many options. Good research, we cover 3 hours in any direction and have a total of about 150,000 total, mostly cows