sundance-communications.com Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Something to replace Siemens?

I recently posted this on the NEC forum but really didn't get any feedback so I thought I'd repost here and see what happens. My post was in response to a post about the NEC Aspire system:

I saw this post and it interested me because my company recently tried to become an authorized Aspire dealer but were turned down due to another local company already selling it. We use Vodavi and the TA series Panasonic on the small end and sell Siemens HiPath 3000 for the larger end or if we need to quote a voIP application.
We are not competing well with the Siemens on both price and capability and are looking for something along the same line as the Aspire. It needs to have Key or Hybrid features (lots of programmable buttons, simultaneous internal/external page, flexible voice mail etc.), be able to support IP Hardphones and softphones and grow to at least 120 stations or so. That would fit about 98% of the customers in our area. Any suggestions on systems to look at? I've already inquired about the Vodavi XTS but I don't think it supports IP phones (only system to system IP). Any comments on the Intertel system?
Timbo

Anything made by NEC is a plus..........

I think an NEC phone system has more on the table to present to a customer then a Vodavi...and Panasonic just loves to invent new models after 6 months.......

But unfortunatly we are in a dollar for dollar industry....compare prices and talk to their sales reps.....

Then make your choice......

Groundstart,
thanks for the reply but what I'm asking is what other systems/brands are out there that would be comparable to the NEC Aspire in features/price (especially capable of voIP stations if needed). We've already been turned down on the NEC Aspire dealership due to another local company already selling it. The Siemens is a great switch in the right circumstance (especially networking other sites) but just doesn't really fit the needs or the price expectations of the customer types we have in our area. We are losing deals to the Aspire on price and Key/hybrid features like internal all-call page, lots of programmable buttons, more flexible voice mail, etc.
Any additional thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Timbo

The question is: who is your customer base? If your core customer is very technical, they will tend to gravitate towards some new technology and applications such as SIP, MGCP, Unified Communications, PDA integration ,etc. If your base is more conservative and want to implement IP only when it makes sense, i.e remote offices, remote/traveling workers, etc, then the reliable digital phones for the majority of users is very attractive. So, ideally you find a partner that can accommodate both customers. Inter-Tel is a strong player in this hybrid TDM/VoIP arena. IP/Digital phone functionality is identical and the networking feature set is really strong. They offer sexy new applications while offering a tried and true feature set. Sorry for the ramble and now y'all know my slant.