atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Nortel v. Samsung v. ESi v. Tadiran

I am having a very difficult time choosing a new telephone system. The primary contenders are the Nortel BGM-50, Samsung iDC100, ECi IVX-S class and Tadiran Emerald Ice. I have ruled out Toshiba and NEC because I do not trust the local dealers for those systems.

We have 5 lines and 12 phones. The best experience I've had with a phone system was with an Inter-Tel, but no one in my area sells/installs them. The ECi S class I think is too limited, but I really like the company (although their price on the E Class is just too high for our budget).

I want the system to last as long as possible and be able to be upgraded to take a pri or a VoIP interface. Any thoughts?

You have already hit on the most important part, and that is the service company you use. All systems your described are very good.

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Voice and Data Cabling in DFW, [email protected]
DnR Communications

Where are you located??

Central Virginia

Any one of those systems will fill your needs well. I tend to like the ESI as it is very simple for the end-user (you) to handle minor programming changes themselves without a service call. The Norstar benefits from being very widely used so that parts are readily available.
Pick the vendor that you feel will take care of you best. Talk to other local businesses, find out who they use. Ask for references and then check the references.

You have made an excellent "short list".

The NEC dealers are corupt in my area too.

Toshiba and NEC phone systems are almost impossible to work with(even if you find a dealer who is not corupt who sells NEC)

I personally like the Samsung. Many other dealers I know who sell just about every system use the samsung as their personal system.

I do like the PC based user friendly ESI interface but I don't know if they still have any bugs.

I don't know anything about the nortel.



[This message has been edited by Jonnydanger (edited August 12, 2005).]

Go ICE. It is rather easy, very expandable, cost-effective, and generally...it's a good switch. AND...the Emerald ICE software is better than most.

Good Luck!

Do you have the "general description" PDF? I think its about 122 pages and it explains in detail about all Samsung equipment and abilities.

One cool feature I was playing with today is the number-to-name translation table.

My phone company promised me deluxe caller ID(with name and number) however they are only giving me number(with no name attached)

I was able to go into the Samsung program MMC728 which is design to attach a name to a caller ID's number on the display.

I used the PCMMC software and added all 600 name in my customer database.

Now, when ever a customer calls, I can see the name of the person calling.

This is just 1 of the many easy to use programs the samsung has.

It also has least cost routing to provide the cheapest option if you use multiple carriers.

It has customized groups for departments that will overflow to other people if not picked up by the time you set.

There is DID( if your using a T1/PRI) that you could give almost every person in your company their own personalized phone number or an unlimited number of fax machines while still using the existing T1 line(no need for an extra copper line from your CO)

It basically can save you money with doing more with less line. The Samsung is Rock solid. The system does not break and the phones do not break from my experience.

On the other side, the ESI has some cool contact management CTI applications.

Just letting you know my experience. Hope it helps.

My concern about the Samsung system is its limited voice-mail capacity. I recognize the value of flash media in terms of eliminating moving parts of hard disk drive, but 2.5 hours seems too skimpy. Also, how much programing control can the end user have over the system? I know the Nortel will connect to my network hub and allow me to work on the system from my workstation. Does the iDCS allow me to record telephone conversations?

[QUOTE] and generally...it's a good switch.

Are there some exceptions? I am waiting on pricing from the vender so I cannot evaluate the price/performance yet.