sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Small Business Key System w/AutoAttendant

It's been a while since I bought a key system for a customer (25 yrs. of telephone, but more into computers now). I have a customer that wants a small key system (3-12 lines; 6-18 phones) with voice mail/A.A. Can I get some feedback on models with automated attendant/voice mail and their pros and cons, please?!

Sure

Samsung IDCS16
Nortel cics
Panasonic KX-TA824
Partner ACS release 7

these all have the same feature sets so that wont be a consideration, The pricing and availability is important and I really think its going to come to what the customer thinks of the phone and ease of use

buying refurbed is ok but I always prefer new. Your price range is going to vary from state to state so I wouldent want to be caught wrong there

feel free to email me if you want to get in detail on pricing and so on.

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Altcomm

Take a look at the inter-tel Encore CX. Very inexpensive system. Easy to install. All ports are anologe or digital so no extra cards for fax, modem, ccr, ect. Stay away from no=rtel cics, voice mail is a seperate unit and does not interface smothly. Email me if you would like pricing.

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Alan Gordon

OUCH! I've never heard anyone say to stay away from a Norstar before. I don't think I've ever seen a more intuitive system. The voice mail is a separate unit, but bundle pricing is available on new systems (from Nortel dealers). It is a top notch system.



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BCM Guy
www.BCMguy.com
Learn more about the Nortel Networks Business Communications Manager HERE !

I would have to agree with BCMguy.com
, Avaya ,Pana and Nortel are my picks for small office's and the VM's intergrate very smooth on all of them,I don't know where you are getting your info from 73agordon but you are dead wrong about the interface , as far as the sl ports the Avaya has them also built into the modules.

Sounds like someone is pushing Inter-Tel

[This message has been edited by dtmf (edited August 19, 2005).]

"STAY AWAY FROM NORTEL"......
what the hell is in your coffee this morning.....

"does not interface smoothly." ????? What???
You've got to be kidding.

I just went through this process as a customer. I wanted to go with Inter-tel (best system I have ever used), but there was no local dealer. The two systems that I think offered the best in terms of comprehnsive features, expandability and network integration were the Nortel BCM 50 and the ESI 72e. To be fair to Avaya and NEC, I did not give them as much consideration because of the local dealer. I went with the ESI eventhough it was a little more expensive than the Samsung and Nortel systems. The Samsung iDCS 100 was a close third. The only problem I have with the ESI is the pricing structure seems to be built around the upsell. I imagine some dealers will like this, but as a customer I did not. ESI's VIP software was a big plus in my opinion.

[This message has been edited by mostlyprudent (edited August 19, 2005).]

Quote from 73agordon: "Stay away from no=rtel CICS"

This from a guy, who according to his website sells Intertell and Vodavi. Well, if you would have purchased either an Intertell or Vodavi just 5 years ago, depending on the model, you would find that today your system would be manufacturer discontinued. So if you needed a new phone or card or voice mail, you would be busy searching eBay or the refurb market. Or, you may find that you need to replace your entire system.

On the other hand, you can buy brand new phones for any Norstar system ever made, since Nortel always implements backwards compatibility.

As for the voice mail not interfacing smoothly; this is just incorrect. This comment would most likely come from someone who has little or no experience with Nortel. None of this is meant to be an insult to you 73agordon. Please don’t take it that way. I am sure you are well versed in the products you support.

As to HISEagle’s original question of a computer guy looking to help a client get into a key system: The best advice I could give you is to act as a point man for the system, and sub it out if you want to be involved. But the best thing you could do for your customer is to help them find a good vendor for whatever system they choose. The system is only going to be as good as the vendor can configure it, no matter who makes it, and in turn how well that vendor can train the customer in its use.

For instance, I am a phone guy who is very computer literate, but that does not mean I am going to sell my existing customers a computer system. I am not in that business, and I am smart enough to know how much I don’t know. I have a company that I sub computer stuff out to, and they in turn give me phone work. My philosophy is to do one thing very well, instead of a lot of things just OK. I don’t even work on any other phone systems besides Nortel. I just don’t want to learn another system on my customers dime. I have worked on others in the past, but it was always a pain. Luckily I am busy enough now that I can stick to just one (Nortel.)

Check out www.esiivx.com.

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