New 40 user office telephone system ?

Edwards Finance > Phones

Q. We are replacing our ageing 10 year old Panasonic system and have quotes for an Avaya Office IP system and and Inter-Tel I:Box. They are both about the same overall cost. Any comments on which is best? We are a professional office (accountants).

A. The IP Office is very widely distributed. It is basically a combined PABX and Router which can be attractive to greenfield sites with no existing voice or data infrastructure. Extension ports are designed for RJ45-type patch connections, but can be adapted to existing fixed wiring. Despite the name, IP telephony is an optional extra - the standard phones are either digital (2-wire) or analogue. CTI is included, and makes the system very easy to use via a PC. The voice-mail system features are pretty basic, even with the upgraded "Pro" version, though they include integration with e-mail messaging. I don't know the Inter-tel system. The brochure doesn't give capacities for maximum growth. It seems similar in concept to IP Office, but I wonder if it's as well developed. The feature list doesn't include "account codes", which many professional offices need for billing. The Mitel system is based on IP telephony. Apart from a couple of "POTS" ports, extensions connect via the data LAN and need a minimum set of requirements to ensure adequate performance. The prospective supplier would need to survey your network and advise on upgrades - you might need to spend another £4K+ replacing LAN switches. Many small-to-medium businesses are nervous about mixing voice and data - they often don't have on-site IT expertise to quickly diagnose problems and their data networks are not as reliable as stand-alone phone systems. The Mitel has a good enough reputation, but you need to think carefully before going down the IP road. Whatever systems you look at, check the features are a good match to ones you currently rely on. Make sure it can be expanded at least 50% above current needs. Get references from your suppliers and talk to previous buyers to find out if they're happy. If any particular new feature is important to you, ask for it to be demonstrated: for example, the Inter-Tel brochure talks about homeworking via DSL, but using the public Internet for voice is frowned on by professionals since quality is not guaranteed (Avaya does not "support" this facility, even if it "works"). I have no Knowledge of the intertel system but can confirm the IP Office is a very capable system for most applications (not so hot for call centres) However I would say make sure you have a good installer the system is very simple to configure, sometimes deceptively simple, I have come across sites that have given customers a great deal of trouble due to poor configuration. In othercasses customers have been saved the expense of VM Pro & other enhancements by the ingenuity & understanding of the system programmer

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