atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems NEC Telephones & Systems Aspire v. IPK II

Let me correct the record.

The DS and DSX were designed by the "Nitsuko" team in Shelton. The merge with NEC had nothing to do with the quality of these products. (The DS-Series has the lowest return rate of ALL NEC key systems.)

FYI, the IPK-II software is the same as Aspire, which is based on the i-Series. The Aspire hardware is based on DS-Series. You do the math.

Was the DS series available before or after the Aspire came out?

The DS-Series came out before the Aspire. Here are the release dates:

DS2000 Sept 1999
DS1000 Nov 2000
Aspire-M June 2003
Aspire-S Feb 2004

DSX Deus,

The NEC hardware on all their switches and the dterm phones were higher quality by far than the Nitsuko brand. (I have worked on both sides) You put the DS phone next to the dterm the DS phone looks and feels cheep, the legs would break off, clip under the handset would come off, little things like that set the 2 apart.
DSX phones, thats a different story, if Nitsuko was not bought out by NEC those DSX phones would be at the same quality as the DS ones, cheep!
NEC unified has put their standards on the Nitsuko brand

dans,

I respectively disagree with your assessment of who is responsible for the quality at Nitsuko and NEC. Your comments are typical of the old NEC dealers who have always looked at Nitsuko as a low-cost, low-quality manufacturer. (I guess this bias may be a result of sales competition throughout the years.) The truth of the matter is that both companies produced some very good products and some below average products over the years. However, the merger of NEC and Nitsuko (NEC Infrontia) has produced an outstanding organization, that by combining the strengths of both companies, has achieved the highest key system market share in the US.

Regarding the phone comments, I'm the guy who created the DS/DSX/IntraMail system architecture and designed the DSX phones (thanks for the kind words), so I know a little about what the real story is. Back when we were designing the DS system, we needed a phone quickly, so we used the i-Series phone that was in development for the Japan and European markets (those markets used a slimmer, K2-style handset). This phone was very successful for Nitsuko. However, it might have been a bit too dainty for the US market (fat hands need bigger buttons).

With the huge success of the DS behind us, we (i.e. the "Nitsuko" guys) were able to design the best phone possible, exclusively for the new DSX system and the US market. We received many favorable comments about the design (the dealers and end-users love it) and think it may be one of the best NEC phones yet. With all due respect to my fellow colleagues who were with NEC before the merger, the DSX phone and system design had nothing to do with them.

I suggest you take a look at the DSX system and IntraMail. Your customers will thank you. (More surprises to come.)

p.s. Feel free to PM if you need more info.

DSX Deus
If you go back in the NEC forum you can read my comments on the DSX system. I said you at NEC Infrontia hit a home run.
As for the company I work for we have sold the DS systems for over 5 years. What I have seen out in the field the Nitsuko I series phones were junk compared to the dterms. The DS phones were not much better. The DSX phone are the best you guys have put on the market!

Now I'm going to say it again, I have serviced many systems and can say with ease you hit a home run with the DSX

Dan S

DSX Deus,

You said,
Please clarify for me the part about the Aspire hardware is based on the DS-Series. Do they share the same PCB's, chassis, backplane, or what? I've never had my hands on an Aspire so I am curious as to what you meant.

Thx,
Bill

Bill,

Let me clarify. The Aspire hardware architecture (backplane protocols, DSP, etc.) was based on the work done on the DS-Series. The boards themselves are a different. The Aspire has much more capability since it's a converged (TDM/IP) system.