atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Comparing Phone Systems

I have to agree with bigdog about pauls post, I also thought it was harsh. I've been selling dx80 since it first came out and have had very good luck with it.
mark

My comments were directed primarily at the quality and durability of the telephones themselves. We are a telephone repair and refurbishing company.
The products that I was referring to were the 83xx series phones and the DX-80 phones. The rate of failure of the components, especially the LCDs, the quality and durability of the housings, and the design of the phones themselves.
They seem to be built to be throw-aways just like most home cordless phones.
We repair many, many, many, 10-15 year old Executech phones. I doubt that 25% of the 8324s will have displays that last 4-5 years. I doubt that a DX-80 telephone could survive 2 years in any kind of heavy-use environment, like a restaurant or a garage.
The 64xx, 66xx, 77xx, and 80xx phones were all designed and built to be workhorses. They are built to last. I cannot, in any honesty, say the same thing regarding any of the newer Comdial telephones.

I apprieciate your opinion. However many of us are in the business of selling this equipment, and they now carry a 3 year warranty.The new longer warranty means you will see fewer and fewer since your business is out of warranty repair. Futhermore, when you get them, you don't know the endurance they lasted through, and they must be the earliest production to be out of warranty now. If you have to bash a product we sell, do it in the installer forum, not on the open board. You know, if you can't say something nice ...
mark

I am not here to find out who sales the best item. I want honest opinion. Paul I apperciate you being blunt about the comdial phone. We are a very busy insurance office. Our phones log 4 to 6 hours of use a day during the 8 hour business day. I want to know the plan facts. Am I going to be happy with a system 5 years down the road when the warranty is out. Will I be paying one of you guys $80.00 an hour to fix it or will I be able to run my business.

[This message has been edited by jspeterson (edited September 01, 2004).]

Mark,
I am not trying to hurt your business. The man asked for opinions. I am giving my opinion.
And you are correct that we are seeing mainly the earliest releases of the 83xx series and DX-80 series phones. I truly hope that the product has improved.
However, it is a fact that in all Comdial display phones previous to the 83xx series, we see a bad display mpdule in roughly 2%-3% of the phones sent in to us for repair. This number includes the, now ancient, 66xx and 67xx series display sets. In the 83xx and DX-80 series sets that we have recieved, roughly half of the displays are blown.
I can only give my opinion on what I have seen. As far as the newer releases go, none of us can know how they will hold up until they have been out there for a while. From what I am hearing from many of our customers that are, at least for now, Comdial dealers, the problems have not been fixed.

jspeterson,
The honest opinion is that most all the new systems will do what you want, the best thing to do is compare prices and make sure you get good support.

jspeterson,

My perspective is a little different than most as I work for a manufacturer. As a manufacturer, we rely so much on the great resellers and techs to really make our products shine. The interconnects all have their favorites which is why they carry the product lines. The top 15 PBX makers will have the same 200 or so features so that can't be used as a differentiator. So then it comes down to company strength - that of the PBX maker & that of the interconnect. Check stock performance, ask for references specific to your industry, look at the Better Bus. Bur for information. The good will always outshine if you do your due dilligence.

i agree about the systems having alot of the same features and the importance of the company that sells & supports the equipment. I'd like to take a different tack here---what I do as a small business owner is to pick my customers. Sure, some of them pick me--and I go along with doing business with them---but in reality, when it's not a good fit---I walk away. JS--who is maintaining your present system, and why aren't you just going with them?? I maintain a trusted relationship with most of my customers, and am asked all sorts of questions, because they trust my opinions. I would really be suprised if one of my better customers would make me go into a bidding war with 3-5 other commpanies. I feel I can stop by or call up anytime and present a new idea, without having them look at me like I'm trying to steal their money from them. They are truthful with me, and have tried to the best of their ability to understand my business, and the technical terms of my business, so that we can communicate in a coherent manner. There are customers who willingly pay for everything to be done--and others who want to do things themselves so want to be trained. Either way, we both win.
I am very leery of prospective clients who just want the "basics" but end up talking of IP, DIDs, PRIs, Voice Mail, outgoing page notification, answering positions with cordless phones, external call forwarding --etc. Not that we can't provide those features-it's just that I get a feeling that the client is wanting something for nothing right off the bat. I also try to find out why he is leaving his present vendor. That question really gets me a lot of information ---so that I can make MY decision. So, JS--would you make a good customer???
"We are a very busy office.------" ALL of my customers, 100 circuits or 2 lines ALL think that their phones are important to them--and they are---but if the phones are important why are there only two options for you after 5 years of good service--1. Pay 80.00 to fix something or 2. Not be able to run your business. I would think that after paying for (after all it's not free)a five year Warranty --(probably that's really a service agreement)--80.00 to repair a phone(or a problem) is not really that bad. I mean, afer all, on one hand you say that your phones are going to get an extreme amount of use, but you don't expect anything to ever go wrong with them. Maybe that's not what you mean, but some of your statements would make me think twice about picking you for a customer. Please take this in the way it is intended; ---a relationship is two-way. You have to bring things to the table too--not just a demand for quality equipment but a realization that this will be sort of a marriage---you're going to be stuck with each other for 5-7 years or more. Hopefully you & your vendor pick each other by seeing something in the other that you really like. The vendor--not just the salesman, not just the phone system--but the whole package. Good Luck.

Why are we looking at a new vendor. We have had a phone system for 11 years now. Works great but the company that provided us with this system has changed its approach to working. They don't want a relationship but just the ability to find everything they can to bill you for things that can be addressed in a different manner. They are not in it for the two way relationship. If something goes wrong it is how can we weasel the most out of you. Not one to do business with. Expecially considering we have sent them a lot of referals over the years.

Now about us and if we are a good client. We are the type of client you want. We want to be self reliant and know how to use the product. We pay for things up front and you never have to worry about us leaving you hanging. We are in the business of doing what we say. We are one of the largest Insurance offices for our state for the company we represent. You don't get that way unless you know how to have good relationships.

When it comes to phone systems, many things have changed since we last looked 11 years ago. We also know that who you buy the phone from has as much to do as the product. But if you notice my orginal question, I want to know IS THIER A DIFFERENCE between the systems. Things go wrong and have to be fixed but I want to know is it a product that will be reliable, user friendly, able to keep pace with our business. I hear sales guys in this business talk about how it is similar to buying a car. It is, you have to test drive the systems and make sure they fit your needs. Sometimes though you can buy the Jaguar and it is always getting serviced or you can by the Lexus and drive it for a few years and enjoy the ride.

jspeterson,

We are local to you and sell Telrad for large systems and Avaya for the smaller offices, I'm not going to feed you any bull here the Telrad is a little more costly but once it is in place you will never out grow it and it will always be upgradeable for any future needs.They are rock solid and have no issues as they are beta tested for years before they release the products. They can also be migrated to IP very easily.

The Avaya Partner ACS is a good system also but doesn't have the features that the Telrad does but it is very user friendly and we have had very good luck with them and the customers really seem to like them. They will only grow to 15X40 which may or may not be to small for you.



[This message has been edited by dtmf (edited September 03, 2004).]