atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Other TDM Phone Systems ESI Telephones & Systems is ESI a good phone system?

Hi.

I never heard of the ESI phone system before today. I have spent a few minutes looking over their website.

It seems that they are pretty user friendly and can integrate into a workstation’s computer a lot easier than other phone systems.

What do you guys thinks of them? How do they compare to other phone systems you work with?

Thanks.

OK,

I'll start.

ESI is a Great System! I've been installing phone systems for 25plus years.

ESI runs circles around a Lot of the other systems.

ESI=Easy.

I'm done, Happy Easter!

No it's not a good system, it's great. As a technician, it's a good day when I'm sent to work on an ESI, I work on three other manufacturers and I by far prefer ESI. We get great responses from customers on them, their IP capabilities are great, built in modems and NSP and so on and so on...

What are the three other manufactures that ESI is so much better than.

1- Panasonic

2- nec (ds/dsx)

3- avaya (partner/legend)

That's a preety good mix. I'm not sure you are comparing apples to apples. All four systems have both strenghts and weakness. Very often no one individual tech can be an expert in 4 systems. We also handle 4 different systems. We try to train our techs on 2 system so they can feel comfortable working on these systems. Of course there are times when they have to work on 1 they are not as comfortable with. It usualy works out OK.

I can easily tell you that ESI produces a quality product that many dealers use to satisfy the telcom needs of their potential customers. The reason you haven't heard of them before now is due to marketing. ESI does very little marketing outside of dealers and potential dealers. In other words ESI does not commit their marketing budget to put an ESI Phone on the TV set of "24" like cisco. ESI expects potential future owners to do research before committing company funds to a major purchase which will bring the future end user and a dealer together. Apparently they are correct because here you are communicating with several ESI dealers. If you keep it up an ESI dealer will be in your business with a hands on demonstration kit for you to experiment with.

Now as far as ESI being able to integrate with the computer network I'll direct you back to the ESI website an recommend you spend considerable time focused on VIP.

You asked how they compare to other systems?

If you view the main page here at Tech-Talk you will see a comprehensive list representing ALL of the major manufacturers and each one of them produce a quality product. The side by side comparison just can't be done without knowing the details of its future application. There are some businesses that the Acme 6x16 will be a perfect fit and be cost effective. Possibly ESI does not have a product to compare with the Acme 6x16. I doubt it, but in theory it is possible. In that case get yourself a good dealer and go with the Acme 6x16.

There is one hurdle ESI faces regularly that other systems have had no problem with.

Price!!!

I have experienced this myself as well as many other ESI dealers that when a prospective purchaser gets numerous quotes the ESI system will end up being 70% of the others and 50% of the highest quote. Don't let that fool you, it doesn't indicate a lack of quality it simply means we don't owe Hollywood anything for the next season of "24".

to Tech-Talk MK3. This is your thread, ask as many follow up questions as you like.

1 thing to keep in mind when deciding which system is the best for you is that any piece of equipment will operate poorly if the installer isn't properly trained on the product.

Besides studying telephone systems, research potential vendors that would supply and install the system as well as and provide onsite training and support.

Grider is right, low price is usually a red flag.

I can speak from a non-installer but highly technical and knowledgeable user and the ESI systems are the easiest systems I have ever worked with. When we removed our old Nortel system and installed the ESI, my staff picked up on most of the features very quickly. The system has been VERY reliable and for me, changes are easily made with the Esi-Admin software (I am not yet fortunate enough to have a CS, but hopefully that will be the next change). The phones are also easily programmed from a desktop phone as well, with the voice prompts and the 3 line display on the 48 key phones, if it were any easier, it would have voice recognition for programming (that is one of my worst nightmares), but the ESI system is such a great system I have recommended it to every business that I can think of and have given them a fairly extensive rundown of the features and capabilities of these systems. My installer was very capable with this system and programming was a snap for him. We fully configured the cabinet with our AA and extension lists before we actually made the cutover to the new system. By doing this, the install time after hours was very short since all we had to do install the phones at the desk and pull the cross-connects from the old system to the new blocks. We installed around 60 phones in less than an hour and the cutover was complete. NSP makes life so much easier since everything on the system can be programmed remotely by your installer either via an RS-232 cable connected direct, through the Internet with the NSP, or he can even dial into the built-in modem to make any and all programming changes that may be needed. If you have any more questions on the system, please PM me and I will gladly discuss further with you any questions you may have about the system.