atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Other TDM Phone Systems ESI Telephones & Systems ESI has a roll out end of April

Say it ain't so, if thats true, then what's the point?

What a huge disappointment that will be.

Big deal!

Dont get me wrong, I love ESI but surely something must be missing? I will be at a roll out tomorrow and see for myself.

Why is API not a big deal?

It could be a big deal if they had phones that could support third party app's and run scripts. these are pretty common place today and it looks like the Android phone will but at what price and when?

Time will tell I will see the product tomorrow for myself but I was hoping for a system that was a true all in one IP based system with routing, firewalls, Wifi etc.

I sure don't see much excitement on this board about the roll out....

OK. Just got back from the Pacific Northwest rollout and I am very impressed. ESI is building on what they do best and with IP900 is delivering a product that the IT guys can sell to their bosses.
A few things that stand out:
-The new phones have 3 pages of DSS info and the screens and keys update INSTANTLY when you change the page, certainly more than I can say for most executive IP phones.
- VIP 7 is totally redesigned for Windows 7 and looks like it's tailor made to fit a smartphone screen. I suspect we'll see something in the near future for Android mobile users.
- Phones are the same rugged construction but the keys have a much nicer "feel" to them. And cable management is improved. The visual voicemail is outstanding.
- There is an Ethernet port labeled "WAN" on the main processor supposedly for "future" use. Could be interesting later.
- Twinning is now supported on all Comm servers and higher if you install the latest version software. A lot of other systems support this but if you hit "*4" after you get an extension call on your mobile you can transfer it back to any extension on the system. I just tried it on our office Beta system and it works great.

All in all definitely worth the 3 hour drive. There were some resellers there who drove 7 hours and were not disappointed either.

Because we don't know what that means yet and how that will be supported. Getting under the covers is good, don't get me wrong, but are we only able to kiss, or can we do the dirty deed? And what is the cost???

Way to many variables before I can get excited.

Personally,

I love ESI, but IMHO, the roll out did nothing for me to sell today, nor no gave me an inkling on when I could sell.

Just Saying

Walter

PS
When the day is done, I bet they will have a spectacular product, but where that fits at that time will be the challenge, and how much longer can we wait?

We attended a roll out yesterday and I am impressed with some of ESI's new management strategies.

I was hoping for some pricing info and availablity on the new products to give my final judgement. In a price concious market and with no routing/firewall/wifi integrated it still makes it a stand alone product. I just feel that would have been a huge advantage - maybe in the future?

Twinning is cool, we set it up yesterday and it works well.

Hopefully VIP 7 will be offered as a free upgrade to those that have the current problematic versions.

Visual Voicemail is cool and is a nice feature.

The phones do look better in person. The Android phone is really cool but at what price.

The API will either be a huge succes or a huge bust - I am hopeful.

I am seeing what they do with the ESI marketplace as far as resellers go.

I really like the online training idea going forward.


I guess time will tell

"I guess time will tell"

Well that my friend is the problem, IMHO, time ran out a long time ago.But loyal dealers like you and I are still hanging on

The self labeling phones are good enough for me. That will save a substantial amount of time on an install. I like the thought of being able to move your curser over a port and see what extension is on it. I have been asking for something like that for years. On many of our installs we do number exchanges to match DID's. Once you do a couple of hundred of exchanges you had better be keeping good notes. I do wish they would make a few things a little more robust so we could feel more confident in using this in health care facilities. I hope they are not rushing this. I will probably wait at least 6 months or so after they release it to the public before I sell it. All in all it was a decent rollout. This could really appeal to some of our customers who would like to administer their own system with ease.

I would have really liked a whole new platform, hopefully the CS platform will allow for some newer featues -

I've been hoping for a simple table to add holidays for the year instead of dealing with the holiday greeting...With Cisco you list the date, record a specific greeting for the date and walk away till next year.

I agree with walterv, time to really kick it up a couple of notches and get in the IP game full time. Based on the info they gave us it sounds like they have hired the right people to do just that. Time will tell it's kind of the Lead, Follow or Get out of the way thing.

If it wasn't for the way ESI works with resellers, their people and support I would have been gone along time ago, and yes they do make a very good product.