atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums VOIP Phones & IP PBX Cisco Telephones and Systems The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

We have finally come to a decision. Only took the better part of a year.

We looked at Cisco, Avaya, and Shoretel.
Shoretel is not too bad a system for smaller companies. But it is not very flexible. It is one of those systems that if you like what it is then great, but if you want to change something well good luck.

Avaya is actually a very nice system, rather pricey, even by Cisco standards, And lots of training, even more training then the Cisco.

We went with Cisco, It is actually a nice system, not much of what you read in these forums is true. It scales to an almost unlimited size, it is very complex, but that allows it to do almost anything at all. Training is intense, especially if you want the certifications. But all in all I think it was the best solution for the Health System.

MJ,

Have you installed the system yet or just selected it?

"not much of what you read in these forums is true."

Actually it was true at the time the posts were made. Customers and Interconnect owners were amazed that a product could be sold that required a separate server for paging. A separate server for Music On Hold. Product has probably matured a lot since then but that would be expected with time. Good luck with your choice and keep us updated on your progress!

MJ, who did you end up using as your Cisco partner? I already have one, I'm just curious. PM me if you want to share info.

Thanks!

Justin

Justin, looks like we are going with Windstream. Not my first choice, but the accounting people like it. They are combining it with our data and voice services so we are getting a nice cut rate on it.

CDW provides all our switches and routers.

CDW also does very well with Cisco UC. They picked up a company called Berbe to develop their professional services business for supporting Cisco UC. I've always been very leery about having a carrier design and install such an advanced system. There are ways to get great deals without bundling the entire farm.

Justin

hey mj wald do they have a full featured GUI for administering the system yet?

I havent worked on Cisco in a few years and the GUI was always a problem because for certain features you would have to go to the command line programming then when you tried to make changes in the GUI it would be all confused and lock up. spent hours on the phone with tech support.

Cisco Communications Manager (the enterprise version) is full GUI, and very good and responsive. Depending on the config, there is some CLI to work with for voice gateways (H.323 or SIP voice gateways, especially if setup with PRI's).

Justin

The old CME was like that, Rally had to know your CLI to get things done.

Where are you with this???