atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Manufacturers

Hey guys -

I have been lurking on this site for some time and enjoy and respect much of what I read. I however now am looking to be a little more active.

We are looking into picking up another product. We currently sell Vodavi (our flagship product), but also sell the Avaya Partner ACS, Nortel MICS, and Comdial FXII. We do very little of the Avaya and Nortel and feel we need something to fit the need of customers in the 50-250 user size. The Vodavi does this well, but as you all know one product doesn't fit all customers.

Any thoughts and or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Not that it make a big deal but we do a fair amount of VoIP applications.

Thanks

Mike

Mike;

I agree with you on your thoughts. From what I have seen around here, it seems that NEC is looking better and better. Will you be at the Vodavi conference in April?

Ed -

I think I will. I was very impressed with many of the other dealers. I was hoping to spend more time meeting with you but things didn't workout that way.

I had been going to the Comdial meetings for many years and I liked the Vodavi format better. I just wish dealers would not fear each other as much as they do and realize that we have more to offer each other that to fear.

We partner with many companies and believe that is the key to our success. Hopefully we can get together in Arizona, I would like that.

As far as NEC TSM/BlackBox is the player here are their any others. I also am looking for a product that is not over saturated with vendors, like AVAYA and NORTEL. Hell they don't need competitors they can compete with each other all day. We probably have 20 companies in the area that sell and service both those lines.

PhoneGuy
Check this out it may fit just what you want. Have 40 and 80 port cabinets stackable to 320 ports. I've sold it for 10 years and prefer it over my other brands (Panasonic, NEC)


https://www.transtelcommunications.com/main/freedocs/dl/TransTel-TDS-Brochure.pdf

Merritt -

Thanks I will take a look.


Mike

Well, I am not sure about your area....but down here NEC and Panasonic dealers are a dime a dozen. Seriously, I can think of 7 within a 10 mile radius of me right now. Talk about over saturation of the market. In on ejob I went into there were 4 dealers in the ring (including me) and all of the other three were quoting NEC.

If I were you I would look at something that is different from what you already offer, or at least something that can DO a special feature. NEC and Panasonic are too close to your Vodavi and Comdial products. I would maybe look at Tadiran. They have a great product line, truly solid. The Tadiran IPX line and older Corals have some really unique features that are not offered on most other systems out there. One that comes to mind is dual ringing to the desk top and a cell phone (or whatever phone you want really)- with the ability to transfer the call back to the office from your cell phone....and all missed calls go to your desk phone voice mail, not your cell phone.

Look areound, but make sure to get a product that is different or at least offers something that the others do not.

Steve

Some names that come to mind for smaller applications are Zultys or Centrepoint/Talkswitch.
John

We have already looked at Intertel - Mitel and I have Samsung coming in this week. I know ESI is out there but there is already a good presence in this area.

Phoneguy:

Take a look at ESI. www.esi-estech.com
I think that they are definately worth the look. We were a long, long time Toshiba dealer, and brought ESI in for small and mid-sized requirements and I have to say we are really pleased with the company and the product. We're selling them like hotcakes!

Jim -

I have briefly looked at the ESI and am still doing some due dilegence with them. Is it true that they are a install and walk away type product. I have heard this several times from dealers, and like the sounds of it. I know the AVAYA IP requires a lot of hand holding, not to mention some others. On the smaller side systems there isn't enough money in it to make return trips at no charge.

How long have you been selling ESI? How many a month? Average system size?

Sorry for all the questions.

Mike