I have been struggling with this issue for about a year now. There were just too many IP phones to choose from at all sorts of price points and not enough information about any of them. Now I am looking at the situation again and if anything it has gotten worse. There are even more phones and all sorts of opinions. For every person that says phone x is great there is someone else complaining about it. I ended up buying a Grandstream GXP2000 and an Aastra 9133i to test so I pretty much know what those two phones are about. Lot's of people talking about Polycom phones but they still seem to have their problems and since they don't officially support Asterisk I have my concerns. I really don't want to have to keep buying phones to find out for myself as it get's expensive real fast. Is there any unbiased comparison of various phones and features anywhere. If someone wrote a book I'd buy it but it would probably be obsolete before it was published with the rate of new IP phone introductions and firmware revisons. I hear some people praising the GXP2000 phones and I gotta wonder what they are smokin (regardless of firmware revison) so I just don't know who to believe anymore.
[Mr.] Mustard, There's no one-stop IP phone review site that I know of (that has one person/company comparing all of the IP phones side by side). You're right, the gxp-2000 is a little on the low end as IP phones go. However, you're also getting a lot of features for your buck with the GXP. I used the GXP2000's in a bakery installation; the users of the phone always have stuff all over their hands, thus I didn't see much sense in putting a really nice phone there. Two of the phones have already needed to be replaced because of people spilling liquids all over them; it was only $100 to replace a GXP2000 vs. 200+ to replace a nice polycom with many call appearances. Regarding the polycoms-- I wouldn't worry about the polycoms not 'officially' supporting asterisk. LOTS of people use them with Asterisk (including myself). For me, the biggest pain was getting them configured correctly (the xml config files are a horrendous PITA--if someone were to write a book, I'd prefer it be on this ;) ). BUT once they're configured, I LOVE them. And so do the users of the phones. They have great build quality and a great speakerphone (one of the best). In short, I would give the Polycoms a solid recommendation for an all-around good business phone to use with Asterisk. I know lots of people also love the Snoms. I can't really vouch for them too much; I have one, I just haven't used it really. Someone should make an epinions.com of sorts for IP phones and IP phone equipment. I think it would get used... -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of mustardman29 Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2006 11:58 AM To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com Subject: [Asterisk-Users] What business IP phone to use I have been struggling with this issue for about a year now. There were just too many IP phones to choose from at all sorts of price points and not enough information about any of them. Now I am looking at the situation again and if anything it has gotten worse. There are even more phones and all sorts of opinions. For every person that says phone x is great there is someone else complaining about it. I ended up buying a Grandstream GXP2000 and an Aastra 9133i to test so I pretty much know what those two phones are about. Lot's of people talking about Polycom phones but they still seem to have their problems and since they don't officially support Asterisk I have my concerns. I really don't want to have to keep buying phones to find out for myself as it get's expensive real fast. Is there any unbiased comparison of various phones and features anywhere. If someone wrote a book I'd buy it but it would probably be obsolete before it was published with the rate of new IP phone introductions and firmware revisons. I hear some people praising the GXP2000 phones and I gotta wonder what they are smokin (regardless of firmware revison) so I just don't know who to believe anymore. _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
> I hear some > people praising the GXP2000 phones and I gotta wonder what > they are smokin (regardless of firmware revison) so I just > don't know who to believe anymore.As one of those who's praised the GXP2000, I feel I should just add that it's all relative *to the price point*. The GXP2000 is probably the best phone I can get hold of at that price point (?70 or so) here in the UK. The 9133i is ?80 + PoE injector (?14), which is quite a big increase in budget on 20 or 30 phones.> Is there any unbiased comparison of various phones and > features anywhere.As the discussion about the GXP2000 showed, it's not really features that's important - it's more a question of reliable firmware, build quality, etc. If you're after one or two nice office phones, I don't think you can beat getting 2nd hand Cisco 7960s off ebay, putting the latest SCCP firmware on them and using them with chan_sccp. I've done that at 3 locations where I spend lots of time, and I really like the feel of the 7960. I can't justify the price of them new, but from auction, the prices are far more reasonable (going rate seems to be about ?110 in the UK). Regards, Chris -- C.M. Bagnall, Director, Minotaur I.T. Limited This email is made from 100% recycled electrons
> For every person that says phone x is great there is > someone else complaining about it.Its very simple why there are soo many answers to the "what phone to use" question. The answer really comes down to a matter of personal preferance and end-users needs. Mind you, some phones are better than others but the answer really comes down to what you plan on doing with the phones and the types of end-users using the phones. With that said, here are my personal recommendations and why.... 1) SNOM 360/320: If you are transintioning a small business from something similar to an Avaya partner system, these are the phones to use. They are moderatly stable and support features that many end-users are used to such as Intercom, Line Indicators, MWI etc. In the newest firmwares, you get the highest flexibility of soft button configuration of any phone in the market. Be sure to due some testing before implementing any new firmwares on thiese phones though. SNOM has been less than stellar when it comes to testing new release versions. Currently 5.3 seems to crash the phones regularly. Other than that, they are a good solid phone, they look and "feel" like business telephones (something you can't say about many phones like the Grandstream and the like) Team these up with some of the new low cost PoE options from Linksys and Netgear and you have yourself a great solution. The web based configuration file ability on these phones makes for interesting things you can do with PHP and dynamic config files. As the phones also support GSM, you can get arround having to buy G729 licenses when bandwidth is a concern. The best part is that the price is somewhat moderate on these phones. Don't expect to beat out pricing on rock bottom systems with these phones, but as they say, you get what you pay for. 2) Polycom 301/501/601: Also a solid performer. The 601 makes for a great attendant phone with the option of an expansion pack with LCD programmable labels for the soft buttons. (great if you have a fluid office situation). I find the configuration files a bit more confusing and you'll have to use TFTP instead of HTTP with these precluding the use of dynamic PHP driven config files. On the upside, Polycom support is much better than SNOM. I get responses from them in a day wheras from SNOM it sometimes takes up to a week to get a question answered. The prices on these cannot be beat for the functionality that they offer. They also support many of the features like Line indication and Intercom. Phone stability is quite high and there is a lesser problem with buggy firmware being released 3) Cisco 79XX: A great phone and solid performer but it comes at a steep price. I use these only in enviroments where end-users have worked with them before lowering training costs overall. In those situations, the phones nearly sell themselves so long as people are willing to pay for the Cisco premium. Other than their rock solid reliability, they really don't offer anything special unless you are in an enviroement that might use phone based XML applications Now all of this is not to say that a sub $100 phone might not be the right choice for your situation. For business phones though, I tend to follow this set of guidelines. 1) If it doesn't support PoE I won't implement it. Support phones with wall-warts or bricks is just a added hassle and adds TCO as most end up being replaced once or twice during the lifetime of the phone when someone trips over them etc. With PoE switches from linksys starting at $500, there is absolutely no reason not to consider them. 2) Autoconfiguration should be simple yet powerful and VERY well documented.. If you can't get the phone manufacturer to give you a manual on TFTP configuration or HTTP configuration that is clear and concise, it just isn't worth the effort of trying to figure it out yourself. 3) Stability, Stability, Stability. People have gotten used to the fact that phone networks and systems rarely go down. Telling someone their phone crashed usually gets you a funny look. If a phone you are selecting crashes twice while you are testing, that is far too many time. Heck, once it too many times. 4) Is the company going to be around tomorrow: A lot of VoIP manufactures have come and gone, many more will come and go. Stick to the bigger names. You'll end up paying more up front, but they will be around to support you in the future and at least you will be able to give your end-users an upgrade path that minimalizes the learning curve. I.e. older SNOM phones work very similarly to the newer ones so when you upgrade say a Snom 190 to a 320/360, the user just needs to figure out where the buttons are now but otherwise feels they are on a same or similar phone. These are my recommendations. As with all such things, your mileage may vary. I have sold and installed pretty much every kind of phone there is out there today, but have ended up sticking with my favorite three. Regards, Raymond McKay President RAYNET Technologies LLC http://www.raynettech.com (860) 693-2226 x 31 Toll Free (877) 693-2226
On Tue, 21 Feb 2006, mustardman29 wrote:> I hear some people praising the GXP2000 phones and I gotta wonder > what they are smokin (regardless of firmware revison) so I just don't know > who to believe anymore.The GXP2000 is probably the best phone you can buy _for under $100_. Got it? Under $100. Let me repeat that. Under $100. Under $100. Got it? Under $100. Clear now? Yes? Good. Is it a great phone? No. Is it an adequate phone? Maybe. Depends on your needs. You do get a lot of value for your $80. It wont fit everyones needs, but to imply it fits nobodys is completely bogus. There are lots of $200 and $300 phones which are worse than the GXP2000. -Dan
I have used every phone and talk to customers using different devices all day long and I can tell you there is no single IP phone that is perfect for everyone. You will not find the answer on a newsgroup or a wiki, you need to judge for yourself. For example, while I may love the decidedly "euro" ergonomics of the snom, you may find it impossibly unconventional. We have lots of customers who are very happy with their GXP-2000's as well as a number who are not. It depends on how they are being used (especially LAN or WAN) as well as the firmware version and networking environment. We also have many customers who love their Polycoms and there is no doubt that they build a quality product. They aren't cheap but they don't disappoint. By the way, Polycom officially supports Asterisk through certified resellers as of October 2005. Snoms are great also but they seem to be having some trouble getting the version 5.0 firmware stable. If you can live with the features in V4.x for a while, these phones are terrific. Probably the best overall integration with Asterisk of any IP phone currently available. Aastra seems to be getting it together at last and also are worthy of consideration. I sell phones for a living and here's what I recommend: First, select a reliable and competent vendor who will work with you (shameless plug for The VoIP Connection). Talk to them and narrow the field to a sampling of the phones you think will work for your organization. Set up a test scenario that simulates the network environment you will have and learn how to set the phones up with Asterisk (and vice-versa) so that they work the way they should. Learn how to use the features well enough to teach them (if you can't explain the basic operation of the phone in 5 minutes forget it), and then put them in front of a sampling of the people who will use them every day. Pay special attention to your receptionist and office manager since they will be the ones you will hear from the most. There really is no shortcut if you want your users to be happy. Michael Crown Managing Partner www.thevoipconnection.com 321.989.6728 ext. 611 sip:611@voiceserver.thevoipconnection.com> -----Original Message----- > From: mustardman29 [mailto:mustardman29@hotmail.com] > Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2006 12:58 PM > To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com > Subject: [Asterisk-Users] What business IP phone to use > > > > I have been struggling with this issue for about a year now. > There were just too many IP phones to choose from at all > sorts of price points and not enough information about any of > them. Now I am looking at the situation again and if > anything it has gotten worse. There are even more phones and > all sorts of opinions. For every person that says phone x is > great there is someone else complaining about it. > > I ended up buying a Grandstream GXP2000 and an Aastra 9133i > to test so I pretty much know what those two phones are > about. Lot's of people talking about Polycom phones but they > still seem to have their problems and since they don't > officially support Asterisk I have my concerns. I really > don't want to have to keep buying phones to find out for > myself as it get's expensive real fast. > > Is there any unbiased comparison of various phones and > features anywhere. > If someone wrote a book I'd buy it but it would probably be > obsolete before it was published with the rate of new IP > phone introductions and firmware revisons. I hear some > people praising the GXP2000 phones and I gotta wonder what > they are smokin (regardless of firmware revison) so I just > don't know who to believe anymore. > >
pdhales@optusnet.com.au
2006-Feb-21 15:07 UTC
[Asterisk-Users] What business IP phone to use
It's funny, but I found it more challening to buy a second hand car than to buy phones. PaulH ----- Original Message ----- From: "mustardman29" <mustardman29@hotmail.com> To: <asterisk-users@lists.digium.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2006 4:57 AM Subject: [Asterisk-Users] What business IP phone to use> > > I have been struggling with this issue for about a year now. There were > just too many IP phones to choose from at all sorts of price points andnot> enough information about any of them. Now I am looking at the situation > again and if anything it has gotten worse. There are even more phones and > all sorts of opinions. For every person that says phone x is great thereis> someone else complaining about it. > > I ended up buying a Grandstream GXP2000 and an Aastra 9133i to test so I > pretty much know what those two phones are about. Lot's of people talking > about Polycom phones but they still seem to have their problems and since > they don't officially support Asterisk I have my concerns. I really don't > want to have to keep buying phones to find out for myself as it get's > expensive real fast. > > Is there any unbiased comparison of various phones and features anywhere. > If someone wrote a book I'd buy it but it would probably be obsoletebefore> it was published with the rate of new IP phone introductions and firmware > revisons. I hear some people praising the GXP2000 phones and I gottawonder> what they are smokin (regardless of firmware revison) so I just don't know > who to believe anymore. > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- > > Asterisk-Users mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >
>) If it doesn't support PoE I won't implement it. Support phones with >wall-warts or bricks is just a added hassle and adds TCO as most end up >being replaced once or twice during the lifetime of the phone when someone >trips over them etc. With PoE switches from linksys starting at $500, there >is absolutely no reason not to consider them.How much juice does a typical IP phone draw? I noticed that the Linksys SRW2224P only provides 7.5W if you use all 24 PoE ports (or 15W to 12 ports). My Polycom IP501 has a 9W brick but I dunno if there's some headroom in that figure or not. The Dell 3424P will provide full 15W power to it's 24 ports but it's $749.
>How does one justify the extra cost of a managed switch for an office of no >more than 5-10 users with limited SMB file sharing and lightweight internet >access going over the thing? It's just not doable. In larger organizations, >I agree entirely, a managed switch *is* worth its weight in gold, but not >for small businesses.Simple formula: 1. Total Revenue 2. % of revenue derived from phone usage 3. =Cost of downtime by using SoHo or consumer gear. It's not a question of if a SoHo or low cost device will screw up, it is a question of when. This is 23 years of experience talking. Where I work, the value of #3 above is $16 Cdn a *second*. We are below 500 employees, so we fall into the SMB segment. Sometimes I'm appalled by statements that a $700 switch or a $400 phone isn't worth it. Huh?? Maybe in your home office, or whatever, but in any kind of meaningful business context, you *always* buy the best, and you only cry once. If you argue that your business can't support that kind of cost (which is really, actually quite cheap. Anyone remember $6000 switches? I do.) then perhaps you may want to re-evaluate whether it's appropriate to use VoIP in your business in the first place. Sure, a managed switch is not a silver bullet - but it is part of a quality implementation that *is* a silver bullet. Weakest link, and all that.
The PCB has PoE "prepared" - if you open it you will see that there is a lot of space where you can solder all kinds of resistors and capacitors. Thats for PoE. However we decided that we don't place the necessary components because it would increase the price to the end customer by 25 USD - which would take us into a different pricing region. But apart from that we put everything else from the snom 320/360 there. And IMHO the audio quality is nothing less than the "high end" models, the handsfree mode probably even better (we avoided some mistakes we made in the other models). Even the 3-way conference is supported. Low use?! I would say at least 80 % of phone users today are "low use". A phone with great audio and mandatory (but not sexy) features like security for a mainstream price was missing for those users. And yes, I am from snom... (see my address!). Please excuse my excitement. Christian ________________________________ From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Joe Pukepail Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2006 8:31 AM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] What business IP phone to use I like the specs on this, the only thing that it seems to be missing is POE. Anyone know if POE is going to be supported on the 300? Looks nice and I could see it for low use areas, but would suck for wall mounting if it can't do POE. On 2/22/06, Cory Andrews <Cory@voipsupply.com> wrote: Clint - Looks like your wish has been granted, and your love affair with Snom can continue. They are soon releasing the new Snom 300, which has most of the features your are fond of in the 360 and 320 models, and should be quite near, if not at, your $100 price point. Read up on it here -> http://www.snom.com/pressinformation_details.html?&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=35 4&tx_ttnews[backPid]=33&cHash=1bb97caf5c&L=1 Detailed specs here -> http://www.snom.com/snom300_voip_phone.html?&L=1 Cory J Andrews ++++++++++++ VOIPSupply.com 454 Sonwil Drive Buffalo, NY 14225 ++++++++++++++ voice - 716.630.1555 X22 email - Cory@VOIPSupply.com AIM - B2CORY ----- Original Message ----- From: Clint Sharp <mailto:clint@kirkhamsystems.com> To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion <mailto:asterisk-users@lists.digium.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2006 1:03 AM Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] What business IP phone to use It's funny this thread has been coming up, because I've been testing out phones at my office, and I just did a fairly intensive quality test on them. 1) Budgetones: Don't bother for a business setting. The speaker phone is basically useless (echo problems) and the handset is horrible. If you follow the suggestion on the Wiki to drill out the handset, it improves things marginally, but not much. Users talking to you will constantly complain about you sound muffled. It's think it's a frequency response thing and not a volume thing, I think it's just getting lower than a standard 8 khz sample out of the microphone, because it's so cheap. 2) GXP-2000: Not much better than the Budgetones, but at least the firmware is still in active development. Feature-wise it's pretty cool, but poor firmware and poor handset hardware again make this a real problem for us. We lost one handset to static electricity yesterday (which was fixed by adding in a microphone from an old business set, which actually improved that phone's quality). The speakerphone is useless due to echo issues. However, 4 line appearances is pretty cool for that price of phone, and passthrough Ethernet at 100 mbs is pretty cool too. Overall, I can't recommend them, because while they sound slightly better than the budgetones, I still get many complaints about muffled calls. 3) Polycom: Of the 4 phone brands we're actively using (not including the Wifi phone which rarely gets used), this was the best until I got the Snom in today. The handset is of good quality. I have an IP 301, but if the cheapest phone is this good, I'd definitely get a 501 or 601 (and am considering ordering some, although I may order Snom 320s instead). Their support policies do get on my nerves, I'd like to not have to worry about what reseller I'm using, but it's a solid phone with solid features, although the menus are cumbersome and I haven't gotten MWI to work on it yet. 4) Snom 320: This is an excellent phone based off one days testing. Minimal configuration, professional looking web interface, and the best sound quality of any of the phones I tested. THe speakerphone works great, and the handset quality is outstanding, and tested the best with my callers that were listening to me through the PSTN. I haven't upgraded firmware or anything on this yet, so can't tell you there, but I can't see a compelling reason to upgrade from whatever it shipped with that this point (i'm not feature crazy, I only upgrade the firmware if basic features don't seem to be working right). Overall, stay away from the Grandstream's IMHO. The audio quality issues will drive you insane. I'm hoping someone will come out with a sub-$100 phone that drops some features but fixes what should be the cheapest part of the phone to manufacture, since they've been the same for nearly 50 years, the handset. Clint ________________________________ _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com <http://easynews.com/> -- Asterisk-Users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com <http://easynews.com/> -- Asterisk-Users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.digium.com/pipermail/asterisk-users/attachments/20060222/aa0ec86f/attachment.htm
Rich Adamson
2006-Feb-22 07:20 UTC
[Asterisk-Users] Asterisk on SPA-3000 rings extensions only after third ring
> Thanks for your replies and sharing your experiences. Is there any way > in SPA3000 to send the rings to sip phones on asterisk while still > waiting for the caller ID? This will affect the dial plan sequence but > maybe user will have the option to pickup right away or wait until the > caller ID displays. > Or maybe there is a way for SPA3000 to find the caller ID a littler > faster, as all the other phones do which are directly connected to the > Bell line.No, there is no way to do that in the spa3k.
Zach A
2006-Feb-22 08:11 UTC
[Asterisk-Users] Asterisk on SPA-3000 rings extensions only afterthird ring
If not in spa3k, then how about digium hardware, will that be faster in picking up caller IDs or is it possible to make it work faster. I need only one FXS/FXO. Is X101P single FXS/FXO? Zach A. -----Original Message----- From: Rich Adamson [mailto:radamson@routers.com] Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2006 9:20 AM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Asterisk on SPA-3000 rings extensions only afterthird ring> Thanks for your replies and sharing your experiences. Is there any way > in SPA3000 to send the rings to sip phones on asterisk while still > waiting for the caller ID? This will affect the dial plan sequence but > maybe user will have the option to pickup right away or wait until the > caller ID displays. > Or maybe there is a way for SPA3000 to find the caller ID a littler > faster, as all the other phones do which are directly connected to the > Bell line.No, there is no way to do that in the spa3k. _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Ira
2006-Feb-22 10:35 UTC
[Asterisk-Users] Asterisk on SPA-3000 rings extensions only after third ring
At 07:11 AM 02/22/2006, you wrote:>If not in spa3k, then how about digium hardware, will that be faster in >picking up caller IDs or is it possible to make it work faster. I need >only one FXS/FXO. Is X101P single FXS/FXO?I have a TDM04 and it seems to ring about 1 ring behind. The analog phone rings, I grab the headset and about the second ring I pick up the * phone. The analog phones are much better at picking up CID though. And it was even faster before I added a wait(3) to try and improve CID success. When I first installed * it took till the third ring, watching the logs CLI scroll by showed me a mistake that changed it from 3 rings to 1 ring. I wish I remembered what it was. Ira -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 268.0.0/266 - Release Date: 02/21/2006
>The cost saving of being able to pin-point a cabling/NIC/bandwidth >problem down to the port on the switch easily and quickly is wonderfulWe also use 3com NJ-200's which is a 4 port switch in a wall plate that has SNMP and other goodies. I can troubleshoot down to the wall plate, anywhere in the world. Last year I was on holidays in Vancouver (1000K away from the office) and I got the call that an exec couldn't plug his laptop into the wall, no signal, and he was pissed. I whip out my laptop, walk across the street to Starbucks, got a wifi signal, VPN in, I check it out - nope, it's your stupid laptop, PHB-boy. Turns out he disabled the onboard NIC. That single incident, to me justifies the whole expense of a good infrastructure (and to the PHB too - he was spooked that I could do that)
On Wed, 22 Feb 2006 18:02:27 -0800, mustardman29 wrote:>Just the person I have been looking for. If you don't mind, would it be >possible to get your opinion on feature for feature comparisons between the >501 and 480i CT(not including cordless phone). > >Things like programmable buttons, display, dialing button quality, and most >importantly, handset and speakerphone quality. > >Any info would be greatly appreciated.I used the IP600 for about a year on my desk, and several IP500s elsewhere around the place. It's a home office but I work from home full time so it's a real working office environment. I found that the physical quality of the Polycom phones was absolutely top notch. They're a joy to use. Completely professional and very reliable. But they're not perfect. They're a little harder to provision. They're very configurable but that also adds to the complexity. I had mine TFTP loading firmware and a common speed dial directory from an XML file on my Astlinux server. The phones take a fair amount of time to boot and force a reboot when you change many of their settings. You can spend an afternoon repeatedly rebooting the phone as you manually work out its initial configuration. Of course Polycom doesn't support Asterisk, but others seem to fill this void well enough. The IP600 and IP500 are very similar but the differences are considerable. The IP600 supports 6 line buttons and has a much better LCD. Higher resolution, but still not backlit. Once you've used the 600 it'll be hard to go back to the 500 just because the display is not as nice. The IP500 provides only 3 line buttons. Both phones support multiple registrations. The Aastra 480 is the only thing that I've seen that comes close to the Polycom's. Physically it's just about as solid. Not quite as hefty in the hand, but very nice. The LCD display is backlit. This is a major advantage if you ever work in dim lighting. All other manufacturers...LISTEN UP...this is a really big deal! I can't believe how long its taken for someone to realise this fact. Aastra configuration was a LOT easier both manually on the phone and remotely. The on-phone menus are very easy to navigate and I almost didn't bother setting up the central provisioning. With only a few phones I could get by without it. Firmware and configs can be loaded via tftp, ftp or http. The on-phone directory and call logs are comparable on all three the I have used. Actually, I prefer the way SNOM phones handle this as they require fewer button presses. The Aastra phone makes it especially easy to delete an entire call log with only a couple of button presses. The 480 supports up to 9 lines with any 4 active at on time, or so I'm told. I have mine registered for four lines so that incomming PSTN, FWD, Gizmo and Skype calls each ring a different line. The latest firmware supposedly support BLF indications but I've not used this. It's really easy to assign speed dials to the six programmable keys on the LCD. In fact, almost all of the buttons can be reassigned to new functions. Also you can write XML applications that put the LCD to work as an interactive menu. Mostly I live and die by speakerphone quality. I think that the Polycom's have a little edge on the Aastra phone, but not by much. If I need to rework my entire system I'll probably migrate to all Aastra phones. Audio quality using the handset is excellent on all of them. Even on the cordless handset with the 480i CT. They all support POE...which I use to keep the phone system up during power failures. I had to buy the injectors separately for the Aastra & IP600 phones. The IP500s came with injector cables. The big dissappointment in my SIP phone testing was the Zultys 4x5. It just feels cheap and many functions are too counterintuitive. I really like the idea of the local FXO but they were never able to tell me how to get the FXO port forwarded to the PBX for VM. Zultys provides no end user support except through dealers and the dealers I dealt with didn't know much about the specifics of the Zultys firmware. Also, I'm curious about the newest SNOM phones. Some time ago I used a SNOM 200 and like the way the web based I/F was integrated into the use of the phone beyond simply configuration. You could access the speed dials and place a call from the web I/F. You could also dial the phone from a link or shortcut to a url pointed at the phone. That's a fair substitute for desktop TAPI. If they've taken this any further it could be very good. I've not tried any of the lesser phones like Grandstream or Linksys. Life's too short to use a cheap phone....at least if your budget permits better. Michael Graves -- Michael Graves mgraves@pixelpower.com Sr. Product Specialist www.pixelpower.com Pixel Power Inc. mgraves@mstvp.com o713-861-4005 o800-905-6412 c713-201-1262 fwd 54245
It must be microseconds that is being quoted, as even the 2626 that you mention lists a less than 13.3 microsecond latency. - Brad -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of David Ankers Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 6:54 PM To: 'Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion' Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] What business IP phone to use Are you sure those switch figures are right? 16ms delay in the switch path sounds a bit long. Cisco's mid-range switches like the 2950 have switching times measured in micro seconds. Then again a 2626 procurve is only around $700. -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Conrad Wood Sent: Friday, 24 February 2006 7:50 AM To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] What business IP phone to use> Simple formula: > > 1. Total Revenue > 2. % of revenue derived from phone usage > 3. =Cost of downtime by using SoHo or consumer gear. > > It's not a question of if a SoHo or low cost device will screw up, it > is a question of when. This is 23 years of experience talking. > > Where I work, the value of #3 above is $16 Cdn a *second*. We are > below500> employees, so we fall into the SMB segment. Sometimes I'm appalled by > statements that a $700 switch or a $400 phone isn't worth it. Huh?? > Maybein Absolutely right! for something as critical as switches & cabling I always recommend to spend real money. Don't ever try to save money any equipment that is required to operate the business. (Had very good experience with HP procurves over the last 10 years or so). There is no point buying netgear or other low-cost switches for a business ever. The cost saving of being able to pin-point a cabling/NIC/bandwidth problem down to the port on the switch easily and quickly is wonderful. Combined with SNMP and all the other goodies good switches come with, our clients save a lot of money by paying me less for my time ( d'oh ;-) ). The difference can also cause unnecessary delays and therefor echo in the path. For example, procurve switches typically have 13ms switching time, the high-end netgears about 21ms. As soon as you stack a couple of switches you are talking 26ms vs 42ms extra delay in the path! I see no reason however to spend $400 on a single phone though, because if a single phone breaks, it's not going to bring your business to a standstill, is it? (I guess unless you only have one in the first place ;-) ) conrad _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users The contents of this e-mail are intended for the named addressee only. It contains information that may be confidential. Unless you are the named addressee or an authorized designee, you may not copy or use it, or disclose it to anyone else. If you received it in error please notify us immediately and then destroy it.
maybe you didn't want suggestions, but too bad :))))). My favorite up until recently was the polycom 501 and I found it was good quality and clear calls and priced well. but the production of te phone is slowing down so I bought a few linksys spa941. and iVll tell you I have a new favorite phone. its slick, provisioning is a breeeze and the call quality with built in qos is fantastic. I wasn't a big fan of grandstream products they seem to be cheaply made and i've had a few fail. but they do work. talking about my biased opinion I don't have onee, i'm a hobby programmer who works for a company that resells voip services and we use polycom and linksys. I just provide support for all phones so I kow how things work and don't work. I hope this helps. thanks andrew On 2/21/06, mustardman29 <mustardman29@hotmail.com> wrote:> > > I have been struggling with this issue for about a year now. There were > just too many IP phones to choose from at all sorts of price points and not > enough information about any of them. Now I am looking at the situation > again and if anything it has gotten worse. There are even more phones and > all sorts of opinions. For every person that says phone x is great there is > someone else complaining about it. > > I ended up buying a Grandstream GXP2000 and an Aastra 9133i to test so I > pretty much know what those two phones are about. Lot's of people talking > about Polycom phones but they still seem to have their problems and since > they don't officially support Asterisk I have my concerns. I really don't > want to have to keep buying phones to find out for myself as it get's > expensive real fast. > > Is there any unbiased comparison of various phones and features anywhere. > If someone wrote a book I'd buy it but it would probably be obsolete before > it was published with the rate of new IP phone introductions and firmware > revisons. I hear some people praising the GXP2000 phones and I gotta wonder > what they are smokin (regardless of firmware revison) so I just don't know > who to believe anymore. > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- > > Asterisk-Users mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >
Polycom does support Asterisk, Asterisk Business Edition. -----Original Message----- From: Michael Graves [mailto:mgraves@mstvp.com] Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 6:00 PM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] What business IP phone to use On Wed, 22 Feb 2006 18:02:27 -0800, mustardman29 wrote:>Just the person I have been looking for. If you don't mind, would it be >possible to get your opinion on feature for feature comparisons between the >501 and 480i CT(not including cordless phone). > >Things like programmable buttons, display, dialing button quality, and most >importantly, handset and speakerphone quality. > >Any info would be greatly appreciated.I used the IP600 for about a year on my desk, and several IP500s elsewhere around the place. It's a home office but I work from home full time so it's a real working office environment. I found that the physical quality of the Polycom phones was absolutely top notch. They're a joy to use. Completely professional and very reliable. But they're not perfect. They're a little harder to provision. They're very configurable but that also adds to the complexity. I had mine TFTP loading firmware and a common speed dial directory from an XML file on my Astlinux server. The phones take a fair amount of time to boot and force a reboot when you change many of their settings. You can spend an afternoon repeatedly rebooting the phone as you manually work out its initial configuration. Of course Polycom doesn't support Asterisk, but others seem to fill this void well enough. The IP600 and IP500 are very similar but the differences are considerable. The IP600 supports 6 line buttons and has a much better LCD. Higher resolution, but still not backlit. Once you've used the 600 it'll be hard to go back to the 500 just because the display is not as nice. The IP500 provides only 3 line buttons. Both phones support multiple registrations. The Aastra 480 is the only thing that I've seen that comes close to the Polycom's. Physically it's just about as solid. Not quite as hefty in the hand, but very nice. The LCD display is backlit. This is a major advantage if you ever work in dim lighting. All other manufacturers...LISTEN UP...this is a really big deal! I can't believe how long its taken for someone to realise this fact. Aastra configuration was a LOT easier both manually on the phone and remotely. The on-phone menus are very easy to navigate and I almost didn't bother setting up the central provisioning. With only a few phones I could get by without it. Firmware and configs can be loaded via tftp, ftp or http. The on-phone directory and call logs are comparable on all three the I have used. Actually, I prefer the way SNOM phones handle this as they require fewer button presses. The Aastra phone makes it especially easy to delete an entire call log with only a couple of button presses. The 480 supports up to 9 lines with any 4 active at on time, or so I'm told. I have mine registered for four lines so that incomming PSTN, FWD, Gizmo and Skype calls each ring a different line. The latest firmware supposedly support BLF indications but I've not used this. It's really easy to assign speed dials to the six programmable keys on the LCD. In fact, almost all of the buttons can be reassigned to new functions. Also you can write XML applications that put the LCD to work as an interactive menu. Mostly I live and die by speakerphone quality. I think that the Polycom's have a little edge on the Aastra phone, but not by much. If I need to rework my entire system I'll probably migrate to all Aastra phones. Audio quality using the handset is excellent on all of them. Even on the cordless handset with the 480i CT. They all support POE...which I use to keep the phone system up during power failures. I had to buy the injectors separately for the Aastra & IP600 phones. The IP500s came with injector cables. The big dissappointment in my SIP phone testing was the Zultys 4x5. It just feels cheap and many functions are too counterintuitive. I really like the idea of the local FXO but they were never able to tell me how to get the FXO port forwarded to the PBX for VM. Zultys provides no end user support except through dealers and the dealers I dealt with didn't know much about the specifics of the Zultys firmware. Also, I'm curious about the newest SNOM phones. Some time ago I used a SNOM 200 and like the way the web based I/F was integrated into the use of the phone beyond simply configuration. You could access the speed dials and place a call from the web I/F. You could also dial the phone from a link or shortcut to a url pointed at the phone. That's a fair substitute for desktop TAPI. If they've taken this any further it could be very good. I've not tried any of the lesser phones like Grandstream or Linksys. Life's too short to use a cheap phone....at least if your budget permits better. Michael Graves -- Michael Graves mgraves@pixelpower.com Sr. Product Specialist www.pixelpower.com Pixel Power Inc. mgraves@mstvp.com o713-861-4005 o800-905-6412 c713-201-1262 fwd 54245 _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users