[asterisk-biz] RE: Bottom end of the market for an Asterisk PBX ?

[Curt Shaffer]

I would have to agree here as well. Just because you can install * on a good
cheap system does not mean that you want to. I really think if Asterisk is
going to be a competitor in the VoIP market we really need to make sure it
shines. We can not just be "throwing" together a system that will get the
job done. We need to plan these installs, give good quality phones and
provide redundancy if possible. When was the last time the company's
POTS/PRI lines went down? When they pick up the phone they expect, and
rightfully so, for it to work. I all too often hear people getting by with
just the essentials and I would bet that there are a lot of unhappy
customers out there with it. I know of a few personally where the company
now has a bad taste in their mouth about VoIP because some "Asterisk Guru"
came in and saved them thousands on their phone system. What they were left
with was choppy quality because of lack of QoS and horrible echo. And IP
termination, which was supposed to save them money, was sub par and down a
lot. Lack of needed configuration and bad choice of providers? Probaby, but
they ditched the system and dubbed VoIP as a technology that is not ready
for prime time. This really gets me going....arg!

>From what I have seen and been selling is features. Even to small
businesses. Yes you will get a system that is a little cheaper than Avaya,
Cisco or 3Com, although this is getting not to be the case with items such
as Avaya's new phone that acts like a small PBX. Yes you MAY be able to save
some money on long distance with LCR. But, this IVR will allow you to field
phone calls via the phone system and provide customers with valuable
information without a person spending time on the phone with them. This find
me follow me will make sure someone can always reach you. This conferencing
will save you on expensive bridges and hosted solutions. This XML app on
your phone will allow your employees to log into your time card app. This
system will integrate your voicemail and email into the same inbox. This is
all about convergence! Anyone can beat the cost of a traditional PBX these
days, yes even Cisco with their new Call Manager Express! You need to make
the customer feel, and you won't be lying, that they need a full system and
to invest in this. Show them the real money savings! Even a high end
Asterisk system is cheaper then most of the others.  I'll get off my soap
box for now. I just hate when people make probably the least important
things about Asterisk the most important and vis a vis. 

Someone mentioned a model like hosting. I think if your customers are really
concerned about pricing of the system, despite your good sales tactics, then
this may be the best idea. At that point you can provide the redundancy they
need and maintain everything on your end. The only problem I see here is you
want to make absolutely sure that you are not the cause of failure. This
would mean clustering, this would mean battery backup with generator back up
on that. This would be a reliable high speed connection for both you and
them, think about what the phone company does to make sure you have dial
tone even when the power is out! What about E911! You don't want to be
responsible for a person dying(like happened near here in Maryland,USA). But
it could be done. I do believe with the architecture that should be built on
this model, it would take some time to get your return on investment but if
this is where most of your clients would like to be then it may be worth it.


Just my 2 cents.

-----Original Message-----
From: asterisk-biz-bounces at lists.digium.com
[mailto:asterisk-biz-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of C F
Sent: Monday, July 03, 2006 11:34 PM
To: Commercial and Business-Oriented Asterisk Discussion
Subject: Re: [asterisk-biz] RE: Bottom end of the market for an Asterisk PBX
?

Yeah sure think again. There is no way that you can sell a system with
5 phones for $1500.00 just the phones (at around $160 per phone for a
decent business phone) will cost you $800.00.
You think ppl buy these things like they buy bread? think again.

On 7/3/06, Nikolai Manek <manek at nikotel.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> You want to charge $5000 for a small biz Asterisk server? Yes, you
> definitely need to rethink your strategy. I would rather think that $1500
is
> the absolute maximum. For very small companies (5-15) you can put a
Asterisk
> on a Linksys router with Linux. I think there are some projects you can
> Google up who are doing it. And then your customers will figure out very
> quick that they can get your PBX for a couple hundred bucks including
> service from someone. Why don't you set up some Astersik servers yourself
> and offer hosted Asterisk? This way you can charge a monthly fee, your
> customers don't have the headache of running their own server and you will
> make over time your $5000 without overcharging people (which is IMHO not
the
> way to do business). You might want to google around and see what other
> people are charging. But my educated guess would be that a small business
is
> very much willing to pay let's say $20 per seat per month and have their
> service hosted with you. On top you are selling the minutes at approx. 55%
> margin in the UK for international calls and probably 70% for domestic
> calls. Then you can make money and your customers are very happy too. You
> can bill the service with our new Asterisk billing solution (it's free)
> (www.remwave.com) which will be released by the end of the week or any
other
> billing platform. I am also thinking that a hosted solution is better for
> your business bottom line since it will enable you to have a consistent
> revenue stream.
>
> Best
>
> Nikolai Manek
> http://www.remwave.com
>
>
> On 7/3/06 6:30 PM, "asterisk-biz-request at lists.digium.com"
> <asterisk-biz-request at lists.digium.com> wrote:
>
> > Bottom end of the market for an Asterisk PBX ?
>
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