[Asterisk-Users] Phone Selection

[Nathan Bowyer]

On Sun, 28 Nov 2004 16:32:10 -0600, Rich Adamson <radamson at routers.com> wrote:
> > I'm looking at the Sayson 480i or the Cisco CP-7960. Which one would you
> > suggest and why please ?
> 
> I "briefly" tested the 480i a couple of weeks ago. Had a problem in that it
> would not use the tftp server address contained in the dhcp response, so
> had to define everything from the keypad to make it work. The quality of
> the audio was good, the speakerphone function worked, and all other very
> basic phone functions that I tried (not an expensive test at all) worked
> as expected. There seemed to be a lot of "this function will be implemented
> in a later software release" kind of thing going on. I did not write down
> the s/w version that it was running, but I do remember there were two
> additional releases available after the one I had. I would not deploy this
> phone in large quantities at this time as they would be a support nightmare.
> For small quantities, not a bad phone at all. That's about all I can tell
> you on it.
> 
> I use a 7960 for day to day business use and like it very well. It feels
> like a phone, works like a phone, excellent speakerphone, and continues
> to function well. Probably a little over priced these days. I'll stay with
> it for now.
> 
> You should probably dig through the wiki as I'm sure there is more detail
> there on lots of different phones.
> 
> Rich
> 

Someone once told me that he would never consider using a SIP phone
unless it had been through several software releases / revisions.  In
my experience, this kind of thinking seems to work well.  For example,
this 480i is relatively new to the market, having only been out less
than a year.  Bugs are probably still being worked out, features still
to be implemented, and with those features, more bugs.

I'd recommend the Cisco 7940/7960 series phones.  Another phone I've
been impressed with so far, although haven't tested extensively is the
Polycom Soundpoint IP500.  It seems to be a solid phone, with a
feature set that gives Cisco a run for its money.