[Asterisk-Users] What business IP phone to use

[Conrad Wood]

> 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

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