[Asterisk-Users] Polycom FW

[Bill Michaelson]

Thank you to all who responded to my inquiry below.  As explained by a 
few people, Polycom has a policy of withholding current firmware 
releases from users, thus forcing them to contact "authorized" resellers 
for support should they need this code.  Similar to another reported 
experience, I attempted to contact the reseller from whom I purchased 
this telephone, but was unable to penetrate the screening process 
because I had not purchased a support contract at additional cost.  So I 
was sitting with a one day old phone that had become a paperweight, and 
the other sources that *-users list correspondents had kindly referred 
me to were just not working for me.  Perhaps I was doing something wrong.

Having painlessly downloaded and used FW from other manufacturers' web 
sites in the past, I found this predicament exasperating.

I contacted another reseller and agreed to purchase another Polycom 
model if they agreed to provide me with current firmware.  After placing 
an order, I was given ftp access to a site for obtaining the material.  
Minutes later, I had restored the phone to working order.

The sales rep at the second reseller explained that Polycom has this 
policy in order to "strengthen the reseller channel" which I thought was 
rather ironic.  Well, he did make a sale, I suppose, but it felt like 
blackmail to this customer.  I'm not terribly impressed by the second 
reseller, and I'm soured on the first.

While I have no objection to paying for any kind of support, it does 
seem that the deliberate creation of impediments such as this do not 
enhance the image of Polycom, up and down the distribution channel.  But 
of course, that is their privilege.  As I stated, I like the phone, and 
it compares very favorably to others I'm evaluating.  However, if all 
other things were equal (and they could become so with just some 
firmware improvements), this nonsense will drive me into the arms of a 
competing manufacturer in a heartbeat.  It's needless grief to put your 
customers through, and that's just stupid, in my opinion.


>-----Original Message-----
>> From: Bill Michaelson [mailto:bill at cosi.com] 
>> Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2006 4:13 PM
>> To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
>> Subject: [Asterisk-Users] Polycom FW
>> 
>> Anyone know how to obtain firmware and starter .cfg files for 
>> Polycom phones?  Despite registering at the Polycom web site, 
>> I can't locate this stuff.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>  
>

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