[Asterisk-Users] Which IP phone to use in Australia

Tue Feb 15 15:19:00 MST 2005

To improve on my a bit too off-the-cuff answer from earlier (too busy a day to be fully helpful!)

We are having an Asterisk get-together this Thursday. It was announced on the list here, and I will re-post the data below.

Myself and the tech who set up our asterisk system have tried and tested a lot of phones:

Zultys
Grandstream
Polycom
Snom
3com
Samsung
Leadtek

And software phones

Installed and using ISDN (ETSI), analogue cards and Mobile Phone gateways (telular brand)

Regards,

regards,

PaulH

>Hi all,
>
>If you're in Melbourne Australia and interested in Asterisk, you're invited to join us for a casual evening to talk about Asterisk, VOIP, networks, and just generally get geeky about IP phone stuff.
>Ultimately, I think it would be interesting and useful to turn this into a monthly get-together, so I'd like to talk about that too.
>
>Anyone with an interest is welcome; from Asterisk Gods to newbies who have recently downloaded it, from people administering several hundred seats to people playing with it at home and annoying their families.
>
>When: Next Thursday evening, the 17th, at 7pm.
>Where: Niagara Hotel, 383 Lonsdale Street (between Queen and
>Elizabeth) in the city.
>
>The Niagara's a relaxed, comfortable place. I'm going to try and get us a table, and put an old analogue phone on it, so you'll know how to find us.
>
>Any questions, you can reach me on 0415 276 127, or email asterisk at jurgen.ca.
>
>Hope to see you there!
>
>.......jurgen 

-----Original Message-----
From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Stuart Elvish
Sent: Tuesday, 15 February 2005 8:37 PM
To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Which IP phone to use in Australia

Hi guys,

I haven't had the opportunity to play with any Polycom products, although they will probably be the best IP phone available.

I have used the Grandstream BT-101/102, the HOP-1003 (upgraded 1002) and Zyxel telephone adapters.

My recommendation out of the tried ones would be the Grandstream BT-102 where the phone is on a closed network. My problem with the HOP is that there is no transfer button, this can be worked around with key sequences (*2 for attended transfer, # for unattended transfer) and (if I got it working) the flash key but they aren't optimal in an office setup where un-techno people want to just transfer a call with a button and the overall receiver volume seems to be lower (definitely than the analogue adapter). The HOP does have one advantage: it only beeps once when you get an incoming call along with a message on the display unlike the BT-101/102.

The Zyxel equipment works great for us and it supports callerID (only the number) but it does mean the cost of an analogue phone. If you have an issue with network cabling, the Zyxel is good because you can run two analogue phones from one network cable, and there is a hub built into the back which allows inline connection to a PC. This having been said, because they are analogue, you need to use the *2 and # keys for transfer etc.

I would be interested in trying (and have been offered but haven't had the time) a new Sipura telephone, it includes two line indicators. 
Whilst this isn't ideal for a  receptionist (I think Snom would be the only option for a receptionist with the additional indicator panel) it would be nice for a general office worker who needs one direct line and one general ring group / reception button. They can be expanded to four lines with some sort of software upgrade.

One thing to be aware of - where you will be setting up standalone offices (i.e. one person at home behind DSL) you should consider the firewalling etc but seeing as the original question came from the experts - they should be able to sort it out! Our experience is that some hardphones will even have troubles with specific firewalls, yet they will work quite happily with a Billion style product (sorry to bring that up....).

Hope this helps.

Kind Regards
Stuart

On Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005, at 15:33 Australia/Perth, Howard Lowndes
wrote:

> On Tue, 2005-02-15 at 18:05, Adam Goryachev wrote:
>> On Tue, 2005-02-15 at 17:54 +1100, Howard Lowndes wrote:
>>> On Tue, 2005-02-15 at 17:43, Adam Goryachev wrote:
>>>> Personally, I quite like the polycom phones such as the IP300 and 
>>>> IP600 I've never really bothered with the IP500...
>>>>
>>>> There are a few issues I have with them though, the main one being 
>>>> that I can't disable call waiting on the phone. There are 
>>>> workarounds for this though (in asterisk dialplan).
>>>
>>> ...which is something to be said for the HOP 1002 - you can disable 
>>> call waiting.
>>
>> Have you actually used the polycom phones? If so, how do they compare 
>> to the HOP 1002, or, would you call the polycom IP600 and HOP 1002 
>> exactly equivalent in all respects except for the call waiting 
>> factor?
>
> Unfortunately I have never used, or even seen the polycom phones, so I 
> cannot comment on the comparison.
>
> I do know that the HOP 1002 serve my purpose and are quite robust.
> There was a date issue with the software pre v1.41.007 and I have 
> found out how to get a brand name to display on the screen.
>
> I have also discovered that, under SIP at least, the phone will only 
> display the caller ID number and not the caller ID name, though that 
> latter is not often sent anyway except for calls from mobiles as 
> "MOBILE".
>
> Basically they are very robust, almost brick shithouse robust. :)
>
> The online manual is about 47 pages of Chinglish which is an Alexander 
> (downer). (Oz joke there for all you yanks)
>
> The only down side that I can see is that the 2 port hubbing is only 
> 10 mbps which shouldn't really be a problem for most users who connect 
> their PC in line, but could be a real bummer for the power user PHBs 
> who want to do gaming.
>
>
>>
>> I've not seen/used the HOP 1002, I just find it hard to accept that 
>> it would be as good as the polycom IP600 phones....
>>
>> Note: I would be *pleasantly* surprised if you say it is as good!
>>
>> Regards,
>> Adam
> --
> Howard.
> LANNet Computing Associates;
> Your Linux people <http://www.lannetlinux.com>
> ------------------------------------------
> "When you just want a system that works, you choose Linux; when you 
> want a system that just works, you choose Microsoft."
> ------------------------------------------
> "Flatter government, not fatter government; Get rid of the Australian 
> states."
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Asterisk-Users mailing list
> Asterisk-Users at lists.digium.com
> http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
>    http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
>
> !DSPAM:4211a62d449061270431442!
>
>
>
Stuart Elvish
Business Development Manager
TNet.com.au - Becoming Australia's Favourite Internet SERVICE Provider

Mobile Telephone 	0433 133 601 (+61 433 133 601)
Email Address 		stuart.elvish at tnet.com.au

Direct Telephone 	08 9221 7874 (+61 8 9221 7874)
Office Telephone 	1300 661 NET (1300 661 638)
Direct Facsimile 	0433 133 598 (+61 433 133 598)
Office Facsimile 	08 9221 3864 (+61 8 9221 3864)

  This e-mail and any attachment is for authorised use by the intended
recipient(s) only. It may contain proprietary material, confidential information and/or be subject to legal privilege. It should not be copied, disclosed to, retained or used by, any other party. If you are not an intended recipient then please promptly delete this e-mail and any attachment and all copies and inform the sender. Thank you.

_______________________________________________
Asterisk-Users mailing list
Asterisk-Users at lists.digium.com
http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
   http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
CAUTION: This email message and accompanying data may contain information that is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use, dissemination, distribution or copying of this message or data is prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify us immediately and erase all copies of this message and attachments. Thank you.
CAUTION: This email message and accompanying data may contain information that is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use, dissemination, distribution or copying of this message or data is prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify us immediately and erase all copies of this message and attachments. Thank you.