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

[Stuart Elvish]

Definitely agree - don't even try using the Grandstream for a 
receptionist (among other things the phone probably won't hold out 
physically for more than a few weeks if it makes it that far).

They have recently been ticked as well, plus the firmware has become 
some what stable.... that having been said I am not sure when the last 
update came out and it does have a couple of "quirks". We have the 
system "time out" (or send the dialed digit string) after 4 seconds of 
no dialing which works well - but that depends on the user environment 
and what they expect from the phone system. The other problem is that 
Grandstream don't display any type of alpha caller id - they are purely 
a digit based caller ID presentation (it tries to present an alpha 
sequence but it doesn't work at all).

Don't get me wrong - they are still the bottom of the range / basic 
phone IMHO and Cisco do seem to work a lot better, but are also more 
expensive and my boss won't pay for one.

What sort of setup is involved for the Cisco as far as config files 
etc? I am used to plug and play phones (Zyxel, Grandstream, HOP etc) 
which require minimal configuration and have no licensing issues with 
them. I know for the Polycom you need to get a TFTP server for XML 
config files running, and I believe you need something similar for 
Cisco phones.

Stuart

On Wednesday, Feb 16, 2005, at 06:55 Australia/Perth, Shaun Ewing wrote:

> The Grandstream is useless for any serious calling, and would not be
> recommended for a receptionist. We've had it do all sorts of nasty
> things including putting a call on hold indefinitely when trying to
> transfer. One particular version of the firmware also caused problems
> with our network. It's also necessary to press "send" after dialing a
> number (or wait for the timeout). No A-Tick either.
>
Stuart Elvish
Business Development Manager
TNet.com.au - Becoming Australia's Favourite Internet SERVICE Provider

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