[Asterisk-Users] Grandstream GXP-2000 and good support

[Peter Svensson]

We recently purchased a Grandstream GXP-2000 phone and I would like to 
share our experiences with it, especially out very good support 
experience.

The phone was easy enough to set up. The phone was configured using a 
configuration file served via tftp. Creating the configuration file was a 
bit tricky since no template was released for this particular phone. Most 
options could be set from the template for the Budgetone/Handytone 
products.

Most features work as advertised. In speaker phone mode the microphone 
volume is too low and the phone needs an integrated acoustic echo 
canceler. The speaker itself is nice and clear and work very well when 
just listening in.

During testing we noted a problem with one-way audio when calls were 
placed almost back-to-back to the phone. We notified Grandstream through 
an email and though no more of it. After 3 hours we received a request for 
a tcpdump log, after 6 hours we received a confirmation that the support 
personnel had replicated the problem and within 24 hours we received a new 
firmware correcting the fix!

I cannot emphasize enough the impression such quick and professional
support makes. Especially since the problem had a workaround (we found
that pressing hold twice cleared up the problem). No nonsense questions
about whether we tried rebooting the phone. 

The new firmware was a beta of their next firmware, I guess. Some new 
features were added like:
 * multiple accounts now with user selectable names
 * auto-answer selectable per account
 * better display texts
 * even more configurable options

We also received a configuration template that allowed complete control 
over the phone from the server. 

With the next firmware the phone does feel ready for deployment in a 
corporation.

Peter