[asterisk-users] Advice on best operator phone (with attendant console)

Wed Apr 9 08:43:13 CDT 2008

We are very close to taking out that policy ourselves. Problem is that
the other vendors (linksys/Polycom/Aastra/SNom) are awful with
supporting/marketing their phones outside US/Europe. For example a
Polycom 301 imported into Pakistan/India would cost me roughly $280
(thats the reseller price). Aastra is similar. 

On the contrary Grandstream would cost me such that I can STILL sell it
at the MSRP ($109).

Basically Selling Polycom/Aastra an Asterisk based solution becomes as
expensive as a Cisco/Nortel. At which point its really not worth it for
the client.

On Wed, 2008-04-09 at 20:24 +1000, Rob Hillis wrote:
> I've now upgraded one of my phones to the 1.1.6.16 firmware in the
> hope that the firmware is as good as people seem to think it is.
> Certainly the looong list of fixes looks promising.
> 
> Regardless, I would still never recommend Grandstream phones.  The
> place I work for has actually taken on a policy of not supporting
> Grandstream phones.  The damage to their reputation has well and truly
> been done and will take a long time to repair - if it can be.
> 
> 
> Faraz R. Khan wrote: 
> > To be fair to the engineers at grandstream - an update to the latest
> > 1.1.6.16 firmware seems to make the phones very very stable. I now have
> > a couple GXP2000s running at high call volume for the past 3 days
> > without any issue (usually it would happen within an hour).
> > 
> > Problem is that Polycom/Aastra seem to not be interested in sales
> > outside US and Europe. Their channel management seems quite weak and
> > their sales people simply seem uninterested in third world country
> > sales. After being on the phone with Polycom US for 30 minutes I still
> > could not get hold of a person responsible for APAC/EMEA sales (my call
> > got transferred 6 times). Maybe its just my bad luck but it has happened
> > twice now :)
> > 
> > Grandstream on the other hand is extremely helpful in negotiating good
> > deals, giving heavy discount, arranging for shipping from nearby
> > warehouses etc..
> > 
> > I think the problem may be that they release their firmwares WAY too
> > quickly, earning them a bad reputation.
> > 
> > On Sun, 2008-04-06 at 09:41 +0500, faraz wrote:
> >   
> > > Guys thanks a lot. I should be going with a Polycom 650 for all such
> > > jobs.
> > > 
> > > If grandstream receives such bad reviews- how are they selling anything?
> > > Phones hanging or voice cut-outs are simply unacceptable!!
> > > 
> > > On Sun, 2008-04-06 at 14:12 +1000, Rob Hillis wrote:
> > >     
> > > > I'd find that very strange considering that the 57i itself has
> > > > facility for at least 20 BLF buttons and each attendant console has
> > > > facility for another 60!
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > Matt Watson wrote: 
> > > >       
> > > > > We are using 57i + 560M combination as well... though we are not using the 57i ct... but the idea of giving them a cordless is a good idea.
> > > > > 
> > > > > The only downside to the Aastra 57i + 560M is that it can only subscribe to 50 extensions for BLF... i haven;t run into this cap yet myself, but I have heard others talk about it... I think it was a cap introduced in one of the newer versions of firmware... not sure though, and not sure why.
> > > > > 
> > > > > I'm running the latest 2.2 firmware on it... the addition of one-touch transfers in the last firmware was very nice so operator can transfer very fast, instead of having to do xfer->BLF key->xfer (for attended transfer), now they can just hit the BLF key for a blind transfer.
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > --
> > > > > Matt
> > > > > 
> > > > > ________________________________________
> > > > > From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com [asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Sigma Networks [sigma at easymail123.com]
> > > > > Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2008 12:52 PM
> > > > > To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
> > > > > Subject: Re: [asterisk-users] Advice on best operator phone (with attendant console)
> > > > > 
> > > > > We have been marketing ipPBX systems based on asterisk for 3+ years.
> > > > > For the last year we've been placing Aastra 57iCT with 560M sidecars.
> > > > > Our attendants like the idea of a cordless handset so the attendant can
> > > > > go to the copy room, etc.  The LCD based sidecar means you can keep it
> > > > > up to date without marking up paper strips.   We deploy Thirdlane PBX
> > > > > Manager which allows us to setup the BLF (busy lamp field) via a web
> > > > > interface.
> > > > > 
> > > > > Aastra 57iCT:
> > > > > http://neobits.com/aastra_-_a1758-0131-10-05_-_57i_ct_p11471.html
> > > > > Aastra 560m: http://neobits.com/aastra_-_a1760-0000-10-55_-_560m_p11472.html
> > > > > Thirdlane PBX Manager: http://www.thirdlane.com/products/pbxmanager
> > > > > 
> > > > > Feel free to contact me off list if I can be of any assistance.
> > > > > 
> > > > > Regards,
> > > > > Jim
> > > > > ph: 408-701-9929
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > Faraz R. Khan wrote:
> > > > >   
> > > > >         
> > > > > > One of our clients is using a Grandstream GXP2000 with an attendant
> > > > > > console. We have used the same phone with past clients successfully
> > > > > > however this particular operator processes around 200 calls a hours and
> > > > > > the GXP2000 for sure does not like the quick line shuffling and call
> > > > > > volume. We get the following problems randomly:
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > 1. menu stops working
> > > > > > 2. transfer key stops working
> > > > > > 3. Line 1 LED gets stuck
> > > > > > 4. Voice 'gaps' (blackouts) for 4-5 seconds
> > > > > > 5. The phone also completely locks up regularly
> > > > > > 6. ping response goes from 8ms to 3000ms (after which the phone locks
> > > > > > up)
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Wondering which operator phone would work best. I have the following
> > > > > > choices:
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > 1. Linksys SPA 932/962 with attendant console
> > > > > > 2. Polycom 601/650 with attendant console
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > I cant confirm online whether the BLF functionality will work with
> > > > > > Asterisk 1.2.26. Is somebody using either of these phones in a high
> > > > > > volume environment successfully?
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Thank you.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > 
> > > > > >     
> > > > > >           
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> > > > >   
> > > > >         
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-- 
Faraz R Khan
Chief Architect
Emergen Consulting Pvt Ltd
+92.21.111.111.320 x200
www.emergen.biz