What are some of the best small business pbx phone systems?

Building on Brad's comments about substance, regardless of what telephony product you choose, ALWAYS know who's going to support the system and how sound/viable they are as a business. A client of mine has a very nice Nortel Option 11 that is a pain to deal with because the PBX consultant that installed the system has pretty much gone belly up, and finding a decent alternate support resource has not been a stellar success.

Beyond the dollars and cents, more meaningful than the brand of PBX is the technical resource who will set it up and maintain it. The right tech will make just about any phone system work, the wrong tech will make just about any phone system a disaster.

VoIP systems are no good for small business. The only people who will get any advantage to a voip phone system are IT people who don't have to pay someone to set it up and who know how to use the features. For everyone else, there is no huge advantage in VoIP. I run a small business, a Panasonic phone system dealership www.astrocommunications.com.au and we sell VoIP systems as well as traditional PABX systems but not to everyone just the people who need it. We have all the technology, we know how to use it but yet do we? no, we have normally phone lines in our office. Why? because that is the best option for a business. Reliable phones are very important for a phone company!

So to sum it up, A Panasonic/NEC/Samsung phone system with normal (not VoIP) phone lines is the best option for small business

You should definitely check out OnSIP if you're looking into a hosted pbx phone system. They're completely standards based so they support any SIP phone you bring, and they're pricing model is unique in that it's pay as you go, which works well for us since we're not a call center.

Also, they're reliable and the service people are friendly and helpful. Good luck making your list :)

I would like for you to investigate a solution by 3CX.com I evaluated the solution from 3CX and was quite impressed.

A hassle free way...

1. Independent FXO gateway for your analog lines (patton), sip trunks optional.
2. POE switch (optional, but ultimately better).
3. Polycom HD capable phones (450/650).
4. PC running linux with sipXecs installed.

We do this all the time. Works excellent.

In the 30+ years that I’ve been installing and servicing business systems I’ve seen lots of PBX manufacturers come and go. I’ve also seen lots of “game-changing” technologies come and go. One thing that does not change is the huge range of needs that small businesses have.

First, as several people have asked in their responses, what do you mean by a “small” business?

One manufacturer I deal with thinks a small business has about 500 employees. Another says 40 employees. In the area I serve, the average company size is 10 employees and there are only two organizations with over 800 employees. What does “small business” mean to you? The needs of a 10-person company are generally different from those of a 100-person company. We are not talking about one-size-fits-nobody underwear, but a critical business tool. Have the tool fit your organization, not the other way around.

Another series of responders ask about the nature of your business. Anyone who pushes a brand of equipment or even a technology without getting those answers is merely spouting their bias.

Yes, a reliable brand/source is important. You will want a long term relationship with either a source for your equipment or with your hosted service provider. Will they (or a successor) be there in three years? How about in five years? Or even ten years? I service some equipment that is 20 years old. Because those manufacturers were well established, I can still get spare parts. These clients don’t need or want new features, just good solid reliable performance. (Think small 10-20 room hotels….) Other client companies are small but very tech-focused. They can make effective use of teleworkers, videoconferencing and various forms of unified communications. (Think technology sales….) They have an address for their snail-mail, but key personnel are elsewhere. There is no real headquarters location. I wouldn’t dream of offering these two types of companies the same solution.

Open source sounds encouraging. But one “open source” system I support was built on DR-DOS. Another was built on OS-2. Neither of those systems is available anymore – and there were no successors or upgrade paths for new OS platforms. Drivers for new hardware? Forget it. I’m stuck with mid-80’s generation computers salvaged from landfill. (Personal bias: Any product based upon a hard drive is a critical service call waiting to happen.) Many of the “open systems” told today are sold as commoditized packaged systems. Are you forced to upgrade? Will upgrades be available? What will happen to those systems in 10-15 years?

Several comments are absolutely correct about the service aspect. This is perhaps more important than the brand or technology. Not just the ongoing service if something goes wrong, but the initial configuration and setup too. A good vendor will make or break an installation. Don’t settle for the default settings if you have 40 features available. Which ones are useful to you? Tap into the vendors’ expertise to make your phone system an efficient business tool. (Only 40 features? Most PBXs list well over 200 features.)

Do it yourself PBX systems? How much time do you have to learn and implement it? Some people have the skills and background. Do you? I would hire a contractor to put in a building foundation. They would hire me to put in a communications foundation.

Do you have in-house technical support? If you use VoIP extensively you will probably need it. Try implementing a converged network without competent technical support. Either budget for it or don’t wait around for your next annual review. Better yet, ignore the “financial benefits” of converged networks unless you build the network from the ground up to support voice. The service issues involved in a retrofit usually lead to finger-pointing and the blame game.

Lots of responses mention Hosted Services. They all agree that QOS is critical. How about reliability of the carrier’s distribution network? Even if you have one organization managing, you have 5 vendors, none of them with end-to-end control. This assumes that you can even get that type of managed data service from carriers at your location. (SIP trunking, for example, is not available in parts of my service area). Consider a redundant or backup link for your network. Yes, it adds cost. How much down-time can you afford? (The comments above about converged networks apply here too.)

In all of my comments I have not mentioned a single product/brand name. Yes, I have favorites, but my favorites are irrelevant until I know my clients’ requirements. If I go to a store looking for a specific brand of cookies, I have to pay the price for that specific product. I may never learn that there is a newer or better option. If I know the type of cookies I want I have more options.

Yes, there are a lot of good products out there but start with the individual customer’s specific business requirements.

As a consultant, I typically see the following brands:
Avaya
Cisco
Mitel/InterTel
Nortel (although they have been purchased by Avaya, so steer clear of new purchases)
ShoreTel

That about wraps it up. I do see the odd Panasonic, Fujitsu, Toshiba, NEC... but those are such a small percentage of the market... I typically say they make a great TV!

Bil,

What do you think about the SMB offering from the companies you mentioned - Avaya, Cisco, ShoreTel, etc?

I've been on both sides of the question.

Not knowing what you need, beyond a small phone system, is

1. How many users?
2 Call Center / Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) application? If yes, how many agents?
3. Traditional, VoIP or hybrid (mixed traditional and VoIP)?
4. Would a refurbished system meeting these criteria be acceptable?

That information would narrow the answers down and permit you to get an answer fairly tailored to your requirements and permit both purchasers and vendors (who generally know their products) to provide you with at least a good start on where you might want to look.

Cordially,
Donald Todd

Hi Trevor: I have been selling telecommunications equipment and services for over 25 years. I have sold both premise-based and hosted and like some of the previous responders, much prefer a premise based system. Premised based system offer a much larger set of features that can be programmed to meet the company's individual needs. There are digital only systems that still can meet the needs of a small business with an excellent set of features for telephone and voicemail. There are hybrid systems that offer both the stability of digital but also the benefits offered by VoIP. VoIP is beneficial for remote workers or to connect multiple locations together. With a hybrid system you get the best of both worlds. Most all VoIP or hosted VoIP systems use phones that do not have alot of buttons that can be programmed as extension appearances, frequently used features or speed dial numbers. This makes them hard to use. Allworx is one VoIP only system that does offer IP phones with programmable buttons -- you need a managed internet connection (not cable or DSL) if connecting multiple locations together. Allworx can also use POTS service (plain old telephone service) or a PRI-T1 for a larger installation.

Iwatsu Voice Networks is also an excellent choice for a hybrid (Digital/VoIP/SIP) system. We have been a dealer for them since 1984. While we have carried other systems over the years such as Mitel, Avaya, InterTel, we have stayed with Iwatsu because they do not outsource their manufacturing to other companies and they have paid close attention to backwards upgradeability of their PBX systems. We can upgrade PBX systems sold 12 years ago to VoIP technology without any loss of cabinets, cards or digital phones.

Hope this information helps.

Ben,

I recently purchased a system manufactured by Schmooze Communications, called PBXact. It has voice recognition and a little feature called Magic Button where you can control your calls with your voice.

Try to go to http://www.schmoozecom.com and see if you like it. It was relatively inexpensive and they do have a good warranty program.

Hope that helps.

Hi Ben,

It really depends on the needs required: Call Recording & Monitoring, Call Centre/ACD or maybe they require Unified Messaging.

However, great SMB "out-of-the-box" Solutions start with some of the smaller vendors - Aastra, Allworx, Talkswitch. Aastra is great since it is based on Asterisk with an easy to configure Web Management tool. I agree with most here favoring Asterisk however it's best to use a distribution with a front end management tool like - freePBX, Trixbox or Elastix.

For higher priced PBXs - out of all the "big boys" (Cisco, Avaya, Shoretel, etc.) I favor Mitel, they have rich applications and the solution is easily scalable, in addition, they do offer support for 3rd party phones.

Hope this helps.

Tino Fenotti
www.tinofenotti.com

PBX of 25 phones or 2,500? There is a wide variety of systems to chose from. However, Open Source has an 18% share, and the largest in 2008. http://pbx2sip.com/?p=96

There are three products that dominate the Market -
Asterisk
SipFoundry
3CX

There are many Asterisk implementations that are commercialized - many have been mentioned here.

SipFoundry is best know for being commercialized by Nortel (previously Pingtel), although other companies have done the same - Rage! Business Office Xchange is one.

3CX is the big player in the Windows enviroment.

SipFoundry is all about the Open Standards.

Our company sells all of these flavors, and have great results with them as well. We've also had experience with Nortel, Avaya, 3COM and others.

Each has their niche, and their strengths.

However, I am a strong believe of an on-premise system, Centrex died a long time ago for good reason - too expensive and difficult to control your features.

I am also a big suppporter of open standards. Let's face it, business needs change. But you shouldn't have to throw out the bathtub to change the water. Replace the proxy, replace the voicemail, replace the phones, or replace A PHONE with open standards.

No more sunken investments with proprietary solutions. We learned that decades ago when we got rid of the mainframes and their proprietary terminals. It opened up tremendous opportunity by using open standards to interconnect all of the devices we use so freely today. SIP is the standard that is allowing the same today. I embrace it wholeheartedly.

I am the physician owner of a 15 employee, one site medical practice. We have been researching options to replace our antiquated phone system. I am trying to decide between two systems - VoIP hosted PBX by Vocalocity or premise based TalkSwitch. Vocalocity is completely cable based (we would need to install a new cable due to strict firewall issues with our current resource). TalkSwitch utilizes their switch to connect our current analog line to premise based VoIP integrated ethernet based system. We intend to use POE in either case. Both systems meet our in house requirements except that TalkSwitch says they bring a intercom system to the table which Vocalocity cannot do. I believe we can use non-proprietary Aastra or Cisco systems with either resource. Cost is not significantly different.

Any advice out there on decision making, experience, etc regarding these options?

While looking at the Aastra and Cisco Phones, I would recommend looking at Polycom as well. Higher quality than the Asstra phones, less expensive than the Cisco phones. In 2009, Polycom became the largest independent manufacturer of telephones. Their speakerphones are the defacto standard in conference rooms today - even sold by Cisco for their quality.

I have no doubt TalkSwitch will meet the needs of a small medical office. And I would chose that over a hosted solution - you will be much happier.

You need to ask the vendor questions related to service - do they have spares, what is their response time, how much experience do they have with VOIP, etc.

Are you really keeping your present analog lines? You might want to consider changing them to SIP trunks to get more savings, as it can be substantial.

With regards to 3CX, it is an option, if a reseller in your area offers it, but there are less distributors of this product, which is based on windows, where most are using Linux these days. Expect more expensive hardware to support your requirements with a Windoze based solution.

This posting is strictly an observation, so I apologize to Ben for not providing any relevant information pertaining to his question. Almost every post I've read is coming from someone trying to sell something (mostly open or hosted PBX solutions). Didn't anyone read the question that Ben was asking? He's looking for responses from business owners who have actually purchased a new corporate PBX and can give him opinions on what their experiences have been. As a professional who also sells communications solutions, I would much rather hear what companies around the country are standardizing on for communications as opposed to reading countless commercials from fly-by-night companies trying to sell the flavor of the month. I have to be honest in saying that the last few times I've been on this site, I see nothing but vultures trying to feed on the rotten fruit that's fallen from the tree. It's too bad because Ben's question, if answered by actual business owners, may have resulted in some interesting answers.

Hello Ben,
I think if you talk abt pbx systems and there are a number of hosted pbx systems available by a number of hosted pbx providers, so if you ask this from others then everybody has their own prespective and they will tell you accordingly... But let me tell you the hosted pbx systems are actually for small and medium businesses or enterprises as they dont want to spent more on such thing so it is a perfect and reliable thing for them... You can check some of them:
http://www.integratelecom.com
http://www.therealpbx.com

Telephone systems these are tiny computers. The industry has moved into computing. Cost of hardware and simplicity of maintenance is the benefit. This has been a painful transtion for traditional telephone providers, but a natural for IT service providers. After extensive research and testing of various systems. We have settled on two small systems for our clients. We are using Cisco and a hosted option from our telephony service provider. Our staff has trained on both options. We are doing the installation and support for our clients.

Althought Cisco conjures up visions of $$$, it's no longer true. They have some wonderful packages for small businesses today.

When seeking a telephony provider, look to companies that you already trust. It is likely that they have moved into the area and are supporting some range of telephone products.

Ben,

Being a small business and of course economic times as they are we look to open source a lot. My company uses softphones, x-light or eyebeam, for phones and then pbx in a flash for server software. PIAF is very easy to install and get rolling with and uses asterisk which is very well supported. There are options for paid for support and tons of options for all sorts of business scenarios. There are also solutions which are prebuilt.

tk

Not to overstate the obvious but I think you have to define the size of the small business. If my memory serves me correctly I believe somewhere in the neighborhood of 95% of all businesses employ less than 50 people so let's start there. If you're over 35-40 employees to start I'd look for a system that could grow to 100. However in the under 50 user space take a look at the Mitel 3000 as it's modular and you can add new stuff quite easily - new lines, T1 (full and fractional), VoIP with remote extensions, Voicemail and more. It's a solid system for the money and if the location grows out of it the system can easily be moved and re-used

Hi Ben

I have implemented an Avaya Enterprise strategy within the Tenon Group based on scaleability, functionality and advice from our partners. Whilst this is on a far larger scale than you are looking for, I do look after some smaller clients (30-100 headcount) and they have gone with the Avaya IP Office. Its effectively priced and does much of what the Enterprise solution can do on a smaller scale. Before my company was properly integrated, two of our offices took the Mitel solution (50 and 40 user offices) and we had many issues leading to loss of Business. They will soon be replaced with Avaya. If you do go with Avaya, check out your provider! It is easy to become a regular "Avaya Partner" so I would recommend selecting a Gold or Platinum Partner. Also, they should be able to demonstrate that they have a relationship with Avaya by taking you free of charge to one of Avaya's Offices for a free presentation and discussion on the features you are looking for.

The other point is that if you are converging your IT and Voice network onto a single platform (assuming you have not done this) then be sure to purchase a decent network switch such as Cisco or Extreme.

Try PrettyMay Skype PBX which is designed for small business to quickly implement a Skype based PBX phone system.
It's 100% Windows based Software.
www.prettymay.net.

Broadview Networks is a CLEC and has developed a solution called OfficeSuite for the 4 to 50 employee office that is high quality and is easy to manage with tons of features.Over 35,000 sets in use today. No capex. The service is available for delivery nationwide.

www.broadviewnet.com/officesuite

If you are looking for Open source then I think Elastix is the best, for SMB

On the contrary, I believe that VOIP systems are an excellent choice for any business today. The systems themselves are mature and handle quality voice calls fantastically. Ensure you have a good SIP provider for your trunks, a facilities based company.

I can point to many many 100% satisfied VOIP customers that enjoy the savings they get over systems that only support analog services. And the features these systems have is incredible, bringing additional value to the table.

It's hard to argue with the fact that more people by VOIP systems than any other. It speaks volumes to the features, cost, and quality of the systems.

Hands Down... .e4PBX - http://8774e4voip.com

This question is clearly subjective, however as a company that sells SMB phone systems (20 years) the one system that I feel gives the end user the best value, longevity, flexibility and ease of use is the Avaya Partner ACS. Although it is a key system the durability, line sharing, analog station integration, and easy logical programming make this system the best TCO in the SMB category.

If you are a small business with less than 50-75 users and you don't have at least 2 full telecom employees on staff and you are not willing to pay for redundant facilities, then a Hosted VoIP solution is probably the best solution for you. I say probably, because your company may have needs that require customization that are not feasible in Hosted Solutions.

The upfront out of pocket expense is also much lower with a Hosted system. Premise based system generally become more cost effective after year 5. The problem with owning your equipment after year 5 is that you own 5 year old equipment, which given the rate of innovation in the telecom industry is a virtual dinosaur and may not be worth much more than the $1.00 residual buy out. This may not be a problem if your telecom needs are basic, but if your company needs to adapt, you many be hampered by an out of date system.

AVAD Technologies specializes in Small Business Hosted VoIP http://voip.avadtechnologies.com/

Ben,

As a small business owner you may or may not have an IT person on staff to help support a PC based telephone system. Some alternatives that would be easy to implement would be to look at hosted PBX system from AccessLine or some other hosted provider or purchase one of the new VoIP solutions from Aastra or Allworx. Both of which are inexpensive and provide a large amount of features for the price.

You can go with a traditional system like a Panasonic or NEC IPX system, but the cost will actually be more. The small VoIP systems from Aastra or Allworx can, in most cases, use your existing Local Area Network cabling with an upgrade to a voice ready Ethernet switch. these switches are available fro 3Com, hewlett Packard, or Netgear.

In each case you should be able to find a local dealer to install and set up the system for you, and then train you on how to do most the maintenance yourself.

TG

Go to http://www.its-tel.com/category_info.asp?id=147_ and check out the soon to arrive Connecto from ITS Telecom and available from their North American Master Distributor TMS Group & Associates (our company). Send me your email address and I will send you the link to some YouTube Tutorials. Feel free to contact us if their is an interest in the product.

OfficeSuite is a full-featured, hosted VoIP phone system that delivers everything your business needs to communicate over the phone and online. It offers small- and medium-sized businesses the functionality of an enterprise-grade PBX or key system without any capital investment or expensive maintenance contracts.

OfficeSuite offers business-grade voice quality and system reliability, backed by Broadview’s Service Level Agreements. It is completely hosted within Broadview’s fully meshed IP network—delivering a secure, redundant service.

OfficeSuite is a complete voice and data communications system that includes phones, unlimited local, regional and long distance calling plans, automatic system upgrades and initial system training. It also offers Internet access and—for businesses with multiple locations—MPLS data networking can quickly route traffic among locations, helping to ensure security and business continuity.

OfficeSuite is flexible. It includes over 40 features that let you customize the system to meet your specific needs. It also includes a simple and easy to use web portal that gives end-users and system administrators direct control over the system, whether they’re in or out of the office. OfficeSuite is scalable, allowing you to add stations, sites and users as you need them—without having to add cards, expensive shelves or upgrade the system.

OfficeSuite is available nationwide. It can connect satellite and regional offices across the country with your main office—all on the same system and the same network. OfficeSuite extends seamless communications with Teleworker and the USB Phone, offering home-based employees and mobile professionals the same features and functionalities that are available on their office phones.

I urge any SMB to take a close look at the advantages of this product over a premise based system.

If you have a client looking for a inexpensive IP system that can emulate both PBX and/or Key functionality with remote workers then take a look at the Allworx system (www.allworx.com). The product has come a long way over the last several years and the next release in January is showing great promise. The NEC Univerge SV8100/8300 (www.necunified.com) is also excellent in thi space as well.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.

Regards,

Chris Caffera,
Vice President, Sales
Forerunner Telecom, Inc.

Direct 919.655.1620
Toll Free 866.637.4006, x170
Cell Phone 919.637.7702
Web Address: www.frtinc.com

Hello, I see many people answering the question about "What is the best PBX Phone System?" each person answering according to how they have been selling phone systems during their years in the industry. I became aware of technology while serving in the Israeli Army and having to guard some of the most advanced communications technology in the world. I'm not Cisco Certified, or AVAYA Certified, but I am Mitel and 3COM Certified on VoIP phone systems when they actually starting making the equipment.

In my many years of doing business as a telephone technician, I have seen it all, and have installed so many different types of phone systems that I now sell IP sets on eBay and ship them all over the world. Today, I can safely state that there are still several types of customers, and what type of phone system purchased is based on the vertical market that the customer is in.

Based on my eBay sales and asking the actual end users what phone system they are using with their IP Sets, the Asterisk Based phone system is really killing the Cisco, AVAYA, Mitel/Inter-Tel, etc... YOU KNOW , THE PROPRIETARY PHONE SYSTEMS! As a former Mitel dealer serving N.E. Florida, I visited over 100 properties in N.E. Florida and 90% of the Hotels/Motels had Mitel PBX Solutions. The rest were mostly Nortel and AVAYA, with a slight few beign COMDIAL & Panasonic being used by the smaller family owned properties.

Back to the question of the BEST SMB PHONE SYSTEM? based on being the person that sell, services and installs the systems, I would state that the Hosted PBX Solution is the BEST SMB PHONE SYSTEM, but you must also take into account that I am a telephone technician and not just a VoIP Certified Technician. I have been selling phone system for over 20+ years, and all of my customers LOVE ALL OF THOSE DAMN PROGRAMMABLE BUTTONS that the older Samsung, Telrad, Inter-Tel, Macrotel, and other phone system had. So, that is why I sold the LG Nortel 6830 set with 24 programmable buttons, and the Grandstream GXP2010 with 18 programmable buttons. BUT, I have been through researching over 12+ Hosted Solution Providers, and as a certified VoIP Technician I can tell you that when selling Hosted PBX Solutions, it's all about proper bandwidth and the MOST IMPORTANT PART OF HOSTED PBX SOLUTIONS... QoS !!! Anything having to do with Hosted PBX is all about QoS !!! A Hosted PBX Solution can be anything that an AVAYA, Cisco, or other phone system can do, BUT BETTER!

To finish this answer without rambling on and on, Hotel/Motel solutions are still that box-in-the-closet from Mitel and other, though Thing5.com is trying to change people's minds about that. Hospitals still rely on Nortel and AVAYA. And, you still have those IT Departments that mandate a PBX so that they don't loose their jobs. If you can give a customer a lower MRC for their hosted solution, and you can provide the best QoS and bandwidth without latency, and multiple programmable buttons that will compete against the proprietary sets with 18-36 button sets that the traditional sets have, then Hosted PBX beats Proprietary PBX every time. However, a great salesperson can sell crap to a cow farmer, and my best solution lost to a worse solution sold by an excellent salesrep. But, that is what the technology business is all about, isn't it? Jonathan Price

Ben,
Northwest Vox is a carrier based out of Seattle that provides businesses with an extremely robust, feature rich, hosted PBX environment in a very cost effective way.

We have built a cloud based PBX environment that gives you the complete functionality of a fully featured PBX without the up-front investment. Call recording, sales queue's, time based auto-attendants and voicemail/fax to email are just a few of the features we offer, which are never nickled and dimed. With Northwest Vox, it's all inclusive.

We understand that in this economy cash flow is king. Our pricing model accommodates this. Each phone line on our system is $49.99/mo and includes a fully featured extension and Polycom Soundpoint Series phone. Additional Extensions are $14.99 and also include the same Polycom phones.

Lets say you have 25 users, and you had a need for 8 simultaneous calls on the system at any given time, an additional 17 extensions and a physical fax line (at $9.99), it would be $664.74/mo (plus taxes depending on your location). We also cover all the installation costs, and don't worry - you can keep your phone numbers.

No hardware to purchase, no installers to pay, you can start to realize the ROI the first month. Of course, all of this implies expert 24/7 customer support.

I would love to show you the depth of our capabilities and prepare a formal bid for you.

-Thanks,

Casey Strom

Northwest Vox

http://nwvox.com 1-877-208-9710 x 2003

Ring Carrier is a new up and coming truely hosted PBX system. This is not jsut your average rebrand of residential VoIP. It is a PBX in the cloud.

www.ringcarrier.com

Retail and Transit Unit (RTU) from http://www.mera-systems.com/products/rtu

RTU is specifically designed to give an opportunity to all categories of telecommunications carriers to provide its customers with a wide range of services in the most effective and flexible way.

* Carriers with both retail and wholesale traffic willing to reduce all kinds of expenses by utilizing a single comprehensive product from one vendor for all business activities;
* Local exchange carriers or mobile carriers willing to obtain a flexible services delivery engine as well as to increase the efficiency of traffic routing originated from their retail customers;
* Large corporations willing to build a corporate voice network on a single, reliable multi protocol platform and efficiently manage calls;

RTU allows carriers to deliver the following business models:

* Residential telephony
* Business customers services
* Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) replacement
* A-Z voice traffic management
* Corporate IP PBX

RTU can be deployed as a full-featured class 5 platform with an elaborate set of value-added services for residential and business customers.
Please, contact us to learn more about RTU class 5 application.
RTU architecture

RTU is based on the universal highly scalable Traffic Switch engine managed by two types of logic subsystems: Retail Logic responsible for class 5 features and services and Wholesale Logic responsible for class 4 functionality. Each subsystem consists of a number of separate functional nodes, which makes the system as a whole easily scalable and redundant. The system operates on the industry-standard hardware.

This architecture allows for:

* Almost unlimited scalability
* Very high fault-tolerance
* Building geographically distributed networks with a single point of management and data entry

In case of a hardware fault in one of the system’s components, its functions are taken over by other servers in the cluster assuring business-critical system dependability.
RTU Capacity and Scalability

RTU provides unmatched flexibility of combination between retail and transit functionality as well as excellent scalability for both parts.

RTU capacity easily scales up with an increase of processor core’s number in a cluster as well as respective RAM growth.

Transit capacity

* Concurrent calls: up to 150,000 per cluster
* CPS: up to 1,000 per 1 traffic entry point
* BHCA: up to 10,000,000

Retail capacity

* Number of subscribers: up to 25,000 per 1 server*

* Typical server configuration: 2x Intel Xeon E5530, RAM 8GB

Asterisk - it's free, works very solid...you just need someone to do the customization set-up.

ShoreTel is a good solid line.

The money for the vendor is usually in the handsets.

Guys any tips on how to sell a panasonic kx-tes824sn pabx..i just started working as a sales person.. thanks thanks

Nortel Meridian Option 11 with Meridian Mail is always a great choice.

If you are going to invest in a PBX, then buy 'refurbished' Nortel, or like. No sense investing good money on that technology - it is done.

The best recommendations would be: (1) to look at an Asterisk based/premise based VoIP solution - but make sure the offering, and the company, have substance - either purchase outright, or lease; (2) to consider a hosted VoIP solution - but again, make sure the offering, and the company, have substance - month to month, with no capital costs.

Get references and implementation guarantees.

This is the future of 'telephony', here today. So much flexibility, functionality and at a price point that anyone can swallow.

So, who do you go with? Really depends on where you are, and what you need.

Asterisk IP PBX is by far one of the best systems available in today’s IP Telephony Market which we have proven and tested – of course this is only my opinion, but the PRO’s absolutely outweigh the CON’s:

PRO’s
- Completely Open Source with a tremendous following.
- A Fantastic feature set of more than 40+ features
o Call Record, Unified Messaging, Call Groups, Conferencing, Multi- Location support, Auto Attendants, Secretary Operator Panels just to name a few.
- Can use existing IT infrastructure without the need of additional equipment.
o Can be installed in VMware, XenServer and any other virtual environment
o Can add as many endpoints (IP Phones) as you want without having to pay for additional Licensing cost
o Can be setup to be fully redundant
- No Licensing Cost, No Software Cost and MUCH, MUCH MORE…. Just contact me for more information… regarding the Phenomenal System…

We have this system installed in over 200 businesses from 5 phones to 400 phones and the Quality is absolutely superb… proven testimonials!

CON’s
- This is a Completely Open Source System - this is the only potential Con that I can see as being a draw back for some company’s; however, we’ve been using this system for sometime and have the expertise to provide the required support if needed!

If you want more information pertaining to this system please feel free to contact me as I’ll be more than happy to share with you our experiences!

For solid and economical VoIP, the Open Source Asterisk platform is a clear winner.