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Telephone System recommendations

  • 22 January 2021
  • 9 replies
  • 117 views
A

Hi all, I have been asked for a general piece of assistance by a customer looking for a new telephone system.

Since this is not an area we specialise in I wondered if anybody had any pointers they could share to help them to select. Nothing would be presented as a recommendation, just sharing some community knowledge.

I think the intention ultimately might be to connect to E10, but that’s not the primary consideration, just that their current system is in dire need of replacement.

thanks!

Adam

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Best answer by richard.gardner 22 January 2021, 12:18

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9 replies

R

Integrating with Epicor is a little tricky. It doesnt have any TAPI interfaces so you have to develop something custom and that works a lot better if you avoid Epicor all together. We call a web page that then retries the data from Epicor via REST/BAQ/SQL

 

As for systems themselves, it depends on what the customer needs really. The key thing is do they operate a call centre type operation and want cool things like advanced call handling and reporting, IVR and automation. Do they want an on-premise system or cloud hosted

 

If simple then you can probably look at cloud hosted services like 8x8 or even Microsoft Teams. If you want more complex then you may be best with the bigger branded on-premise providers like Avaya, Cisco or Mitel

What country are you in? Im in UK and can recommend some people to talk to

A

Hi Richard, thanks - yes they are in UK, Wales in fact.

R

We use a Shoretel/Mitel on-premise solution though our provide NTS-Comms. Recommend them

 

https://nts-comms.co.uk/

0345 450 0333

A

brilliant, thank you

V
Userlevel 2

Last year we replaced our aging system with WILDIX. This is an IP based system and can be at your premises or cloud. It runs on an instrument or through a website or an app on the phone. I always use the browser, works only on Chrome. It has inbuilt teleconference and faxing capabilities.

 

It came in very handy with the COVID situation. Since we had to get some people to work from home suddenly, all they had to do was log on the browser or using  the cell phone app, totally transparent to the caller.

 

The user’s requirement will vary and please do your own research and talk to some users in your area before making any decision.

 

Thanks

 

Vinay Kamboj

A

We are looking to replace our phone system as well. 2020 being what it is, we now have a large mix of on-premise and remote. I was really hoping to find an all-in-one cloud solution with great reporting. However many seemed to fall short on delivering all the pieces. However, many cloud solutions integrate with Teams which we already started to build out. We have found a US solution where Teams will handle the traditional call management and another company, Call Tower, will handle the call center features we need. The solution gets us all the benefits of the cloud. Call Tower does become the main call carrier, they then have direct access in the data center to Teams. Call Tower routes the call either to Teams or their call center depending on your rules. It also gives the flexibility to route your DIDs to another end point such as a cell phone if say Teams was down. They do support physical phones if that is also your need. Just another option if you want to shed that on-prem infrastructure and maintenance. 

fred
Userlevel 3

We use Jive (part of Goto Meeting group) and have been extremely happy with it.  Online solution, you can use soft phones or physical phones.  Fully featured and the web interface for doing custom call routing, hold music, and such is very easy to work with.

Fred Zelhart, CodaBears, Inc.
P
Userlevel 3

we used a phone consultant to assess our choices when we had to go remote with Covid.

His name is Andrew Bond (abond@bandwidthave.com)

425-232-8687 (mobile)

Paul Jackson CFO Aseptico Woodinville WA
G
Userlevel 2

We had the Shoretel/Mitel on premise system and switched to the cloud based Mitel Connect platform.  There is a small utility to allow a screen or web page to dial a phone but I am not aware of any native call logging.  We are more a small volume B2B organization so this really is not a big requirement anyway.

We have some people more comfortable with Teams but each system does have it’s outages.  Depending on where you are located this should be a key consideration for any VOIP system. Gone are the days of always having dial tone because all these systems (even cell) will have outages.

The VOIP systems will handle natively the ability to pick up your desk phone and take it home.  As long as you can train someone to install a POE injector then their desk phone operates exactly the same from another location.  This has been a big bonus with COVID.

Graeme Ross MBA CPIM CBAPDirector of Information TechnologyAdvance Engineered Products Ltd.Regina SK639-625-5018version 10.2.700.30

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