By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email
As many of you know, in addition to running Telecom Association I'm also an active agent and telecom consultant. (You can view my agent consultant website at www.BaldwinTel.com.)
About a month ago I secured a non-commissioned consulting client that wanted me to help them sort through seven premises based IP-PBX phone system proposals they had received to replace their 14-year old Executone business phone system.
Over the past month I've reviewed their existing proposals and interviewed them about what they were trying to get from their new phone system.
What They Have & What They Want
Their business is not all that complicated - they're a CPA/accounting firm with just one location that needs 22 phones replaced. Two of their owners like to work remotely from a home office and they'd like to have the option of having more employees work from home.
What they like most about their current Executone phone system is their ability to "park" a call and then "all page" to get another person to pick up the phone.
What they like least about their Executone is that it's old and they don't want to buy any more old replacement parts for a 14-year old phone system.
Their voice and data network services are currently being provided by TelePacific - eight SmartVoice analogue voice lines provisioned as part of a 4.0 meg EoC ("Ethernet over Copper") circuit. TelePacific has advised the client that they can convert the 8 analogue lines to either SIP or PRI for a one-time charge of $200. Their TelePacific agreement expires in January 2013.
While they don't have a burning need for all the new VoIP phone features they hear about, they certainly want to be able to take advantage of them as they learn how to use them.
Which IP-PBX Business Phone Systems They're Considering
Following are the IP-PBX proposals they have on hand or are waiting for:
- Avaya IP Office
- Mitel 5000
- Samsung OfficeServ 7200
- Star2Star Starbox 2200
- NEC SV8100
- Vertical MBX, and
- 3CX (the dealer dropped out - we need a new 3CX dealer)
- Allworx
- BandTel SIPTrex
While they certainly seem to want to buy another premises based system (since they got 14 years of life out of their Executone), I told them that they really should look at a couple hosted VoIP solutions. While they had not been approached by any hosted VoIP dealers, they said they were certainly interested in knowing if hosted VoIP was a better deal over the IP-PBX proposals they have.
Can You Propose a Hosted VoIP Solution that Beats IP-PBX?
Since the customer's paying me directly to help them evaluate prospective vendors I can't represent any hosted VoIP solutions myself but I can invite hosted VoIP solution partners or vendors to review the RFP ("request for proposal") I've created and bid directly themselves if they seem to be a decent fit for the client.
Following are the hosted VoIP vendors that are considering the RFP:
I'd like to include the following hosted VoIP vendors if I can find an agent or partner to do the RFP:
- Broadview
- Megapath/Speakeasy
- Telesphere
- SimpleSignal
- 8x8
If you're an experienced agent partner of Broadview, MegaPath/Speakeasy, Telesphere, SimpleSignal or 8x8, or you're an experienced partner of another hosted VoIP solution provider that is well matched to the SMB/small business marketplace and would like to take a look at the RFP and perhaps submit, please send me an email to Dan@BaldwinTel.com.
The RFP is reasonably simple and should not take you more than 60 minutes to complete. Let me know if you're interested. I need all RFPs complete by July 13th.
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