Lost Sale - No SLA (or shared extensions)

Hmm, been thinking about the SLA problem and remembered the Linkys SPA9000 system. It is a basic system that does support SLA. I found several posts here discussing the merits of SPA9000 vs. TB, but nothing about the SPA9000 itself (of course, this is not a SPA9000 forum). One can get the SPA9000 w/ 16 licenses & SPA400 for ~$900.

I don't know all the problems they have ith the Bizfon, but I know one problem is ghost ringing. One phone will ring for no reason (it happened while I was there). I don't know the details, but the system "crashed" during their annual 2 week busy period last November. Nobody I spoke with was technical so they really had no clue what went wrong.

The Allworx looks interesting, but you have to be a reseller. I guess I'll need to more research on them.

if you really need SLA, maybe do your homework , after all it is obvious that you are generating an income from asterisk , maybe (nobody like to hear this) pay money for somebody to get a solution! i belive that sla is in new feature in asterisk 1.4x and freepbx 2.3.x supports the new asterisk version . i think that is most of you problem solved right there.

the entire asterisk/freepbx/trixbox environmnet would adance heaps quicker is companies that make money from teh product undertook development to solve their own particular issues , ie payed a developer to fix/modify/rewrite code and submitt it to teh community , WOW just imagine how many comanpies could adopt one bug or feature each, the whole project would be fully bug free and feature rich in a couple of months!

seriously if you make money selling trixbox , i believe you have a responsibility to put back into the comunity. and not just posting requests or problems in the forum - but financing real solutions.

i would hope more people adopt your approach.

Let's clarify some things: Digium does not consider SLA and shared extensions to be the same thing. SLA is designed for trunk key appearances on multiple phones in 1.4. 1.4 does not support shared extensions -- just this limited SLA of trunks on multiple phones that makes the asterisk box work like an old key system.

Shared extensions would have been much more useful and an SLA implementation could have been built around it. Phillipe Lindenheimer of FreePBX does not see how it is possible in 1.4 to create shared extensions so, even with a major contribution, it might not be possible. I agree that this is a major limitation in trixbox / asterisk and it limits sales opportunities in a big way.

We became a Samsung dealer in December 2004, and since then we have sold every system they make - from 3-Phone 616's all the way up to networking a real estate office with 5 locations and well over 500 phones - networked via Samsung IP - with over 100 phones each at 3 of the locations.

From painful experience, the small systems can be as much of a hassle as the 100+ phones systems - I am not exaggerating - in a lot of ways, the bigger systems are less of a problem, because even though it is more work, you will have made LOTS more money, so the pain is less.

We are keeping our Samsung affiliation only for the small systems where they have to have squared (Trunk or Station Appearances) setups. Squared systems do not scale well at all above about 4 lines and 8 stations.

If you are pursuing this as a hobby, the small systems are an excellent place to cut your teeth and learn Asterisk - lower exposure and lower risk. But, if you are trying to make a living on selling telecommunications systems, concentrating on these small systems will drive you to tears - long hours for very little reward.

My .02.

Greg

The point of view I care about is whatever the client wants. The client wants Person A to be able to answer a call, push the "Hold" button, Person A yell to Person B "Call on "Line 1"", Person B punch button on nearest/any phone to answer call. I understand this can be done via SLA or shared extensions, but the client doesn't care which method as long as they can do what they want. It would seem to me that shared extensions would be a better way and would scale better. i.e. If you had a SLA setup, most of the IP phones max out at 4-6 lines. If you used shared extensions, you could have as many incoming lines as you wanted.

TalkPBX and dgoner:

I'm not sure what the issue is, but over the last 5 years, we have sold more then 30 Bizfon 680s. We have only had issues with one box. What we have seen is bad firmware, but Bizfon support is FREE for dealers. This includes firmware updates, and remote logins to the box. Bizfon support can see EXACTLY why the issues are happening (If you speak to the right support person). We have scaled them all the way to 4 boxes using all 32 extensions and 24 FXO ports without issue.

Mustardman:

I agree 100%, Trixbox IS more flexible and has more features. Allworx charges for nearly every extra feature. That being said, the Allworx 6x does some things that TB doesn't yet.

1. Automated backups to any Windows based PC with a simple restore
2. Easily switchable between PBX mode and Key system mode. Buttons on the phones are all programed from the system's web interface and you can have ANY function.
3. Remote reboot of phones from the GUI

And there is a ton more minor features that TB doesnt have YET. I'm sure in time it will. For ~ $1100, it is solid state, has 6 FXO ports, supports up to 30 users, and can be configured to work like a PBX or key system. I'd rather use TB, but in some sales, we have to use the Allworx 6x.

Bizfone is analog, very limited on features, no flexibility/expandability, phones are kind of cheap.....it's apples and oranges!

I replaced a Bizfone system that was maybe a year old with a FreePBX 1.2.x system. It blew them away! They can't believe how much better it does EVERYTHING. Plus they get a whole bunch of added features they initially thought wouldn't be of much use but now couldn't live without (ie. Voicemail to Email)

GS,

What do you mean by "Real Estate=Location, Location, Location"?

Sorry, I must be kind of thick today. Still don't get it.

My company sells both pbx and key systems. Systems ranging from 5 phones to 100 phones

There is definitely a market for both.

But I have to agree with those who say there is a need for shared line appearance. 80% of our customer base uses key systems with shared line appearance. These are systems with 8 or less trunks. There is a need for this feature.

True, you can re-train people to use call park....but that's like changing someone from a PC to an Apple MAC...it can be done...but....

Selling the sizzle and not the steak...well....

You can sell "sizzle" all day long, but eventually the customer wants to try the steak.

It's like saying "Hey look at this great voicemail we have." and then wondering why anyone would need a message waiting light.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with shared line appearance. It's a feature that is needed in order to sell telephone systems to a HUGE market segment.

One last thought... a lot of people try to say asterisk has "all these features that a key system doesn't have". I beg to differ, we sell several brands that do just about anything that asterisk can do...just higher priced and without the freedom asterisk brings to us. I am a great believer in asterisk and the freedom from established telcom manufacturers. We are intent on moving only asterisk based systems and the shared line appearance feature would solidify this move.

Hey, just my 2 cents. :)

I'm not saying that Bizfon or Allworx is a better product. NEITHER has more features then TB. However there is a need for a VOIP PBX that supports true key system features. Regardless of how many times you explain it, there are certain customers who will NOT buy a new system if it doesn't operate like a key system. While it's a small percentage, I'd rather not lose any sales. The Allworx product fills this need nicely.

There are Shoretel/Panasonic/Samsung dealers in my area and they don't seem to take Asterisk very seriously....yet! I guess I am going to have to change that.

I don't know about your area but customers who won't accept anything other than SLA is a huge part of the market in my area. I think I am going to have to bite the bullet and try get set up as an Allworx dealer even though it seems like a step backwards to me.

I'm a bit confused now. We are talking about SLA and shared extensions I guess. How is shared extensions different from a ringall or call queue type of setup in Trixbox?

TomL,
Could you explain exactly what the Mitel is able to do for you that Trixbox can't?

What will KILL you in this business is trying to sell a system based on what the client WANTS versus what the system is designed for and how it can be integrated into their workflow. There ar4e ways of making both SLA and shared extensions work but in over 40 installs I have been involved in from 2 stations to 200 stations we have never once had to do anything of the sorts.

Not once did we lose a sale because of a lack of these features. A LOT of how you sell a trixbox system is in positioning, selling, training, and support. I am not saying the thread that started this would never happen, but it should be the exception rather than the rule.

I believe that is called "Directed Call Pickup" but I think it only works on ringing extensions in Trixbox. Once you answer a call you would have to transfer it but I'm not sure about that. I know Aastra phones support that in combination with BLF. You shouldn't have to do anything with Trixbox. I'd be curious if anyone has done this and what the limitations are.