People Selling Trixbox Solutions

Well, gee... I dunno, there's a lotta buttons & stuff :\

I think the question is:
Do you actually expect a response from such an 1334'ist n00b, or just looking to start a like-minded rant?

Yes, it happens... yes, it gives everyone a bad name... moving on.
(sorry for the bluntness, but I don't see the purpose here)
- J

As long as you can back up your word with action, time will tell when things happen and you are put to the test. All the customer needs to see is solutions and not to hear stories about problems. It happens...a long while ago, out of the blue a company called us in to discuss their new data and voice network for their new branch office simply because the consultant they had hired knew nothing and had been fumbling with their systems and could not get things done and finally stopped showing up after charging the client to run two cables per desk as one for phone and the other for PC (when only one is needed per desk) and making them work from home for about two months. As soon as they cut us a check we had their voice and data network up as quick as the equipment arrived even though the other consultant had already purchased Allworx 6x phone system we had not worked with before, I personally went through the important pages of the manual and with our voip experience got it setup (since there is a basic operation to voip, the only difference is that different manufacturers have a different setup process). In less than two weeks from our first discussion they had moved into their new office building. And every voice and data support call has been resolved with precise knowledge as it came in. Thats how clients know you know your stuff. Needless to say, since then the company has stuck with us.

So to answer your question, a good solutions provider should know his stuff and at the same time be able to do the necessary research and fast because not every single thing thrown at you will be readily known, that is why you have to consult you admin guide and other sources like this forum sometimes because even technology manufacturers know this and do it themselves that is why they put you on hold to scroll through their admin guide or even say they have to get back to you with a resolution to your issues. Just like the other consultant that did not know anything but put himself/themselves out there they will all be weeded out, only time will tell. But then again some of these people also leave a bad taste in the clients mouth about VoIP because the client kicks them out altogether and goes for PSTN, I know this because I know some business owners who I cannot even tpropose VoIP to due to such people. But for those who barely know anything and put themselves out there as solutions providers, two words; "good luck" (they would need a ton of those). Bottom line is without knowing effective routing, switching, TCP/IP networking and its intricacies, VoIP implementation is likely to be unreliable. So telecom guys have no choice but to learn it and TCP/IP guys also need to know get some knowledge on the analog cards.