Straight-up SIP Phone comparison (Please add your knowledge)

I agree with your statements, it's too bad about the Cisco features because they are far and away the best phones, with terrible Asterisk integration.

The Aastra's (and these are all I use on customer prem, switched from Polycom 6 months ago) are extremely well integrated with Asterisk but they are terrible phones.

What I mean by this is your observation of angle adjustment is one example of the ergonomic nightmare these phones are. I can't stand rubber dial keys, they are spaced too closely together so I would frequently misdial. The function keys are too small and scattered in very non-intuitive fashion.

The Astra 9143i is a well integrated utility phone. For some reason Aastra downgraded the speaker from the 9133 when they upgraded the CPU and flash to make it the 9143i. Not sure what's up with this.

We switched from polycom to Aaastra because the Aastras are so much easier to work with. Scott is right when he says they are an ergonomic nightmare especially if you have monstrous hands like I do, but that is far outweighed by everything I like about them. Also Aastra is much more supportive of open source voip, so I think the potential for cool new features (and overall stability in open source voip environments) being added is almost endless. I also got tired of waiting seemingly forever for polycoms to reboot when configuring them.

That being said, for budget minded clients we really like the Linksys 94x series of phones.

My 2 cents....

Paul

If you did not need a sidecar (Executive user) which would make a better choice:

Aastra 480i (what does it lack? How vertical does it stand? It has visual VMail, right?)
or
Polycom 550 (I know it costs more, but not a buttload)

Tim

I did not know below the 650 did not have BLF, Bummer.
Now, we have achived buttload definition ($100+) and I guess that would hurt if I was rolling out 30 phones.

Quick look - 9480i about $180.00, Polycom IP650 about $280.00
I will probably have to buy both, test and compare, and then present them to my boss.

So, The polycom is a "better phone"?
This is killing me.

just a clarification on 5xi at least for the 55i, you can set the backlight to turn off. I wish they had made that the default behaviour but there ya go.

Did you mean me?

I have had extensive time to experiment with the following phones:

1. Polycom SoundPoint IP330
2. Polycom SoundStation IP6000 Conference Unit
3. Aastra 9133i/9143i
4. Aastra 53i
5. Grandstream GXP-2020 and GXP-2010
6. Adtran IP706 and IP712 - I will not go into detail on these here as they don't work 100% with Asterisk yet.

I will attempt to go through each of these extensively.

Polycom SoundPoint IP330
Pros:

1. Probably the best speakerphone for the price
2. Handset sound quality is good
3. Compact, It can easily fit on a crowded desk.
4. Well built
5. Display has good readability with ample light.
6. Power over Ethernet

Cons:

1. Without an "endpoint manager" you will pull your hair out for weeks trying to configure these things
2. Software feature updates are hard to come by without being a "channel partner"
3. No BLF buttons
4. Handset ergonomics aren't very good. The handset doesn't do well in the "shoulder test" (when you wedge the handset between your shoulder and your head while doing something like typing)
5. No display backlight
6. No voicemail button (I'm sure there's a way to make a soft button, but I couldn't figure it out.)

Polycom SoundStation IP6000
Pros:

1. EXCELLENT sound quality
2. Mobile phone buzz cancellation
3. Well Built
4. Backlit Display (a MUST for presentations that require the lights to be dimmed for a projector)
5. Very good looking
6. Power over Ethernet (no special cable required)

Cons:

1. That whole configuration == missing hair thing :-P
2. Polycom is the ONLY game in town for good conference room phones, therefore they are really expensive (even cisco licenses the units and slaps their brand name on them)
3. Did I mention they were REALLY expensive?

Aastra 9133i (and 9143i, though I haven't personally used this one)
Pros:

1. Inexpensive
2. OK speaker sound quality
3. OK handset sound quality
4. Easy Configuration
5. Firmware updates are freely available
6. Several customizable buttons
7. Power over Ethernet
8. looks very similar to a lot of Nortel phones, possibly making switching from a Nortel system easier on the end users.
9. Backlit display (although a very dim backlight)
10. All features work well with asterisk

Cons:

1. Cheap all the way around. Cheap materials, cheap build quality.
2. Small text display
3. Handset is not very ergonomic, but (barely) passes the shoulder test
4. BLF is hard to see due to small LED

Aastra 53i
This phone is basically the 9143i put into a 5xi chassis minus a few (very important) buttons.
Pros:

1. OK speaker sound quality
2. OK handset sound quality
3. Easy Configuration
4. Firmware updates are freely available
5. Power over Ethernet
6. All features work well with asterisk

Cons: (wow, did Aastra drop the ball on this one)

1. the handset on this thing is TERRIBLE. No matter what I do I can hardly keep this thing wedged between my head and my shoulder.
2. Several VERY important hard buttons are missing (Transfer, Conference, Missed Calls, Directory)
3. The previously mentioned hard buttons are programmed as the soft buttons, therefore for every single one of these that you deploy you have to either write out or type out the little paper sheet that goes in the phone.
4. I agree with SkykingOH about the rubber buttons. What a mess
5. No backlight on the display
6. Cheaply built
7. Aastra did not even attempt to make a graphical display on the 5xi series. While this may just be aesthetics, they will need to get out of the 1990's sometime soon.
8. While the BLF LED's are better than the 91xxi series, they still are somewhat hard to see. The same thing goes for the voicemail LED.
9. Non-adjustable height (mentioned before) meaning you have to basically have the phone right next to you to read the display or see the BLF/voicemail LED's.
10. Costs way more than it should

Grandstream GXP-2010 and GXP-2020
While a lot of people give Grandstream flack for their previous blunders, I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt on the GXP-2010/GXP-2020 phones and they (the phones and the company) haven't let me down yet. Their technical support has been top notch and they responded to my issues in a very timely manner once I had provided them a .pcap (wireshark) file with all of the network traffic that showed the issue. 1.5 weeks after I sent them the network trace I had a test firmware sitting in my inbox waiting for me to try to see if it resolved my problem. (I am currently away at training so I have been unable to test it). As with any product, their will always be pros and cons:
Pros:

1. Excellent Technical Support (props go out to Luis Grados at Grandstream Tech support for taking care of my issues)
2. Good speaker sound quality (better than Aastra, not as good as Polycom)
3. Well built (Solid plastic buttons, sturdy handset, etc)
4. Commanding looks. I would have chosen a different color for the buttons, but that really isn't important.
5. Adjustable backlit screen (you can set 2 levels of brightness where the screen will dim down to a preset level when it is not in use, but will become bright when the unit rings or when the user triggers it)
6. The unit comes with 3 different stands for "adjustable" height, their tallest stand makes the phone sit at a good angle
7. The handset on this phone is the best I have used. It is very comfortable and passes the "shoulder test" with flying colors, and has very good sound quality.
8. Configuration is fairly easy, though not quite as good as the Aastra's
9. The screen is very large on the GXP-2020, and very easy to read. The GXP-2010 has a smaller screen, but it is still easy to read.
10. The multi-color BLF buttons are the best of their kind. They make it easy to view extension status "at a glance". The GXP-2020 has 7 of them and the GXP-2010 has 18 of them.
11. The custom XML idle screen feature is awesome. You can see my work here and here on the trixbox site.
12. Paging functionality is built into the phone, no feature code required. You simply pick up a line, press the menu button, and dial the number. It will send the proper sip header to the other extension triggering an auto-answer.
13. Multi-way conferencing capability
14. These phones reboot very quickly. This is very handy if you're doing a simple configuration update and want the user(s) to be down for less than a minute.
15. Firmware updates are freely available.
16. Power over Ethernet
17. All features work well with Asterisk
18. These phones cost WAY less than a comparable Aastra/Polycom/Snom/Cisco phone.

Cons:

1. The included ethernet and handset cables are cheap, and the handset cable is a bit short.
2. There is no ability to set a "dial plan." Instead, you can set the timeout value lower or press the "Send" button.
3. The phonebook directory cannot handle a downloaded phonebook with more than 100 entries. Grandstream has reported they are working on this in their XML application guide. (You can manually enter 400 more phonebook entries on top of the 100 downloaded ones if you really want to)
4. The screen will sometimes have a couple "garbage" pixels at the bottom of the screen (not sure what causes this yet). They disappear when I go to the menu and exit the menu.
5. The BLF buttons are strictly that: BLF, speeddial and presence watcher. You can't set them to do things like run XML scripts.

I chose the GXP-2010 and GXP-2020 for my employer. They have been reliable thus far at a fraction of the price of comparable Polycom/Aastra models. Everyone at my office loves the way they look and feel, and we haven't had any issues with them yet.

Well, you rave about the Grandstream, I guess I need to stick them on the list too. My company is notoriously cheap, so they may be another good choice. I appreciate your time guys, and I hope this thread will benifit the community as a whole. Lots of great feedback here, please KEEP IT COMING!

I wish Aastra would simply clone a Cisco 7960 design, add more "hard buttons" (no rubber), and a backlit sidecar that works... I do love my 7960's...

It seems every SIP phone has minor features and major drawbacks, are the guys designing these things on drugs?

Tim

This thread is a fun read! I'm amazed how closely my opinion follows the others here.

I've had a chance to use Cisco 7960 (SIP & SCCP), Snom 300, 320 & 360, Grandstream 2000, Polycom 501 and 550, Linksys 942 and an Aastra 57i.

I'm amazed that my opinion of the Aastra phone is shared with several people. The integration between trixbox and the Aastra phone is nothing short of amazing, but the Aastra just feels awkward to use! I would probably recommend these phones to my employer strictly based on its integrated features.

The Cisco 7960 can get connected with trixbox with some work, but it feels like SIP is only an after thought for Cisco. For as nice of a phone as it is, the SIP implementation is very feature starved.

I really like the snom phones. I find their web configuration (especially with the newest firmwares) super easy to configure and enjoy having many buttons to monitor extensions with. A snom 360 sits on my wife's desk and she doesn't complain about it at all. That alone is a big endorsement!

The phone that sits on my desk is my Polycom 550. It was super easy to get working with trixbox using the endpoint manager. Its an easy to use phone, I don't have to think too hard to make a phone call. The back light works nicely in my home office. I use my Polycom 501 at my desk at work. Its certainly not as nice as the 550, but I guess I just like Polycom phones.

But you neglected to give your assessment of the phone, Please KEEP IT COMING!

Nothing but hands-on experience can tell someone planning a major (or even a household) rollout what to expect from these SIP phones, I am rather enthusiastic about the Grandstream 2020, that XML you did Josh is nothing short of excellent, you add value to the product and are nearing phone god status. (You should sell that code to Grandstream for integration with the firmware) and while your at it, get them to add the damn XML dial plan, that is going to be a problem for me, as we use 4 digit extensions and I got a specific DID group to match (or was it the other way around, Hmm) and dialing 42XX, 43XX, and 45XX really needs immediate termination (so does 411, 911, and the usuals) so that may be a stumbling block, but they are cheap enough, so I'll buy one and try it.

C'Mon Guys! you're all more experienced than I am

KEEP IT COMING!

Maybe I'll paypal you a dollar!

Timmy

Cisco 7970

GOOD: Athsteticly pleasing. Lets face it, it's a great looking phone. Large color backlit display makes it nice for darker areas, and those executives who are all about "feeling important." We all know one. The button layout makes sense. I'm not constantly questioning myself asto whether I'm about to press the right button, like I am with some phones with 43782428379472398 buttons. Quality both handset and speakerphone are unmatched as far as I'm concerned. Touchscreen makes it fun to write additional applications for. In my home I can search for, and change streaming audio music, and arm the security system via custom xml apps. Gigabit ethernet passthrough options are available. I know some other vendors have this too, though.

BAD: Not enough hard feature buttons, which makes it absolutely awful for a receptionist or secretary. You can only get firmware from Cisco with a contract. Fine for me, but some people have a beef with it. Support from Cisco is next to impossible to get once they know you aren't running a Cisco call manager. Paging and Intercom are a pain. Configuration has a learning curve especially if you are new to VoIP all together.

CONCLUSION: For me, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love it. But I can see how it wouldn't be the right choice for some users (ie: secretaries). For people not managing calls to other users who want a high end telephone with excellent quality, this is a great choice.

Care to elaborate on your bad experience? I like to know when someone gets burned on a product that I use.

The 3 MAIN reason I have shied away from Polycom/Aastra/Cisco are:

1. Cost vs. Features
2. Cost vs. Build Quality
3. Ease of Configuration

On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the best, here are my personal ratings for each of the brands:

Polycom:

1. Cost vs. Features: 6.5
2. Cost vs. Build Quality: 6.5
3. Ease of Configuration: -42.5

Aastra:

1. Cost vs. Features: 8.5
2. Cost vs. Build Quality: 3.5
3. Ease of Configuration: 9.5

Cisco:

1. Cost vs. Features: 4 (based on SIP firmware)
2. Cost vs. Build Quality: 8.5
3. Ease of Configuration: -2,843

Grandstream:

1. Cost vs. Features: 8
2. Cost vs. Build Quality: 8.5
3. Ease of Configuration: 8.5

Hope that helps :-P

Not going to bash any opinions, I certainly respect that some people prefer things over others. But, I still can't figure out why people think Cisco configuration is so difficult. It's rough for a newbie sure, but the first phone I got was a Cisco, that's when I picked up trixbox.. practically the same day. And when you just sit down and read the tutorials, it's actually pretty easy. I had my first going in under an hour.

I think the problem is that people try to rush and don't bother to understand what they are doing. And when it takes more than 2 minutes they get frustrated and label it as the most difficult phone in the world.

If you took offense to what I said then I apologize. By no means am I trying to suggest that people aren't smart enough to figure it out. I'm just saying that with a little effort it can be done reasonably quickly, and once you do one, you can do them all...

It's all good :-) If you're into the Ciscos and Polycoms and you are willing to do the legwork to make things run right, then more power to you. I guess you could call me a minimalist, not in the technical sense, but in the sense that I like to do as little as possible for the least amount of money, and I can't do that with Polycoms or Ciscos in both respects. I guess the non-PC terms for that would be "lazy@$$ cheapskate" (my wife HATES me for that :-P )

Sirthomas -

Great minds think alike. Maybe SNOM has finally gotten their quality up. I had a batch of 260's that where terrible. I also find them too light.

Now to that end keep in mind that old sang 'The cobblers kids have no shoes'

Here is the phones in Skyking's world:

Office:
I do like the Cisco feel, however the primary reason we have Cisco phones in our office is to rub my Cisco buddies face in the fact that we are running the phones without call manger. To that end I am using a Cisco branded HP 1U server (MCS-7800 series). Personally I have a 7971G-GE in my office. Our admin has an SNOM 360 we bought back from customer because it has a ton of BLF keys on it. Keep in mind customers do not come to our office.

Home
On my desk, Polycom 500. Workhorse, used to be MGCP on our old system I updated to SIP. 6 years old, works great.

In the bedroom, Snom 220...Only reason small size and backlit display. Blends into the room, huge spousal tech acceptance factor

Rest of house, Cisco 7912's Don't have to explain to guests how to use them. We have a 7961 on the wall in the Kitchen for a Speakerphone.

Other odd's and ends, two DECT cordless phones on a Sipura ATA and an old Western Electric phone on the wall in the garage shared with the 2'nd line of the ATA. I am going to add a visual ringer to this phone so I can see it when I am using tools in the garage.

Customers
My most important users. We have converted half of our MGCP Polycom's to SIP with very few complaints (other than one touch parking).

For new install it's Aastra 9143's and 55i's those are the only phones we sell.

If you haven't tried XMLnotepad free from MS, you have no idea what you are missing. It makes working with XML a dream.

Sorry for the multiple posts in this thread. Too much interesting not to comment on.

Great topic!

I bought a Cisco 7960 on ebay *just* for the challenge of making it work. Turns out, it was indeed a challenge to get the correct/newest SIP upgrade, configure the back ground image, and get everything working the way I wanted it. However, it was probably one of the most fun things ever. I spent hours researching for tips. I eventually got it working the way I wanted.

I bought another Cisco 7960 on ebay to try SCCP. That was even *more* fun. Easier to setup some things, harder to tweak other things.

Would I buy them as desk phones for my employer? Probably not simply because Cisco barely acknowledges asterisk/trixbox let alone support it. I'd want a phone that at least has some manufacturer support for trixbox.

My main clients are rather tight - but by using a mix of IP320s and 2nd user or refurb IP430, 501 & 601 as well as a number of IP4000 (new on ebay at 50% off) we've managed to get about 100 phones with an average price below the Aastra / Grandstream mid-range price.

These phones seem rock solid, good voice clarity and the IP4000s are very popular. Adding 2nd user sidecar to IP601 gave the receptionists the BLF she wanted too. Setup a breeze with Endpoint Manager.

Still can't get Grandstreams to behave :(

Aastra 480 - nice phone not quite same quality feel

Good luck!

J

It's been 4 weeks since the 962 has been deployed and I'm for the most part happy with it. It works as described. It's a wonderful phone for the price. I'll be deploying these en-masse soon.

The blind XFer option on the 942 isn't a big deal, you can just hit XFer-ext-XFer and the supervised transfer becomes a blind transfer... One more keypress, but I actually don't mention the blind transfer to customers saying "if you want to supervise the transfer, wait for the extension to answer and announce the call, if you don't, just hit XFer again and the call will be transferred immediately". If you don't position it as a "lacking feature" but as a "flexible method", customers will accept it and be happy with it.

While I'm not very fond of Linksys as a company, they are owned by Cisco and here's what I've learned:

Linksys stuff should be considered disposable. (Period.) Buy it, use it, break it, buy another one. Do not try to call Tech Support unless you have 2 hours to waste on Hold. Maybe they got the old Dell Call Center Manager that got fired from Dell a few years ago.. Who knows?

2. The Linksys Phones work well and they look like the Cisco in stance and "verticalness", but they do NOT feel like the Cisco phones in any way. They definitely feel "cheaper", but what do you expect for 1/4 the price? right?

3. As for the BLF's without the sidecar, I can't answer that considering I don't use the BLF functionality on it.

4. As for feeling like the Cisco.. in functionality, yes, in "feel" no. If that makes any sense. I would definitely go for it as a phone though, you're not gonna get something with this much feature functionality and stability for the price. I would recommend it.

Before I start, let me just say that all the features in the world are useless if the phone sounds like garbage, or figuring out how to transfer a call results in many calls being dropped.

SNOM 360:
Pros:
Works fine, lots of programmable buttons for BLF's
Cons:
Handset awkward, phone doesn't function like you'd expect a US business phone to function - IE: transfering calls is awkward, etc.

Linksys SPA942:
Pros:
Feels reasonably solid and comfortable, sounds decent
Cons:
No BLF's
Your on your own for support

Aastra 9133i:
Pros:
Works good, sounds great, awesome speakerphone for the money
Cons:
Seems like this great phone has become the red-headed step child of Aastra and no new firmware updates seem to be happening

Aastra 9143i:
Pros:
Has 5xi series firmware, lots of added tweaks compared to the 9133i
Cons:
Speakerphone sounds like a $5.00 speaker phone from Walmart (what happned to the quality in the 9133i?)
Routine complaints about even the handset sounding like an "Internet phone" (again, what happened to the 9133i quality?)

Aastra 9480i:
Pros:
See 9143i above, more programmable soft buttons than 9143i, but they scroll on screen
Cons:
See 9143i above
Scrolling of programmable buttons doesn't always make sense. IE: if you have 6 buttons programmed, you see 5, and have to hit Next to get to the 6th. When you are on a call, you no longer see the programmable buttons without hitting next.

Aastra 53i:
Pros:
You can add a BLF module, but it takes up too much desk space - it should be squished down into a more compact footprint, maybe 3" wide would make more sense.
Cons:
Too expensive for what it is
Handset is VERY uncomfortable
Very basic phone as far as keys since you need to use all of the programmable keys as basic functions (like transfer)
Rubber keys feel poor, you have to push them hard enough that if the phone is sitting up too much the phone will slide across your desk

Linksys SPA3102 ATA:
Pros:
FXS side sounds decent
Cons:
FXO side is plagued with echo
Setup with Asterisk takes some playing around if you haven't done one lately

Zoom 5801 ATA:
Pros:
Sounds good, no echo even with default config out of the box
Cons:
To use FXO as most would probably like to with Asterisk, you can't use the FXS for a seperate phone - The FXO uses the FXS to make the connection
Calling out on FXO with Asterisk has a wierd problem - Caller hears part of the last DTMF digit going out, except it isn't really the digit going out. Have ticket into Zoom to resolve (over a month now with packet traces) with no answer.
Inexpensive and easy to setup

Josh,
I tried s Grandstream many years ago and told myself I would never again buy anything from them again. After reading your review and looking at the price and feature set I decided to try one more. Last week I received a 2020 and my first impression was that the phone seemed solid to the touch. I then configured it on my test system and began to put it through the paces and it worked flawless. I would put the sound quality somewhere between the Polycom and Linksys. Next week I am going to let a customer try using it on their i3 system for a week then I have another customer that is interested in using this for there admin phones. So far this looks like a very promising phone for anyone that need BLF, I will report back with what the customers impressions are later. The only other phone that I have in a production environment are Polycom 501, 430, 550,650 and Cisco 7940, 7960 and I personally like the feel of the Cisco but have had issues with some of their sip firmware in the past so normally I try to steer customer to use Polycom. I think for the quality price and support the Polycom 430 is what we buy most of the time but who knows with time it could change to the Grandstream 2020 :)

Craig

I just wanted to add my opinion about the new range of Cisco phones. This is the 79X5 series e.g 7945,7965,7975. I recently deployed a number of these in a trixbox environment and was very impressed with the features and quality of the phones. Regarding configuration it's a bit complex at first if you have no cisco experience as you need to load the SIP firmware and get a valid configuration file but after that the phones are extremely reliable and easy to mange. The XML features are also very cool when you get the hang of them. For example we have it integrated with our SugarCRM system so all contacts in sugar can be accessed directly and dialed on the phone via XML. I have had past experience with SNOM, Aastra & linksys but these are by far my favorite.

The only real problem I have at the moment is how to configure them for use by a receptionist to allow easy call handling. Unfortunately the SIP images do not support the cisco expansion modules so in our current deployment our receptionist is using a snom phone to handle one button parking, BLF, etc. Hopefully I will be able to come up with a solution for this issue soon.

I've worked for a long time in communications, but I'm a newbie when it comes to Asterisk-based PBX systems. This thread has been great for getting a 'feel' for what phones I might want to start out with. I want to thank everyone here for their input.

It sounds like the quality of the Polycom's is great, but setup might be a bit of a 'challenge' for someone new like me. At this point, the Linksys 922 or 942 sound like good choices, as do the Grandstream 2010 and 2020.

Has anyone here tried any of the other Grandstream phones (other than the GXP-2000)? I need a lower-cost, simpler phone for my own office. Eventually I want to replace my existing Lucent system (non-voip). Most of the existing phones don't even have a display, so a simpler voip phone would work fine in place of them.

Any suggestions?

John

"The key to getting any of the phones correct is to let trixbox be the DHCP server on the network. It will properly hand out the IP address and phone server information. Then the phones will read the configuration from the server."

This I find to be a very misleading statement, I use a dedicated VLAN for voip, certainly, but absolutely no reason my MS2003 DHCP configured correctly (for which there is PLENTY of documentation) would be a hinderance. God, how many different DHCP servers do YOU want to manage on your network??? also, I'd much rather have dhcp register my phones in dynamic dns/rdns so when I do audits the devices have proper identities (Spiceworks).

BUT we are getting waaaay off-topic. It really looks like I'll be buying several different phones and demo-ing them for my boss, it's all phones listed in this thread (except the Cisco's, I know and love them, but their SIP implementation is without a doubt, intentionally lacking, but I will try the color (or Colour for the Brits) Linksys/Sipura!)

I want to personally thank all of you for your input, PLEASE keep this thread alive, as new phones come out, let's all hear about it! (But let's avoid a needless re-hash of previously reviewed phones unless some new firmware/version comes out that would definitely change your opinion on a device, for better or worse)

Timmy

pcbytc - You are in the minority, administering a DHCP server and setting up VLAN trunking to the phones is beyond the ability of the average user.

When you indicated that there was concern over the complexity of configuring a Polycom I made some assumptions, in your case they where wrong.

You clearly can take one of the config examples and use an XML editor to customize the phones to your needs.

So to clarify, the DHCP, DNS and TFTP services can run anywhere on the network. It is the integration and the availability of these services that is the key to properly integrating the endpoints.

Can someone comment on this...

How does the speakerphone operation compare between the Linksys 941/942, the Polycom 320/330, and the Grandstream 2010/2020?

John

Josh, what models of Grandstream phones do you use?

John

Thanks Josh. I just ordered a GXP-1200 today, so I'll find out first-hand how it works and then report back here. I also ordered an HT-286 ATA as well.

John

Mustard, I have ranted and raved about the perceived quality of the Aastra. The handset, small rubber keys, speaker phone etc.

Here is what I have found. If you are a "power user" and have been using a Cisco or Polycom phone it is difficult to go the the Aastra. If you are replacing the most expensive manager set from a traditional key or pbx system, be it a Nortel, Avaya or Mitel the customer will be thrilled.

We have tweaked the Aastra auto-provision/xml scripts to suit our build environment (you had to until recently the 9143's where not in the template) and the speed we can deploy is amazing.

We are finishing up a command line utility (again faster for the tech) that allows you to clear the cache for one station (to reenable auto provision) and remap all of the softkeys. I will certainly share it when complete, it is an installers dream.

The only phones we sell are the 55i and 9143i. Thanks to Schmooze communications we have professional quality instructions for the phones. THis is working out great for us.

Where are these Schmooze professional quality instructions you speak of Skyking?

You said the 9143's cheaped out on the speakerphone compared to the 9133 and yet you are selling it. Is it only moderately lower quality but still fine for most users?

EEEEEEWWWWWWW.

Seriously though, Meridian station handsfree is pretty poor. One of the Network Admins where I work developed back problems from using Meridian handsfree because he (unknowingly) got in the habit of leaning over the meridian handset in an awkward position so the other person could hear him. With the Grandstream GXP-2020 he says he can be across the room working on something and the person on the other end of the conversation can hear him just fine.

On a slightly different note, and possibly off topic, while the GXP 2010/2020 are great asterisk phones, they aren't 100% ready for the sipX platform. I am still working with the development team to get eventlist BLF functions working right. There is also a weird issue regarding an internal transfer (example: transferring the call from the dial-by-name directory in the IVR to the desired extension) that will place line 1 on hold for about six seconds while placing the call on line 2 (not sure why the grandstream does this), and if you hang the call on line 2 up before the 6 seconds is up, line 1 will be stuck on hold until the phone is rebooted (I have yet to submit that to their technical support).

If you are planning on using asterisk, however, then you shouldn't have any problems with this phone as the problems I listed aren't related to asterisk.

I haven't used the 9143 handsfree but the 9133i and 5xi phones are pretty good. Beside the phone or across the room they are the best I have ever used. I can't compare them to Analog Meridian phones but judging by some of the comments they MUST be much better than that! I certainly have no problems standing behind them as a supported product and the customers just love them. Handsfree quality is probably the biggest postive comment I get about them.

You have opened my eyes about the 9143 handsfree quality though. It must be a lot worse that the 9133i from the sounds of it so I will only sell the 5x phones for that.

Here are my thoughts on the HT-286:

As with the GXP-1200, I've only had this a few days to play around with it.

First, setup is about the same as the GXP-1200 - easy to set up using the web interface configuration. However, I have had a few problems with the HT-286 with regards to registering with the trixbox server. I'm using these products behind firewalls/routers that have NAT enabled. While the GXP-1200 works fine using a STUN server, the HT-286 seems to have some problems. At times, it would not correctly recognize the 'type' of NAT on my firewall/router resulting in the HT-286 not being able to register with the trixbox server. If I opened up ports through the firewall, then it worked perfectly. I did finally get the HT-286 to work ok, but there does appear to be a bit of a problem with it, with reference to working behind a firewall/router with NAT, at least using it in conjunction with the Linksys firewall/router at my home.

The audio quality with the HT-286 is excellent - very surprising to me for such an inexpensive device.

I do have the latest firmware in this unit - I updated it myself. It's a bit odd that before I upgraded the unit, it showed the correct model number on the Status screen (HT-286). After doing the upgrade, it now shows a model number HT-287. I don't see any such model on Grandstream's website, so I don't know if this is a 'mistake' or if they're planning on 'upgrading' the model number on future units with this latest firmware in them.

Overall, this is a neat little device that works remarkably well for its price. It has good audio quality. However, if it's got to be used behind a firewall/router with NAT, then you might expect to encounter some problems unless you can open ports to the unit.

John