[itdiscuss] VOIP System: ShoreTel

[Justin Moore]

On 10/20/07, Jeffrey Thompson <jthompsonic at gmail.com> wrote:
> Justin your phone is better than the ShoreTel phone, it's backlit, has a larger display, and probably costs half as much.
 List is around $180 :)

> The ShoreTel is supported by my current phone vendor and has a great Call Manager Client that works on the Terminal Server environment (a big thing with me :) and the phones are acceptable :)  [I wish they all had backlit displays]

Not exactly sure what features you're looking for in a Call Manager,
but there are plenty of web-based config/operator panels for Asterisk

> But I will be open to an Asterisk system with support from a company.  What's the best supported Asterisk system options to investigate?

For a full-on solution (hardware + support) I'm recommending folks to
Switchvox now, since they've been acquired by Digium (the folks behind
Asterisk). I don't have any first-hand experience, but the fact alone
that Digium now owns them says a lot to me. TrixBox/Fonality are also
worth looking at.

For those interested in acquiring your own hardware and handling
everything in-house, Druid from VoiceRoute is a web-admin tool that is
really slick, and very reasonably priced.

If you fall somewhere in between the two options above, definitely
take a look at Asterisk Business Edition (ABE) which is available
directly from Digium. $995 for your first year and annual support
contracts are available (priced on # of extensions) after that initial
year. ABE is supported directly by Digium on your hardware and has a
nice web interface for managing the system as well.

-- 
Justin Moore
Chief Tech Guru
Crestview Baptist Church
www.crestviewbaptistnc.org