Justin Hudd, Director of e-DBA commented: “Our existing Meridian Norstar phone system was good for purpose at the time we bought it, but had long since ceased to provide everything that we required. We knew that we needed a more robust system with more of the latest technology features, as the Meridian could not even perform simple ‘forward to remote number’ or ‘follow-me’ type functions. Originally we were looking for a simple traditional phone system for our new office. With CommuniGate Pro we have ended up with not only a phone system, but also a sophisticated VoIP platform, all for the same cost. It’s everything we hoped for and more - lots more”.
CommuniGate Pro gives the management team at e-DBA voicemail, call routing, call forwarding, audio conferencing, IVR, unified messaging and a ‘follow-me’ functionality. It is hardware and operating-system independent, with an easy-to-manage user interface which minimises the requirement for in-depth administrator training. The system uses Grandstream 2000 IP handsets with Power over Ethernet, plus a number of analogue adaptors which have allowed e-DBA to link faxes and other analogue devices into the system.
As well as being comparable for telecoms functionality, the system also offers e-DBA far more, including email, SIP, voice and video conferencing, Instant Messaging and groupware. But in this instance, the choice was made purely on its telephony capability.
“We talked to a number of companies, including a reseller who recommended the Avaya IP Office”, explains Justin. “We were only looking for a small system, but one that had the ability to grow with us. We also wanted to ensure that it had all the latest IP features. For us, the fact that individuals can work seamlessly from home offices, logging on via ADSL and then being accessible via their existing DDI number is a real bonus.
We compared the two solutions side-by-side, but at the end of the day it came down to functionality. CommuniGate had everything we needed and more – and although the Avaya solution could do roughly the same from a telephony perspective, we discovered that you needed to add various elements along the way to give it the extra capabilities. All of which would cost money as we did so.”