mattlandis said:
The selection process is quite complex and everyone has some unique feature they want. This might be a senario where a trusty partner could help? Just a thot.
True enough Matt, a 3CX trusted partner is always the better way to go.
The advantage of 3CX though for very small companies is its ease of use for basic usage (set-up lines and extensions, set up the phones to auto-provision via 3CX HTTP and its all set). All this can be done by people like me, i.e. non-IT persons with an intermediate technical knowledge. These persons usually have never set up an IP-Phone system, and probably will only set up their own company's system. They have a limited knowledge of IP-Phones in depth-features and compatibilities.
I personally chose the Linksys phones because they were easy to use (had tested one), had good feedback on the internet forums, and offered the nicest and easiest interface. Appart from the lack of phonebook support, I really don't regret it (I was able to set up a TFTP server to change interface language + company logo after a few searches on Google).
A 3CX partner is of course always better, but the induced cost are higher than regular PBXs (I mean, at least for us in Germany, we had better offers from ISDN/hardware based providers than from 3CX partners). So, without hiding the fact that having a real 3CX partner is always the best way to go, I think 3CX may want to display the very basic phone features compatibility list, for young companies like mine who can't afford this service just yet, and choose 3CX as a DIY solution.
Basically:
- auto-provisioning (already indicated)
- BLF support (already indicated)
- phonebook support (this is not on the website)e)
- Voicemail indicator with number of supported line(s) / phone (this is not on the website)
)
Phone System 