Hey everyone,
I have been installing FreePBX systems with Aastra phones exclusively for 4 years now. I have loved them for the most part, but a few issues have popped up that have started to make me consider my options.
#1 Faded screens. About HALF the 57i phones I have installed since 2010 have faded screens. They all fade in the same spot on the middle left. Most of them started fading right out of warranty and Aastra did nothing to help me. Now my last install of 57i's ALL 10 have faded screens in the center left (All under warranty this time, but still a nightmare to deal with). This has left a bad taste in my mouth. I can't keep installing these phones for their screens to slowly die over time.
#2 Aastra's XML scripts are a hot potato. The only reason I use these ergonomical nightmares of phones is because they have these amazingly wonderful scripts. They make install so easy and are VERY feature rich, offering features to the end user that are unrivaled. BUT Aastra is in a
lawsuit to patent trolls and gave up on the scripts. Another company picked up updating them and fixing them as Asterisk continues to change, and they were sued. I can't depend on these scripts being there for me in the future, which means I can't keep pbx's updated, which means in the event of a failure 6 years down the road, that backup file I have will be useless without an image of the base install (as I do now). Also, most of the scripts are very gimmicky, the only really cool things are the presence, visual voicemail, visual parking and the directory. Visual Parking can be handled by BLFs Visual voicemail (tough, use a pc), directory is offered on most of the phones I have played with, and presence beyond DND on and DND off is also pretty stupid. Why do I need to know Melissa is at lunch or in a meeting? Do I care about her personal life? NO. Then she get's back and doesn't turn it off...
So I am looking at other options. I have played with a variety of Aastra, Grandstream Phones (gxp2200 is cool but I can't see myself installing them due to refinement issues), Polycom Phones, a Snom phone, and soon, a Yealink.
Because I mainly focus on small to medium business, people love their blf's, and it's understandable. You have an office with 10 people all answering the phones, everyone is going to want a blf assigned for everyone else and they are not going to want to have to glance at an operator panel on their computer. On standard non-VoIP pbx systems, this seems to be the norm. But the only company in the voip world that seems to have this understood, is Grandstream. Their GXP2124v2 has 20 blf buttons on it, way more than most every other voip phone without requiring a sidecar. However, Grandstream has had questionable quality over the years. With their new phones, so far so good, but only time will heal the damage done to their reputation. As for installing Grandstream phones for my clients, I haven't hit any show stoppers on the models I have tried so the jury is out right now. After a few months of stable operation on my desk, I may consider them.
I also have been eying SipXecs for a while as well as a possible alternative to FreePBX but have constantly poo poo'd it due to there being nothing close to the Aastra XML scripts. Now that those scripts are out of the picture, SipX is free game.
If anyone has experience with some models they have had success with on either FreePBX or SipXecs, I'd love to read your thoughts. I am really into this and constantly looking for newer, better, stable solutions to offer my clients.
I have been installing FreePBX systems with Aastra phones exclusively for 4 years now. I have loved them for the most part, but a few issues have popped up that have started to make me consider my options.
#1 Faded screens. About HALF the 57i phones I have installed since 2010 have faded screens. They all fade in the same spot on the middle left. Most of them started fading right out of warranty and Aastra did nothing to help me. Now my last install of 57i's ALL 10 have faded screens in the center left (All under warranty this time, but still a nightmare to deal with). This has left a bad taste in my mouth. I can't keep installing these phones for their screens to slowly die over time.
#2 Aastra's XML scripts are a hot potato. The only reason I use these ergonomical nightmares of phones is because they have these amazingly wonderful scripts. They make install so easy and are VERY feature rich, offering features to the end user that are unrivaled. BUT Aastra is in a
lawsuit to patent trolls and gave up on the scripts. Another company picked up updating them and fixing them as Asterisk continues to change, and they were sued. I can't depend on these scripts being there for me in the future, which means I can't keep pbx's updated, which means in the event of a failure 6 years down the road, that backup file I have will be useless without an image of the base install (as I do now). Also, most of the scripts are very gimmicky, the only really cool things are the presence, visual voicemail, visual parking and the directory. Visual Parking can be handled by BLFs Visual voicemail (tough, use a pc), directory is offered on most of the phones I have played with, and presence beyond DND on and DND off is also pretty stupid. Why do I need to know Melissa is at lunch or in a meeting? Do I care about her personal life? NO. Then she get's back and doesn't turn it off...
So I am looking at other options. I have played with a variety of Aastra, Grandstream Phones (gxp2200 is cool but I can't see myself installing them due to refinement issues), Polycom Phones, a Snom phone, and soon, a Yealink.
Because I mainly focus on small to medium business, people love their blf's, and it's understandable. You have an office with 10 people all answering the phones, everyone is going to want a blf assigned for everyone else and they are not going to want to have to glance at an operator panel on their computer. On standard non-VoIP pbx systems, this seems to be the norm. But the only company in the voip world that seems to have this understood, is Grandstream. Their GXP2124v2 has 20 blf buttons on it, way more than most every other voip phone without requiring a sidecar. However, Grandstream has had questionable quality over the years. With their new phones, so far so good, but only time will heal the damage done to their reputation. As for installing Grandstream phones for my clients, I haven't hit any show stoppers on the models I have tried so the jury is out right now. After a few months of stable operation on my desk, I may consider them.
I also have been eying SipXecs for a while as well as a possible alternative to FreePBX but have constantly poo poo'd it due to there being nothing close to the Aastra XML scripts. Now that those scripts are out of the picture, SipX is free game.
If anyone has experience with some models they have had success with on either FreePBX or SipXecs, I'd love to read your thoughts. I am really into this and constantly looking for newer, better, stable solutions to offer my clients.
Last edited: