[comp.dcom.telecom] Need Suggestions / Opinions on PBX, Voice Processing

esti@pluto.dss.com (Esti Weissman) (02/21/91)

I'm looking for a new phone system for my company (PBX + voice
processing [auto attendant, voicemail]).  Does anybody out there have
suggestions/opinions on the best system(s) to look at?  (I'm not
adverse to buying one's PBX and another's voice processing)

Some general requirements:

PBX:

-   capability to take in at least one T1 circuit (maybe two), and a 
    bunch of telco trunks (maybe 8 or 12)

-   phone sets that connect via standard modular jacks

-   multiple zone paging

-   minimum of approx 150-200 phones, good expansion capability (max 
    around 300 - 350)

-   analog capabilities (so that our programmers and support people
    can still have dial out modem capability from their desks through 
    the switch)

-   HIGH RELIABILITY (so that when something goes wrong it's either one of our
    carriers, or there's a blue moon)

Voice Processing:

-   minimum of 16 dynamically allocatable (across trunks, auto attendants, 
    mailboxes) ports, expandable 

-   multiple auto attendants

-   "cascaded outdial" (caller leaves a message on a special mailbox,
    system outdials to a number, if mailbox hasn't been accessed in, say
    15 min., call the next number, then the next...)

-   remote system administration (dial in, network access via dumb terminal)
    (while system is in operation)

-   "seamless" integration with the pbx (eg. "message waiting" lamp on
    phone sets [stuttered dial tone n.g.])

-   lots of flexibility in programming an autoattendant function - 
    we want to set up an unattended interactive customer service application
    with many "nodes"

This will replace a Mitel SX200 (analog) with 28 trunks, two
attendant's consoles, around 100 single line phones (13 x 8 station
line cards) and about 24 Superset phones (multiple lines, softkeys,
speedials).

Thanks!!!


Esti Weissman   Datability, Inc.  322 Eighth Avenue   
New York, New York 10001    (212) 807-7800   esti@doc.dss.com