May 1999
How The PC-PBXs Stack Up
[Go directly to a chart comparing the six
PC-PBXs.]
In our work with six industry-leading PC-PBXs, we had more on our minds that producing
six independent reviews. All the while, we were weighing the strengths and weaknesses of
all the PC-PBXs, asking ourselves which PC-PBXs would excel in different circumstances.
We have no desire to oversimplify. Indeed, we feel strongly that it would be next to
impossible to refer to any one of the PC-PBXs as being the "best." Each PC-PBX
presents a unique constellation of qualities, and each constellation refuses to stand
still. The stars, it seems, will never align themselves for our convenience. Instead, each
of us takes our readings of them as best we can, and we each chart our own courses
accordingly.
Still, even though different users of PC-PBXs have different priorities, it is still
possible to examine those PC-PBX qualities that may (or may not) assume priority status
for individual users. Qualities we've considered include price, port density, voice mail
features, telephony features, fax features, CTI features, and Internet telephony features.
We also considered ease of use, with respect to both installation and the client
interface.
For the reader's convenience, we've highlighted these qualities in our PC-PBX Feature Summary chart, as well as in the text that follows. The reader
need only scan the chart or the text for the appropriate bold-faced headings to locate
topics of interest. We invite our readers to refer to our reviews, and the analysis which
follows, and to keep their own priorities in mind throughout. That, we think, would be the
best way to approach an informed decision about which PC-PBX is most appropriate in any
given situation.
PRICE
Of course, price is a main concern of small to medium-sized businesses when deciding on a
phone system. To be fair to all of the manufacturers, we attempted to evaluate systems
that had similar configuration schemes. Specifically, we tried to evaluate systems with 24
trunks and 48 extensions, or systems as close to that configuration as possible. The
prices for most of the systems were similar, averaging around $20,000.
One exception was the TeleSynergy TelePCX, which sells for thousands of dollars less
and even offers more extensions (24 trunks and 72 extensions was the closest they had to
what we asked). However, TeleSynegy does not yet offer as many features as the others
PC-PBXs.
The Comdial FXS system is the most expensive of these products, especially since
Comdial charges $350 per seat for each CTI client. However, the company offers a
feature-rich solution. In addition, Comdial may instill in some users a sense of
reliability, since the company is well known as a manufacturer of traditional PBXs.
PORT DENSITY/SCALABILITY/RELIABILITY
All of the products compared are scalable enough so that small businesses can grow without
worrying about buying an entire new phone system. For most of these products, expanding
the number of trunks and extensions is simply a matter of adding a board to the system.
Even though most businesses probably wouldn't need to expand to the fullest capacity of
these PC-PBXs, it is nice that they have the option.
The Comdial FXS system has the most scalability potential with the ability to have up
to 300 trunks and up to 184 extensions for each chassis. The Picazo VS1 system is very
scalable and flexible as well, with the maximum number of extensions being 192 and the
maximum number of trunks reaching 128. However, the Picazo VS1 system does not expand its
trunks and extensions by adding a board. Instead, it is necessary to install an adjunct, a
separate box called the Port Expansion Unit (PEU).
Both of these systems are also very strong when it comes to reliability. If the PC
operating system fails, the Comdial FXS system acts as if nothing has happened, allowing
all of the calls to continue. This follows the Comdial tradition of excellence in this
area. The Picazo VS1 system allows four lines per PEU to work in case of a PC operating
system failure, which is better than most of the systems we evaluated. If there is a power
failure, four lines per PEU are also available as compared to only one from the Comdial
FXS system.
IBM also faired well here. The IBM PC-PBX works the same way as the Comdial under these
circumstances, allowing all calls to continue when the operating system fails. On the
other hand, the Artisoft TeleVantage system does not run when the operating system fails,
and one line per board works when the power fails.
T1 support is also critical to the growth of smaller companies. Right now, Comdial,
Artisoft, and Picazo support T1. AltiGen, IBM, and TeleSynergy claim that they will
support T1 soon.
VOICE MAIL FEATURES
Voice mail functionality, like auto-attendant functionality, is an integral part of any
phone system. The devil is in the details, however, as is evident when you examine system
after system. Indeed, it is in these two areas, voice mail and auto-attendant, where the
PC-PBXs exhibit many differences, and the differences are apparent in both traditional
telephony features and CTI features.
All of the PC-PBX companies include voice mail functionality in their systems. However,
they have yet to satisfy our requirements for unified messaging, according to the way we
define it. (To satisfy our requirements of unified messaging, voice messages must reside
on the Exchange Server, not on the voice mail system.) Instead of offering unified
messaging, each PC-PBX manufacturer offers its own form of integrated messaging. For
details on this point, see the individual reviews.
Most of these systems can screen calls so that less important calls can be sent
straight to the voice mail system, where you can get back to them when you have more time.
Unfortunately, the TeleSynergy TelePCX system does not support this feature.
The maximum number of auto-attendants differs greatly (from one to infinite) depending
on the system you are using. Even though it would be nice to be able to have as many
auto-attendants as you want, having more than 16 auto-attendants is probably not
necessary. For small businesses, one auto-attendant is sufficient until there is a need to
expand. It should be noted that the current TeleSynergy TelePCX system gives you only one
auto-attendant.
Most of these systems allow you a large number of mailboxes and almost unlimited
storage space for voice messages. Most are limited only by your PC's hard disk and space
allocation for the mail. The Picazo VS1 system allows you the fewest mailboxes and the
least voice message storage space; however, the system's capacity is still satisfactory,
with 392 mailboxes and 40 hours of storage space.
There are two other features that we thought were worth emphasizing: 1) text-to-speech
integration with e-mail (for remotely listening to your e-mail), and 2) the ability to
boomerang. Unfortunately, none of the systems we tested allow you to remotely listen to
e-mail. Comdial is the only company that claimed it would soon feature this capability.
Now, with respect to boomerang, there are actually two different flavors. One version
allows you to access your voice messages on the road and then return a message to the
caller using the caller ID information attached to the voice message. However, caller ID
is often inaccurate since callers may be behind a PBX, or the caller ID may be
"out-of-area."
To address this issue, a second, more powerful version allows you to actually obtain a
"second dialtone" within the voice mail system. Then, you can dial any phone
number allowed in the PBX numbering plan. Obviously, only certain users with appropriate
security rights would be allowed to use this feature. We did not differentiate the two
types of boomerang within the chart, but we can state that AltiGen and IBM support the
caller-ID flavor of boomerang, and Artisoft was the only one that supports the
second-dialtone flavor of boomerang.
FAX FEATURES
Having fax features implemented into your phone system is not a necessity. However, it is
an attractive option. The Comdial FXS system is the only one to implement all of the fax
features we asked for: 1) detect fax tones and redirect to a fax extension, 2) remotely
retrieve faxes, and 3) fax-on-demand.
While the AltiGen, IBM, and Picazo systems lacked all these features, the Artisoft and
TeleSynergy implemented at least some of them. Artisoft's TeleVantage will automatically
detect when an incoming call is really a fax call. You can configure TeleVantage to route
all fax calls to a particular station. TeleSynergy takes a different tack, implementing
fax-on-demand and remotely retrieving faxes, but not redirecting a fax to a fax machine.
TELEPHONY FEATURES
All of the PC-PBXs faired well in the traditional telephony department. It is the more
advanced telephony features that differentiate some of these systems.
Some of the more advanced features don't appear in the TeleSynergy TelePCX system.
Specifically, the TelePCX lacks Direct Inward Dial (DID), Dialed Number Identification
Service (DNIS), multi-tenant capability, and caller ID. TeleSynergy plans to implement
these features in the third quarter of this year. IBM's PC-PBX also omits DID and DNIS,
and lacks the ability to produce distinct rings to clarify whose phone is ringing.
The telephony feature set of AltiGen's AltiServ, Artisoft's Televantage, Comdial's FXS,
and Picazo's VS1 are all impressive. The Comdial FXS shines here by having the ability to
support both analog and digital phone sets (especially since digital phone sets allow
end-users to more easily use telephony features, such as transfers, call conferencing, and
parking calls), and it excels when it comes to intercom (hands-free) overhead paging. The
Picazo VS1 system is the only other system to offer both analog and digital phone sets as
well as intercom overhead paging played over their digital phone. The other systems employ
only intercom overhead paging when a public address system is already in place.
Picazo also offers an optional caller ID card. After all, if a business does not plan
to use caller-ID, there is no use in having this functionality on your system, and you
could always add it if you decide to use caller ID.
CTI FEATURES
For obvious reasons, we care a lot about these features. And, when we examined the PC-PBXs
for CTI functionality, we found that the CTI features served as clear differentiators.
Many of these differentiators were apparent when we looked at each product's GUI. For
example, all of the systems offer GUI access to voice mail, but they all do so with
different methods (and different degrees of success). For this reason, we have devoted a
separate section to GUI issues.
It is in the area of CTI where the TeleSynergy TelePCX system shows why it is so much
less expensive than the other systems. (To be fair, we should point out that the TelePCX
also has a valuable feature that is missing in some of the other systems, as we will see.)
The two main features that the TelePCX system lacks are one-number follow-me and
desktop call control functionality - two of the most important features for CTI. However,
the TelePCX does offer app-gen support, unlike AltiGen's AltiServ, Artisoft's TeleVantage,
and Picazo's VS1. IBM's PC-PBX also has app-gen support, and the Comdial FXS system uses
its own proprietary SDK for app-gen support. Surprisingly, the Artisoft TeleVantage system
omits app-gen support. We say surprising because Artisoft does offer an app-gen support
package as an individual product. We understand, however, that Artisoft does plan to add
app-gen functionality into TeleVantage soon.
Two other differentiators are worth noting: dial-by-name and one-number follow-me.
While all of the systems support dial-by-name functionality, only IBM offers dial-by-name
by either last or first name. This makes it much easier to find a specific person's
extension when you can't remember, never had, or can't spell that person's last name.
AltiGen's AltiServ focuses on perfecting one-number follow me functionality, making this
feature more powerful on this system than on the others.
INTERNET TELEPHONY FEATURES
Only AltiGen and Comdial offer the option of Internet telephony functionality as a
possible add-on to their systems. TeleSynergy, however, plans to implement VoIP
functionality soon.
The functionality offered by AltiGen and Comdial should be especially attractive to
companies that have multiple offices, especially if the offices are located all over the
country. VoIP functionality and H.323 compliance allow connections to be made over the LAN
by phone or through Microsoft NetMeeting via the computer. This makes communication even
simpler and saves the company money on long-distance phone calls between all of their
branch locations.
Both Comdial and AltiGen price the first two ports at about $1,000 each. However,
AltiGen knocks $500 off the price if you upgrade to four ports (about $3,500 total) to
seamlessly integrate AltiWare IP (AltGen's Internet Telephony software) into the AltiWare
OE version 2.1 system. On the other hand, Comdial offers a maximum of 96 VoIP calls while
AltiGen offers only 16. Whether this difference constitutes a real advantage depends, of
course, on the company's need for VoIP calls.
INSTALLATION
In general, the systems presented few installation problems. However, we should mention
that the Comdial FXS system was more complex to configure and manage than most of the
other systems. And, to be fair, we should note that the FXS compensates by supplying an
abundance of features.
The Picazo VS1 system annoyed us since Attendant98 required their Computer Telephony
Interface Module (CTIM), which needed two free COM ports on our client PC. Having to use a
monochrome monitor to configure the system using DOS also bothered us, but the
Windows-based SiteLink software for the configuration greatly reduced our stress.
The other systems faired better in this area. Installation and configuration were
usually simple matters, requiring but few changes to the default settings. Difficulties
were largely limited to setting up the hardware, but adding boards to a system is always a
bother. For more details, consult each review's Installation section.
GUI
All the systems were effective, but they did differ quite a bit in their details.
Artisoft's TeleVantage software had a particularly impressive interface, while Picazo's
Connect98 was much less intuitive and less user-friendly.
First off, each company decided on which type of GUI they would implement for their
client software. Artisoft, Comdial, IBM, and Picazo decided on the traditional
Windows-based software. AltiGen opted for a hybrid, employing AltiConsole (Windows-based)
for operators and AltiReach (a Web-based GUI) for other end users.
Out of all of the PC-PBXs, TeleSynergy was alone in not including additional CTI client
software. We have yet to see what TeleSynergy's complete package will be because they have
yet to implement call control features. However, we did like their Web-based access to
voice messages.
Both Web-based GUIs and Windows-based GUIs have their advantages and disadvantages.
With a Web-based GUI, end users can access the system remotely from any Web browser. Also,
administrators do not have to take the time to install a Windows-based GUI on every client
computer. On the other hand, Web-based GUIs depend on the Intranet for them to work.
Finally, Web-based GUIs tend to be a little clumsier and less powerful than their
Windows-based counterparts. The AltiGen AltiServ system's benefits and shortcomings can be
classified by these means depending on which GUI you are using.
IBM's GUI is effective for several reasons: 1) The icons are big enough to view easily.
2) The interface is intuitive. 3) The GUI offers a customizable tool bar. The Comdial FXS
system also offers an effective GUI. Most notably, you can view the status of LAN
extensions. If a person you want to call is on the phone, the GUI shows you on the screen
so that you do not have to actually call to see if that person is available.
Unfortunately, the interface is a little complex and not quite as intuitive as IBM's
interface.
Artisoft's TeleVantage GUI has all the makings of an excellent program. It is easy to
learn, intuitive, and uses Windows conventions effectively. While most of the other
systems notify you via the software when you have a message, TeleVantage allows you to
play your voice messages over your computer, and can even forward a message to another
client. For these reasons, Artisoft has the most powerful GUI of any of the systems we
tested. However, the one negative to this GUI is the fact that it is a resource hog.
Employing TeleVantage could occasionally slow down or even freeze-up computers.
CONCLUSION
How large is your company? What equipment do you already have? How much money are you
willing to spend on your phone system? What is your potential for growth in the next few
years? Which features do you consider essential? How do you plan to implement your phone
system?
These are just a few of the many questions to ask yourself when determining which phone
system is best for you. For example, you can go with TeleSynergy, which is very reasonably
priced, if you do not think you require the features currently missing from that system.
Besides, it allows browser-based management as well as Web access to voice messages. You
might decide you feel comfortable holding off on advanced CTI functionality, which
TeleSynergy plans to introduce soon in any case.
If you do not mind spending some extra money, and you want a system that is very stable
and already includes the most powerful features, then the Comdial FXS system might be for
you. Furthermore, if you love the idea of having voice over IP functionality and a good
core feature set seamlessly integrated into one platform, but do not quite have the budget
for the Comdial, then the AltiGen AltiServ system might be for you. Since all of the
systems we tested have their advantages and disadvantages, it is your company's particular
needs that will determine which system to buy.
Now that we've made that clear, we don't mind telling you which system was our own
personal favorite, that is, the system that best satisfied our company's unique needs. But
first, we'll explain why some of the systems weren't quite for us.
Since we are obviously CTI-oriented, the TeleSynergy TelePCX system's missing features
overshadowed their attractive price. IBM's PC-PBX did offer more features than
TeleSynergy, but it also cost thousands more, even though it was still less expensive than
the other remaining systems. We must say, the IBM PC-PBX was easy to manage and very
customizable; however, the system's lack of T1 support made us continue our search for the
PC-PBX that was right for us.
Our distaste for Picazo's GUI was the main reason we did not pick their VS1 system.
Since we felt that we did not need VoIP functionality right now, we opted for a bit more
powerful GUI than what the AltiGen AltiServ system offered. For these reasons, our
favorite was the Artisoft TeleVantage system, which narrowly outdistanced the Comdial FXS.
The TeleVantage and the FXS had comparable features, but we liked TeleVantage's overall
price. Also, we were impressed by its powerful interface.
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