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NOTE: TMC Labs tests a lot of different phone
systems: PC-PBXs, IP-PBXs -- and let's not forget the
PC-PBXs that think they're IP-PBXs, and vice-versa. In
any event, there's a common thread between many of the
systems we test: Most of them are purchased through, and
installed by, a vendor or certified reseller. This is
indeed true of ESI as well. The resellers handle the
initial system integration, and various levels of system
maintenance thereafter. As a result we tended to shy
away from discussing too many details handled by the
resellers. But we thought it important enough to provide
a quick overview of the installation process, perhaps
providing a better sense of an installation time frame,
since similarities in company facilities are about as
common as two identical fingerprints.
ESI debuted the IP series in April of this year, and
in our opinion they've developed a true "one-wire" IP
system. The system's hardware and software are
proprietary, operating out of surprisingly small and
stylish black box, housing its own cards, and connected
to its own phones. The phones are well made and house
generous amounts of programmable feature keys, which
provides a healthy dose of insight into a portion of
their product's appeal -- lots of easy-to-use,
customizable features.
INSTALLATION
Installing the IP-PBX at the premise location is handled
exclusively through a certified, qualified system
reseller as previously mentioned. Additionally,
resellers will install all of the proprietary system
cards: 303 and 600 analog cards, T1, and PRI cards. Time
of premise implementation varies, pending many
variables. Once the unit and extensions are installed,
programming the system isn't difficult. ESI states that
they have a network of more than 500 Certified Resellers
nationwide.
Programming the system can be done either through the
use of any phone, or though an administrative GUI titled
"ESI-Access." ESI supplied us with a small setup .exe,
an .ini file, and a few other files that comprised the
software. We installed it on a machine running Windows
98, with a Pentium III and 64 MB of RAM. Via a RS 232
cable, we connected the PC to the IP 200's serial port
labeled "Maintenance," and launched the ESI-Access
software. This gives an administrator access to an
actual visual, which can be easier for, say, the purpose
of quick-reference than utilizing a station set,
providing accessibility to almost all functions of the
system.
All in all, the installation wasn't difficult. It was
merely a matter of assigning a static IP address to the
IP-PBX and connecting it to the LAN. Additional hardware
may be required, as each phone needs its own connection
to the LAN via 10BaseT, 100BaseT, or 10/100BaseT
connections. Using one of our 10BaseT hubs, we added
three phones and the IP-PBX to our network. The "PC"
RJ-45 jack on all of the feature phones can be used to
connect a user's computer, so as to not require another
separate network connection. This is a great feature.
Finally, (as with all phone system tests) TMC Labs
performed what can be, depending upon the number of
users, the somewhat daunting task of programming
individual station sets. The IP 200 does, however,
afford several features to get the system operational
quickly. The first few station sets took us about 10 to
15 minutes each to set up and customize. However, once
you refine the process and define exactly how each
extension should be configured, that time should
diminish significantly.
DOCUMENTATION
ESI provided us with a reseller study guide and a user's
guide with their product. Both are detailed,
chronologically constructed, and well organized.
Complete with a table of contents and an index, the
documentation provided a comprehensive collection of
data for us to reference on occasion. In addition, it's
a great way to become familiar with the entire feature
set of the phone. We wouldn't have been aware of things
like shortcuts for example, "When leaving a message in
another mailbox, press '1' during the personal greeting
to advance directly to the record tone without having to
listen to the remainder of the greeting." The user
manual can also be referenced on the Web, by simply
navigating to ESIs homepage and clicking on the link.
The feature phones are also equipped with "Help Mode,"
which provides a combination of verbal information,
displayed queues on the feature phone display, and key
illumination. This interactive, context-sensitive help
is instrumental in familiarizing users with their new
phone, providing detailed information on how to
customize their station set.
FEATURES
The IP 200 houses up to 198 call-processing ports, 140
hours of voice storage, and a up to 30 analog ports.
Voice mail provides up to 16 built-in channels, 64 kbps
sampling, different mailbox types, off premise "reach
me," and more. The unit also has a built-in, six-level,
100-branch automated attendant. The built-in ACD is
capable of routing calls within designated departments
based on agent availability. TAPI support works in
conjunction with Caller ID capabilities allowing
integration with ACT!, Microsoft Outlook, and Goldmine.
IP Feature Phone has a two-line display, 16 programmable
feature keys, speakerphone, headset operation, Esi-Dex
speed-dialing, Verbal Help key and more, including:
- T1 and PRI support;
- Follow-me forwarding;
- 10Base-T, 100Base-T, and 10/100Base-T
compatibility;
- Live call recording and screening; and
- Remote feature phone capability.
OPERATIONAL TESTING
Programming the phones is something that vendors will do
for you, however let's face it, the vendor isn't going
to be there for you each time your business has to "let
go" an employee or hire some new ones. Usually each time
something like this occurs, some sort of configuration,
or reconfiguration becomes necessary. This is the job of
MIS, or IT, or whatever titles your company chooses to
label its department handling the interface with the
packet-based world. Fortunately, simple phone
programming and end-user programming requires little
work. Verbal Help keys provide thoughtful and context
sensitive help on any level -- administrative,
installer, or just plain user.
The IP-PBX uses something ESI calls "EHCP" which is
their own, proprietary version of DHCP (Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol) that additionally does not
interfere with any DHCP communication on the network.
Plugging a phone into any network interface will get it
instantly recognized by the IP-PBX, and identified by
the system. Seasoned ESI system installers no doubt have
the upper hand as far as programming proficiency goes.
As with system programming, any phone can be programmed
through any other phone, or station set. That is, the
vendor can sit down in front of one feature phone and
program the entire system including all the extensions,
automated attendants -- record voice prompts, create
voice mail boxes, and so forth. These tasks are greatly
streamlined when an installer/system programmer knows
all of the "function calls," or phone keypad numbers to
press, in the correct order to get the system, or
extension to do what they want it to do in short order,
without having to listen to all of the prompts. It was
apparent to us that this was the case when ESI sales
engineers came into the Lab to demo the system.
The phone's systems menu is designed with a great
deal of logic, and is created using a hierarchal
paradigm, allowing a common sense of sorts to govern
your fingers, making for a quick understanding of the
menu setup. The verbal prompts are named and organized
well, allowing an intuitive interface.
As a system owner, most of the tasks being performed
with any degree of regularity will be adding new users
and/or reconfiguring old extensions. After plugging in a
new phone to any available hub, it's just a matter of
typing in an installer password and pressing a few keys
to assign an extension. It shouldn't take an IT person
more than a minute to have a phone online, ready to make
calls, at least without defining an extensions feature
set. Here's where the Windows-based Administrative GUI
came into play. It seemed easier for us to have a visual
when programming extensions. "F32", or "function call
thirty-two" in ESI jargon, gets you to the Feature
Authorization menu using a phone in order to program the
features an extension is authorized to utilize. Outbound
toll calls, extension forwarding, etc... We found it
much easier to define using the GUI interface, which
allowed us to see most of the feature choices at once,
in addition to simply clicking on their respective
checkboxes, in comparison to using the feature phone and
the voice prompts. There are two programming functions
however, that must be performed using the phones, and
not the GUI. The system cannot be initialized using the
GUI, meaning that all programming is removed from the
system and the system and extension parameters must be
redefined. Additionally, voice prompts cannot be
recorded using the GUI.
Once the unit was configured on our LAN, and
extensions were connected to a hub and features were
authorized, we did some calling. First off, calls made
on our LAN were crystal clear. Additionally, we never
experienced any "dropped" calls. Conferencing-in
different parties is as simple as pressing the button
marked CONF and dialing the extension you'd like to
connect to. According to the documentation, up to four
parties can be linked via the conferencing feature at
any one time. Additionally, up to 24 parties can be
supported on conference calls within the system at one
time. Since ESI only provided us with four feature
phones, we were curious, but unable, to test the result
of a five- or six-party conference, for example.
Remote Phone
Testing the Remote Phone and its capabilities is one of
the system elements we looked forward to testing the
most. Still in beta at the time of our tests, the phone
was just about ready for release. The ideal of a remote
phone is both far-reaching and cost-effective, which is
one important premise that Internet telephony is based
on, as it allows users to connect to the PBX via the
Internet, and enjoy toll-free calling from anywhere an
Ethernet connection is available. We were very eager to
get our hands on one and configure it for testing.
The phone will come bundled with its own installation
CD according to an ESI official. We received a prototype
of the software via e-mail in the screwed-down form of a
WinZip file. The software is essentially for addressing
the phone both to the IP-PBX that it's working with, and
assigning it an IP address. Incidentally, if you're
wondering what the IP-PBX phone looks like, it is
identical in appearance to the feature phone.
Since the phone's PKT MAC address is its unique
identifier, all we had to do was connect the phone and
the computer with the phone's software to our LAN.
Additionally, we simply needed to fill in the fields
with the correct addresses -- one of which was putting
in ESI's IP-PBX IP address located in Texas. We had
previously mapped and reserved an external IP address to
the phone's internal IP for firewall penetration.
As soon as the addressing information was loaded into
the phone, it beeped, and the Lab's low computer hum was
chopped by an ESI engineer's inquiry via speakerphone: "Hello,
are you there?" We didn't even have the chance to
communicate that the software was loaded and that the
phone was ready before it came to life. TMC Labs in
Norwalk, CT was connected and exchanging packets with
the IP-PBX in ESI's Plano, TX headquarters. The phone
beeped (as to announce a call) several more times in the
next five minutes or so, and each beep was followed by
the clear and optimistic voices of ESI employees, as TMC
Labs was now programmed into their Esi-Dex.
Call quality at most times was very good. On none of
the calls (we also made a few calls through the box in
Texas, which hopped off to the PSTN) were our engineers
able to detect any audible latency. We did experience
some static and breakup as the packets passed through
the Internet's unruly routers.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
This product was released in April of this year, and ESI's
many years in the business of building and designing
phone systems are apparent in this first release of the
IP 200 system. There are, however, a few things that
could have either been added, or done a little
differently to improve the offering.
One of the features many PC-PBXs offer is TAPI
integration allowing a user's telephone to work in
conjunction with their computer. The result of this is
usually some sort of GUI affording another avenue to
program the phone, transfer calls, alert the user of an
incoming call, and if the system supports Caller ID
information, as this one does, it should also display
who the call is from, just as the smaller LCD does on
the feature phone. At the time of our testing, ESI's "Soft
Phone" was in the alpha-testing stages. Though we never
got a hold of the software for the end-user GUI, we're
told that it performs all the programming functions that
the phone itself can, and therefore it wasn't targeted
as something with room for improvement, as originally
intended.
Web-based system management should provide any
administrator with "all the comforts of home."
Interfacing with the IP-PBX to apply system programming
preferences could only be done one of two ways: Via a
serial cable tethered to both the ESI's box and a local
PC (with a version of ESI's admin. software installed);
or by using one of the feature phones. Of course, this
requires an administrator to be onsite. A Web-based
interface would provide additional mobility for system
programmers allowing the IP 200 to be programmed
remotely from any PC with Internet access and a browser.
Perhaps a more far-reaching wish than an easily
rectifiable quick fix: We were constantly stymied by the
AC adaptors that provide the power supply interface for
each feature phone. Though no bigger than most of the
industry's standard plugs, they're still big, awkward,
and we had trouble accommodating them unless we
daisy-chained power strips. It would be great if ESI
supported Ethernet inline power. This would eliminate
the need for AC power, and additionally supply power to
the phone system in the event of a power outage since no
doubt the ESI IP-PBX and the network switches are all on
UPSs. There is a standards body working on a standard
for Ethernet inline power, but it has yet to come to
fruition. In the meantime, a proprietary version of
something similar to Cisco's or Siemens' proprietary
Ethernet in-line power would be a nice addition.
CONCLUSION
The IP 200 model IP-PBX, as stated previously is a true
IP-PBX system. Additionally, extensive PBX functionality
accompanies the IP 200. All of the features you'd expect
to find, such as call forwarding, park, call waiting,
paging, call pickup, and background announce or
whisper-type functionality is also offered, as well as
an ample feature set that works specifically on the
premise of capturing and utilizing caller-ID
information.
Though we saw a few areas that would have benefited
from something more, the IP 200 is a true "one-wire"
system with a solid comprehension of what needs to be
considered and incorporated into a cutting edge phone
system. The IP 200 was very easy to configure from both
the administrator and end-user perspectives. And Verbal
Help keys afford the necessary assistance providing
phone users with a more readily available,
at-a-touch-of-a-finger alternative to dialing the system
administrator and begging for directions how to
customize their station set.
Lastly, a statement made by ESI itself on their Web
site states, "ESI products are designed with combined
proprietary hardware and software platforms." The upside
to a company that manufactures its own software and
hardware (including the phones in this case), is that
often their systems are much more tightly integrated.
Generally speaking, they have only to consider their own
product, and not contend with designing a solution
compatible with different industry players. The downside
is that if they go, your system is history too, as most
times hardware and other integral system components
become irreplaceable. And if you escape that pitfall,
you're stuck with the technology of the era in which you
last upgraded your system. That is, you'll no longer be
able to upgrade the system to reflect the industry's new
wares and breakthroughs, which we all quickly seem to
adapt to and expect to become instantly ubiquitous --
such as Caller ID for example. Additionally, you'll
probably no longer have the benefit of vendor
assistance, should your company require it. Though in
this case the company, Estech Systems, Inc., however,
has been around for quite a while (founded in 1987 to be
exact). We'd be willing to gamble that they're not
planning on closing up anytime soon. ESIs IP 200 Series
IP phone system was an easy pick for an Editors' Choice
award.
[ Return
To The October 2001 Table Of Contents ]
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