Switchvox Phone System

This is our phone system at our office. It is definitely been a step up from our previous system.

Comments: I love that it put our phone system online and allows you to manage calls and messages from anywhere in the world.

Pros:

It really has taken phone and voice mail systems to another level. My favorite feature is that it allows you to connect to your phone online. You can set up your out of office messages for your phone via your computer, you can forward, transfer, and "park" calls all via the online application. You can also listen to your voicemail through the online applications and view your company directory there as well. It has been a great technological advancement for us and especially for those of us fielding high call volumes.

Cons:

Employees have seemed to be slow at adopting the online application. My hope was that the online directory would take away the need to publish a paper version, however, after 5 years of having the system we've not gotten away from updating and printing a new directory. The system also doesn't seem to have the capability to store personal cell phone information - which many of our employees must be reached that way as well. The online application could be a bit more user friendly as well. It takes some learning to figure out the 'language' in the system, how things are labeled, and the steps to getting to the employee directory, for example.

Fantastic Hosted PBX platform that integrates well with Switchvox On-Premise as well.

Comments: Fantastic Hosted PBX.
Amazing real-time visibility and call management tools.

Pros:

The switchboard is the key defining feature of Switchvox. The drag-drop call management and real-time call and queue visibility make it fantastic for receptionists, managers, and call centers. With Switchvox all features are included for all users, so you don't end up with hidden fees for add-on features. The new licensing model even gives you mobility and softphone options that are part of the base extension license.

Cons:

There is a very small subset of features that are available in Switchvox on-premise that are restricted in the Hosted platform due to the shared nature of the system. Unless you're a real power user and already intimately familiar with the on-premise version, you are unlikely to notice, though.

Switchvox A Bad Choice

Comments: Support is terrible. Complete waste of time. You would get better service from a Walmart greeter. Switchvox has its moments of greatness and then it fails because of stupidity at the program level. Just avoid it. You’ll thank yourself later.

Pros:

System works well when you get everything right. When is not right then it becomes a big brick.

Cons:

This system violates the RFC for SIP clients. If you plan on using this system with any other sip device on your network you will have a big surprise when it stops working. Switchvox knowingky (you can ask their support department) hard codes the return port for the sip client to 5060. This causes the system to stop working in a nat environment when it is assigned a different port. If you are looking for a system that you will have to babysit all the time and make sure it didn’t use any other port so your client can stay online then this is the switch for you. If that didn’t sound like your cup of tea then buy Cisco and be happy all the time.

Excellent Phone System

Comments: We have used Switchvox as our main phone system for several years now and it has always done everything we need it to. I certainly don't use it to it's fullest potential, but it is highly configurable.

Pros:

There are lots of great features included with Switchvox. You can set up an unlimited amount of call rules based on time of day or current phone status. For instance, I have my phone set up to forward to my cell phone if I set my status to "Available - Home Office" and we have our support line set up to bounce between support reps a limited amount of times before going to voicemail.

Cons:

It was a bit confusing to set up. The interface is quite dated, but then again that seems pretty common in the VoIP market.

Switchvox: An affordable yet robust PBX for your small business

Comments: A robust PBX system at a cost that is attractive to small business.

Pros:

The Switchvox is extremely customizable so that you can tailor the system functionality to your business' call structure. It can be used for automated answering or as an operator PBX with the ability to set up circular and linear call groups. With the included Switchboard web console, you can view and distribute calls in your organization, dial other users, view and retrieve parked calls, manage voicemails and more right from your workstation's desktop. There are optional add-ons to allow you to dial contacts directly from your web browser and MS Outlook.

Cons:

The mobile app for Switchvox has experienced spotty perfromance with intermitent call drops and user status displays. Despite several sessions with Digium suppport, theyhave been unable to resolve the issue. This is an area where they need improvement. Be cautious is your intent is to have an employee use the mobile extension app exclusively.

Digium is great!!

Comments: Digium is a very friendly and simple software, I optimize the management and that allowed us to meet requirements quickly

Pros:

It offers accessible, economical and easy-to-use communications, VoIP technology allows communications at any time and in any place.

Cons:

Digium I love I have not got something that I do not like about this software

Its the union of Asterisk with powerfull tools to administrate calls.

Comments: I was using Elastix, but it took lot of time to read and implement changes in config files, with Switchbox with simple clicks you can configure and savetime.

Pros:

The easy of use, its have voicemail integration with email server, screenshare, videoconference to make use with simple clicks.

Cons:

The UI is powerfull but adding lot of elements in layout can be difficult to track all calls, server resources and trunk calls

digium

Comments: Not a winner.

Pros:

-reporting was kind of helpful -support is responsive

Cons:

-app doesn't work very well -reporting should be more detailed -need crm integration

Great Product and Software for Office Communications

Pros:

I love how easy this software is and that I can log in from home if I have to. Its so easy to change the Calling Rules if I have to work from home or on the road traveling and need to forward my phone.

Simple & Easy

Pros:

I like being able to use my pre-set call rules to forward my phone to a colleague when I am on vacation, or to my cell phone if I am working remote.

Cons:

Something that I didn't like is when setting up my phone list of auto-dialed phone numbers, it took a full 7 days for the list to be uploaded to my phone screen from Switchvox. Customer Service didn't seem to have good answers as to why they weren't showing up. Luckily, a co-worker had experience in this & told me to just be patient & it will upload in a few more days & they were right.

Our company is deploying Switchvox at all our sites

Comments: Our company has over 100 locations with 4000+ employees. We have about every make and model of legacy phone systems and in 2012 we evaluated several phone platforms to standardize across the enterprise. Part of the evaluation was a detailed TCO - Total Cost of Ownership over the life of the phone systems. In the end, Switchvox was the ideal choice for us. We have deployed at about 30% of our locations so far using Digium phones. The self provisioning feature makes phone deployment very quick and easy. We run Switchvox in VM environment and now that Digium has come out with VM version we are upgrading all sites to have the VM tools.

Pros:

Works great in VM environment, easy to use web interface, and feature rich, Switchboard is great tool for users, self provisioning phones make installs easier. Digium has great library of videos for training staff. Switchvox is also designed for the users to administrate their own extension and this has greatly reduced tickets to our help desk.

Cons:

Digium needs to come up with certification process for end users.

Great Phone System but has Some Software Issues

Comments: Our experience with Switchvox has been a mixed bag. It gave us features that we were needing that our old system didn't have. Our remote workforce has been a challenge with it but hopefully we are on the better side of that now.

Pros:

The switchboard function is by far the feature I like the most. It allows me to have a single view into everything going on with phone system. I can see all users, queues, etc. in one place. The system is also very easy to program across the board.

Cons:

The mobile client is possibly the worst I have ever used. It has severe stability issues and could not be depended on for day to day use. Support pointed us to a web client version and it has been better. Remote physical phones have had some issues as well. Call will ring and after the caller hangs up, it will never stop ringing.

Good way to get accurate phone reporting, easy way to handle phone transfers.

Comments: This is our phone system. It does what it's supposed to and allows admin-types to monitor.

Pros:

I need to monitor a small team's phone calls and call logs and numbers. Switchvox reporting is fast and easy and makes good, accurate reports (sometimes some calls seem missing, and they have different parameters you can set to indicate what constitutes a call vs a dial and whatnot).

Cons:

Sometimes it seems frustrating when I run a report and the numbers don't seem to line up with my own numbers, but that's usually an error on my part (i.e. what I'm querying). Otherwise, call recording, monitoring, etc is all straightforward.

Easy to use and constant improvement

Pros:

Switchvox is simple and very easy to use. It works fast and connects your calls more clearer without any interference. You are able to control your volume, mute/unmute your calls and record your calls at any time. The settings to adjust your needs are simple.

Cons:

Haven't experienced any ay this time. Everything has worked out smoothly.

5 years using Switchvox appliances

Comments: Our Switchvox systems have been rock-solid for 5 years. Setup is easy even for a novice.

Pros:

Features are comparable to higher priced solutions. Recent update allows up to 5 soft devices per license. VM compatible.

Cons:

We haven't used any of the new E-series appliances, but the older appliances are overpriced for the hardware inside.

Solid product

Pros:

We have been happy with bringing in the Switchvox system into our organization. It has been solid since day 1 and setup was relatively painless. Lots of features and functionality. Adds an enhanced level of communication both within and outside our organization.

The soft phone app is...challenging at times

Comments: Its a great option, keeps me connected, but glitchy at times.

Pros:

I enjoy the flexibility it gives me when working remote. I can monitor call activities and ensure I am not missing a beat, even when away.

Cons:

I struggle with toggling between callers with more difficulty than if I was just at my desk. This certainly would not replace my desk phone.

Phone System

Pros:

This software is currently used to maintain our current phone system

Cons:

Sometimes calls will take some time to come in through the queue

Mobile app is great, when it works.

Comments: Saves me from having to give out my private cell # to clients.

Pros:

Very nice to be able to use the office phone system while out of the office. Clients have no idea that I'm using my cell phone and helps to keep my cell # private.

Cons:

Very buggy. Drops calls and sometimes takes a long time to connect the call. We had several issues where the system blocked my IP address when I was on my home Wifi. We had to contact support and they helped us to "fix" the problem but if my ISP assigns my modem a new IP address, we have to go back into the system and unblock my IP again.

Lots of issues and bugs, terrible support

Pros:

No hardware issues after a year and a half. Easy to use GUI. Simple installation.

Cons:

Software is old and outdated even on the latest version which requires an active support contract to stay up-to-date. Lots of bugs and problems. The Switchboard lags, crashes, and displays inaccurate information. Switchvox support (which we pay for) acknowledged this as an issue over 6 months ago and have not produced a fix or workaround. Support is a joke. No impressive features. API is not very robust. No real integration. No real fault tolerance / high availability options.

Lost in Space

Comments: I would love to be able to get help when features are not working.

Pros:

We like the features when they work. These include all calls are recorded, swutchvox is easy to use, faxes work most of the time.

Cons:

When the digium site goes down, you cannot retreice voicemails. When it is working we have to dial a number, it will ask for password, we do nothing, then it asks for mailbox number, we input that, then it asks for password. We input password. Then we can retrieve our voicemail. Seems like a crazy work around.

Best trip with Digium Switchvox

Pros:

Digium Switchvox is easy to use as it has a familiar interface. Plus, it is easy to control and configure.

Cons:

The IVR menu should have more advanced actions in Digium Switchvox.

Best IP PBX Ever

Pros:

Very reliable, able to function for 24/7/365 without any need to reboot. Very Easy to use, with well GUI design.

Cons:

Yearly licenses payments, each year you have to pay for the subscriptions

Great system for the price

Pros:

Ease of configuration, rich feature set, best price for feature set on the market.

Cons:

support can be slow at times, some features do not work 100% or are a little flaking

Hardware okay

Pros:

Intuitive setup and admin interface. Phone setup works well.

Cons:

Support (paid) is horrible. System critical issues take days sometime weeks to get resolved. In Hindsight, if I knew there support was so bad I would not have invested in this system.