I've been quiet on this discussion for a few days and reading
everybody's thoughts. But since I brought this subject up in the
first place I thought I would bring it to a close with the results
summarized.
1. The polycom phones do support attendant stations, but there is
some incompatibility between their phone and asterisk that currently
limits the number of monitored stations to 7. They are aware of this
limitation and are currently working on fixing it.
2. The Snom phones work and do not seem to suffer from this limit.
3. Snom phones give you up to 54 monitored lines currently, but there
is indication on their website (use of the word "currently") that
they are trying to find a way to bring this number up (possibly
linking more than one add-on module together).
4. Old style switchboards (such as DSS attendant stations) are a
thing of the past and will likely die off in the future, but the
world is not there yet, people still want them.
5. Computer based, on-screen monitoring systems are the future for
large organizations as they are easy to change and easy to customize
to fit exactly what you want. But there are some things to resolve
before the average user can use them without a dedicated computer
screen to reduce frustration. I have no doubt that as more companies
move to VoIP systems these old DSS units will become a thing of the
past, we just are not quite there yet.
6. Most people (not all, but most) who are given the option of a new
way to monitor line status vs. the old way will probably eventually
use the new way (some kind of FOP display). But those same people
will refuse to like the new way if the are forced to use it or
nothing, just the way people are. I don't doubt that we could slowly
train our receptionists to use the new system while they have access
to the old and simply wait until they say, "you know what, we don't
use that old box anymore", it just takes time. :)
So my original question was answered long ago, but I have enjoyed the
thoughts and opinions of everybody that has contributed to this
discussion.
Regards,
Daniel Hazelbaker
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