The Defence: To the defence, we need to ignore trash talk of salesman such as the Televantage guy, be aware of insecure sales dudes such as him, and move on & investigate other companies that are more professional in speech & more sensitive to your business needs & other prospects. We need to do business with companies that "listen" vs. talk talk talk and do business with companies that are open to change. Sure it's tough to stay up to date with technology & other Open Source technologies, but it's VERY dangerous to stand still and do nothing.
The Message: Your message is simple proof that sales trash talk travels faster than the speed of light, and degrades the reputation of companies such as Televantage when their first line of defence is not very professional. I commend you for posting the bluntly honest message & openly sharing this with us, which has been received by over 100+ Asterisk enthusiasts, some of whom are using the technology to generate revenue. Had * not been open source, this telecom consulting opportunity would not have been possible for the enthusiasts and the little guys that do not have multi-millions of dollars as backup. The Suggestion: My only suggestion is that us hardcore Asterisk supporters be aware of other VOIP technologies & educate our prospects and clients with * & related products, eventually allowing the customer to make a decision. Chances are they will go for the Asterisk solution when we speak so passionately about it - and the fact of the matter is that Asterisk for small to medium business settings, is likely the most flexible & reasonable solution. The other fact hard for larger companies to bite is that * is gaining STRONG ground! The Lesson Learnt: >From this Televantage Trash talk, we also have a good lesson to learn and that >is we must always be sensitive to our clients needs. If we trash talk about a >car, chances are he is driving or planning to purchase the make & model of the >car we are trashing :). The answer: " So why would he say that his programming group had to do $35000 worth of custom programming to get a PRI working in Halifax NS? " To call someone a liar or incompetent, is a very strong and harsh word. So I will say he either does not know what he is talking about, or his programming group is not very knowledgeable, or he simply wants to show off that he is a hotshot. Maybe all the above. The Question: Who's next? Who dare trash Asterisk? Cheers! Reza.
