I don't know about a full side by side comparison but I think the disparity is so huge, you can make your case on just a few items.
Assume that you spent the same money on the main system hardware, which you wouldn't because the T1 cards alone cost 4x as much, but assume you used top of the line server hardware etc and spent even money on the core system hardware. Now Nortel can't say "ya, well that system runs on a little PC and we're selling 5 nines hardware" I think you could probably save $50 or more per seat on phones just because you've got options. You could buy an Aastra or another enterprise grade phone for way less than you'd pay Nortel for one of their 6 button display phones. Now consider consider licensing. Off the top of my head, I think I remember a customer spending about $20k on either 25 or 50 Symposium ACD licenses (I can't remember the quantity, I know they wanted 20 but they had to purchase some minimum). Even if you take it at the low end, that's $500/seat. As a general rule, licensing (RTUs in the Avaya world) are about dollar for dollar with system hardware in a call centre. Call centres are obviously on the higher end of the features scale, we purchase all kinds of things that the average business wouldn't use but that come free or cheap with Asterisk. Compare: for $500, Nortel gives you one ACD seat and Aheeva (for instance) would give you a seat that does ACD, Predictive, unlimited supervisors, IVR, reporting, list management and the whole thing. Then look at a maintentance contract for the equipment. For a 100 seat M1 Opt 11 running older software, it cost my client between 6 and 12 thousand/year depending on the provider. Ask yourself if that's something you could provide for equal or less money. Note, that's not a support contract for MAC requests, just for emergency hardware replacement and installation. "I want my voicemail password reset" is still a $100+ billable call. It's not a full analysis but I think the comparison falls apart pretty quickly, especially in a call centre where added features are being purchased. Hope it helps, Dave On 10/10/06, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Anyone know of a good cost analysis comparing Asterisk to a typical Meridian PBX installation? I was asked to turn water into wine again (by Thursday). It will be good to leave this job. Thanks, Peter M. ******************************************************** Peter MacFarlane, ACP Network Administration & Programming Target Call Center/ Message Centre P.E.I. ******************************************************** --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
-- David Donovan Consultant Fulcrum Solutions
