Looking for phones to use with Centrex

Hi, I am a computer person who has had telecom foisted upon her.

We have a new small office in Connecticut, less than 6 phones. We have decided to go with Centrex for the phone service, and maybe to use SBC's voicemail.

I know that I can use ordinary analog phones with centrex, but then in order to access the features the users have to depress the hang-up button and enter codes. These users will find that troublesome.

I asked SBC how much the phones were and they said that they would be $250.

I am writing to find out if I have a less expensive option. I need:

Phone that can easily access centrex features (call transfer, 4-digit dialing, putting callers on hold, etc.)

phone that **either** has msg indicator that will talk with SBC's voicemail, to indicate that there is voicemail

--OR-- has digital mailbox builtin

phone that can have at least two lines (a "main" line and the user's line) coming in.

I have tried to find out whether particular phones have these features, but have been unsuccessful. any help would be greatly appreciated.

julie Director IT Common Ground Community

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Reply to
Julie at CG
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It sounds like the initial analysis was faulty. You have to include the cost of station sets in the selection. It may well be that SBC Centrex still wins, but at least you will know.

Most feature phones are proprietary, but there might be an alternative if they are ISDN. Even that is a big maybe.

Reply to
John McHarry

snipped-for-privacy@commonground.org (Julie at CG) posted on that vast internet thingie:

I know that our TMC ET4000 epic phones are recommended by some telcos like Verizon because of their Centrex abilities.

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We have them for substantially less money than the price you mentioned.

Steve at SELLCOM

Reply to
SELLCOM Tech support

I now centrex makes life easier, but you might want to look at low cost PBX options. Better value long term in my experience. Also you can manage moves adds and changes to the system yourself.

Reply to
T. Sean Weintz

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