Gigabit IP Phones... Too Expensive!!

[ajaywadhwani]

Hi,

I am facing tremendous competition from Alcatel in an account whereby the customer has a complete Gigabit IP network and wants to implement a telephony solution from either Cisco or Alcatel.

As per the client, they want to have low-end IP phones (however, Gigabit) to all the users with high-end with color display phones for the senior management.

As per Cisco, the starting range of Gigabit IP Phones is the CP-7945 which as per the customer is better suited to the senior management and not to the low-end users.

What I wanted to know was the fact that are there Linksys Gigabit IP Phones which I can propose to work on SIP signal so that I can take out Alcatel from competition?

[paolo bevilacqua]

Actually even the 7942 is gigabit and so the older 7941G-GE thta is still sold by cisco.

You will find that the linksys derived phones are not of so high quality so I would not use them personally.

Ultimately talk to you cisco AM ans say you need price support to beat a competitor.

[Rob Huffman]

Hi Ajay,

Like my friend Paolo nicely noted, (=5 points here Paolo :) Cisco will always "sharpen their pencils" when up against a major competitor like Alcatel.

Just an FYI on the 7942G;

Ethernet Switch - 7942G

Internal 2-port Cisco Ethernet switch allows for a direct connection to a 10/100BASE-T Ethernet network through an RJ-45 interface with single LAN connectivity for both the phone and a colocated PC. System administrator can designate separate VLANs (802.1Q) for the PC and phone, providing improved security and reliability of voice and data traffic.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/voicesw/ps6788/phones/ps379/ps8535/product_data_sheet0900aecd8069bb68.html

These are the IP Phone models that support 10/100/1000. They are;

7941G-GE (EoL)

7961G-GE (EoL)

7945G

7965G

7971G-GE (EoL)

7975G

From these 7900 Series Data Sheets;

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/phones/ps379/products_data_sheets_list.html

Hope this helps!

Rob

[paolo bevilacqua]

Sorry I was wrong, in fact the 7942 is not gigabit (not a smart decision by cisco), however I hope not to be wrong again when saying the 7941g-ge is still for sale, then of course easily found on the refurbished market.

5 points to my friend Rob for providing the full story here!

[ajaywadhwani]

To be very frank, I already seem to be losing the battle...

Upon doing some research on Alcatel's low-end phones with Gigabit, I stumbled upon their basic IP phone 4028, which along with being a Gigabit phone also is a Class 2 device whereas, the Cisco CP-7945 is a Class 3 device. Therefore, more number of switches required to power up the phones too.

It seems that even the Cisco AM can't help me out on that. :(

Probably some food for thought for the Cisco RnD team too!!

[paolo bevilacqua]

That is par price with a refurbished 7941g-ge.

Generally sales are not only price-based otherwise Cisco would not never have a chance in most cases. Instead conversely, they have the largest installed base, go figure.

[ajaywadhwani]

Ummm... I would agree with you.

But for a customer who is price-sensitive and at the very same time looking at the latest in technology, the Cisco 7941G-GE and that also refurbished... does not blend!

[Jonathan Schulenberg]

I hope that you are talking to the customer's CAM and not just NetPro. No one on here can issue a special deviation to win the deal. The CAM can.

[Rob Huffman]

Hi Ajay,

Like Jonathan nicely noted,(+5 points here buddy:)

You have to keep in mind that Cisco really wants to win these "head to head" type deals. Maybe they can price the phones, or DLU's or Servers or Software in such a way to be sucessful in this endeavor. There are also incentives like the one shown below;

"Cash in on your old PBX System"

http://www.cisco.com/web/about/humannetwork/collaboration/offer/upgrade.html?POSITION=sl&COUNTRY_SITE=us&CAMPAIGN=A2C&CREATIVE=A2C&REFERRING_SITE=Cisco%2Ecom

Don't forget, that you may not be comparing "apples to apples" here. It's like buying anything in life;

"You get what you pay for"

Hope this helps!

Rob