Fonality, Allworx top SMB IP PBX appliance reviews

InfoWorld put SMB IP PBX appliances from Allworx, Critical Links, Fonality, Microsoft, and Sutus through the hoops  in the lab, finding that all of them combine sophisticated features and low cost, differing in breadth and complexity. Fonality's PBXtra 4.0 got an 8.8 out of 10 points, but Allworx 24x v6.8 wasn't far behind with 8.6 points; there's less than half a point between four of the five systems tested.

Key points to glean from the tests are that you can get an IP PBX appliance and five phones for less than $3,000 and you can set up everything in less than an hour. Also, there aren't any real "dogs" in the bunch, so if you didn't buy Fonality, you don't have to re-justify everything to the boss tomorrow morning. Fonality is just an IP PBX solution while Allworx, Critical Links and Sutus bundle in additional functionality like firewall/VPN, router, WiFi, a web server, and file server.

Business should, of course, select the solution most appropriate for their needs, not grabbing who scored the highest in the lab--one size does not fit all. To nitpick, it would have been interesting to see Digium's SwitchVox in the line up.

For more:
- InfoWorld's Review of SMB IP Phone Systems
- Read TMC's Fonality's PBXtra Beats Out Microsoft, Other VoIP Products report

Related articles:
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