Customer Reviews

TalkSwitch 240vs 2 Lines 4 Analog/IP 12 IP Extension Small Business Phone System

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

We did a good amount of research before deciding on this system for our small company. Despite the low entry price, the features are packed with all we needed including auto-attendant and ring group. We have not tested it with heavy calls yet, but it has been running smoothly so far.

The configuration utility was fairly easy to understand and straight-forward. Our initial setup did take a couple of hours but a lot of it was setting up each extension and the groups. No complaints there...

Now to the part that wasn't so good:

The documentation is horrible. Although the set up was easy, it was because I was able to figure out the feature and the various configuration tools. The documentation for the product (both online and included with the product) are very basic, such as where to plug in the phone and how to check voicemail; Anything more detailed means you are on your own.

Unfortunately it got even worse when I had to call into their support. I have been calling them for the past two days with no success only to get their "Tech Support Voicemail Box". Despite numerous messages I have yet to hear from them. I even went as far as to call their Sales line (where they pick up all the time), but was quickly told by the lady that I don't really have any other option but to keep trying, wait or figure it out on my own.

So would I recommend it? Maybe if you are looking for a low cost solution, but don't expect TalkSwitch to be there once you give them your money.

By the way, still waiting for them to call...

I wish I had not purchased this product. Each software update [requested by support before they will help] frequently produced a more disruptive problem to office work flow. The updates have been frequent and never offered any notable new features, only problems. The last software update changed the clock settings resetting the open to closed mode during office hours. The system is relatively easy to program, but became unreliable, requiring frequent reboots to reset unexplainable problems. The VOIP partners are not competitive for small business pricing and complicated to set up accounts. Programming the talkswitch software VOIP settings was not straight forward with two different providers despite the clearly documented instruction. The first VOIP provider selected eventually was nixed from Talkswitch support making support a major problem. Another VOIP provider was working well until a software upgrade and stopped working. Talkswitch and the VOIP provider support were unable to find the problem for several months, blaming each other. Eventually after multiple phone calls, a technician suggested a minor software setting change to get it working again. Hence, the only useful feature of the unit being the VOIP savings was not worth the time wasted to keep them working. Pre-programmed VOIP hardware phone adapters from non-partner VOIP providers were easier and cheaper, but limited the number of usable phone lines. The exponential cost for expanding analog lines made the system near useless. The flip screens for the talkswitch TS80 phones all shorted out shortly after the first year of use. Talkswitch support does try to help but requires much of your own time to capture software diagnostic data to determine the problem. Dropped calls after transfers became problematic for a while that they could not solve, but the problem disappeared after another software update. After several thousand dollars wasted and lots of frustration, I replaced the system with a more traditional hardware based PBX/KSU telephone system. Back to good old reliability.TalkSwitch 240vs 2 Lines 4 Analog/IP 12 IP Extension Small Business Phone System

I have had four of these switches fail in eight years. Power to our space is protected well (we are tech people). No other systems have failed in those eight years anywhere in the building. "Repair" is $500 plus the cost and headache of returning the item to a Canadian company -- customs concerns, issues, and costs. Works great until it stops working all together.

I have been working with a TalkSwitch system in a consulting firm for over a year and a half now. Having had no previous experience with any IP phone systems I was able to learn 98% of what I needed to know to operate the system as well as learning how to make necessary changes within the first couple hours of going through the configuration utility on my own.

The configuration utility is fairly straightforward and easy to use and I am able to add new lines to our network or change existing configurations in under half an hour. The system has many extraordinary features not only for in-office equipment, but for adding remote extensions as well. Setting up call redirects to remote extensions and creating special auto-attendants for employees calling in takes little more than typing in the phone numbers intended for such use and clicking 2 to 3 buttons.

You are also able to connect remotely to the configuration utility via IP from other locations if you have the correct IP address and password, enabling you to not have to deal with the equipment directly to make changes.

In the time our office has had the system we have had maybe 2 relatively minor technical issues that were solved rather quickly when we contacted our provider (Colvin Communications), and have only needed to replace one older model phone of all our equipment(due to lightning).

All in all the Talkswitch system has set a high bar for any competing IP phone systems as far as ease of use and reliability. We are quite happy with our system and are currently in the process of expanding our equipment.

We have been running a 240vs system with 5 extensions for about a year and a half. It is a good product. The fact is it not like buying an answering machine, where one can just plug it into the phone jack. It does take some degree of technical ability to set up; but it is easier than setting up a router (which I've only done twice.) I've never configured a phone system before but was able to install the system and get it configured.

I had to contact the support about 4 times over the 1.5 years. Two of the times I called after hours and the tech called me back and left a message telling me how to solve the problem. Once I called during hours and the tech solved my problem. Finally the one email query did take a few days but it was responded to.

It is a good product at a good price; that makes it a great product.

I have had the Talkswitch for almost a year. I read the bad reviews and decided to try it anyway. So Far it has worked very good. I am in real estate and created mail boxes for properties that I was selling. The software was easy to understand. I did not need support because I read the manual. The only hipcup was power outage. Once back on line the computer updated the box. I was back in business. My Talkswitch has paid for itself. I was think of getting another as a backup. I would and have recommended this produce. It is a cheap pbx for a small office.

In our business, phone is the most crucial tool we use. I'm sure most businesses feel the same way. If you do, don't buy Talkswitch. I'll try to keep this short. We've had our system for over a year now and it started out bad. Over the year, it got worse and worse and now we will be throwing into the garbage.

Ever since we bought this, the outgoing volume has been far too low. Our customers always complained. Some hung up because they could not here us. Phone support - forget it. After a few minutes on hold, they ask you to leave a voicemail. I tried this once, they called back a week later. And they are never free enought to actually take your call. So I turned to email support. After about 30 emails over a period of months doing test, logs, etc., they finally decided to swap out box out. Result? It was the same. However, our old system comprised of normal phones and there was never any volume issues. Thus, it was obviously a design flaw in the the TS system. They kept blaming the phone line. So we complained to the phone line company, and the sent a tech out and found everything was working perfectly and good healthy volumes. TS refused to to anything further.

After that, things just got worse. Network port on the phone crapped out. Started getting heavy static, echo. Now we get random beeps, call backs, lots of wierd glitches and buggy behaviour. Basically, the quality of the system is so low, it is not feasible for any business.

All the features in the world don't matter if your customers can't hear you.

When I called tech support, I was told that I would need to update the software to 6.50 before they would even speak to me about the problems. Of course the update did not do anything to fix my problems and in fact created many more issues. Now we are dropping calls to and from our remote extension, many of the features that had worked before no longer function as they should - if at all, and the system randomly reboots throughout the day. After several unanswered calls I was able to reach Veronica in Talkswitch tech support. She was very combative and blamed the issues with the SIP trunks on the service provider, our in house connections and everyone else but the Talkswitch. We spent the next week checking the wiring in our offices and troubleshooting with the service provider, only to find everything was working as it should. When I was finally able to reach Veronica again, she said she could not help me with my problems because I was not using an "authorized" SIP provider. What? Again she blamed everyone but Talkswitch. Several calls later I was able to reach someone else who offered a "patch" that corrected the problem with the system rebooting but created still more problems. Recently I left messages every business day for a week with no return call from Talkswitch. Their message says that they are experiencing heavy call volume do to the overwhelming response to the new 6.50 software upgrade. Yeah. I bet!

We are currently shopping for a new phone system.

Overall, TalkSwitch is a decent system, but there are far better options available, for less money.

I would suggest considering the 200 Series IP PBX by voiSip instead.

The 200 Series supports unlimited extensions, and up to 32 simultaneous calls, right out of the box.

It also has a LOT more features, such as Call Record, Call Monitor, Call Whisper and Call Barge, to name a few.

The voiSip 200 Series is also quite a bit less expensive to buy than the X16 system.

But the biggest advantage is being able to use voiSip's VoIP service, which is FAR less expensive than land line service.

Beware of these phones! They contain a web interface that can accessed through the IP address (As do all Talkswitch phones). The user name and password CANNOT be changed on these web interfaces and the user name and password can be found easily on the web. The web interface shows ALL phone info including IP addresses, etc. NOT SECURE!!!!! I SPOKE WITH TECH SUPPORT AND I WAS TOLD THEY HAVE NO PLANS TO CHANGE THIS SECURITY SET UP