Grandstream UCM6204 Innovative IP PBX with 4 FXO and 2 FXS Ports (Open Box)

When we first started shopping for a system to replace our business landlines and DSL, our first thought was our local cable company; But after speaking with a local sales person, we discovered that their telephony product would end up costing us nearly the same as our monthly phone bill with the big V. So we started shopping and reading, doing our homework. We soon discovered the Grandstream switch and, after some time, decided that since the cost of the switch and phones would be less than two months of our current phone bill, it was worth a try. The next step was to choose a carrier service. That, again, took a lot of looking and discovery of the right search terms. Did we want a voice carrier, a VOIP carrier, a trunk carrier, or what? (We can now recommend searching for a "SIP Trunking Provider", where SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol..) Most of the more advertised carriers offer packages priced per phone number (read per-staff-member), but that would end up costing us far more per month than we are paying now. In the end we found a SIP carrier that charges less than one cent per minute, allowing us to have as many in-office phones as we want, and all calls come in over a single phone number (actually, two numbers counting our 800 #); yet allows us to route calls based on the dialed number, allowing us to have personal numbers where appropriate. Telephony is a complex subject and this switch has many-many features; We started with the manual, and then watched many of the on-line videos (you tube is your friend) that explain various setups. With that training under our belt, the Grandstream switch was easy to configure, although we did end up purchasing a couple of hours from a tech company, just to get it up and going faster. ( As mentioned, the switch has more features than I can count on all of our fingers and toes combined, thus causing us some head-scratching on how to set it up right for us.) The bottom line is that we have now been using the switch for 3-4 months and, combined with our carrier, Telnyx, are exceptionally pleased with it. Our monthly communications bill (5 lines, 800# and 7 Mb DLS), after switching to 75Mb cable, has dropped from over $800 to less than $150 (cable + calls). (By now, we have fully recovered the cost of the switch and phones.) Of course, we don't spend a huge number of minutes every month on the phone; so for some offices, a package that gives unlimited calling for a fixed price may be a more cost effective option. Never-the-less, the Grandstream switch has behaved flawlessly and has exceeded our expectations. It's a keeper! Our only cautionary recommendation is that you plug the switch and cable router into a dedicated battery backup. We have seen that, in the event of a power event, it often takes several minutes to re-connect. Placing it on a dedicated UPS eliminates the disconnect when power drops out even momentarily.