Comments on: Microsoft Kills Response Point Development

By: Angry User

Angry User — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 21:28:33 +0000

This system is just ONE BIG PIECE OF CRAP. It drops calls constantly. People cannot hear you so everyone in the office is yelling. Constant report from customers saying the phone just ring and rings and rings and ring…..It is no wonder thay stepped away from this junk.

By: The VAR Guy

The VAR Guy — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:13:34 +0000

Brian: The VAR Guy has been tracking Fonality as well. And clearly, the market has voted. Fonality is growing. Response Point is essentially dead…

By: Brian Rosenfelt

Brian Rosenfelt — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:08:44 +0000

We took a serious look at RP last year, but thought it really wasn’t mature enough for “prime time”. I know they made a massive amount of improvement, but as a long-time Fonality (PBXTRA/TRIXBOX) partner, MSFT had an big hill to climb. We’ve been really happy with the Fonality product set, and have been even more impressed with their partner program and commitment to the channel (not to mention the fact that their product JUST WORKS!!).

By: Bruce

Bruce — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:45:30 +0000

Hi guys, my two cents. I’m shocked to see that MS put RP on hold. It doesn’t make sense to me – they could have owned the SMB space with it. It was one of the finalists for the system I’m implementing at my company. For various reasons, we decided to go with an Asterisk-based system, and I then chose PBX in a Flash after having demoed the current candidates. I would encourage you to check it out – strong, enthusiastic community, lots of customization, small learning curve, modest system requirements. It’s great.

By: The VAR Guy

The VAR Guy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:35:51 +0000

Chris: Keep The VAR Guy posted as you weigh your considerations. Our resident blogger would love to know when you reach a final decision…

Best
-TVG

By: Chris Chase

Chris Chase — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:32:30 +0000

is who*

By: Chris Chase

Chris Chase — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:31:56 +0000

Digium, who writes asterisk is we’re pretty deep in discussions with. Next step is to just become a reseller. Just paused for a moment to make sure they are the best solution for our SMB clients. I really hate picking a solution twice.

By: The VAR Guy

The VAR Guy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:22:59 +0000

Chris: The VAR Guy will be speaking about Asterisk reseller sales strategies during Astricon (Oct. 13-15, Arizona). In the meantime, check out the partner programs organized by Digium and Fonality. The VAR Guy isn't endorsing Asterisk or those vendors. However, our resident blogger can confirm that they enjoy growing momentum in the IT channel. Also of note: SMB Nation (Oct. 2-4, Las Vegas) will surely have lots of Small Business VoIP content for VARs. Readers, do you agree? Other ideas?

By: Chris Chase

Chris Chase — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:57:26 +0000

We have been selling TeleVantage for 6 years (Company is “Vertical”, they used to be “Artisoft” makers of Lantastic).

TeleVantage has always been a tough sell for SMB’s because it’s SO pricey. We were just beginning to look into RP as a less expensive alternative for our smaller clients. Now I don’t know if RP is an even an option.

I have also been looking at Asterik and 3CX. I’d love to hear about experiences with these and any others.

By: The VAR Guy

The VAR Guy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:46:26 +0000

@Daniel: Do you represent 3CX?
@Matt Landis: Thanks for keeping readers informed with your perspectives. Your ability to tell VARs that you emerged stronger after Small Business Financials went away is a welcome message.

By: matt landis

matt landis — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:18:30 +0000

I wonder too if “no news isn’t bad news”. We are a Dynamics partner and were big supporters of Microsoft Small Business Financials which was discontinued. The path they took with SBF sounds creepy similar to RP. But one thing I will say: We worked with SBF product managers and have emerged stronger than before.

With phone systems we’ve been using a Windows Server based IP PBX which fits nicely with our networking side of things, but I can really feel for VARs who have poured themselves into RP.

My thots on town hall:
http://dynamicssmallbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/06/microsoft-response-point-future-rp-in.html

By: Daniel

Daniel — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:24:59 +0000

Interesting.. I’ve been keeping an eye on this.

3CX is a Windows VOIP solution targeted at SMB. We have been selling quite a bit of it throughout Australia. Probably a good replacement for VARs looking too fill the gap.