Sometimes I’m amazed when companies release products that simply don’t work as advertised. This is the case with an AudioCodes Media Gateway I’m using in an OCS deployent currently. Although I was wary of using AudioCodes based on less than spectacular past experiences they are the only vendor to support both loop start and ground start in their analog gateways. Without an alternative I ordered up a Mediant 1000 with 2 4-port FXO LS/GS boards.
First of all, I don’t like AudioCodes’ general support philosophy. They have end users work with a distributor for support then the distributor can escalate to AudioCodes. First the distributor shipped me a device with an incompatible firmware, however that was easily rectified. There’s some debate if that’s even their fault as I’ve heard mixed results on what version AudioCodes is currenlty shipping out of their warehouse. Next I asked how to enable the ports for “ground start” as I had purchased the GS/LS (ground start / loop start) boards and told the distributor exactly how I planned to use the gateway. I was assured it would be no problem. However once I called support I got a different story. After performing some basic troubleshooting steps and stalling for 2 days they admitted they had never worked with ground start trunks before and had no clue what to do. Umm, aren’t you supposed to be trained on the product considering you’re the support structure? I realize ground start lines are less common than their cousins (loop start) but it’s not like I said I had a flying purple elephant.
Today AudioCodes jumped in to assist. After working with a field engineer for about an hour he gave up and needed to escalate to a team in Israel. So now I have to wait at least until tomorrow to continue working on this issue. The process shouldn’t be this complicated and convoluted for a simple, supported configuration.
In this declining global economy, good customer service is a huge (and mostly free) differentiator. Being up front and honest with the customer is key, however so is providing a solution. Here’s hoping I get a solution tomorrow.
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