Why not just keep your current phone system and deploy a gateway to enable VoIP calls?
I mean, surely teachers can phone other teachers via their mobiles anyway? Providers such as ‘3’ offer so many free minutes now what’s the need to use VoIP? And if you want the ability for parents to phone teachers – I’m sorry but why can’t they do this with the current phone system?
You will save 15K on phone management – maybe – but have you got the skills and hardware in place to defend your network against the Ip phone hacker? How much will that cost you in ‘management’?
How often do people change office – and is it worth spending 40K just for a feature such as this?
From my POV keep your current working phone system (which is not vulnerable to hackers), hang a gateway off your PBX (liase with other schools to do the same hey presto free calls between schools)
There’s so much rubbish talked about IP PBXs, selling people features they don’t need. And those of you in the public sector seem particularly gullible….
You have a working phone system – why do you need to replace it with another – working phone system..?
Spend the money on books for the kids – a much better investment IMO.