I am considering setting up VOIP systems for some clients of mine utilizing FreePBX or asterisk(leaning towards freepbx). One of my clients currently uses an Avaya system, so i’m quite familiar with their systems. What i wish to know is which phone models have the most features and best compatability with Freepbx at a good price point. Thanks in advance for any assistance.
Sinderlied you shud use Grandstream IP Phones. There are a variety of sets available and with many features
Grandstream is the best selling IP Phone company
Polycom
They are not cheap, but the best quality I have ever used (or seen).
There are several good ones.
- Polycom are good phones but they are a bear to set up.
- Cisco phones are the fastest I have seen to boot up and the quality is excellent
- Aastra phones are very good, they are less expensive than the previous two phones (depending on the model) and easier to set up.
- Snom phones are good and reasonably priced
- Grandstream phones are inexpensive and sound ok, for the 1st month or two, then the quality just falls apart. I would not use Grandstream.
For the lowest cost and best quality and features (at that price point), I would recommend Snom 300 and Aastra 9133. They both are easy to setup, have multiple call appearances and deal with the NAT issues well.
You will probably not get people to agree on much about phones/hardware, but I will echo what has previously been posted.
Here’s my rundown of phones based on economical considerations:
Cheap: Grandstream
Midline: Aastra, Snom
Higher-End: Polycom, Cisco
Grandstream falls under the “you-get-what-you-pay-for” category. If you’re happy with a budget-style phone and can live with quirks, they are very affordable.
Cisco falls under the “name-recognition-aint-everything” category. They are tricky to set up at first, but once you learn the tricks to getting them set up, they work very well and can be easily customized after breaking them in.
I don’t have any personal experience with Aastra and Snom but they must be doing something right if they’re still around.
The people who use Polycoms seem generally very happy with them, even though they aren’t as snazzy-looking as the Cisco’s.
But hey, Cisco get’s their phones put into all the movies these days so they must be good right! 
I have used the phones mentioned, except for cisco, and here’s my rundown.
Grandstream: At first this was the only phone I used. It was decent quality, well priced, and easy to configure.
One client insisted on getting a AAstra 480(cordless) and all I can say, I was blown away by the quality. Until I knew better I thought Grandstream was good, but these are awesome. The quality is 10x the grandstream.
The polycom have as good a sound as AAstra, and their handsets are a little more commercial looking and quality.
The Snom are not to my liking, not from a quality nor a aesthetic prespective.
The Linksys phones are nice, decent, but there are some licensing hassles.
If you want to make your customer happy, and they are willing to spend a bit more, I would standardize on the AAstra. If you are servicing a small soho environment would I then consider a Grandstream.
The only reason Granstream is “the best selling VOIP phone” is because of price to quality ratio.
I would rather lose a customer than use Grandstream phones. They are not what I would consider business quality and too many problems to potentially lose sleep over. Just IMHO.
I have standardized on Aastra because they hit all the right spots for quality, price, features, support etc. Snom’s are quite popular in Europe but not so much in NA. I’ve been told it is kind of an ergonomic/cultural difference in preference btw the 2 continents that’s hard to pin down.