VOIP Tech Chat → [Equipment] Opinions about Polycom VVX 411 IP phone

Good day.

I need a new phone with at least six lines for my office.

I've been using a Yealink T22P, more or less without incident, since 2015, but it only has three lines.

At home I use an OBI1022 IP phone and I'm very happen with it. I bought it late last year from Amazon.com for about $80.00 (including a wall wart). If it goes down again to that prize this year, I'll buy another one for either home or office use.

Anyways, I've been looking on Amazon.com at a Polycom VVX 411 IP phone for $140.00 (also including a wall wart)t. It has twelve lines (double what I need), but I'm sure that, if I live long enough, I'll en-up using all the lines. It appears to be a very nice IP phone

Although I've searched the Internet, I haven't found any impartial opinions about the phone. Looked on the so-called Polycom company users forum and found nothing. Apparently, the British chap who runs it, believes in form over substance. His first reply always is about complying with forum posting rules. Remind me of the fellow who used to run the Squirrel Mail mailing list. But I digress.

Does anyone have an opinion about the phone (whether good or bad) and about what appears to be non-existent Polycom customer support?

Thank you.

Excellent phone. Polycom voice quality is best on market. Solid construction. The 400 series has a color screen instead of the low contrast ones on 300s. Polycom targets large businesses and the setup process reflects that; config files and TFTP sucks for setting up one phone only. It’s great when you have everything tweaked and need to deploy dozens or hundreds of phones.

No experience with VVX but I have two SoundPoint IPs which I like but don't love. The standout feature (IMO there's only one) is the speakerphone. I second what the other fellow said about configuration.

RE support:
Polycom flat out does not deal with end users. The only source of support is from the authorized dealer from whom the end user purchases the phone. If support is important to you, make sure that you are buying from an authorized dealer.

[ EDIT ]

Note on configuration:
Starting with firmware 4.0.x (VVX now runs 5.8.x) configuration got better. The web UI still doesn't allow everything to be set directly, but settings that previously required a config server can now be made by creating an XML file and uploading it via the web UI -- awkward, but at least no config server required.

Note for remote workers:
Polycom phones are not the most suitable phones for the remote worker behind NAT. NAT traversal is bare bones (examples: no STUN client; NAT traversal settings are per-phone rather than per-line; public IP must be dotted decimal, not FQDN for DDNS). These phones are geared towards registering with a local PBX. That said, they work if the other end has good far end NAT traversal. YMMV.

Polycom quality is unsurpassed. It's what everyone else aspired to, at a lower price point to be competitive.

It's true that support is delivered by their channel. Not directly. It's also true that the devices are extremely well documented, have a huge user community, resulting in tons of good info from many sources.

Thank you, all!

I'm watching the prices for the VVX 411 and the OBi1022 on Amazon.com.

Whichever price falls first I'll buy. Sweet spot for the VVX 411 would be $100.00+/- and for the OBi1022 $80.00+/- (what I paid last year).

Perhaps I missed it, but other than comments on Amazon.com, I did not see a user's group (other than a excruciatingly moderated one on Polycom's web site).