Cisco SmartNet
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Recently, my company purchased a Cisco voip through a vendor/re-seller/partner/MSP/whatever. It was pretty expensice (~$100K for a Cisco voip to cover 70 user company) and we were given the good ol ROI song and dance and all that yadda yadda.
Now, 1 year in, I get an invoice from the vendor company for our yearly Cisco SmartNet renewal. I ask them what it is and if we actually need it an apparently it's so we can get entitlements to patches, version upgrades and TAC support. But like, all our equipment is still under hardware warranty and I can't imagine being held hostage for things like firmware upgrades and updates..
Just wondering if you guys have any input on this stuff since i have no experience. I'm sure SAM will chime in with his golden input.
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This is precisely why Cisco totally blows. Overpriced kit and an exorbitant fee every year you actually want it to function.
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100k for 70 phone users?? Dizamn. We dont use Cisco and pay a bit less than 7k/year for 50 users.
That's how Cisco makes some of their money; charging for updates.
The hardware support/rma is good though, theyll get someone to you with a part same day many times.What is the Smartnet $ amount for renewal?
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Yeah that sounds like my school. We have 200 users but last I heard we pay 100k yearly for who knows what for our phone system. Ive tried to give my input on such things but there is politics and probabaly peoples jobs at stake if they made a move. Management does not see it or maybe they do, who knows. But yeah that is typical cisco and why I hate them
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@dave247 said in Cisco SmartNet:
Just wondering if you guys have any input on this stuff since i have no experience. I'm sure SAM will chime in with his golden input.
LOL, other than, "what did they expect, this is how all Cisco gear is, you always have to pay to keep it working."
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@dave247 said in Cisco SmartNet:
...d we were given the good ol ROI song and dance and all that yadda yadda.
There's no song and dance. ROI is a number. This had to be in the costs given.
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@momurda said in Cisco SmartNet:
The hardware support/rma is good though, theyll get someone to you with a part same day many times.
Which is not as good as the alternatives, though. Like using an enterprise product in a VM, so failover is instant, not "tomorrow."
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@jmoore said in Cisco SmartNet:
Yeah that sounds like my school. We have 200 users but last I heard we pay 100k yearly for who knows what for our phone system. Ive tried to give my input on such things but there is politics and probabaly peoples jobs at stake if they made a move. Management does not see it or maybe they do, who knows. But yeah that is typical cisco and why I hate them
management always sees it. You can't be management and not know. There's always someone getting their pockets lined when Cisco is purchased. I can hear the fiddle music from here.
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@momurda said in Cisco SmartNet:
100k for 70 phone users?? Dizamn. We dont use Cisco and pay a bit less than 7k/year for 50 users.
That's how Cisco makes some of their money; charging for updates.
The hardware support/rma is good though, theyll get someone to you with a part same day many times.What is the Smartnet $ amount for renewal?
Yeah and our SmartNet invoice was about $4,000
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@scottalanmiller said in Cisco SmartNet:
@dave247 said in Cisco SmartNet:
Just wondering if you guys have any input on this stuff since i have no experience. I'm sure SAM will chime in with his golden input.
LOL, other than, "what did they expect, this is how all Cisco gear is, you always have to pay to keep it working."
What a crock of shit.
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@scottalanmiller Yeah i don't doubt it at all.
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Installed, FreePBX with 70 extensions would be about $5k - $10k in labor from me.
Plus you phones, say the Yealink T46S for $150 (rounded up for easy math) comes to $10,500.
So, yeah, I could have done this for 1/5 the cost.
Oh and no smart net renewal.
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@jaredbusch said in Cisco SmartNet:
Installed, FreePBX with 70 extensions would be about $5k - $10k in labor from me.
Plus you phones, say the Yealink T46S for $150 (rounded up for easy math) comes to $10,500.
So, yeah, I could have done this for 1/5 the cost.
Oh and no smart net renewal.
I wonder what the level of functionality is that you get with FreePBX though...
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@jaredbusch said in Cisco SmartNet:
Installed, FreePBX with 70 extensions would be about $5k - $10k in labor from me.
Plus you phones, say the Yealink T46S for $150 (rounded up for easy math) comes to $10,500.
So, yeah, I could have done this for 1/5 the cost.
Oh and no smart net renewal.
Yeah, but how much is that JaredNet subscription?
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@rojoloco said in Cisco SmartNet:
@jaredbusch said in Cisco SmartNet:
Installed, FreePBX with 70 extensions would be about $5k - $10k in labor from me.
Plus you phones, say the Yealink T46S for $150 (rounded up for easy math) comes to $10,500.
So, yeah, I could have done this for 1/5 the cost.
Oh and no smart net renewal.
Yeah, but how much is that JaredNet subscription?
$150/hour as needed.
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@dave247 said in Cisco SmartNet:
@jaredbusch said in Cisco SmartNet:
Installed, FreePBX with 70 extensions would be about $5k - $10k in labor from me.
Plus you phones, say the Yealink T46S for $150 (rounded up for easy math) comes to $10,500.
So, yeah, I could have done this for 1/5 the cost.
Oh and no smart net renewal.
I wonder what the level of functionality is that you get with FreePBX though...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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@dave247 said in Cisco SmartNet:
@jaredbusch said in Cisco SmartNet:
Installed, FreePBX with 70 extensions would be about $5k - $10k in labor from me.
Plus you phones, say the Yealink T46S for $150 (rounded up for easy math) comes to $10,500.
So, yeah, I could have done this for 1/5 the cost.
Oh and no smart net renewal.
I wonder what the level of functionality is that you get with FreePBX though...
Better question...
What level of functionality is worth $80,000 more and $4,000 per year? -
@dave247 said in Cisco SmartNet:
@momurda said in Cisco SmartNet:
100k for 70 phone users?? Dizamn. We dont use Cisco and pay a bit less than 7k/year for 50 users.
That's how Cisco makes some of their money; charging for updates.
The hardware support/rma is good though, theyll get someone to you with a part same day many times.What is the Smartnet $ amount for renewal?
Yeah and our SmartNet invoice was about $4,000
That's roughly the cost of paying someone to install everything FOR you! Total. One time.
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@dave247 said in Cisco SmartNet:
@jaredbusch said in Cisco SmartNet:
Installed, FreePBX with 70 extensions would be about $5k - $10k in labor from me.
Plus you phones, say the Yealink T46S for $150 (rounded up for easy math) comes to $10,500.
So, yeah, I could have done this for 1/5 the cost.
Oh and no smart net renewal.
I wonder what the level of functionality is that you get with FreePBX though...
Simple answer is generally "more than you can actually use."
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To answer the specifics of your question @dave247, yes you do still need to maintain Smartnet for patches. It is a crock, but you have been legally scammed. Cisco is significantly overpriced and under delivering. You do have a few choices:
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Pay for Smartnet, especially if you have any legal requirements for patching
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Keep using the Cisco (sunk costs, etc.), but do not get any patches
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Recognize that the ROI on that investment is going to be negative, sell your kit to someone else (or back to the reseller since they didn't educate you properly on your ongoing costs), and purchase something else
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