Re: (ASCEND) MAX TNT TAOS 8.0.0 Release

[Peter Lalor <plalor@infoasis.com>]

>From: "Michael Almond" <michael@psn.net>
>So far Cisco has bent over backwards to help us solve ongoing 
>problems that Ascend/Lucent has not.

I have no experience with Cisco gear, and so very little with Cisco 
either. However, when I was speccing a project that used their gear 
they were very helpful and responsive. I was impressed that on-site 
installation was just a line item on the order.

>They have provided ample demo/evaluation units for us to determine the Cisco
>AS5x00 will solve these problems.

That's good. Personally, I've never had trouble getting demo Ascend 
gear either, and we're just a wee thing. It can take awhile, though.

>I have made attempts to capture the interest of the local reps which
>produced several phone calls to me and no real results.  We are quite simply
>over impressed with Cisco and left shaking our heads with Ascend/Lucent.

As we're an Ascend shop, I have lots and lots of experience with 
Ascend (and now Lucent). They have certainly made some missteps (and 
the archives are full of my rants), but for the most part when I've 
gone through my rep they have responded to my complaints and tried to 
make me happy. IME, this has gotten even better under Lucent, as they 
seem less concerned about counting beans and more with keeping me 
happy. A detailed letter to my rep gets the ball rolling, and things 
are usually resolved with the product managers.

I'm sorry you haven't had the same luck (and I'm sure some luck is 
involved). It sounds like your rep's manager needs to hear from you 
that a customer is headed elsewhere.

>The PM Lucent platforms were considered an option, but procuded about the
>same results as the Ascend plaforms with additional technical headaches.

I think Ascend's line is going to be the future anyway.

That said, what I was really interested in is hearing from you if you 
do go with Cisco. I'm curious as to how you'll feel after six months 
of living with AS5x00 gear. I'm not saying you'll regret it; I have 
no idea. Just curious. It's a big change.


Peter Lalor           Infoasis
plalor@infoasis.com   http://www.infoasis.com/
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