Taking the silver medal in the IP PBX category was the Communications Server 1000/2100 from Nortel. Garnering a strong 90% good or excellent rating in network integration and interoperability, the product also soared high in voice quality, with 91% of our survey respondents rating it good or excellent.

Users touted the Communications Server's ease of maintenance and manageability by awarding it equally high marks, along with Nortel's vendor service and support. Comments such as "very good product" and "good service" accompanied these high scores.

And though IP communications and messaging capabilities, along with application integration support, did not score as highly, good to excellent rankings did not dip below the 80th percentile. A few users did have some constructive criticism for the Communications Server 1000/2100. "I wish that more training was involved from the vendor," one said.

"It's not without its issues. This is especially true when integrating new technology," commented another user. "But all around, it's a good offering."