Cisco Business Edition 6000 Review

Matt By: Matt | Last updated June 5, 2017

Cisco Business Edition 6000 small business phone systems logo

8.3 / 10

TRY IT NOW

Our editorial staff evaluates products and services independently, but Best Review Guide may earn money when you click on links. Read our advertising disclosure.

PROS:

  • Supports up to 1000 users
  • The Jabber app
  • Cisco Spark
  • Fully integrated with the most commonly used programs like Outlook, Zapier, Zendesk etc.

CONS:

  • Sales staff could be more informative
Show More

SUMMARY:

Cisco Business Edition 6000 is a great phone system solution for small business with up to 1000 employees. It offers two hosting solutions (on-premises and cloud-hosted) that are priced according to the number of features and employees you’d like to include. It is highly customizable and it comes with a mobile app.

CHECK PRICE

COMPLETE REVIEW

Cisco is one of the best-known names in the phone system industry. The company offers on-site and cloud-based solutions and can handle a sizable number of users. All offered features and tools can be specifically customized to you small businesses particular needs.

Performance and Features  

Cisco’s on-site phone system can support thousands of users. For the purpose of our review, we specifically looked at the Business Edition 6000 line. This plan is best for businesses with 25-1000 employees. The Cisco Business Edition 6000 line is basically just a shell you can then fill with all the features and tools you deem necessary for your business. If your company has more that the supported number of employees, you can always choose one of the other Cisco platforms that can handle several hundred thousand employees.

This VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) solution has several different servers you can pick from, depending on the number of devices and employees you want to connect as well as the number of applications you wish to add. Some of these features are essential to any serious business like voicemail, IM support, video conference support and many more. Among the scores of useful add-ons you can choose from, the basics like voicemail, video conferencing, paging, employee presence tool, voicemail-to-email are just some.

The Cisco Business Edition 6000 is also very convenient for bigger businesses since it can support a considerable number of employees. Aside from the fact it can service up to 1000 employees, this system can support up to 100 call center users. Cisco makes sure your business is covered in up to 50 different locations of your offices world-wide. The company also has a mobile app for iOS and Android devices called Jabber. The app allows users to use their devices as their business phones, and additionally check voicemail, use video conferencing or IM. 

The company’s cloud-based phone system is called the Cisco Spark and it allows its users to make video calls, send messages and set up online meetings when they’re not making regular voice calls. Spark is set up so you can use it on multiple devices like cell phones, desktop phones and more, with the contacts and the call log synced across all devices. The system’s meeting feature lets employees create a meeting, or join an existing one remotely while still being able to move across devices in case you want to switch to a bigger screen, or your battery runs out. The messaging component lets your employees fully cooperate on any project by allowing them to share and work on different task together. A virtual whiteboard makes sharing the most important information more visible among a group, or just two individuals.

Spark also has more premium features like the ability to share your screen with others, up to 5GB of sharing files, statistical information and a state of the art end-to-end encryption. Like other high-end phone systems we looked at, Spark is fully integrated with Outlook, Zapier, Zendesk etc.

Features:

  • Voice Over IP Phone System
  • Unified Communications
  • Open and Interoperable Architecture
  • Scalable and Highly-Available Platforms
  • Cisco Prime™ Collaboration
  • Cisco Jabber
  • Cisco Unity® Connection
  • Cisco Expressway
Pricing

Depending on the hosting type you choose, your new Cisco phone system can have very different prices. The on-site Business Edition 6000 has a considerable fee when you first purchase it, while the Spark is charged recurring, in smaller installments. Aside from the number of employees and the type of the system, what can affect the price the most is the company you decide to buy it from. Since Cisco is a large multi-national company, they have hundreds of resellers across the country with very different prices.

For the purpose of our review, we looked at pricing for a small business that employs around 150 people. For the basic on-site system, the one-time fee per employee would be at around $600. Since this is the fully stripped down price, for any additional feature, you would be charged around $100 per user. For the complete package with all the additional features included, Cisco charges around $1300. Other expenses you need to look out for are the installation fee and the basic training cost. Both of these fees can increase the total amount per user for as much as 25%.

The cloud-based Spark, on the other hand, has recurring monthly fees that range between $12 – $35 per employee. Like with the in-house system, the price largely depends on which features you’d like to add to the basic package. If you choose this option, Cisco grants a 20% discount if you purchase a yearly subscription in advance. As an additional cost, you need to keep in mind the SIP trunking fee. This component is the main feature that allows call to be made. Both the on-site and cloud-based system need physical IP phones, and although you don’t have to buy them with Cisco, the company has a wide selection with prices ranging from $150 - $600.

It’s important to note that we got our quotes based on a made-up small business with 150 employees so your particular quote might be very different than ours. To insure you get the best offer, call your local reseller for a specially customized quote just for your needs.

Performance

Cisco Business Edition 6000 is a stable and reliable phone system for smaller businesses. It can supply between 25-1000 users. It’s price largely depends on the additional features you choose, as well as the number of employees you want to cover.

Help/Support

Email: engage2demand.cisco.com/LP=567?ecid=136

Phone number: 1-866-425-5357 (US & Global) and 1-866-425-5350 (Canada)

Website: www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/unified-communications/business-edition-6000

Support: engage2demand.cisco.com/LP=567?ecid=136

Although, hopefully, you won’t need it too often, the support feature of any company is an important aspect of the overall success of a business. Cisco, unfortunately, falls a bit short in this aspect, at least at the time we wrote this review.

When we called to enquire about the system and its features we were met by a not so skilled phone system expert who spent several minutes gathering our information and inquiring about our business. In the end, instead of answering our questions, he said we would be contacted by a Cisco reseller.

Although that particular phone system specialist wasn’t too helpful, the Cisco representative that returned our call was very informative. He provided us with detailed explanations on how the system works and how it’s set-up, and he also answered any questions we had about any individual features or tools we would potentially need. After our call, we received an email with the most important details of our inquiry.

If, after your purchase you run into any problems, Cisco offers technical support over phone, email or live chat. If you’d like to try and solve nay minor issues yourself, the company website is full of useful information, guides and tutorial videos.

Rate this review!

CHECK PRICE

Our editorial staff evaluates products and services independently, but Best Review Guide may earn money when you click on links. Read our advertising disclosure.

SEE ALTERNATIVES

RingCentral
RingCentral
Read Review
Avaya IP Office
Avaya IP Office
Read Review
FreedomVoice
FreedomVoice
Read Review

CHECK ALTERNATIVES

Small Business Phone Systems Our top picks

BEST IN CLASS
1
9.9
RingCentral
Read Review
BEST VALUE
2
9.5
Avaya IP Office
Read Review
RUNNER UP
3
9.5
FreedomVoice
Read Review
4
9.0
Nextiva Office Enterprise
Read Review
5
9.0
Ooma
Read Review
6
8.9
Grasshopper
Read Review
7
8.7
Mitel
Read Review
8
8.4
8X8 Virtual Office
Read Review
9
8.4
ShoreTel
Read Review
10
8.3
Cisco Business Edition 6000
Read Review

SUBSCRIBE