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Replacing ~26 Phones - What's the cheapest way?

goobernoodles

goobernoodles

Golden Member
I'm attempting to rid our company of Blackberries. The replacement phone needs to be compatible with Exchange - that's the only real requirement.

I currently have 26 blackberry users (Verizon) and only 12 lines eligible for an upgrade. I don't particularly want to use up all of our eligible lines as we routinely use them in order to replace phones as phone insurance deductibles are now ridiculous.

Anyway, the cheapest phone from Verizon without the upgrade discount is the Motorola Citrus @ $250.

Any ideas?
 
Hold onto the Blackberries until the company approves the purchase of 26 iPhones. Once your bosses go to a few more conferences where fellow executives waste their time playing the "look at this cool new app" game the money will come. No one likes toys like the boss likes toys.

EDIT REAL ANSWER: Don't replace them all at one. Just replace them one iPhone at a time as you get upgrades to use.
 
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Do they sell refurb iphones for vzw and how much?

Don't know how it would fly in the corporate world, but you can get used VZW iphone 4's online for $200-250. The verizon iphones are usually cheaper than the att ones.

Depending on how soon your upgrade is, vzw might let you upgrade early.
 
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OP, you're about to get all sorts of suggestions for random phones, but you probably need to figure out what architecture you want to deploy. Are you going to try to standardize one new device to replace all the others, or will you be open to people having different phones?

There's really no magic way to get 26 phones cheaply. Upgrades are easiest, but you don't have enough. You can always try and negotiate with Verizon for early upgrades, but that depends on how close you are to contract expiration dates. Otherwise, you'll be stuck pay out of contract pricing.

I've been a fan of Windows 7.5 phones personally, based on how well they interact with all MS services, but you have tons of options as to what exactly you buy.
 
The reason for the upgrade is that I'm going to be migrating from Exchange 2003 to 2010 and don't want to a) pay for new BES licensing b) set up BES lite or whatever the free version is or c) support this crap anymore. It's the hold up for a massive project.
 
on VZW the cheapest was is one of the free or low cost droid phones. personally i like the iOS exchange client the best
 
You aren't talking to VZW business sales? You should be, they will get you around all this eligible to upgrade stuff.
 
goobernoodles said:
They're constantly rolling over and we use the "buddy upgrade" system when replacing/upgrading phones. Looks like the last current contract is up in August of 2013.
Click to expand...

I think you just have to threaten Verizon that you will not be renewing any contracts as they come up and will be moving those numbers elsewhere, unless they work with you.

MotionMan
 
I suggest talking to your sales rep, but it seems like you might have a less cooperative one so you might need to do as MotionMan suggests and speak with their boss. Where I work at, the Verizon rep was a godsend in doing a mass upgrade of phones and re-arranging the plans for around 30 lines to maximize savings.
 
yeah if you have 26 accounts in your arsenal, you should be able to get just about whatever discount you ask for from any carrier. especially business lines, if youre talking to a cellular company and theyre NOT bending over backwards for you, then fuck them.

i would probably go with wp7 phones. iphones are nice, and expensive. wp7 phones, for a business standpoint, i think would be just as capable at much less cost all around. seamless integration with windows too, at least i would hope so.
 
MotionMan said:
Your rep should be blowing you to keep your business.

MotionMan
Click to expand...
Speaking of rep's blowing me.... I signed a sales agreement with copier company B to buyout existing leases for two of our copiers and put in new equipment at a lower price. The president of copier company A keeps dropping by unannounced to try to convince me the other company is trying to screw us. Then he sends me this:

Phil,

I was just here thinking about you again. Here is a question I never asked and should have asked you or Erik. Why are you upgrading these machines with so much time on the lease? There must be a good reason, I just didn’t ask. If you let them run to term your payment would drop another $1200 per month from the $1910?

Can’t get you off my mind,

Dan

^lol wat?
 
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