The IT and telecom industry use standard terms to describe the condition or state of the equipment. I have added this to assist with discussions when procuring this equipment.
Grey Market – new equipment usually from acquired outside of the regional suppliers territory. This equipment is brand new right from the manufacture and is sold by and authorized distributor, except the equipment is sold to outside of the distributor’s territory, usually to meet the sales demands of the manufacture. This creates a situation where distributors are selling into each other’s back yard.
Remanufactured – usually a complete tear down, test and re-assembly with new plastics, handset cord, user buttons and user guides. Most legacy equipment follows this process.
Refurbished – the equipment is usually has an A+ appearance and is cleaned up, tested and re-packaged with a very clean look to it. Cords and handsets are most often replaced in this process.
Counterfeit – product that is built to look and behave in an similar fashion as the original manufacture’s equipment. This alternative is NOT supported by Achieve IP or any of it’s partners.
Warranty is usually one-year, similar to the manufacture. Some suppliers will offer an extended warranty as part of their value statement. Achieve IP offers a lifetime warranty on all Cisco equipment and telephone sets from all manufactures.