BCM 200 and Windows 7

[nsantin]

Hi,

We have a BCM 200 running 3.6

We are starting to rollout Windows7 and one of the Nortel/Avaya partners we spoke with said we cannot upgrade the 200 to a version whcih supports Windows7 for UM and IP Phones. Apparetnly we need to goto Version 6, but it's not available for the 200. Only Version 4 is the highest we can go on the 200 and it still doesn't support Win7, so apparently I need to do a hardware upgrade on the 200 to a 250 or a 50

Is that true? Has Avaya dumped the 200 and dropped support for it? or is this reseller full of it?

Is there a software upgrade for the 200 to get it to a version that will support Win7 i2050 phones and UM? If os, can you please advised on what that is.

Thanks!!
Neal

 

[norstarboy125]

its true the 200,400 and 1000 are done with and they only make the 50 and 450 now. there is no 250 btw and they are telling you the truth.

 

[nsantin]

Just to confirm, are you saying there is no software O/S version I can install on the BCM200 to allow me to use UM or Softphones on Win7?

If this is true, then next question is do you know if my keycodes can be converted from a 200 to a 50? (I think they said I could go from 200 to 450, but the 450 is probably overkill for us)

 

[telcodog]

Not sure who your vendor is but you might want to look for another one.

You can upgrade your 200 to a 450 and migreate the 200 to it(once it's upgraded to 4.0). As a mater of fact, if you do upgrade it, you will only be able to go to Rel 6.0 and that will give you the features you're looking for.

Here's some info right out of the 450 upgrade guide (it refers to R5 but same holds true for R6):

Upgrading a BCM200/400 to BCM450 5.0
You can upgrade an existing BCM200 or BCM400 system to BCM450 5.0 with a hardware
upgrade. The upgrade kit includes a new Chassis Interface card (CIF), a new BCM450 Base
Function Tray, and a hard drive pre-loaded with the BCM450 5.0 software. You can also save and
import your current BCM200 or BCM400 settings to the upgraded BCM450 5.0. You will still
have to install the new client software and the new Business Element Manager for BCM 5.0.
The following data is not maintained when upgrading a BCM200 or BCM400 system:
• Call Pilot data:
— Report Data
— Off Premise Notification
— Outbound Transfer
— Mailbox Standard and Personalized Greetings
— Personal Attendant
— Fax Settings
— Call Forward
— Message blocking
— Mailbox passwords
• User Accounts: All user account passwords will be reset to the system default
(PlsChgMe!)
• IVR: Only IVR configuration data is migrated. All customized files must be re-imported

 

[nsantin]

Hi telcodog, yes this is what I've been told, that I need a H/W upgrade.
My question is 2 fold:
1. Is there no other option then a Hardware upgrade to support Win7? (i.e. perhaps some version of 4.x) and if not then:
2. Can I goto a 50 instead of a 450 a retain my keycodes?

Thanks

 

[ECartman]

1. No, W7 is not supported on Release 4
2. Why would you want to go with a BCM50 ? Only i very rare cases would it be better to go with a 50 !

 

[nsantin]

OK thanks for the info, I was initially looking at the 50 becasue at first glance it appears to be about $2500 price difference, but to be fair I didn't get a price for an upgrade,just new systems.

Im going to test the i2050 phone under "XP Mode" to see if they work, and if so then use that for now.

Our BCM is almost 8 years old, Im expecting the HDD to go within the next year or so (its original), therfore I need to seriously start looking into this as I think it's just a simple IDE HDD, suprised it lasted as long as it has already.

 

[ECartman]

To be honest, the cost of the 200/400 upgrade kit is quite low in comparison to a new 450. In most cases that I have calculatted in the past, it was actually cheaper than replacing with a 50.

As fir the HD, if your worried about it. Why nit just take an image of the disk and image it onto a new disk. Would only take about an hour or 2 and 40GB IDE Disk. Not much for peace of mind

 

[nsantin]

So I just got a quote on a 200-->450 upgrade.
$6k CAD!!!

Apparently we need to upgrade to 4.0 before you can upgrade the HW and goto Rls 6.0

We only have a GATM8, 4x16 combo card, some ATAs and about 12 ip phones (about 20 extensions in total). I can't beleive it's this expensive when i see complete BCM50s on ebay for like $2000

Anybody want to recommend a honest vendor in Toronto?

 

[ECartman]

I'm not sure what others may think. In my view that is a little excessive. I can't recommend anyone to you, but I would suggest going to the avaya partner locator and get a list of local vendors. Get them all to quote and compare.

In these times most would/should be happy to give you provisional pricing without survey.

 

[telcodog]

There are quite a few in the Toronto area but I know for a fact that Allstream does this stuff out of their Unified Communications group. They're probably not the cheapest but they do great work and always give you advice that benefits you, not them.

You want to be very careful about the prices for those BCM50s on eBay though. If you're going to stick with the BCM, I would make sure that whatever I get is the latest stuff because getting it there could cost you an arm and a leg.

 

[nsantin]

Thanks telcodog. Ironically we bought the system in 2003 from a company that was absorbed by Allstream years later. We dumped them long before the acquistion.

I really dont want to buy a BCM50, I was only price comparing. If 6k is an accurate number then I'll just replace the whole thing with a new system.

 

[telcodog]

Multinet?

 

[nsantin]

Delphi

 

[pkellow]

Upgrading from a 3.6 to 4.0 (software upgrade only), then to a 450 (extract the data, hardware upgrade including a SATA disk with the 450 software on, apply the licenses, prepare and apply the data) might take a fair amount of time. It might be worth reconfiguring the BCM 450 from scratch.

Please use DMM 1.1.1 if you have any IP sets, not 1.1.0.

I am expecting DMM 1.1.2 out (no ETA from avaya yet) which fixes some problems I've had with mailbox messages not being ported over (namely fixes round SMTP).

 

[parkgroup]

What are the benefits of upgrading a BCM 200 from 3.7 to 4.0.

Is there anything like a SMTP server in 4.0

 

[Rustymutt]

Someone tell me how a BCM200 can be made into a BCM450?
The cabinet isn't the same. The 200 is a 2 card box, while the 450 is 4. A BCM450 is a 4 slot box.

 

[telcodog]

You just swap out the BFT of the 200 the same way you do on a 400 box. The new 450 tray includes everything you need except for the power supply. Data migration procedure is exactly the same as that for a 400.

 

[Rustymutt]

So you can have a BCM450 inside of a BCM200 case? OK.