BCM 4.0 - What's next

[tech2233]

We have been installing BCM's for some time. I am finding that the general hardware platform, and growth limitations are quite limiting. Does anyone know where the BCM is going next now that BCM 300 has been cancelle ?

 

[madwok]

There is rumor on BCM600 but Nortel sales are mum & pushing instead on CS1000 ( Option xx bloodline which I am saying N0! N0! N0! as I can't afford to throw all my legacy Norstar phones away )

BCM300 is pretty dead as I was privately told .I was darn frustrated at Nortel for suggesting a "twin" BCM400 solution - which is a bad cluster job.

I'd rather go back with Avaya Definity S8700 if it calls for large ACD or Cisco CM if I had Cisco savvy staff on site that just needs basic voice boxes and let them tinker and patch the OS left and right ....

 

[NARSBARS]

Vendors are getting fed up with the size limitations of the 400. Some vendors are starting to carry other systems to fill the gap. Bad for Nortel.

NARSBARS

 

[tech2233]

I'm actually more frustrated by the still continuous patches and poor product quality. We've been promised so many times by Nortel that the BCM will improve.

We have started carrying other product that works and expands much better. I'm hoping that Nortel can fix these growth and product quality problems soon !

 

[NARSBARS]

I have almost zero problems with BCMs. I think it is because I am trained, my vendor is higly trained, and is concerned about doing the job right. I have only 25 BCMs but they are nearly as bullet proof as the Norstars. Not as bullet proof, but so close that the added features make up for the slight uptick in maintenance. I have been running the BCMs since the early 1000s and in my opinion many of the problems are not from the BCM, but from poorly trained maintenance personnel or bad installation or environment. All of that good stuff said, the expansion for BCMs STINKS! I understand that the next box will be a server based unit, a "communications server". Sounds like a downsized Succession to me.

NARSBARS

 

[DigitelD]

NARSBARS, you said it! So many times I read in this forum of problems that I have never seen before. I had a customer that said to me "These phones are junk!". They had a Norstar system. I explained as nicely as I could that the phones were not junk, "you just don't understand how they work. You need some more training." He exepted that. I feel the same way about techs. I can work on ABC brand and if I don't understand it I will think it is junk.

SHK Certified (School of Hard Knocks)

 

[kmum2601]

The BCM 400 is a stable platform but; Our company is nation wide with ALL our BCM techs certified and trained and we are experiencing alot of little issues with the 4.0.
One case I now have open with Nortel, the 2nd level engineer agrees that there is a problem and design has rejected his diagnosis and are washing their hands of it.
If this keeps up the way it is now, Nortel is headed for trouble!

 

[NARSBARS]

kmum2601

Please post your problem. This may be the place to find the answer.

NARSBARS

 

[acewarlock]

Post your problem, but open a new thread.

 

[senk1s]

well said narsbars and digiteld ...

maybe people can relate to this
i drove a camry for about 200k miles ... i can parallel park pretty fast. i can stop with NO jerks at all.

now i drive an accord ... it is 'difficult' to parallel park - it takes a few corrections to get it right. And braking ...to put it mildly - i can feel the seat belt tugging at me.