BCM 400 3.6 Capacity 1

[ipfreelyallthetime]

Hi Guys/Gals,
What is the max. digital station capacity on a BCM 400 3.6,
When 40 Copper Trunks are required?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[acewarlock]

8 Trunks / 40 = 5 trk mod, that would leave 5 Expan slots left, 5X32= 160 station. If you use two T1 you would be able to add another 3 stat mods for another 96 stations.

 

[biv343]

WHOA!! Back up a second.

If you need 40 copper trunks, assuming you use the GATM 8 cards, you'll use 3 DS-30 loops for trunks, leaving 3 DS-30 loops for stations. At 32 digital ports/loop, you'll max out at 96 sets. You can add IP sets after that point, but you'll be maxed out in the TDM world.

You will still have 1/2 of a DS-30 channel for additional analog trunks, as only 2.5 loops are needed for 40 trunks, but you automatically reseve that other half loop for analog trunk cards.

You'll have 5 analog trunk cards, and 3 digital station cards. That will leave you with two slots open in the expansion chassis, which will never be able to be populated anyway.

If you went with 2 T1's (1 T-1 per DS-30 loop), then you can run 2 T1's and 128 digital sets.

The number of slots in the system has nothing to do with how many cards you can put in it - the DS-30 channels determine that.

 

[ipfreelyallthetime]

Thanks,
Why the lit. say it can support 192 Digital ext. 200+ when using IP?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[biv343]

Which literature are you reading?

There is what Nortel calls an "expansion bundle" for BCM 400 which is two BCM 400's networked over 32 IP trunks. Everything is set up with a CDP dialing plan to appear to be one system. You could in theory do 192 stations on one, network it via IP trunks to another BCM with additional digital stations and trunks. It wouldn't be pretty though.

You can do 192 digital extensions on the BCM, provided you have no physical trunks (analog or T-1) in the BCM.
Rules are as follows:

T-1 card = 1 DS-30 channel
4 analog lines = 1/4 DS-30 channel (8 lines=1/2, etc)
16+ DSM = 1/2 DS-30
32+ DSM = 1 DS-30

16 DSM (single density) = 1 DS30
32 DSM (single density) = 2 DS30

You have 6 DS-30 loops to work with in a BCM 200/400/1000. There's rumors that this may be increased in a future generation.

If you're going to go much over 96 digital stations, you might want to look at a Succession PBX. The BCM is a great platform, but if you wouldn't want to outgrow the system in a couple years. A Norstar MICS will grow to more digital sets than a BCM since it has a couple additional loops to play with.

 

[senk1s]

thats what nortel means when saying 192 ... ports on the TDM front, assuming 6 buses config
rest all are tradeoffs like biv343 explained

 

[ipfreelyallthetime]

Hi Guys,
Thanks for all your answers, just a couple more questions.

1) If using the expansion bundle, do users share 1 Voicemail system, if yes do users on the second cabinet get softkeys on the mail? If no I am guessing you use VPIM, do mailboxes have to be made on each system or is it smart enough to add on one system and copy over to the other?

2)Do features like callpark, paging, BLF work between systems?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[acewarlock]

If you mean the expansion cabinet, it's all one system.

 

[ipfreelyallthetime]

No,
I guess there is an expansion bundle that links 2 BCM400's using 32 IP trunks to increase capcity. I just wanted to know what features were supported on that.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[biv343]

You would want to use 1 voicemail system if using the IP expansion bundle - I think that bundle includes the MCDN keycode as well, which is needed for centralized voicemail.

If programmed correctly, it will look like one big fat happy phone system. Only you'll know it's two different systems - the users shouldn't notice (until the 33rd call tries to go between the 2 systems....)

 

[biv343]

Guess I should clarify...

1. Voicemail is shared
2. VPIM not required, that's only needed if running 2 mail systems.
3. You might be able to fudge things around to access parked calls - I've never tried it. I know that a BCM networked to a Meridian can access parked calls on the Meridian, so I would guess it could be done BCM to BCM.
4. I think there's a way to do paging over IP trunks, though I've never implemented it.
5. BLF won't work.


In a nutshell, it's kind of a hodge podge going this route. If you really need that many sets, look towards a PBX.

 

[mad006]

Biv343: Why would you use centralized VM? Can you not buy the expansion bundle and setup the system as two seperate systems and use the IP trunk & MCDN to connect the two? This way there will be more room to grow.

Just my thoughts....

RT

 

[biv343]

You could do two separate systems with two separate voicemail systems - whichever you prefer. I figured one voicemail system would be easier to administer for you. It would probably be cheaper to get the unlimited (1000) mailbox keycode on one system than to have separate mailboxes on the two systems, plus the VPIM keycodes needed to network the mails together.
Whichever scenario you choose will work fine. Keep in mind that the expansion bundle doesn't come with any VM keycodes, so you'd need to buy those separately if you decide to go with standalone mail systems.

 

[mad006]

Biv343: You are correct, - it all depends on the scenario. Do you really need the VPIM keycode? Accourding to the docs., all I need is the MCDN keycode for networking the two BCM together.

Cheers,
RT

 

[ipfreelyallthetime]

Is the feature support the same whether or not you network the 2 systems together or use the IP expanion bundle?
Specifically I need to
1) Call park between systems
2) Page between Systems
3) Will both systems have voicemail softkeys

I am more interested in the IP expansion bundle as I do not want the customer to administer 2 separate systems, but if 2 separate systems is the way to go then that is what I will suggest.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[mad006]

It all depends on your clients setup. Ex: 165 users, 4 departments, 2 PRI, 30 IP clients.

a) If I use 1 system w/expansion bundle gateway this is what I get: BCM1: 2 DTM, 32 IP Trunks, 1 MCDN,
4PEC3s cards, 30 IP clients
BCM2: 6 DSM 32+, unlim VM,
1 MCDN, 32 IP Trunks, 4PEC3s cards.
Pro: Admin 1 system (not really-you have to still log
into the other one, if you need to admin the lines.
save money on unlim VM vs. 160 VM, 1 VM.

Cons: Cannot grow pass 192 station, without IP sets. Heavy load on CPU and DSP. All calls to the PSTN is routed accross your IP trunks, and since you max out at "I think it's 48 IP trunk", your ratio 1:3.5. Depends on their call volume. Voice mail max port is 32.

b) If I used system w/expansion bundle gateway but configure it as two system tieing it together via IP trunks.
BCM1: 1 DTM, 3 DSM 32+, 80 VM, 32 IP Trunk, 1 MCDN,(4PEC3s cards), 20 IP clients
BCM2: 1 DTM, 3 DSM 32+, 80 VM, 32 IP Trunk, 1 MCDN
(4PEC3s cards), 10 IP clients

Pros: Exapandable-stations and trunks on both system, loads on the cpu and dsp is not to the extrem. Ratio 1:1.7 w/another PRI. Combine 64 VM ports.

Cons: Admin 2 system, Figure out which two departments have a low call volume to each other. Only 32-48max calls can be made between departments. A little more programming.

Because there is a low call volume between departments, I have would choose b. Main reason is growth and stress on the BCMs. This was just an example, there's really more to this project that one must consider. (ie. Pageing, Park, accesing VM etc.) If the client can afford a little more, try and get to upgrade to an Option 11.

Hope this help.

RT

 

[biv343]

The VPIM keycode would only be needed if the customer wanted to go with two "separate" systems with separate voicemails. To use centralized mail, you'll only need MCDN.

Shouldn't be a problem accessing parked calls on either system - each system will need a unique park prefix, and you'll have to do some funky call routing/dialing plan stuff to retrieve the calls, but it should work OK.

There is a way to page over IP trunks, but I have never played around with it. Maybe someone else here has worked with that - from what I've read, it's supposed to work.

Good question - I'm assuming by softkeys you mean the "Play, Next, Delete" that pop up below the display. I haven't ever tried it, so I'm not quite sure. I'm used to Meridian Mail/CallPilot on the big switches, so I've gotten used to using the number pad.

As mad006 said, if the budget is there, you may want to look towards a CS 1000 - it will cost more up front, but will grow much larger than two BCM's networked together.