How are the eMetrotel system connected 1

[davidwalters]

I have tried to view what a system looks like but I can't fine one online. I am curious if it is rack mounted, wall mounted and what type of cabling does it use JR11,45 or AMP cables lets say for the digital sets?

Anyone have any images or installation images in the phone room?

Thanks!

 

[telcodog]

Depends on the model.

UCx20e and 50e don't have a rackmount kit (yet) but do have an optional wallmont bracket.

UCx 450 and 1000 are Dell servers and only come as rackmount. The 2000 is supposed to be for virtualization but you can order a server for it from eMetro and it too is a Dell.

You can see all these units on their website.

As for connections, the units themselves only communicate via an ethernet connection to a network. If all you have are IP sets and trunks, that's it. To support digital sets from a Norstar/BCM, they use BCM50 systems with a replacement drive in the main unit. They take out the existing hard drive and replace it with a small SSD drive. This turns it into an eMetrotel digital gateway. Connections are exactly the same as they were when it was a BCM50. OA&M port is the same IP and you assign the customer lan the same as you would before. Both expansion ports are opened up so you can add 2 expansion cabinets that support both the DSM16 and DSM32 modules. With the 4 analog station ports, you can have a maximum of 80 ports on a full gateway and you can have multiple gateways per system (they can be local or on the other side of the world). The analog trunk ports, paging, aux and MOH ports do not work though. You can add 4 or 8 port analog trunk boards into the UCx or a PRI card though. MOH can be the embedded stuff or you can stream an audio signal into the blue connector on the UCx.

The beauty of this setup is that if you're replacing a BCM50, all you do is replace that drive......no wiring changes at all.

If you;re replacing an M1 or CS1K, you connect those cabinets to the UCx via MGC cards in the Nortel boxes. Same issue with the wiring.....nothing much changes.

Hope this helps clear it up for you.

 

[davidwalters]

Wow I like that for the BCM50 very smart way to do that. No ripping and replacing! Now so you are telling me for example that if I have a BCM50 1.0 that the eMetrotel does not care what version was there previously? How about the BCM200, 400, 450's?

What is the customer looking at as far as cost for hardware licenses etc. are there any annual license fees?

Thanks

 

[telcodog]

All you can use from the other BCM models are the DSM12 and DSM32 modules. The BCM50 is the hardware of choice for supporting T and M series digital sets. Doesn't matter at all which version the BCM was because all that's being utilised is the hardware. If it requires BIOS upgrading, it's done after it's turned into a digital gateway and only takes a few minutes.

For costing you would have to speak to a local reseller as eMetro does not sell direct but I can tell you that they are roughly 50% of the cost of an equivalent IP Office replacement. Licensing is done by user instead of features. If you have 50 users on your system, you buy 50 licenses and everybody gets everything. It has an enterprise grade call centre built in but if you want contact centre reporting you do have to buy that in addition to the user licenses.

All in all, this is by far the most cost-effective option for anyone with a legacy Nortel system to move up to the latest and greatest technology without going broke or having to fork-lift your system. The digital sets work almost exactly the same as they do now so user training is not generally required. Nortel IP phones work better than they ever did on the BCM and the boxes also support just about any IP phone running SIP software.....all at the same time.

I've worked on lots of them and although they are not perfect, they far outshine any of the mainstream systems in the marketplace.

 

[davidwalters]

thank you. Just to clarify if the customer has a PRI installed on the bcm50 with an expansion module will this work?

 

[telcodog]

You can't use the DTM module. You have to order the UCx with a PRI card installed in it. Just plug the RJ45 cable into it and you should be good to go (once you do the programming of course). Works great!

 

[davidwalters]

uh oh! Well you have my interest and now you just lost it. It's starting to sound more complicated. If I have PRI sites that I have to add another piece of hardware to and I have no space in a tight phone room it's just not going to be convenient. I'd rather put an IP Office in and start fresh from beginning. It makes no sense to me why they would not include all the full features and functionality other bcm50 including all modules and options. It seems like kind of a half-hearted effort. To leave out PRI makes no sense to me. At this point I think I'm going to look elsewhere. Perhaps in the future they will really provide 100% bcm50 migration with just a hard Drive.

 

[GordonKapesMZ4]

Well actually, you have to order a UCx no matter what, otherwise, how would you control the existing BCM hardware? The box is about the size of a Readers Digest and it has a PRI card built into it.

"Keep the Peace, Use RLS"

http://www.joetheucxguy.com

 

[davidwalters]

Well I thought that you just replace the HD in the BCM50 and you are back in business? Is this not so? I don;t see the advantage in jery rigging the BCM50 if it is not really honestly going to be fully functional. Like I said I would rather install an IP office reuse the Nortel digital sets and be done with it. The IP Office takes up about the same wall space foot print.

 

[GordonKapesMZ4]

Have you actually done a sizing comparison? This morning in regards to your request of fitting equipment in a tight room, I placed my BCM50 and UCx50 on top of my IP Office 8 box and they take up only 3/4 of the IP Office Box. So in all actuality, you'd be getting a smaller footprint with the UCx.

I assume combining the Call Server and Support for Meridian M & T phones will be built inside the UCx box, new one day soon. Think about this, in order to meet your request, the EMT guys would have to strip every component out of the BCM box and start from scratch, that is not a value add.

"Keep the Peace, Use RLS"

http://www.joetheucxguy.com

 

[UCXNortel]

When using the Nortel digital sets with IP Office, the functionality of using the Feature Codes of BCM are gone. This means re-training the end users. The UCx 50 and up support PRI either with a built in card or an external gateway. When the overall cost comparison is done, if the IPO is sold with ALL the features UCx has, the cost increases quite a bit.

In addition, if you are replacing an existing BCM 50, then all you need is the SSD drive to install in the BCM 50 to convert it to a Digital Gateway Server. But since the cost difference between the SSD drive and an outright purchase of the Digital Gateway is very reasonable, it often makes sense to do that and sell the BCM 50, or keep it for legacy customers for replacements that aren't converting to UCx.

We can't promote on here, but you can look at my signature.....

http://www.ucidirect.com

Stocking Distributor for E-Metrotel

 

[atdjr123]

Hey Telco, UCX50E does have an optional rack mount assembly kit!!

http://www.voiceconnectplus.com

Voice Connect Plus, Inc.
have a great day and a better tomorrow