Linked BCM 400 solution

[SPYBURN1138]

Hello.

Our company is looking to upgrade/replace our existing NEC IVS2000 phone system (11+ years old and now past end of life status)

We looked at an upgrade but that is looking to cost almost as much a new system.

One vendor has proposed the Nortel BCM 400 to us.

Is this a good product and easily administered?

We have approx 250 phone is use, and his proposal involves linking 2 systems together to provide us with this capacity.

Is anyone else using this type of setup and at this size?

Any recommendations or warnings regarding this?

Any advice regarding this project?
Dealing with alot of sales people and not getting straight answers.

Appreciate any help or advice.

Thanks.

 

[DigitelD]

If you don't mind, what area are you in?

 

[biv343]

250 phones is quite a bit for a BCM, even 2 systems linked together. Not sure what you have for trunking. I'll assume probably two T-1s. Figure six loops per system, 12 total, and you'll eat up 8 of those just for stations, and 2 for T-1's. That would leave you with 2 buses available for other things (analog trunks, analog stations, future growth).

Keep in mind that you'll be maintaining two separate systems. Certain things may not work as seamlessly as you would like (paging between systems, some voicemail features, things of that nature).

You'd be much better suited for a PBX (CS1000) for the size of your company.

 

[DigitelD]

I agree, maybe a Cisco Call Manager or Express would fit your needs if you wanted to go pure IP.

 

[steeef]

i would suggest a CS1000 too.
i absolutely agree with biv343 here: 250 is much too much even for two BCMs. and linking two BCMs together sounds more like a bad workaround. trust us: don't do it

 

[SPYBURN1138]

Thanks to you all for your advice.

We are located in MA.

At this point we are essentially in a situation where we have a signed contract with a vendor for this solution, and have gotten reassurance from him and from a system engineer with who he works that this will work.

As cost was a major factor, the BCM solution was approx $45,000 less than the CS 1000 quotes we received.

What issues might we face in our maintaining two separate systems?

We had raised concerns about the seamless call routing, messaging, etc. and were told that we would have no problems.

Thanks again

 

[biv343]

Seamless call routing isn't an issue. Paging, over IP trunks, isn't supported. That means you can't page over the phones from one system to another. Maybe it's not a problem in your organization.

One of the systems will host the voicemail - the other will be a remote off that voicemail. From my understanding, a BCM that uses the voicemail off another BCM doesn't have access to the features on the main system (such as Feature 981 to log in, Feature 986 to transfer directly to voicemail, etc). I could be incorrect - I've never done centralized mail on a BCM - only having a BCM use the voicemail on a PBX CallPilot.

As far as extension to extension dialing, it will appear seamless. You can pick up parked calls on the other systems provided the call park ranges don't overlap.

In short - can it be done? Yes. Will it be easy to manage, seamless for the users? Probably not 100% seamless.

The "best" application for the BCM IP expansion bundle (which is most likely what you're getting) is an application where you have a lot of digital phones and a lot of trunks. You can load up the first cabinet with all phones, then load up the other cabinet with your trunks. That avoids all the issues I mentioned above. Only thing to remember is you can only have 60 IP trunks between the systems - so if you ever anticipate having more than 60 calls to the outside world, you're out of luck there also.

 

[SPYBURN1138]

Thanks again.

We do not use paging, so this should not be a major issue.

Can you explain what Feature 981 and Feature 986 are used for?

We have 24 copper lines on our current system, so we are going with a single T1 with 8 line copper backup on this new install.

As per the 60 IP trunks limit, does that restrict calling between lines on the two seperate BCM cabinets internally or is this only for calls made externally?

If we do add another cabinet would that allow us to expand past the limit of 60 IP trunks?

Do you know how many IP phone we can add to this system as configured?

We plan to start with a 4 IP phone license, do not anticipate much more than this to start, but curious as to what the limit may be.

Many thanks again.

 

[steeef]

And hopefully you don't want to use ISDN on the IP-Trunks. That is also unsupported.
And you will not be able to monitor DNs from the other system using internal autodial keys.

Sure, this is a much more cheaper solution than the CS1000 but i hope that your vendor told you about all the things that will not work!

And you can be sure: there's much more

 

[biv343]

Feature 981 - "one touch" login to voicemail.
Feature 986 - Transfer a caller directly to a mailbox

Also.

Feature 980 - Compose message to the mailbox
Feature 982 - Operator status.
Feature 984 - "one touch" forward to voicemail
Feature 987 - Voicemail interrupt - pull a caller out of your mailbox if you weren't quick enough on the draw to answer the call.
Feature 988 - Directory (never use this myself).

Not to mention the ACD features. Phones on the "second" BCM won't be able to log into any ACD queues that you have today or in the future.

You have a total of 60 IP trunks total. It's not a hardware limitation, it's software. If you add another cabinet, then you have three sites vying for 60 IP trunks on the "host" unit.

The IP expansion bundle comes with (I believe) 48 IP trunks for each system. You'll have 48 talk paths between the systems. The 49th call doesn't go through.

I don't want to sound like doom-n-gloom here. It may very well do what you need. I'm more concerned that your vendor may not have given you all the details.

 

[biv343]

Regarding your other question about IP trunks restricting calling internal or externally. It depends on what system your trunks are in. In this instance, put your trunks on the same system as your "power users". If you have 250 phones and only a T-1, my guess is you have a lot of phones that sit idle most of the time.

Regarding the number of IP phones, not very many. Depends on how many IP trunks and voicemail ports are enabled.

A safe guess is probably in the neighborhood of 30-40 or so. I'd have to run the exact config through the resource calculator to be sure.

 

[SPYBURN1138]

Thanks again.

We are continuing to hit the vendor with specific questions regarding functionality, so appreciate all of this info.

It is tremendously helpful.

As far as handsets, we are looking at the 7316e and 7208.
Any feedback on ease of use and functionality for these?

Does Caller ID, Call Log, Time/Date info all appear on these sets and how easy are these to setup (program keys) and administer?

Any advice or limitations regarding handset selection?

Thanks again.

 

[Johnthephoneguy]

You can more than 30 or 40 IP phones on a BCM especially if you have 2 BCMS going.

 

[DigitelD]

Would you be interested in an IP solution? If so go to

http://www.digitelusa.net.

My branch office is in Cincinnati, OH.

 

[biv343]

Handsets are fine - caller ID, call log, time/date appears on all the models of phones. Easy to program/administer either through the browser or directly on the phone.

John is correct - since you have 2 systems, you can run more IP phones. You may be able to put one of the systems at a 5/3 split for more IP resources. Still, with that many IP trunks you won't get the full IP set capacity on the system.