Mitel 3300 vs Nortel BCM 400 1

[JoEnt]

Hey all;

We are considering moving from an end of life Meridian system to either a Mitel 3300 or a Nortel BCM 400. The vendor proposing the Mitel also sells 3com and Cisco, but reccommend the Mitel. We are a single site (50 sets)with some remote users that would benefit from teleworker ability. Small call center. requires unified messaging. Call accounting and call recording. What I have seen so far (I think) leans toward the Mitel. Am I seeing that right? Any thoughts would be welcome.

 

[paterson]

I am actually trained, experienced, and certified on both products. I work with both everyday with everything from small simple installs to complicated multi-system sites.

MITEL 3300... HANDS DOWN, END OF DISCUSSION.

As far as the hardware goes, I find the Mitel is MUCH more reliable. We have had to replace mulitple BCM parts such as hard drives and the motherboards. I have never had to change out parts on the main 3300 unit, but I have had to replace a peripheral Analog Service Unit once.

I also find that the software is much more stable on the Mitel than the BCM. Many more patches and upgrades with the BCM than the Mitel. Not that the Mitel doesn't have problems, just not as many compared to the BCM.

I think the Mitel phones look better as well. I have never had a problem with the Teleworker server or sets that were not either a user problem or a firewall problem at either the corparate end or the user end. Very Stable.

By the way, I have about the same number of sites of each. It seems that the sites that went with the BCM also had an old Norstar system and they wanted to reuse their sets. If cost is a factor for you, the BCM will do the job. My opinion is that you would be happier with the Mitel.



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My Biggest problem is that I almost always believe what I tell myself.

 

[GHTROUT]

First, make sure you have found the Mitel forum here...I hope you can post on both sides of the fence and hear the opinions.

I've been working the Nortel Meridian forever, but I did have a little time on Mitel, and have worked or exchanged views with more than a number Mitel bigots.

The opinion I arrived at was that the Mitel system was probably the one the users would be more satisfied with - and the one you would find easiest to implement the smartest features

The Nortel systems often ends up winning because they have the market share, more than one local vendor capable of competing for your business, and it is pretty hard to imagine "going out of business" is possible for the company founded in 1895 - now headqurtered in the same part of Canada that Alexander Graham Bell invented that "Phone" thingy, it's the company running all those Telco COs, Cellular Switches, Microsoft in Redmond, on and on the story goes, adding to the fear and uncertainty of Mitel.

I admit, it is a very tough descision...like Mac and Windows - Mac was the only "real" multi-tasking box, but back then who knew or cared. When IBM started making PCs the phrase "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM PCs" was coined.

I can't offer advice on the BCM box specifically, but I have gone through the "who to choose" process as a telecom wizard or lowly manager at the 7 different end user employers I job hopped to - and I brought Nortel or it brought me in each case.



~

http://www.DeadPhone.com/

http://www.GHTROUT.com/

 

[JoEnt]

Thanks for the posts. I am not looking to drink Mitel cool aid. I am looking for honest opinions. I will have to make my reccommendation to the CEO and its my neck on the block so.... Thanks again.

 

[DigitelD]

Depending on when you are going to implement this, the BCM 4.0 will be on the Linux platform. It will be more reliable than the NT that the 3.X systems have. Nortel is definitly getting it together with the hardware problems. As far as patches go I don't know of any system that hasn't had bugs in them.

 

[DigitelD]

Another thing, it would be useful to use the Mitel forum and the BCM forum and put this question there and get more opinions from both sides.

 

[strmwalker]

JoEnt....i don't know where you are located but my experience with mitel it will snag lightning thru a
chain link fence.

strmwalker

 

[paterson]

Quote-: "i don't know where you are located but my experience with mitel it will snag lightning thru a
chain link fence."

You talking about the old systems or the new ones? Old ones, then I would agree. But, anyone putting in a reasonable large system like a Mitel 3300 or a BCM 400 should be using a good UPS as a minimum. Lightning shouldn't hurt any system behind a good UPS. Not really a valid concern.

I would like to add to what I posted before. Either system should suit your needs. If I were you, I would try and focus on WHO you will buy it from. If you have not worked with this company before, try calling around and get a feel for the service. Most companies should be able to install a system, that is the easy part (relatively speaking). The hard part is usually keeping you happy with maintenance/service after the fact.

Good Luck!





**************************************
My Biggest problem is that I almost always believe what I tell myself.

 

[ubbie]

I'm curious, your vendor sells 3Com, which is the only other pure ip telephony solution that competes w/Cisco but 10 times less expensive.

The Mitel is a hybrid (i.e., TDM or IP capable).

3Com has built-in apps (i.e. free UM, TAPI, CALL ACCOUNTING) and is easy to deploy out of the box and simple to manage. Great for company with remote users.

Why isn't your vendor talking to you about this?

 

[tervete]

I can't speak for the Mitel but I run both a BCM 400 (3.7) and 2 Asterisk Pbx's and I can say the BCM is crap in comparison. Far less versatile, problematic and difficult to diagnose. Asterisk has been rock solid (no crash in the past year and a half whereas my BCM has gone down almost monthly), highly versatile.
As for Mitel, I have no idea.