Hi. Our company wants to replace a Nortel Norstar system. We want it to be easy for the employees to adjust to a new system. I heard Avaya IP Office can use Nortel phones, but sometimes it has problems. What system do you recommend that will be the most similar to the Nortel M7310 and T3716E phones?
Tek-Tips is the largest IT community on the Internet today!
Members share and learn making Tek-Tips Forums the best source of peer-reviewed technical information on the Internet!
-
Congratulations Mike Lewis on being selected by the Tek-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!
Replace a Nortel system with...?
- Thread starter Capt. Ron
- Start date
curlycord
Programmer
Like any digital phones they are propriety to the system they belong too.
The only exception with your phones (Norstar phones) is Avaya and E-metrotel (
Avaya took over Nortel asset when they went down, so they made modules to except Norstar phones so that you could slowly migrate (for those not so rich) by changing phone system first then sets later.
E-metrotel has some of the design/engineers that used to worked for Nortel and incorporated some of the features and allowed for the sets.
You have not mention why you need to replace or what is is you need from a phone system otherwise somewhat unanswerable, but E-metrotel is the better method.
________________________________________
=----(((((((((()----=
Toronto, Canada
Add me to LinkedIN
The only exception with your phones (Norstar phones) is Avaya and E-metrotel (
Avaya took over Nortel asset when they went down, so they made modules to except Norstar phones so that you could slowly migrate (for those not so rich) by changing phone system first then sets later.
E-metrotel has some of the design/engineers that used to worked for Nortel and incorporated some of the features and allowed for the sets.
You have not mention why you need to replace or what is is you need from a phone system otherwise somewhat unanswerable, but E-metrotel is the better method.
________________________________________
=----(((((((((()----=
Toronto, Canada
Add me to LinkedIN
The Avaya IP Office can use Norstar phones, however you have to install a special card that is for Norstar phones only. They work on the IP Office to the extent that you can make and receive calls but the display is different than the Norstar and many of the Feature Codes that worked on Norstar do not work on the IP Office. Programming through the phone set also does not work on the IP Office. If the company has the cabling infrastructure in place, you may want to point them to IP phones.
Nothing can really compare to Norstar. Any other system you install will have similarities and differences. I am certified in 8 different phone systems and Norstar was definitely in a league of its own. They all basically do the same things they just use different terminology. It really boils down to how much you want to spend. You can go the inexpensive route and go with something like NEC or you can put in an Avaya product, or a Mitel solution or Cisco, but each one will be progressively more money. Definitely shop around and try to get companies to do demos for you. Choose what is the best fit for your company.
Keep in mind that Norstar phones are digital phone sets and digital sets are harder to come by. Most systems today are some form of IP solution.
Finally, find competent vendors and make sure you understand what you are buying.
Nothing can really compare to Norstar. Any other system you install will have similarities and differences. I am certified in 8 different phone systems and Norstar was definitely in a league of its own. They all basically do the same things they just use different terminology. It really boils down to how much you want to spend. You can go the inexpensive route and go with something like NEC or you can put in an Avaya product, or a Mitel solution or Cisco, but each one will be progressively more money. Definitely shop around and try to get companies to do demos for you. Choose what is the best fit for your company.
Keep in mind that Norstar phones are digital phone sets and digital sets are harder to come by. Most systems today are some form of IP solution.
Finally, find competent vendors and make sure you understand what you are buying.
Firebird Scrambler
Systems Engineer
Personally speaking, Bdvtech's comments are spot on. I've played with using 1140e IP sets on the Avaya IPO and there wasn't much point in doing it. Either way, keeping the Nortel sets is the problem as they won't last for ever. They are already well past their end of life state and it's a credit to Nortel that many are still going strong bearing in mind how many years they have been out of manufacturer support.
As much as I want to see the Nortel range keep on going, the Pandemic over here in the UK has caused many companies to start replacing their telecom's kit with a hosted solution as it offers so much more flexability. Another reason over here is that we are due to be having all our analogue and ISDN services ceased by 2025.
We are replacing all sorts of phone systems and many of them are still current ones such as the Avaya IPO etc.
The customer will have to accept that times have changed.
Firebird Scrambler
Nortel & Avaya Meridian 1 / Succession & BCM / Norstar Programmer
Website = linkedin
As much as I want to see the Nortel range keep on going, the Pandemic over here in the UK has caused many companies to start replacing their telecom's kit with a hosted solution as it offers so much more flexability. Another reason over here is that we are due to be having all our analogue and ISDN services ceased by 2025.
We are replacing all sorts of phone systems and many of them are still current ones such as the Avaya IPO etc.
The customer will have to accept that times have changed.
Firebird Scrambler
Nortel & Avaya Meridian 1 / Succession & BCM / Norstar Programmer
Website = linkedin
- Thread starter
- #6
The reason we want to replace the Norstar system is simply because it's really old and we want to replace it before it fails, although our M7310 and T3716E phones are working fine. We thought maybe it's easier and cheaper to buy a system that can use those Norstar phones and our staff wouldn't have to learn new phones.
Jsaad, could you tell me more about why you recommend the NEC SL2100?
Jsaad, could you tell me more about why you recommend the NEC SL2100?
Firebird Scrambler
Systems Engineer
Your only other option is to have a BCM 50 / 450 at release 6.0 as this will support SIP trunks.
The BCM range is also many years out of support, but there are plenty of us who have updated them to support SSD drives and other improvements etc
Firebird Scrambler
Nortel & Avaya Meridian 1 / Succession & BCM / Norstar Programmer
Website = linkedin
The BCM range is also many years out of support, but there are plenty of us who have updated them to support SSD drives and other improvements etc
Firebird Scrambler
Nortel & Avaya Meridian 1 / Succession & BCM / Norstar Programmer
Website = linkedin
I recommend the NEC because the customer can get true key system capability, flexible extension numbering, new phones, built in music on hold, built in voicemail (128 mbox), auto attendant, email forwarding and a 5 year warranty. Also one pair digital stations means no need for new cabling (Who else is making digital phones these days). Why continue to use a phone that may be 10 or 20+ years old? Depending on the business some equipment is filthy. Some people just want something new, some don't. No system is perfect and everyone is different. The transition from a Norstar phone to a NEC phone is minimal. I make sure the customer doesn't lose any capability and takes advantage of new capabilities. I still service BCM and really old Norstar customers and happy to do so.
- Status