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Upgrading from BCM 1000 4

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WilliamVR4

WilliamVR4

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Our company is considering to upgrade our phone system, currently looking into ESI or possibly Panasonic TDA50.

Is there any reputable Houston vendor you guys would recommend?

We only have 24 phones in our office, and are primarily looking for a system that can place callers on queue which i am sure most new systems do.
 
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There are lots of great systems out there now such as the IP Office, Cisco Call Manager, Panasonic, Toshiba and Shoretel.

Well I am partial to the New UCx system from E-MetroTel which is based out of Plano Texas. The system is designed by former Nortel guys who developed a switch called the UCx that is designed to continue supporting legacy Nortel equipment (especially BCM and Norstar) while adding new phones to it.

They can do exactly what you want and you don't have to replace the phones or cabling, and most of the feature codes stay the same. Then at the same time, you can add IP phones of your choosing such as the Cisco 79xx series, or the SNOM phones, or my favorite, the Nortel Unistim IP sets such as the i2000, 11xx and 12xx sets. The system supports SIP trunking, PRI/BRI and analog trunking.

Contact them, I know they have had a lot of call center/call queuing customers utilizing their M and T series sets, so they may be able to accommodate what you want at a reasonable price.

So the big advantages? You will not have to rip and replace, only replace the equipment in your phone room. You won't have to retrain your employees on every new feature.



"Keep the Peace, Use RLS"
 
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Which you can also achieve with the ip office, avaya bought nortel.

I wouldn't recommend re using phones though, what I usually tell people is if you are going to upgrade, then upgrade.

ddcommllc.com
Avaya/Toshiba/SyntelSolutions

ACIS

"Will work for stars
 
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I agree with replacing the handsets. The IP Office does a fairly good job emulating the Norstar/BCM features, but the IPO is much nicer to use with native Avaya handsets. I can't comment on e-metrotel. For 24 phones, you're not looking at a huge amount of money to move to new handsets. The users know the system by what sits on their desk - old phones equal old system, although 90% of the users will use 10% of the capabilities of any system. If you have a BCM 1000, then your handsets are knocking on at least 10 years old anyways.

Enterprise Systems in Houston would be worth talking to if you haven't already. I have no affiliation with them and am on the opposite end of the country, but I have met some of their folks in the past.

 
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I would definitely recommend Avaya IP Office. Even if you keep your Nortel phones for use with the system some of the features work far better than they ever did with Nortel PBX's. Call History is actually usable and keeps a redial history as well. The voicemail is more flexible as well - you can send Message Waiting to more than 1 phone.

-----------------------------------
atcom_logo_small.jpg

Calgary Telephone Systems, Avaya LG Asterisk (FreePBX) VOIP & TDM
 
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Callpilot is way better then embedded but vm pro has advantages over Callpilot. The remark about Norstar/ BCM features working better on ipo, I'd highly disagree with that. There are tons of features that Avaya never even bought to the table with the ipo and as far as reusing Nortel ip phones on that box it's a joke. The ip phones work to 1/2 their ability, the digital sets- m&t series work much better then ip.

Jeremy J. Carter
Charm City Communications
Norstar. BCM. CS1000 Programmer
 
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The only problem I hear everyone complain about that keeps their t series sets is that when they call a busy extension the old "on another call" doesn't appear in the display. That drives them nuts at first and I wish avaya would implement it. But besides that they work just about the same as they do on a bcm. But that being said the 14xx are inexpensive and work nicely, the 95xx are nice looking and cheap too.

If you're gonna do it then do it

ddcommllc.com
Avaya/Toshiba/SyntelSolutions

ACIS

"Will work for stars
 
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Hi phoneguy610! Some Norstar/BCM customers extensively use this "on another call" feature and want an equivalent functionality on an upgrade system. I know that you don't like the E-MetroTel's UCx system one single bit, but believe it or not - the UCx system actually supports the feature! If you have access to a UCx system, just give it a try - you'll see the familiar On another call message. [wink]
 
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It's honestly not that important , It just relieves an "awe I liked that" during training.

The things the iPo does better like detailed missed call log outweigh that feature IMO

ddcommllc.com
Avaya/Toshiba/SyntelSolutions

ACIS

"Will work for stars
 
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I think the key here is that this guy wants an upgrade , so really talking about systems that you cant buy anymore can and there super duper features is irrelevant , sure we all have our favourites but if he is after a new piece of equipment , my advice would be get some re-sellers in with dem kits and look at the features V the cost , then you can make an informed decision , if they don't have demo equipment that can be brought to site don't touch them with a barge pole.

APSS (SME)
ACSS (SME)
ACIS (UC)
 
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Yea if you can't get anyone to demo the product , just think about getting them out there for support

ddcommllc.com
Avaya/Toshiba/SyntelSolutions

ACIS

"Will work for stars
 
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It appears we have decided to go with the ESI system after all, still working out which vendor will do the installation. Got 2 quotes from different vendors for same product but one being nearly 2k more.
 
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Make sure you have someone that is a dedicated ESI Vendor with references, Have run into them up here and the Vendor goes out of business...and then you have nobody to fix the product.

norstarguru
 
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Now you have to throw all those Nortel phones away :( you could have reused them with IP office or Emetrotel UCx. A little Clorox wipes and relabeling keys on the Nortel phones makes them look brand new.

Let us know how the ESI system turns out.

"Keep the Peace, Use RLS"
 
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