What's the Future of the BCM product line?

[VoiceOfJoe]

Any updates on the street as to what people are hearing about Avaya's direction and future of the BCM platform? We have a BCM50 we are about to out grow this year and considering an upgrade to a BCM450 for added capacity. We need 5 years out of the machine from an investment stand point.

Last I heard, Avaya was working on enhancing IP Office to support the Nortel digital telephones. How far off is that (rls 7.0?). Once the achieve that capability is there any reason to support the BCM platform? I haven't seen or heard anything about the IP Office product so I'm curious what other BCM users are doing and thinking out there when it comes to purchase decisions. Does IP Office have all the functionality of the BCM and 3rd party application support?
Is is priced competitively?

Any feedback is welcome.
VOJ

 

[tball1]

Avaya has made it clear that moving forward the i.p office is the product of choice as for i.p office 7.0 it is due out on march 23 unless other wise posted I would think some time after that you will see eons on the bcm line like the norstar before it.

 

[biv343]

Its priced a bit more competitively and is a lot more flexible, especially when using voicemail pro. I will say that the BCM has a more robust contact center reporting application than the IP Office (BCM RCC vs IPO CCR). Just my opinion though, no flaming please. A good portion of what BCM R6 does now is what IPO has done for a couple years in terms of mobility, meet me conference and what not.

A lot of the BCM feature codes will make it to IPO release 7, at least when using Nortel sets.

I believe the roadmap said BCM would be supported through 2017, so I would expect a end of new sale notice to come in late 2011 or early 2012.

 

[VoiceOfJoe]

So, let me get this straight. IPO rls 7.0, due out in March, will take on more of a BCM feel with added feature codes and support for Nortel Digital Sets. Will there be a BCM rls 7.0? If so, what will it include - IP Office like features?

We run a 100 agent call center and rely heavily on RCC both for real-time reporting with IpView wallboard and historical reporting for call center metrics and management. Also key is our ability to retain use of our phones (digital and IP).

If we have to buy added capacity this spring, it puts us in a tough position to buy something that is about to hit end-of-new-sale or go with IP Office. There are a lot of administration benefits to having your system on a common platform. We just bought a BCM450 last summer??

Ugh....
VOJ

 

[ECartman]

If I were in your shoes, I would continue with your BCM450. It will be around for the next 5 years or so. As mentioned above 2017, or the likes. If you are expanding I would focus on deploying IP phones of the BCM as opposed to digital. This will make the move to IP office easier/cheaper when that time comes.

 

[VoiceOfJoe]

Good advice. Thanks!

 

[pkellow]

The BCM retains maximum 14000 calls in it's ccrs database, so if you are reliant on the historical reports on RCC, recommend you regularly backup the RCC database.

 

[Wallysworld]

My understanding is that Avaya's new IP office release will be compatible with the all the Nortel phones (both digital & i.p.). You are still into Avaya programming though, which from what I've seen is very competant... just different... a lot different then the BCM.
Like ECartman said deploying i.p. phones increases your capacity immediately and will let you hang on to your existing system until they have worked all the "bugs" out of the 1st couple of releases.

 

[GordonKapesMZ4]

So on IP office, will the Nortel phones still have the Nortel ring tones and will fixed buttons operate like they do currently, OR will we now have Avaya "warble" "chirp" type ring tones on all the Nortel phones? Are the Nortel blip dialpad keyclicks gone too? So far, no one has been able to answer this yet.

 

[hostedvoipman]

the righting is on the wall for the bcm we stopped selling it and do not recomend it ever since nortel went bust. when ver 7 for the ip office comes out then there will be no point in installing or upgrading a bcm it is just a waste of money

 

[tball1]

The name on the box now reads avaya not nortel

 

[GordonKapesMZ4]

Ring Tones, keyclicks anyone? See my question above....

Thank you.

 

[biv343]

Ring types and key clicks are same as they have always been on a Norstar or BCM. The Avaya ring tones aren't available on the Nortel branded sets. Except for minor display differences you wouldn't know that the phone isn't on a BCM when you look at it or use it.

 

[GordonKapesMZ4]

Biv,

You made my day, thanks for the response!

I've been so curious about this issue because I personally find the Nortel Ring Types and Key Clicks much more appealing to users than the Avaya types.

Your Opinion?

Thank you

 

[biv343]

I'm impartial. Some of the Avaya ringtones remind me of old Merlin systems and sound somewhat dated, but the same can be said for the 4 canned Nortel ringtones. I'm happiest when phones ring and the call isnt for me.

 

[GordonKapesMZ4]

Biv,

Are you familiar with the 4 additional Nortel ring tones 4-8 used on the SIP platform and CS1000 side of the 11xx phones? Do you find those any better? Those I relate to the original Meridian One ring tones....Tones 6 and 8 actually sound like a British Emergency Vehicle Siren.

I can't understand why these were never rolled into the BCM or Norstar platform, espeically when BCM450 has over 300 station capacity.

I completely agree with you about the Avaya ringtones sounding like the old Merlin systems.....reminds me of an old Law and Order or Homicide TV show.

I am obviously all about the end user features on the phones...

To sum it up, good to see that some Nortel characteristics are surviving on the IP office platform.

Thank you again.

 

[ECartman]

@Biv

Have you seen any of the new DS module for IPO ?

Will you be able to mix'n'match IPO handsets with T7xxx on the same system (not same modules) ? Or will it be a BCM eddition of IPO ?

I've been chcking on the Avaya partner portal but I'm not getting anything concrete.

I have a BCM customer that is setting up a new office but will want to migrate their exist T-series from the BCM to IPO over time. I know they will only work with the new DS modules but I need to get this system in the the next month and I'm would rather go with the IPO than another BCM as they will be requiring up to 100 agents over time.

What's you thoughts ?

Thanks

 

[PHXAZ]

I agree that for any new investment go with IPO , I still run into tons of old Norstar release 1 and 2 , bcm, old partners, merlins, even some AT&T spirit 2448 and others.
I will continue to service them and tell the customer to start saving for a new system, but as long as they work why replace it if it still does the job intended to do.
most small companies are very tight with their money and will not part with it until is absolutely necesary.

 

[biv343]

From what little I've seen you can mix and match Avaya digital sets and Nortel digital sets on the same system. The modules are dedicated to either Avaya sets or Nortel sets. It looks like the external expansion modules for the Nortel sets will have a RJ21 connector instead of RJ45 connectors. I prefer those over individual RJ45's as it makes for a cleaner looking install. The internal card that goes in the IPO will still have RJ45 connectors.

There is a Norstar Edition IPO, but that is restricted to EMEA markets.
I haven't played much with the SIP firmware on the 1100 series sets short of turning one on and seeing it work.

 

[ECartman]

Perfect. I have done the web briefing on IPO R7 and they did mention RJ21 connectors, which I agree can be beneficial, especially in mutli floor environments.

Just didn't want to start with a 20 set IPO with 14XXs and then find out you cant add the existing T-series afterwards

Thanks