So, what does that mean to support of your current BCM50 or BCM450 system? You can depend on support from CPI / Avaya for about seven more years. Avaya will provided parts and labor for that system until March 1st, of 2018.

Since you already have an investment which will last for about seven more years, you are not forced to change your system. You may want to investigate upgrading to the IP Office to get some of the advanced capabilities like Unified Communications and the built-in conference bridge. Avaya continues to protect your existing Nortel investment by allowing you to keep your telephone sets should you upgrade to the new IP Office.

If you need more detailed information on the Avaya BCM, we are happy to help!

1. Migrate to BCM: Both the BCM50 or BCM450 provide scalable migration paths. You can keep your phones and in many cases you can also retain your fiber trunk and station modules, which can add up to 70% of the total cost of a new telephony system. Another highlight is that BCM features are used in almost the same way as your Norstar system’s which significantly reduces training challenges. However, it is important to note that the BCM platform will be migrated to Avaya’s IP office platform in the future.

2. Migrate to IP-Office 7.0: A few of the many benefits of upgrading to IP-Office 7.0 are listed below:

- Gives you the ability to reuse existing phones

- Allows you to protect upwards of 60% of your investment in your Norstar system

- Some key capabilities you will have access to include Avaya one-X Portal for IP-Office, IP Office Video Softphone, and embedded meet me conferencing, to name a few

3. Maintain your current Norstar system. Avaya has committed to providing Manufacturer’s Support on hardware and software for three years (until October 2013) in addition to three years of Extended Services Support (October 2013-October 2016). If you so choose, you will have the opportunity to preserve your investment and migrate to Avaya’s IP Office when it makes sense for you.

Without going very deep into the technical details, I wanted to let you know about some of the enhancements that will be coming your way. If you have questions about any specifics, I would be more than happy to help you.

Find Me Follow Me Enhancements:

- Increased capacity and flexibility of Find Me Follow Me (FMFM)

- Ability to use BCM features (park, hold, conference, transfer) on external destinations such as mobile or home phone

- Ability to use FMFM over analog trunks

- Additional configuration options to personalize the FMFM experience

Remote Worker Solution – Unistim VPN Client (UVC)

- Secure Remote Worker solution

- No need for PC based VPN Client or VPN Router for remote workers

Remote Worker Solution – NAT Traversal

- Low Cost remote worker solution that does not require a VPN solution

MeetMe Conferencing Portal

- Web portal for MeetMe Conferencing

- Real-time participant information for chairperson and participants

- Ability to see participants and control meetings

Advanced Paging Productivity Pack

- One button text messaging (helpful where voice paging is not practical due to infrastructure limitations or is not appropriate such as noisy environments)

Multiple Business Names

- Option to configure up to 5 different business names per BCM (helpful for sites with multiple tenants or businesses with several customer facing entities)

Interoperability with other Avaya/Nortel solutions

- BCM 50 3.0, 5.0 & 6.0

- BCM 450 1.0, 5.0, & 6.0

- CS1000 7.0 & 6.0

- CS2100 SE13 & SE12

- IP Office 6.0 – SIP only

- Avaya Aura – SIP only

Public SIP Trunking

- Possible cost savings through SIP trunks

- Broader implementation options

- Enhanced redundancy and failover options

* End of new sales for BCM release 5.0 will be December 6th, 2010. According to Avaya’s lifecycle policy, they will continue to support BCM customers on release 5.0 for 6 years after Dec. 6th.

First, if you have a Norstar, don’t worry… “Avaya/Nortel will support the Norstar products for a total of six (6) years after October 4, 2010.” That means that you will have access to  any needed hardware, software support, or service for six years. And, you also have the option to extend the life of your system by upgradng to Avaya/Nortel’s next generation of telephony products… in this case, the Avaya/Nortel BCM. And, it will give you the latest telephony innovations such as IP telephony, presence, and more advanced unified communication features…

So, if you decide to do nothing with your existing Norstar system, you will be fine until 2016.

Avaya/Nortel’s Norstar Migration Path:

If you want to extend the life of your Norstar System investment and take advantage of their latest technology innovations, you can upgrade to the Avaya/Nortel BCM. Both the BCM 50 and BCM 450 provide scalable migration paths from the Norstar system. You can even keep your phones and in many cases retain your fiber trunk and station modules, which can account for up to 70% of the total cost of a new telephony system. Also, the need to re-train end users is also minimized when migrating to BCM as the features, functionality, and use are similar to the Norstar system.

How Your Business will Benefit from the upgrading your Norstar to a BCM:

Improve Productivity & Customer Service:

- Does your business have voice mail today? BCM systems include voice mail so “pink slip” messages are no longer required

- Since messaging is included, calls can be routed quickly and professionally using the built-in automated attendant

- Professional Call Recording can help increase service to your customers by giving supervisors the tools to improve agent skills; available on the BCM50 and BCM 450

- Integrated Voice Response with the BCM 450 can facilitate customer self-service, making transactions easier for everyone

- The BCM InTouch application improves productivity because users can see the presence status of other employees as well as the status of MSN and Skype users – saves time and improves communication and responsiveness

- The FindMe/FollowMe feature ensures that calls are always answered – calls can be routed up to five destinations based on time of day – ensures timely call handling

- The Message forwarding Capability sends an email to any smart phone when a new voice mail message arrives, ensuring timely response to callers

Reduce your Expenses:

- With BCM, all of your locations can be connected together to improve collaboration and to eliminate calling charges between offices

- SIP trunks can save your business money and offers added services like direct inward dialing

- Enjoy the productivity of PIN-protected, Meet-me conferences calls for up to 18 or 120 parties; saves money over network-based services

Protect your Investment:

-  Digital sets can be reused on BCM to protect your investment and allow you to retain a familiar desktop interface; user training provides additional investment-protection benefits

- Trunk and station modules can be reused, further supporting investment protection which reduces Total Cost of Ownership (TCP)

- Overall, up to 70% of the investment in Norstar can be reused with BCM providing for an easy and comfortable migration

What you will get if you choose to upgrade your existing Norstar system to a BCM: