Archive for the ‘Nortel’

Avaya Introduces – CallPilot compatibility with VMWare

Posted by Todd Martin
Sep9
tmartin

Avaya just introduced CallPilotTM compatibility with VMWare© on September 7, 2010 for use on customer-provided web-servers for all supplemental application components such as CallPilot Manager, CallPilot Reporter, My CallPilot, and Password Change/Reset service.

Why is this important?

While most CallPilot web components can run directly on the CallPilot server, you can choose to host some or all web components on a separate server for the following reasons:

Larger enterprise customers, or those with more demanding traffic levels, improve responsiveness and resilience of CallPilot Manager and My CallPilot by hosting these components from the same customer-provided web-server used for Reporter.

CallPilot Reporter, used for reporting on up to 20 CallPilot systems, cannot be hosted by the CallPilot server given both its CPU-intensive anytime/anywhere reporting and large disk-space requirements to store the OM database.

Compatibility Reference

The following outlines product minimum compatibility details:

CallPilot supported Web-Server Operating Systems:

- Windows 2000 Server (Standard version)/Service Pack 1 with IIS 5.0/Service Pack 1
- Windows 2003 Server (Standard version)/Service Pack 2 with IIS 6.0
- Windows Vista (Standard or Enterprise)/Service Pack 1 with IIS 7.0

CallPilot components:

- CallPilot Manager/Reporter 5.00.41.112 (released with Service Update 8) or later
- My CallPilot 5.00.41.111 (released with Service Update 8) or later

VMWare application and version:

- Workstation 6.5.4
- Server 2.0.1

Avaya/Nortel Norstar Systems will be Manufacture Discontinued on October 4, 2010… What does that mean for you?

Posted by Jim Sites
Aug26
jsites

If you have a Norstar phone system there is a lot of misinformation floating around… We want to make sure that you understand all of your options so you can make the best decision for your organization…

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:

Avaya/Nortel Norstar

Avaya/Nortel BCM
Scalability - 3×8 – 3 lines and 8 users

- CICS – 8 lines and 24 users

- MICS – 224 users

- Networking requires OPX circuits or gateways

 - Up to 300 users on BCM 450
Reliability - Highly reliable but no resiliency offers - RAID Redundancy (Power Supply, Fan, Hard drive) provides resiliency on BCM 450
User Applications - Limited off-site mobility offers

- Remote working capability is limited which inhibits productivity

- 3-party ad hoc conferencing, no Meet-me conferencing

- No professional Call Recording

- No Integrated Voice Response capabilities

- No federated Presence

 - 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

- Meet-me conferences calls for up to 18 or 120 parties (60-parties per call on BCM 450); saves money over network-based services

- Professional Call Recording can help increase service to your customers by giving supervisors the tools to improve agent skills; available on the BCM 50 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
Endpoints and Device Integration - No IP phone support; no SIP phone support - IP, analog, digital, wireless, DECT, Bluetooth and SIP phone support
Management & Admin - Standard Windows-based administration tool

- No multi-site administration tool

 - Standard proactive monitoring and alarming

- Optional Avaya/Nortel network Configuration Management Tool enables centralized configuration and management of the BCM systems
Networking - OPX circuits and gateways required for networking of Norstar systems - IP, SIP and MCDN Networking between BCM systems or BCM and Option 11 or CS systems

- Sites can be connected together for free calling between networked locations

Can You Pass on Avaya’s PASS?

Posted by Keith Doucette
May13
KeithD

Someone asked me the question “Can I pass on getting a PASS Agreement from Avaya?”

Well, the answer is yes.  Avaya is about to announce an alternative to those customers that are not interested in the receiving the benefits of a 1, 2 or 3 year PASS Agreement.

The option that will be available July 1, 2010 for non-PASS customers to receive Avaya OEM emergency technical support is:

Avaya will offer “bridged” support if a customer is in need of emergency support services which requires the customer to pay the following fees:

–    Will include a $3,900 upfront fee

–    $425 per hour T&M rates for the time Avaya applies to the individual support case

–    $10,000 purchase order required (actual will be billed towards the $10,000 customer Purchase Order)

The upfront $3,900 fee may be credited toward the purchase of a new PASS Agreement

–    Will back bill the PASS Agreement contract from June 30, 2010

–    The T&M charged against the case is not refundable

–    The PO for the maintenance contract must be received within 30 days of initial sales contact

Give us a call to have a discussion about this and other PASS agreement options that may work for your enterprise.

Avaya Partner Assurance Support Services (PASS) goes in effect July 1, 2010

Posted by Keith Doucette
May12
KeithD

Starting July 1, 2010 Avaya will institute a new services policy which requires all customers to purchase a PASS contract. This contract provides some key elements that ensures that your telephony systems and critical voice applications continue functioning optimally, helping you improve employee productivity and get more from your technology investments.

PASS Summary:

Partner Assurance Support Services for All Nortel Products

•         Avaya Emergency Technical Support (Tier3)
•         Software Upgrades to the newest Software Release
•         Avaya Remote technical assistance and emergency recovery

This important investment will increase the reliability  of your organization’s critical voice infrastructure and assure access to important Avaya emergency technical support. In addition, it will keep your telephony systems and applications on the most current software releases.

As more information around this topic is released from Avaya, we will continue to keep you updated.

Nortel Call Center Manager Product Roadmap

Posted by Chris Dellen
Mar29
cdellen

Amidst the integration of the Nortel product line, Avaya is continuing to roll out updates to Call Center manager. The Nortel product will actually be the first, out of the entire portfolio, to make the leap to Avaya’s Next Generation Context Center.

Nortel’s Contact Center manager 7.1 is available now. The challenge with this release is that when an agent transfers a call outside of the call center itself, all tracking information regarding the call is lost… important information such as first-call-resolution, time-to-resolution etc.

Next month, Avaya will upgrade Call Center Manager to their Next Generation Cotext Center (NGCC) 1.0. The main architecture difference between the two is that all calls will be anchored on the MASS server (multimedia application server). Instead of physically transferring the call, the NGCC will actually anchor the call and then conference in resources such as other agents, applications, integrations etc… The call itself will never move. This architecture will bring Avaya a step closer to being able to provide a more context oriented call experience and will provide more comprehensive reporting capabilities.

Avaya will provide a link to the NGCC through AML or SIP. The AML provides the capability to connect to legacy systems.

The next NGCC release (2.0) is due out in Nov.

Note: Nortel heritage products have adopted the Avaya release schedule of May and November.

CPI to provide Monumental Multi-Million Dollar Nortel + Avaya VoIP Communications Solution for the U.S. Department of Defense

Posted by Keith Doucette
Jan28
KeithD
Department of Defense

Communications Products, Inc. was just awarded a multi-million dollar contract to provide a monumental Voice over IP telecommunication solution for the Department of Defense (DoD). CPI was chosen over six other solutions as the best overall value weighted by:

Past experience

Technology

Solution

Price

With over 7197 end users this is the largest Department of Defense Nortel + Avaya new, pure IP deployment to date. CPI will be providing complete implementation and integration services, comprehensive project management, end user training, and ongoing maintenance.CPI will also be providing the DoD with a Joint Interoperability Testing Command (JITC) certified communication solution. This JITC certified solution will ensure complete interoperability of the new voice and data network with other DoD communication systems.

For over 26 years CPI has been engineering Nortel enterprise telephony solutions. And, with the recent Avaya acquisition of Nortel, CPI has been welcomed into the Avaya family with the distinction of Gold Partner. This is a great opportunity for CPI as we build our new relationship with Avaya. This large project validates our position as a trusted Avaya Gold partner and accelerates our ability to deliver value to customers using our deep portfolio of IT products, professional services, and enterprise communications systems.

Avaya + Nortel = Exponentially Better

Posted by Dane Newman
Jan22
dnewman

On January 19th, 2010 Avaya unveiled their Technology Roadmap for the future of the products they acquired in their purchase of Nortel.  It was refreshing from a number of standpoints.  First, they did what they said they were going to do; they presented a roadmap one month after the acquisition was finalized.  They chose an approach to protect the current investments made by Nortel and Avaya users. And, they unveiled a strategy using SIP to connect client communications to other business applications via their Aura platform.

INUA Avaya Roadmap For Nortel

This approach shows that they do not want customers to have to rip and replace their systems.  It shows they did not just “buy the base”.  The model gives their clients the time and ability to progress to more integrated communications enabled business process on their own terms.  They can keep what works and evolve to the sophistication they need.  A customer can upgrade to the latest software and not have to throw away the bulk of their switch hardware and terminals.

We have prepared a presentation for the Indianapolis Nortel users group that includes some of the slides presented in the roadmap.