DragonHawk

I was emailed by an Avaya rep about a question I had submitted during the roadmap webcast. (I'll give Avaya credit for that. Nortel never once gave the appearance of caring what a small customer like me thought.) The rep confirmed the migration path for BCM is via IP Office 500 modules which support digital stations. He stated that the decision on what models of sets to support was not final yet, but it would likely be the T-series sets only. I've copied my response below. The rep seemed receptive to feedback. Perhaps if others are in a similar situation, voicing your feedback would make The Powers That Be at Avaya realize what customers are thinking. (If I'm alone in this, sorry for the noise.)

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Almost all of our digital sets from M7xxx series. Almost all of our IP sets are IP 200x series.

I should make it clear that we do not expect Avaya to provide new features or parts/repair for older phones. I simply expect that a phone which works with our BCM should also work if we plug it into the BCM's replacement.

I know telecom manufacturers like to argue that old equipment is "obsolete". These are *telephones*. The basic design of the telephone hasn't changed in 100 years. There is zero return-on-investment involved in replacing a working phone with another one that does the exact same thing but costs more.

If all our M7xxx and IP 200x phones will not work with the IP Office, you can be sure we will never buy one. Why would we? We'd have to buy an entire new phone system. If we have to do that, why should we stick with Avaya when they treat us that way?

I know there are many other former Nortel customers in this same situation. Please forward our concerns to the team in charge of roadmap planning.

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-- Ben