Pressure to Upgrade Your Nortel CS1000 System
Upgrade? Don’t upgrade? The Nortel CS1000 end of support announcement leaves customers in a jam…right?
Upgrading a phone system is incredibly costly. And Avaya, owner of Nortel and its longtime workhorse phone system, the Nortel CS1000 system, has declared its intention to stop supporting this product. And with no support, what option does a business have but to upgrade to a product that they do support?
Is upgrading your whole phone system the solution?
Not necessarily.
If you feel like you’re stuck between the high cost of upgrading and the high risk of NOT upgrading, you’re not alone. Lots of businesses and organizations are in the same boat.
You’re going to be fine, don’t worry. We’ll clear up some confusion about all this CS1000 Avaya chaos right now.
End of Support is Not the End of the World
What happened: Avaya announced a final release and subsequent end of support for the Nortel CS1000 system.
When they announced it, many business owners jumped to the conclusion that they will have to shell out huge sums of money for an upgrade to a new system.
Luckily, it doesn’t mean that the phones are simply going to stop working.
What it means is that Avaya will not be providing software updates, and will not officially offer customer support.
The phones will continue to work as they have – until they don’t. They may be damaged, they may simply wear out from use over time. But they may also keep you going for years and years. The only news here is that Avaya doesn’t offer their own support of those products anymore.
Why Would Avaya End Support for the CS1000 System?
When Avaya bought Nortel, they assured customers they would continue support, and they have for years. But the latest release (version 7.6) was dubbed the final release, and end-of-support was allegedly this year, or possibly next year, depending on what headline you saw.
If you’re confused about whether your CS1000 PBX will still get support, there’s a good reason for that. There’s conflicting information floating all around the Internet about it. Some say you need to upgrade fast to a newer, more expensive Avaya solution. Some say you don’t. Anyone paying attention would be thoroughly confused by it all.
But there’s a simple reason for all of this: it’s the end of a typical product lifecycle.
Avaya has other new products they want to focus on. This kind of production and support lifecycle tends to leave customers in the lurch, forcing them to upgrade. That may be the intention after all, but either way, it doesn’t change the reality. Manufacturer support is going away, leaving your phone system in your own hands.
Who Gets Hit First?
This will most definitely impact enterprise PBX customers — many hospitals and large corporations use the Nortel CS1000m, including many right here in Chicago.
But again – it’s not like everything’s will grind to a halt. The system still functions. As long as businesses and organizations can get Avaya alternative support, they can keep using their CS1000 PBX until they are ready to upgrade on their own schedule and budget.
How Long Do We Have?
You don’t necessarily have to decide immediately whether or not to upgrade. Avaya stated in July 2017 that the end date of anything related to this product is June 1, 2024. Support will slowly decline over this time, giving all customers adequate time to prepare an upgrade.
This is good news for existing CS1000 customers. Even if there is no complete support structure from Avaya, it is clear that these PBX systems will continue to provide ROI for their users for many more years – provided they are maintained.
The important thing is to get a support team sooner rather than later.
Of course, it’s unreasonable to hand a Nortel CS1000 manual to a staff employee with a plate full of other tasks and responsibilities and hope for the best. You may need to hire an outside team.
Where Can Those Affected Get Help?
Maintenance is critical for a large, complex phone system — especially an aging one like CS1000. But it’s still an excellent workhorse and there should be no mad rush to upgrade to a costly new system. Chicago businesses, hospitals and other CS1000 customers can get regular maintenance and complete support from Morgan Birgé & Associates.
Morgan Birgé helps many Chicagoland clients with Avaya managed services for a variety of Nortel products, and we can help you keep your CS1000 system going. Call 800-652-4181 today to see how we can help you!