Avaya announces IP Office Release 8.0 updates and IP Office Release 8.1 Sneak Peak!

Avaya has announced as of April several big changes to the IP Office Telephone System. Several big changes to the Avaya IP Office Release 8.0 platform cover changes in the voicemail, mobile twinning, and support on 96x1 devices.
Originally there was a plan to release a device called the UC110 module. This product will now be called the Avaya UCM. The Avaya UCM is a Linux based module that resides in a single slot of the main cabinet of an IP Office 500 V2. This module replaces the need for a separate server for Preferred Edition Voicemail. It can support up to 59 users and up to 20 ports of voicemail. You may use this voicemail as a Centralized Voicemail option for multiple sites. Some of the benefits of using this module, rather than an external server, is that the unit is not tied to Microsoft or Linux updates and licensing, and it also takes under 30 minutes to install. It also includes an Avaya Preferred Edition License when you purchase the unit.

They have also announced a larger option for voicemail called the Avaya IP Office Applications Server. This is a Linux based sourced server and it supports up to 250 users, and 40 voicemail ports. It ships with a Linux OS and Applications Software Images. It is scalable to the full capacity of 1 Avaya IP Office Phone System (384 users).

Avaya has also announced full support on the 96x1 IP Phones.. On release 7, the last service pack fully supported the 9608, 9621G and 9641G IP Phones. Finally with Release 8 Q1 Service Pack, the 9611g will be fully supported.

And the last major update to IP Office Release 8.0 is a very exciting one. Mobility server will now support use on an iPhone Mobile Phone. So you now may load the one-X application on a iPhone for full featured mobility. This is currently in Beta testing and will be available for use in May. Unfortunately for Blackberry users, there is a big question mark as to whether or not Mobile Worker will be fully integrated.
Avaya IP Office Release 8.1 is at the moment planned for a June Release Date. One of the big announcements for Release 8.1 IP Office is a larger capacity. They have announced the upcoming Avaya IP Office Midside Server Edition, which is a Linux based platform and can support up to 500 users per server and up to 1000 users per site with 2 servers. This server can be supplied by the customer as long as it is on Avaya’s approved server list.

Avaya has recently announced a new version of the Avaya IP Office Phone System, Release 8.0. The new version will be available after December 12, 2011. There are many new features and some new hardware as well. They have simplified things a bit so that going forward there will only be one SD Card- Basic Mode- Partner Version, otherwise known as A-Law SD Cards. If you would like an Essential Edition SD Card, you simply purchase a Basic Mode SD Card and an Essential Edition License.

Some of the other highlights include:

• Supported on IP500 V1 or V2 Cabinets
• One SD Card for all Versions- Basic Mode, Partner Version
• Upgrade with license to Essential, Preferred or Advanced Edition
• Avaya IP Office Web Manager: System Management via Web Browser
  • Supports the following web-browsers:
    • Firefox
    • Internet Explorer
    • Safari
    • Chrome
• New Hardware: (Preferred Edition Only)
• UC110 Unified Communications Module
  • Requires a slot in Main Cabinet
  • Supports Preferred Edition without Server
  • Supports User Productivity Packages
  • Supports Mobility Server
• Basic Edition, Partner Mode- V2 Cabinet only
  • Upgrade to Essential Edition with Keycode
  • Mobile Worker (Mobile Twinning) not supported, requires upgrade to Essential Edition
  • No new feature enhancements with the exception of the voicemail
  • Voicemail Enhancements:
    • Intuity Audix Commands
    • Call Screening
    • Allow System Administration while Users are on a call
• Essential Edition
  • Requires a keycode to upgrade from Basic Mode
  • Comes with Mobile Twinning Feature for all users (requires SIP Trunks or PRI)
  • Comes with the ability to have 2 remote workers - requires VCMs, does not require VPN or IP Endpoint License (9600 series Phone)
  • Anything more than 2 remote workers requires an IP endpoint license- and maybe used for 1600 or any other IP Phone that requires VPN router
  • Coaching Intrusion, Silent Intrusion and Whisper
• Preferred Edition
  • Requires Dedicated PC, Server or UC110 Module
  • Requires purchase of Essential Edition License
  • Required Keycode to use Office Worker, Teleworker or Power User Productivity Licenses. If a customer with User Productivity License upgrades to Release 8.0 and does not have Preferred Edition, they must purchase this license in order to keep the User Productivity Licenses. Otherwise they will no longer work.
  • Required for Multi-Site Networking at minimum of 1 site even if Centralized Voicemail is not required
  • Multi Time Zone Support
  • MAPI Exchange Integration on Linux
  • Call Screening
• Advanced Edition
  • Agent Monitoring and reporting via Customer Call Reporter Updates for 8.0
    • Avaya one-X Portal for IP Office: Agent Control Gadget, World Clock Gadget
    • System Talk Time Report Enhancements
    • APF- Agent Productivity Factor (Agent Time Card Report)
    • 15 & 30 minute reports for Call Summary Report and Call Detail Report
    • Custom Reports

There are many benefits of using SIP Trunks on an Avaya IP Office Telephone System. There are both monetary benefits and technical benefits for each. Let’s take a look at both.

Many Monetary Benefits include:

• Lower per line cost
• Lower rates for Long Distance
• Lower rates for Inbound Toll Free Service
• Inexpensive Fax to Email
• Free In-Network calls to local and international locations
• No taxes or FCC Charges

Many Technical Benefits include:

• More control over call progress (SIP Messaging)
• Services can be split to Inbound and Outbound
• Free Caller ID with Name and Number
• Quick and easy disaster control
• Easy relocation of service
• Higher audio quality
• No audio loss when bridging lines for conferences
• Outgoing Caller ID control
• Easy DID integration
• On-Line access and control of services and features
• Time of Day Call Preferences / Control

Technical and Monetary Benefits will vary from each Service Provider.

So how do you connect your SIP Trunks to your Avaya IP Office Phone System?

There are several ways to connect your SIP Trunks. You will need 2 parts in your IPO System- VCM Channels and SIP Trunk Keycodes. VCM Channels are Avaya’s proprietary codec and are include on the Avaya IPO ATM Combo Card or a VCM 32 or VCM 64 Card. SIP Trunk Licenses can be purchased in quantities of 1, 5, 10 and 20. The Avaya IPO Partner Version comes with 3 SIP Trunk Licenses to start, while the Avaya IPO Essential Edition does not come with any to start and must be licensed.

If you use Mobile Twinning to a cell phone with the IP Office Essential Edition here is what to expect.

• If the cell phone is ON and the twinned call is not answered, the caller will go to the Voice Mail Box with the shortest time out.
• Timeout Example: Cell phone is ON
  The cell phone sends unanswered calls to its Voice Mail Box after 15 seconds of ringing.
  The IP Office sends unanswered calls to its Voice Mail Box after 10 seconds of ringing. In this case, the caller will go to the IP Office Voice Mail Box since it has the shortest timeout.
• Timeout Example: Cell phone is ON
  The cell phone sends unanswered calls to its Voice Mail Box after 10 seconds of ringing.
  The IP Office sends unanswered calls to its Voice Mail Box after 15 seconds of ringing. In this case, the caller will go to the cell phone Voice Mail Box since it has the shortest timeout.
• If the cell phone is OFF and the Mobile Answer Guard timer option in the IP Office is set correctly, then all unanswered calls will go to the IP Office Voice Mail Box. It makes no difference how the Timeouts are set when the cell phone is turned off.

Avaya has really put forth a great plan to continuously upgrade the IP Office Telephone System, but customers often are unsure of how to upgrade their system and what the cost will be or if it is free.The current release of Avaya IPO is release 7.0; however, Avaya is still only releasing 6.0 SD Cards. So how would a customer who is purchasing a new system get the release 7.0 software? And if a customer has an existing system, how do they upgrade to release 7.0 to get the benefits of the new system? 

Well the answer to this is very simple. Any customer who purchases a new IP Office Cabinet can upgrade to release 7.0 free of charge for 90 days. This free upgrade is tracked by the phone system cabinet, not by the SD card. We have had customers who purchased a brand new SD card and tried to upgrade, but they get an error code that says “Must install Run Time License”. If you receive this error code, it means that your IPO Control Unit is older than 90 days and you must now purchase a license in order to upgrade. A Run Time License is the same thing as an IPO License Upgrade and you must know whether you have over 32 extensions, or under 32 extensions or if you plan to upgrade to more than 32 extensions. There are two different License Upgrades either small (under 32 extensions) or large (32 extensions or more).

If you are within the 90 day free upgrade period, then your installer or distributor can either upgrade your system for you, or provide you with a link to upgrade the system.

One question that comes up quite often is how to add an External Loud Speaker Paging Unit or System to the Avaya IPO Phone System.   If you have a customer who is simply upgrading their phone system, they may have a perfectly working Over-head Paging System and they would like to reuse it.  Many phone systems have a Paging Port on the KSU or they simply connect through an open CO trunk port.    

When an installer first starts working with the Avaya IP Office Phone System, often times they are surprised to find that there is no paging port on the system.  
So how do you connect a Paging System to your IP Office Phone System?  What we recommend is using a Bogen WMT1A transformer and a spare Analog Station Port. 
This analog station port can be on an ATM combo card, a Phone2 card, a Phone8 card, a Phone16 Module, or a Phone30 module.   Then you can go ahead and connect your paging unit of choice.   This transformer will work on both the Avaya IP Office Essential Edition or the Avaya IP Office Partner Version.

A common question that comes up for customers is whether or not a phone can be wall mountable.   In the past, many Avaya Phones could be wall mounted by simply turning the base stand around.  The phone would then lie flat and could easily be wall mounted. 

So many customers have asked whether the Avaya 1600 series phones or Avaya 1400 series phones could be wall mounted, expecting the same answer.   Well these phones are a little different than the past models.  The Avaya 1600 series IP Phones and the Avaya 1400 series Digital Phones look like identical phones for the most part.  The biggest difference physically between the two is the Ethernet port on the 1600 series phones, versus the RJ11 port on the back of the 1400 series phones. 

The Avaya 1603 Phone and the Avaya 1403 Phone can both be wall mounted the same as previous phones, by simply turning the base around.   The wall mount kit is built into the phone.   While the Avaya 1608, 1408, 1616 and 1416 all require the purchase of a wall mount kit.   When purchasing phones for a new site, the amount of wall mount kits is a needed consideration.

A common problem on Avaya IPO Partner Version is that there are issues with getting incoming calls to ring on single line telephones.  This becomes problematic when a customer wants to use a single line cordless phone to answer calls when they are away from their desk.   In the past, we recommended that a customer use the Avaya ETR Module for Partner Phones in order to do so.  The problem with this is that if your customer does not intend to use Avaya Partner Phones, then you are using up an available cabinet slot for a single line extension.   You could not use the Avaya ATM combo card with single line extension ports, or the Avaya Phone8 or Phone2 module for single line extension port. 

We have discovered a new solution to this problem.  Avaya has addressed this issue in IP Office Release 7.0.  The IPO 7.0 now has a “PBX System” mode. This allows incoming calls on CO Lines to be sent to 1 of 4 “Ring Groups”.  If a standard single line telephone (cordless) is a member of the Ring Group, it will ring on incoming calls.

So the old rule that single line telephones won’t ring on incoming calls has been modified.
At the moment, Avaya is still issuing release 6.0 SD cards, so if you need to access this feature, you must upgrade your system to release 7.0 when purchasing.

Many telephone system users have the need to add doorphones to their phone system.  It is an added level of security for areas that the door needs to be monitored for entry, and it simplifies allowing access by ringing all phones and giving the user the ability to buzz the door open from their desk.  The Avaya IP Office Phone System operates much differently than most business phone systems when it comes to door phones and contact closures.

Read more »

This is a common question that comes up when an installer first begins to program the Avaya IP Office Phone System . For some installers, they have not used a computer to program a phone system before. Avaya Partner ACS could easily be programmed through a telephone; however, Avaya IP Office requires a computer to program the voicemail, so many installers must now purchase a laptop.

Read more »