Category Archives: business phone system

Do You Need Nortel BCM 50/450 License Key Codes?

We can assist you to expand your BCM phone system with new features and seat licenses

Now that we are somewhat post pandemic, many businesses are once again growing. If your business has a Nortel BCM 50 or BCM 450 phone system, the challenge is to locate BCM Key Codes or seat licenses now that support for the BCM product line no longer exists. To add Seats and system features to your Nortel or Avaya BCM50 you need to source viable feature key codes.

Nortel BCM 50, also known as Avaya BCM50 which was sold for small business applications

How to Grow Your Nortel/Avaya BCM 50:

BCM 50 Key Code Licenses include: Digital Station Port Key Codes; Analog Station Port Key Codes; IP Telephony Client Key Codes; Analog Trunk Port Key Codes; Expansion Port Key Codes; Voice Messaging Key Codes; Unified Messaging Key Codes; VoIP Gateway Trunk Key Codes; Networking Key Codes; Fax Software Key Codes; Call Center Key Codes; LAN CTE Key Codes; BCM50 Intelligent Contact Centre; Remote Worker; and Network Configuration Manager Key Codes.

These Nortel BCM50 Key Codes serve a variety of Expansion requirements and can also be activated on an Avaya BCM 50 to grow your BCM as your business needs them.

The Nortel BCM 450 was manufactured for larger organizations that have hundreds of phones and users. Similar to the BCM 50, to add Seats and system features to your Nortel or Avaya BCM450 you also need to source viable feature or Seat key codes.

Nortel BCM 450, also known as Avaya BCM450 which was sold for larger enterprise business applications

How to Expand Your Nortel/Avaya BCM 450:

BCM 450 Key Code Licenses include: Activity Reporter Key Code; Advanced Paging Productivity Pack Key Code; IP Telephony Client Key Codes; Meet Me Conferencing Key Codes; Expansion Port Key Code; Voice Messaging Key Codes; Unified Messaging Key Codes; SIP Gateway Trunk Key Codes; VoIP Gateway Trunk Key Codes; Networking Key Codes; Fax Software Key Codes; LAN CTE Key Codes; Intelligent Contact Centre; and Network Configuration Manager Key Code.

Similar to the BCM 50, the Nortel BCM 450, which was also released under the Avaya BCM450 moniker, is no longer supported by the manufacturer. This makes acquiring viable Key Codes or Seat licenses challenging.

Now that the COVID pandemic is at least partially in the rear view mirror, we can assist you to expand your BCM 450, adding new features and life to your original BCM450 investment. Many BCM users now need to set up their staff members with full phone access at their home offices. Utilizing a Nortel IP phone and IP Telephony Seat license, along with a VPN tunnel and/or the Remote Worker feature, your staff can now work at home with the same phone capabilities they previously had at the office.

Business Phone Systems: Niagara Clients Receive up to $2,500 Trade-In Credit!

Telephone Magic Inc. is fast approaching its’ 30th Anniversary of telecom excellence. To celebrate, we have created a phenomenal business phone system promotion with NEC!

NEC SV9100 business phone system, voice mail, and accessories

It’s time to emerge from the communications Dark Ages with a new Smartphone Integrated NEC telephone server!

When you trade in your tired, old Nortel Norstar (or other legacy brand) business phone system, you will receive up to $2,500 towards the purchase of a new NEC phone and voice mail server.

Come out of the communications DARK AGES and get features such as Smartphone Integration with voice mail to email, mobile extension, multi-line client Apps (Android and Apple), Call Recording, and much more.

Telephone Magic Inc. is celebrating it’s 30th Anniversary and for a limited time we are offering a FREE, no-obligation Site Surveyfor local clients ($100 value) and FREE Professional Auto Attendant Greetings ($349 value) for new system purchases. Other options include Battery Back-Up, a 5-Year extended hardware warranty, and customized On Hold Messages.

NEC SV9100 phones close up pictures

NEC phones offer a sleek and sophisticated user interface with large displays and easy access to the many features you use every day.

This package enters “too good to be true” status with NEC providing nationwide “Below Prime” financing, which ensures you won’t have ANY up-front costs at all when you replace your old office telephone system!

Call is TODAY in Niagara at 905-356-9199 or Toll-Free at 1-855-929-9199 to arrange an complimentary appointment. We will quickly evaluate your EXACT requirements and provide you with everything you need to break free from 1980’s technology and join the Hybrid IP revolution with NEC.

EnGenius DuraFon SIP Long Range Cordless for IP-PBX Systems

EnGenius DuraFon SIP Long Range Cordless Phone SystemIf you’ve been looking for a long range cordless phone that will work with your IP-based PBX, look no further than the EnGenius DuraFon SIP system.

EnGenius is one of the most trusted names in the North American long range cordless phone market. Their DuraFon multi-line long range cordless phone system has been satisfying customers for years. Now, you can add the DuraFon-SIP long range cordless phone to your existing IP-PBX system.

It’s a pretty cool system, supporting up to four concurrent conversations (either 4 SIP calls or 3 SIP calls + 1 PSTN) and a range of up to 12 floors in-building coverage, up to 250,000 sq. ft. in warehouse settings or up to 3000 sq. acres in open range settings.

The DuraFon-SIP system supports up to 10 long range cordless handsets, each of which feature 2-Way Intercom and Broadcast features. More than one DuraFon-SIP base station can be added to your IP-PBX, but there are some limitations on phone conversations between handsets registered to different base stations. Most notably, the 2-Way Intercom and Push-to-Talk features won’t work, but you can still make handset to handset calls by using PBX extension-to-extension calls.

If you have questions about the DuraFon-SIP, check out our extensive DuraFon-SIP FAQ section or call one of our sales reps at 1-855-929-9199 and they’ll be happy to find the answers to your questions.

NEC Adds 9.5″ SV9100 Chassis For Small Business Clients

NEC recently added the smaller 9.5″ SV9100 phone system chassis, matching it’s predecessor, the 9.5″ SV8100 cabinet for small business customers.

NEC SV9100 9.5 inch chassis

Compact NEC SV9100 9.5″ Chassis for Small Business

Telephone Magic Inc. has been installing these smaller chassis SV9100 systems for a few months now and the verdict is in… WE LOVE IT! The 9.5″ chassis offers small businesses a cost-effective way to get the high end features of the award winning NEC SV9100 platform.

While the SV9100 is based on the solid foundation of the SV8100 platform, it has a much more powerful processor. It does away with the need for the PZ-VM21 Voice Mail card holder and the PZ-ME50-US Expanded Memory card, The InMail voice mail packake is now stored on a micro SD card which clicks right into a slot on the main control card (GCD-CP10). Like the SV8100, this system is hybrid in nature. It handles both digital and IP phones, has the capability to network between sites and add SIP trunks as bandwidth grows and QoS become more stable.

NEC UT880 tablet tepehone

The UT880 combines the ease of a touchscreen tablet and a familiar telephone keypad!

Customers are RAVING about the new UT880 Tablet Phone which combines the look and feel of a tablet with a standard telephone handset interface. This phone terminal combines touchscreen capabilities with a familiar phone keypad and video options – it is simply breathtaking!

NEC’s UT880 Universal Client is a multiline telephone application that emulates an NEC 32-line DESI-less telephone, comes standard in the SV9100’s user licensing packages. The interface of the UT880 Universal Client is designed to improve the overall user experience, while remaining intuitive—with no extensive training needed. You can see at-a-glance if you have new voice or instant message notifications, missed calls, meetings and new emails plus it provides access to all of the standard system features.

The UT880 and NEC's SV9100 create a powerful combination of innovation and user features!

The UT880 and NEC’s SV9100 create a powerful combination of innovation and user features!

Additionally, the UT880 enables access to the UC Suite Client – corporate directory, presence, instant messaging, unified messaging and call control – right on your desktop phone.

When NEC first release the SV9100 they created the UNIVERGE SV9100S and SV9100E Communications Servers. While they are both robust, feature-rich, Unified Communications enabled systems that are ideal for small and medium-sized businesses, the added introduction of the 9.5″ chassis offers the smallest of business clients to take advantage of the powerful SV9100 platform. Each server is designed to help solve today’s communications challenges and is built with your migration path in mind, so you can scale your communications as your business grows.

Because it is so future friendly and upgraded by frequent software improvements, NEC's SV9100 is likely the LAST communication system your business will ever purchase!

Because it is so future friendly and upgraded by frequent software improvements, NEC’s SV9100 is likely the LAST communication system your business will ever purchase!

The one thing we love about NEC’s SV9100 is that it is likely the last communication system your business will purchase. Unlike previous “in the box” phone systems that had a certain amount of set features that became antiquated and redundant over time, the SV9100 is future friendly – it’s a server that will regularly be improved going forward via software updates. As new features are invented and brought to market they will become available to your business team as you keep your SV9100 current with the latest Software Assurance,

The SV9100 also comes with a simplified user-licensing structure, which allows you to only pay for what your business needs, as you need it. Gone are the days of paying for 40 voice mail boxes when all you needed was six! Gone are the days of having to buy voice mail ports to be able to handle more calls. This system is provisioned for sixteen ports that will handle as many or as few calls as necessary. The SV9100 also easily integrates with your existing NEC technology.

In short, we are VERY impressed with the SV9100 communication system, and our initial experience with it tells us you will never regret a move to this platform. It is built on a solid foundation and will grow in just about any way you wish as your business changes and expands.

Denial of Service Attacks Continue in North America

We have all heard of computer virus’s that take over unsuspecting victims PC’s and start overwhelming websites as part of a massive campaign utilizing thousands of these virus driven “drone” or “bot” systems. These “attacks” are hard to combat and have done their fair share of damage on the Internet.

A lesser known but very similar type of attack occurs with great regularity with business phone systems that has become known as a “Denial of Service Attack”. These attacks involve either automated or actual callers overwhelming an organization’s ability to take inbound calls, often resulting in legitimate calls not being able to reach a caller in a timely manner when they need assistance, service, or, in extreme cases, report a real emergency.

A couple of days ago, at approximately 5:25 pm, the Tuscaloosa Police Department was the target of a Telephone Denial of Service Attack. The perpetrators (Foreign Hackers) of the attack launched numerous phone calls against the police department’s phone systems, tying up the system. Again in this case the objective of the attacks was to prevent the agency from receiving legitimate calls and disrupt public safety operations.

Attacks of this nature are ongoing throughout the US and Canada, with over 200 cases documented to this point. Some people muse this may be yet another way for terrorists to attack the United States, potentially weakening businesses or, more importantly, emergency response teams.

The Tuscaloosa Police Department has had to take further steps to protect its’ phone systems. Blocked phone numbers and international numbers trying to call the administrative lines at the police department are being screened in the short term and likely will not go through as a precaution from further attacks. The police department confirms these precautionary changes will not affect the 911 emergency lines. You might think twice though about calling any of their administrative lines from a blocked number. In the event of an emergency the department asks that callers always dial 911. TPD is currently working with Federal Agencies on the incident.

Interestingly, another business in the same Tuscaloosa area experienced a similar incident Friday morning. The complainant stated they received over 180 calls before they took the phone of the hook because it was disrupting the business. The caller, who had a foreign accent, stated they were trying to collect money that an employee owned them.

Law enforcement agencies agree that Telephone Denial of Service Attacks are no laughing matter and should be reported immediately when they occur.

Everyone Seems to be “Hung up on VoIP”

It is AMAZING how many of our clients are all about “Don’t we need VoIP phones?” and “Don’t we need to get cheap VoIP truncks?” and “Aren’t SIP trunks cheaper?”.
Well, to answer ALL these questions… “YES”… under the right circumstances. Not everyone NEEDS more expensive IP phones. That’s right, I said it. I would LOVE to sell you more expensive endpoints and, WOW, I would REALLY LOVE to invoice you to rewire your entire building for Ethernet phone extensions, but, to be honest, YOU DON’T NEED THEM! (darn)…

You heard me. MOST small to medium sized businesses do NOT require IP phones. More importantly, their site Internet access will not SUPPORT loads of VoIP traffic with SIP trunks or phones either!

Most small businesses, EVEN WITH MULTIPLE BRANCHES, can take advantage of less expensive digital terminals and STILL utilize SIP trunks to save money by connecting their hybrid phone systems, such as the NEC SV8100 telephone system via IP daughter boards, such as the IPLB32 – opening a VPN tunnel between the sites where phone calls can be transferred back and forth. Again, this can be done with DIGITAL phones because the SYSTEMS are tied together with VoIP technology!

Before YOU make the mistake of spending an arm load of dough to buy fancy IP phones and swithces that, OMG, don’t work with your limited Internet bandwidth (ouch! YES, there’s the site limitation!) – call someone who REALLY knows their stuff that takes ALL of the environmental and carrier service capabilities into consideration before selling you what you THINK You need. It’s that simple.

Hey, don’t get us wrong – we LOVE the BUZZ words – they sell a TON of new equipment. But don’t sell yourself short and get a huge disappointment when you find out your new phones do not even work. Listen to a professional that can save you loads of money and aggravation by not only listening to what you want, but telling you EXACTLY what you NEED based on your requirements and local site capabilities.

Your Business May Not Be Ready for VoIP

Although VoIP or Voice over IP (as it is also known) – basically phone calls over the Internet – is starting to become a popular solution for business telecommunications, your business might not be ready for it. Business networks come in all shapes and sizes, and a deficiency in one area of your network can prevent you from adopting a VoIP service solution. Fortunately, each of these factors can be addressed to ascertain whether your business is ready for VoIP

Your LAN

A LAN (Local Area Network) supplies the networking capability for the group of computers that your business operates from your office site. Your LAN must have the ability to both protect and prioritize data packets of information. The LAN’s switching fabric must also support prioritization of traffic through differentiated services (a form of computer networking architecture) and network segmentation via VLANs (Virtual Local Area Network, usually 802.1Q). In order to make troubleshooting easier and support high-quality service, your LAN should also have the ability to isolate real-time media and switch in real time.

Your Router

Your choice of router is also an important component of your network, and should also separate real time media from other traffic. The router should actually route real time media at a separate IP address, which will also help with analysis and optimization of performance.

Your Network Connection Speed

Possibly the most discussed factor in determining whether a particular business network can support VoIP is the actual quality of your Internet connection. Fortunately the discussion has inspired many resources such as “Pingtest” that enables business to evaluate their connection speed.

Your Equipment

Finally, the actual end user equipment will have a substantial impact on perceived VoIP service quality. Cheap handsets and headsets make for poor fidelity, and extra IT time spent diagnosing the problem. Although your choice of equipment may seem like a minor concern, the result of the choice will affect your both your productivity and your image. You can purchase VoIP phones from most VoIP PBX providers.

Be Sure You Are Ready

Make sure you are ready before causing a disastrous loss of phone service in your business. Once you find out about your ability (or lack thereof) to carry multiple voice calls simultaneously over your network and Internet service, you may reconsider cutting the cord to your traditional phone company’s reliable lines.

Redundancy and Resiliency with Avaya IP Office

IP Office has no moving parts and is a solid state phone system. No Hard disk drive or fans and so less points of failure with consequent increased resilency. In networked sites IPO provides IP Phone and vmail resiliency with preferred and advanced editions.

IP Office can have full redundancy by running multiple copies running at alternate locations or offices. You can have the IP phones from a primary IP Office cabinet fail over to a redundant alternate cabinet, and vice versa. This redundancy can be either local (LAN), or wide area (WAN)

For example, say you have a primary IP Office in Birmingham with 100 users, and alternate IP Offices in various offices with 30 users each. The handsets from London can re-authenticate to an alternate switche in one of the other locations if the system in London fails, and vice versa with London providing the back-up for the other system. Add SIP trunks, and you can have the dial tone fail over as well. With IP Office, you have the choice to set up your network as a mesh or star configuration. A mesh offers more failover choices than a star, by preventing overloads on any one particular server.

IP Office Voicemail Failover

Not only can the Avaya IP Office operating with release 6.1 support IP Office cabinet failover, it can also support an extremely elegant voicemail failover unprecedented in the SMB market. Various levels are available:

Centralized Voicemail

Centralized Voicemail Pro uses a single Voicemail Pro server to provide voicemail services for all IP Offices in the Small Community Network. Except for use of ContactStore, only the central IP Office hosting the voicemail server requires licensing for Voicemail Pro operation and features. The central IP Office is licensed as normal for Voicemail Pro operation and the voicemail features required. The other IP Offices only require licenses.

Centralized Voicemail with Fallback IP Office

Control of the voicemail server can be assumed by another IP Office if the central IP Office becomes unavailable. This is a feature of IP Office Release 5.0+ with Voicemail Pro 5.0+. The fallback IP Office that assumes control of the voicemail server requires licenses for Voicemail Pro operation and the features required during fallback.

Centralized Voicemail with a Backup Voicemail Server

The central IP Office hosting the voicemail server can be configured with the IP address of a backup voicemail server. During normal operation, call flows and other settings on the backup server are kept synchronized with those of the primary voicemail server. If the primary voicemail server becomes unavailable to the network, voicemail services are provided by the backup voicemail server. This is part of IP Office Release 6.0+ with Voicemail Pro 6.0+. IIS SMTP is used to exchange information between the servers, using only existing licenses.

Centralized Voicemail with Distributed Voicemail Servers

Other IP Offices in the Small Community Network can host their own Voicemail Pro server. That server is then used for the IP Office’s voicemail functions except message storage. This is a feature of IP Office Release 6.0+ with Voicemail Pro 6.0+; IIS SMTP is used to exchange information between the servers. The distributed voicemail server provides all voicemail services except voicemail collection for its associated IP Office. Each IP Office using a distributed voicemail server must have licenses for Voicemail Pro operation and the voicemail features required.

In all the cases above, the central voicemail server remains the store for messages and recordings (except for Exchange UMS users). The central voicemail server does message waiting indication and is the voicemail server used for message collection. Only when the central server is temporarily unavailable will the backup or any distributed server do message storage and collection. In those scenarios, when the central server is restored, messages collected by the backup or distributed servers are forwarded to the central server.

For more information on Avaya IP Office on the IP500 phone system, contact Ryan Altseimer toll-free at 1-855-929-9199.

New Year, New Phone System Gear!

Is YOUR business phone system 5-10 years old? God forbid it is not OLDER than that as it simply qualifies for display at the Smithsonian in that case.

The biggest improvements in telecom systems in the past 5+ years are things like #BYOD, Mobile Extension, Voice Mail to Email, improvements to integrated #UC (Unified Communications), SIP trunking, etc. If your business telephone system is older than that, there is a good chance it does NOT include capabilities for these advanced but necessary features in the age of improved accessibility from clients, suppliers, and co-workers.

In the spirit of New Years Resolutions, it’s time to propose a new telephony platform for YOUR business!

Here’s some choices in a varied range of features and pricing:

Avaya IP Office – After purchasing the SMB platforms from Nortel, Avaya captured an “Upgrade with us” capability and have been porting clients over to the Avaya IP 500 phone system by allowing Nortel users to keep their existing phones. This prevented the Nortel ICS line from eventually becoming a dead end for users. Expansion is a snap as well, with IP 500 Expansion cards and modules. Users can eventually add to and/or replace phones with a wide range of choices of new Avaya IP Office phones.

NEC SV8100 phone system – This system has all of the features mentioned below. We love Voice Mail to Email and Mobile Extension to keep in touch with your clients, even when you are not in the office.

Avaya / Nortel BCM – When Avaya took over the Nortel SMB lines, one of the exciting acquisitions was the Business Communication Manager – or BCM. The BCM starts with the small business BCM 50, a compact but powerful IP capable telephone system. The other currect BCM brought over initially to Avaya was the BCM 450 for enterprise clients. Both of these platforms are easily expandable with a variety of optional hardware, referred to as BCM Media Bay Modules, and software, often called BCM Key Code Licenses.

Regardless of which phone system you choose to upgrade to, think about all the things you wish to do with your business telephones and then call Ryan Altseimer toll-free at 1.855.929.9199, extension 3007, to match your requirements and budget to an appropriate system. Happy New Year from all of us at Telephone Magic – we hope to assist you with YOUR New Year’s Telecom Resolution!

Merry Christmas from all of us at Telephone Magic!

What a year it has been! Many changes and tons of improvements that directly benefit our customers. We would just like to take the time to reach out to our clients, friends, and family to wish everyone the very best of the holiday season and a Happy New Year.

christmas-tree

 

Some of the improvements we have made this year include full overhauls of our websites, including our main US / International Website, our Canadian Web Portal, and our Hotel Room Phones site.

New features include our “Express Quote” option and we now offer on-site Live Chat to answer any questions you may have. We also have improved site navigation with a “Mega-Menu” and easy to find and use site Search.

Our blog has moved on site and we now have a complete suite of social media sites to allow our clients to stay in touch with us. We have a lot of content on our new YouTube channel, almost 1300 Followers on our Twitter feed, and a ton of great telecom photos on our Pinterest account.

Again, all the best for the holidays and we look forward to serving you in the 2014!

Jeff Jackson

President, Telephone Magic Inc.