Nortel and Mitel / support and SIP

Nortel phone system support, and a way onto SIP

Plenty of offices still run a Nortel BCM, Norstar or Meridian system that works fine. We have worked on these systems since the ISDN era. We can keep yours running, connect it to SIP trunks so the old lines can go, and plan a replacement on your schedule instead of the carrier’s.

Get Nortel help

How a cutover works

Where things stand

Why Nortel systems need a plan now

Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2009, and its enterprise phone business was sold to Avaya, a sale completed on December 18, 2009. There has been no new Nortel development since. The systems are reliable, but three things are catching up with them:

Parts. Replacement cards, power supplies and handsets come from the refurbished market, and supply shrinks every year.
Lines. Many of these systems connect through PRI or analog copper lines that carriers are retiring.
People. Fewer technicians can still program them, so a simple change like moving an extension can take weeks to schedule.

Your options

Three ways forward, and you can do them in order

Keep it running

Moves, adds and changes, voicemail and auto attendant updates, programming backups and repairs with refurbished parts, handled remotely where the system allows.

Connect it to SIP

A gateway lets the existing system and handsets keep working while the outside lines move to SIP trunks. The PRI or copper lines can then be cancelled.

Replace it on your schedule

When the time is right, we move the site to hosted voice with pre-configured phones, keeping your numbers and call flows.

Many clients do all three: keep the system stable now, move the lines to SIP this year, and replace the handsets when the budget or a remodel allows. That middle step is what our Legacy Bridge project covers.

Emergency calling

What changes when you touch the system

In the US, Kari’s Law and the RAY BAUM’S Act rules for multi-line phone systems apply to systems installed after February 16, 2020. An older Nortel system is generally outside those rules, but a replacement is not. A new system must allow direct dialing of 911 without a prefix, send a notification on site and convey a dispatchable location. We design for that from the start, and we configure direct 911 dialing on older systems wherever they support it.

Questions

Nortel and Mitel questions

Which systems do you work on?

Nortel BCM, Norstar and Meridian systems, plus Mitel systems. Tell us the model and software release, or send a photo of the cabinet, and we will tell you what is possible.

Can we keep our digital handsets?

Yes, while the system stays in place. Digital handsets work only with their own system, so when you move to hosted voice they are replaced with SIP phones.

Are you a Nortel or Avaya dealer?

No. We are independent and support these systems from experience, which also means we can recommend replacing a system without a sales quota pushing us either way.

How long can a Nortel system keep going?

That depends on its condition and on spare parts. The main deadline is usually the lines: when the carrier retires the PRI or copper service, a gateway or a replacement is needed.