Scalability

The broad range of ports and media bay modules, coupled with the Nortel evergreen design philosophy, enables BCM50 to adapt to a wider variety of needs and achieve a longer lifecycle.

Avaya IP Office features limited “headroom,” requiring substantial forklift upgrades to match modest growth.

VoIP capabilities

For a small business/branch solution, BCM50 offers
a generous number of IP users – 32 IP is standard.

With Avaya systems, VoIP capabilities are constrained – they support no more than 3 simultaneous IP users on the smallest systems, require separately purchased cards for the larger system, and still max out at 20 VoIP channels.

Feature richness

BCM50 features nearly all of the same advanced services
as the BCM200 and 400 at an attractive price, including
high-value applications such as Unified Messaging and
Contact Center applications.

Avaya’s so-called “free” applications are limited and don’t supply
genuine business-level functionality. Expensive options/add-ons
must be purchased to get full functionality.

All-in-one solution

BCM50 applications are integrated into the base unit
and activated by keycode.

Adding applications on Avaya systems means adding hardware,
such as extra cards and external servers, even multiple servers.

Simplicity

BCM50 is a standalone solution that offers a truly
integrated voice and data solution, with a long list
of features and applications that can be turned up
by simply activating a keycode.

Avaya separately prices auto-attendant, CTI and call center
applications, unified messaging or VoIP. Since the proposed
configuration may not include these capabilities, it’s difficult
to do an apples-to-apples comparison between BCM50 and
Avaya IP Office.

Ease of upgrade

BCM50 modules are “hot-swappable,” so service
and application expansions can be completed while
the system is still running.

Avaya IP Office 403 system must be taken out of service
during upgrades.