Phone rollout complete, but...

Date Released: Fri, 27 May 2011 09:35 +0200

The transition to the new PBX is complete, and the old Philips PBX will be decommissioned by the end of May. Most of the outdoor extensions were cancelled in April, but unfortunately there has as yet been no change in the monthly Telkom account reflecting the considerable savings associated with the cancellations. This is not unexpected, and is being followed up with Telkom who have assured us the cancellations will be backdated to 31st March.

There are only a few analogue phone lines left at Rhodes, mainly wardens, dedicated fax lines and emergency phones. Some of these are still Telkom outdoor extensions, and line rental is being paid for them. All of them connect to the new PBX system, and it is expected that some of these will be converted to IP over the next few months.

However, implementation of the project has been problematic from its inception, starting in November of 2010. The functionality requested by Rhodes in the original request for proposal has proven impossible to implement , in spite of Avaya technical documentation purportedly explaining exactly how to do so. Examples of the features not working on the Avaya Blue platform are:

• Corporate directory lookup from handset
• Boss/secretary
• Group monitoring
• Dealing with calls to service numbers such as Telkoms 1023 directory enquiries
• Audio codes (gateways that link legacy analogue devices to the network)

In addition there are ongoing stability issues:

• Phone lockups
• Dropped calls
• "Oscillating" or "screaming" phones

The IT Division has insisted that the features and functionality in the original request for proposal be provided. despite considerable pressure from Avaya to compromise. Avaya has finally agreed to implementing the oroginal requirements, and have proposed a completely different PBX solution known as Avaya Red - which was not considered initially by Rhodes because it was unaffordable - as a replacement for the current problematic system. There will be no financial impact on Rhodes - i.e.  this replacement will be at Avaya's cost. The proposed solution has been demonstrated to Rhodes, and does seem to address all the serious issues experienced with the current system. A larger trial is underway, involving the Research Office and the IT Division. If successful (which so far seems likely), the replacement of the current PBX and all the phones will begin in July/August.

Part of the criteria of deciding whether the Avaya Red solution is suitable is the ongoing running costs of the system. Handset and feature licensing costs are better than for the Avaya Blue platform, but monthly maintenance costs seem about 23% to 25% higher. This is explicable in terms of the greater value of the installed equipment.