Nortel is not dead! 8 Reasons to Keep Buying Nortel

1. Nortel DID NOT go out of business. They were bought by Avaya and in fact had many interested companies bidding on them. Yes, they were in financial trouble but the reason they were bought and didn’t go out of business is because their technology has such high value.

2. Nortel ICS equipment has enjoyed a long product life. Relative to competitor’s equipment, Nortel telephones and systems are extremely durable. As I reseller who warrantees their own equipment, we know from experience there is a low percentage of equipment going bad in the field.

3. Nortel still enjoys positive product recognition from End Users. Technically savvy users are familiar with the name Nortel. Even though Nortel has experience some “bad press” for financial reasons, people “in the know” are familiar with Nortel’s innovation in the field, and trust their products.

4. Nortel products will be readily available for years to come. Since this equipment enjoyed such a long life cycle, there is ample equipment available in the market place for resale. Even after the product lines eventually get discontinued, there will be plenty of equipment available. Thanks to the secondary market (billion dollar industry) and the products reliability, we are confident procurement of remanufactured equipment will be in supply.

5. Avaya has made a commitment to keep Nortel customers happy. Avaya has announced that they will support all Nortel products for 7 years from End of Sale. Nortel products HAVE NOT been discontinued. We will announce when there is an official End of Sale on any product, at which point they will still be available from distribution for 6 months.

6. Nortel products are a tried and true product. Although you may be competing against newer IP technology, it’s important to point out the stability of this product line. The latest IP system will probably have a new release, or a patch release, by the time it’s installed. An ICS system is dependable as the day is long, and there will probably not be any future releases.

7. With Avaya’s acquisition of Nortel, they are going through a lot of changes. Avaya has recently changed the IP Office 500 base unit to “accommodate” Partner phones, and their roadmap claims they are planning on integrating Nortel digital phones as well. It is also “rumored” that the interface for programming (the Avaya Manager) will soon the Nortel Element Manager. We can only assume Avaya found the Nortel manager better technology, a testament to Nortel’s engineering. We are thrilled there is going to be a migration path in the future for Nortel ICS users. We also caution users to wait on this transition, as we know all new releases and technology take a few releases to work out all the bugs. So providing your customer with an ICS system now gives them a stable platform and the ability to migrate to an IP system when they are on a more stable platform.

8. Nortel technology is ahead of its time. Most Central Office equipment throughout the world are Nortel switches and it is this equipment that is still running the back bone of the telecommunications industry today.