I’m running rls 5.5 and everything is running smoothly right now. I’m starting to get some new maintenance quotes and the big question I have is when is the actual end of support for 5.5 with Avaya? If you look at the Avaya Bulletin PSN003499u revision #7 it talks about End of Manufacturer Support Date being 2010 but the End of Service Support Date being 2015. What is the difference between the 2? Now I know that I can no longer get Tier 4 support but is tier 3 still available? The 7.6 is not really offering anything that we will use right away so if I don’t need to I was looking to put off the upgrade. But I don’t want to get caught with no Avaya support should I need it. Looking here for suggestions.
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Do I have to upgrade?
- Thread starter hawks
- Start date
I don't have a definite answer for you but I was told you could not be any more than 2 releases behind for Avaya support. You are currently 4 releases behind. I don't know about the whole Tier 3 Tier 4 support you mention. I do believe that had to do with Avaya's PASS. I'm just a tech so I try and not get all caught up in that. My company has our own ATAC and they are better than most of the Avaya support. 5.5 was a good stable release, linux was just starting to be introduced then with ECM. I think the biggest question you need to ask yourself is the CS1000 the product you want to continue with? From what I have seen with the newer releases, I have to question their commitment to this product.
Firebird Scrambler
Systems Engineer
The last bit of info I heard late last year was that Avaya were planning on stopping support to release 6.0 when issue 7.6 is released. I also heard that 7.0 and 7.5 might be reviewed as the plan was for all 7.5 customers to be given a free upgrade to 7.6, hence no need to support 7.5 or lower as it seems to have caused so many problems since it's release.
I don't know for sure if this is true, but I was told that Avaya were under a lot of pressure to be certain that the next release of software will have been fully tested before release. I know that the past few releases by Avaya have done some damage to the CS1000 platform in terms of confidence and reliability etc.
Some of my customers have raised the question after e.g. an upgrade from a Option 61 / 81 etc, why they now have service affecting problems on the CS1000e, when their old modular Option 61 / 81 system happily ran year upon year without any faults.
Of course migrating from a TDM based system to a IP based one will involve encountering situations that would have never existed before, but even with this, is does seem that the CS1000e is more work intensive when you have customers that have remote media gateways and this is where I think most of the problems exist.
I also know many customers who have standalone CS1000e sites that don't have any problems.
All the best
Firebird Scrambler
Meridian 1 / Succession and BCM / Norstar Programmer in the UK
If it's working, then leave it alone!.
I don't know for sure if this is true, but I was told that Avaya were under a lot of pressure to be certain that the next release of software will have been fully tested before release. I know that the past few releases by Avaya have done some damage to the CS1000 platform in terms of confidence and reliability etc.
Some of my customers have raised the question after e.g. an upgrade from a Option 61 / 81 etc, why they now have service affecting problems on the CS1000e, when their old modular Option 61 / 81 system happily ran year upon year without any faults.
Of course migrating from a TDM based system to a IP based one will involve encountering situations that would have never existed before, but even with this, is does seem that the CS1000e is more work intensive when you have customers that have remote media gateways and this is where I think most of the problems exist.
I also know many customers who have standalone CS1000e sites that don't have any problems.
All the best
Firebird Scrambler
Meridian 1 / Succession and BCM / Norstar Programmer in the UK
If it's working, then leave it alone!.
as the plan was for all 7.5 customers to be given a free upgrade to 7.6"
Smells like Succession 3.0, doesn't it?
The software will be free, but I'm not sure what will happen when customers find out their "free" upgrade requires memory upgrades for signaling servers and/or adding additional CPDC/COTS servers if they have all COTS 1/CPPM hardware.
Smells like Succession 3.0, doesn't it?
The software will be free, but I'm not sure what will happen when customers find out their "free" upgrade requires memory upgrades for signaling servers and/or adding additional CPDC/COTS servers if they have all COTS 1/CPPM hardware.
Firebird Scrambler
Systems Engineer
3.0!. History repeating again?.
My old motto is if it's working OK and does what the customer wants, then stick with what you have. I know of some very major customers across this side of the pond who are on release 5.5 and they should have upgraded their kit many moons ago, but they haven't!. They are quite happy to be running as they are without any problems. These are CS1000e IP systems! with a few thousand IP Sets!.
All the best
Firebird Scrambler
Meridian 1 / Succession and BCM / Norstar Programmer in the UK
If it's working, then leave it alone!.
My old motto is if it's working OK and does what the customer wants, then stick with what you have. I know of some very major customers across this side of the pond who are on release 5.5 and they should have upgraded their kit many moons ago, but they haven't!. They are quite happy to be running as they are without any problems. These are CS1000e IP systems! with a few thousand IP Sets!.
All the best
Firebird Scrambler
Meridian 1 / Succession and BCM / Norstar Programmer in the UK
If it's working, then leave it alone!.
Not only could 7.6 require additional or new hardware the labor hours could be a big factor also. As we all know just a simple linux install and patching on 1 SS can take 2 hours. You have a large site with a lot of SS this could take quite some time. I wonder what will be broken in 7.6 now that they finally have 7.5 running fairly well?
- Thread starter
- #7
At the bottom is the support notice and correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like 2015 for 5.5 right now. It says:
CS 1000 Releases 3.0-5.5 are currently in the ESS period with EoSS tentatively scheduled for July 2015 (Rls 3.0-4.5) and November 2015 (Rls 5.x).
ESS = The support period between the End of Manufacture Support date and the End of Service Support date.
My big question is whta's the difference between End of Manufacture Support & End of Service Support
From the way I read it they still support it in some way, thanks for all the help here.
Oh and to really shake things up I just heard back from 2 different Avaya Platinum Partners
1 said 2013 and 1 said 2015, go figure.
CS 1000 Releases 3.0-5.5 are currently in the ESS period with EoSS tentatively scheduled for July 2015 (Rls 3.0-4.5) and November 2015 (Rls 5.x).
ESS = The support period between the End of Manufacture Support date and the End of Service Support date.
My big question is whta's the difference between End of Manufacture Support & End of Service Support
From the way I read it they still support it in some way, thanks for all the help here.
Oh and to really shake things up I just heard back from 2 different Avaya Platinum Partners
1 said 2013 and 1 said 2015, go figure.
vnetmanager
Technical User
I have 5 systems (hospitals) on 5.5 and 3 (hospitals) on 6.0. Avaya has indicated directly to me (the customer) that they will stop all support on my 5.5 systems in 3rd Quarter 2015. Although before that, in 2nd Quarter 2014, they stop support on the 1100 Signaling Server PLatform. At that point I have no option but to install CPPM cards for Signaling Servers.
Just a note - we are not upgrading anything.
JB
Just a note - we are not upgrading anything.
JB
Well - that is the big question, right?? I have heard that my 7.5 system will need to migrate to Avaya sometime in the next 8-10 years. There are companies out there that 'support' you (albeit I am not sure how well) as far as hardware goes and they backup software so you are 'protected' in the event of a catastrophic failure (they will reload your existing software) So, you can't get any new patches or features and you are open to other security vulns once Avaya stops releasing patches for your systems. So, now that Telecom is more software/data based we are basically forced to upgrade to help protect from security breaches and to essentially 'keep up with technology'.
I have worked with Cisco, Avaya, and Nortel in the past so I am vendor-agnostic when it comes to the Big 3 (Now the Big 2). We are too big to use 'little' systems hence we are mostly stuck with enterprise-level offerings.
KCF and Firebird have very valid points as usual
We initially had TONS of problems and more recently we had some WAN issues which were of course carrier related so the proof is not yet in the pudding but our system has shown some years of stability. Still not as reliable as our old Siemens or any Opt 81/11/61 - I have been trying to get big enough balls to head in the direction of SIP as we have a pretty solid network (and team). The main issue is still just the PBX software/MGCs/DSPs/etc causing issues ;D
I have worked with Cisco, Avaya, and Nortel in the past so I am vendor-agnostic when it comes to the Big 3 (Now the Big 2). We are too big to use 'little' systems hence we are mostly stuck with enterprise-level offerings.
KCF and Firebird have very valid points as usual
We initially had TONS of problems and more recently we had some WAN issues which were of course carrier related so the proof is not yet in the pudding but our system has shown some years of stability. Still not as reliable as our old Siemens or any Opt 81/11/61 - I have been trying to get big enough balls to head in the direction of SIP as we have a pretty solid network (and team). The main issue is still just the PBX software/MGCs/DSPs/etc causing issues ;D
vnetmanager
Technical User
COTS servers do not work on release 5.5; you have to go with CPPM - according to Avaya.
Our decision to keep a network of hospitals on older releases is easier for to make because we do not have issues with our systems today. We have around 8,000 DIDs, 7 PBXs, BCMs, Norstars, IP Office, Intertel, and Cisco all networked with 5-digit dial on h.323. I think the saying of "Don't fix it if it ain't broke" is a good way to put it. If you are having issues at your current release, upgrading does not mean they will go away. We took 3 systems to 6.0 and caused all kinds of network issues. I had to re-route a lot of call flows through the 5.5 system instead of the 6.0 - the wonder of it all.
JB
Our decision to keep a network of hospitals on older releases is easier for to make because we do not have issues with our systems today. We have around 8,000 DIDs, 7 PBXs, BCMs, Norstars, IP Office, Intertel, and Cisco all networked with 5-digit dial on h.323. I think the saying of "Don't fix it if it ain't broke" is a good way to put it. If you are having issues at your current release, upgrading does not mean they will go away. We took 3 systems to 6.0 and caused all kinds of network issues. I had to re-route a lot of call flows through the 5.5 system instead of the 6.0 - the wonder of it all.
JB
bdmcdonald99
Technical User
Thats's add seeming so we are running 2 HP cots servers on a release 5.5 CS1000 that is supported by Avaya. We also are using COTS servers on our other release 7.5 systems as well. So CPPM servers are NOT the only way to go.
It's a phone system, NOT a clock!
It's a phone system, NOT a clock!
legacysupport
Vendor
Hawks- no you don't have to upgrade(Full disclosure, I sell maintenance contracts for a company that provides support for so-called legacy systems).
End of Service Suppport means that Avaya will no longer provide any kind of support whatsoever.
See more on EOSS at
Let me know if I can help futher!
End of Service Suppport means that Avaya will no longer provide any kind of support whatsoever.
See more on EOSS at
Let me know if I can help futher!
At 5.5 you should be able to maintain. they aren't really writing patches any longer and if you go to Tier 3 you may run into the "That is fixed in the newest release, so upgrade and the problem will go away. We are closing the ticket now.", but there are numerous companies that will support your equipment. You can get additional hardware onsite for catastrophic failures and keep adedquate backups for those events. Power supplies and ISP1100 signaling servers being the key components, and maybe a replacement Call Pilot server. Your licenses should be onsite and in a safe place as well.
Hope this helps.
John Anaya
Signet6 Network Sciences
ACSS/ACIS - CS1000 Rls 7.5/Call Pilot 5
ACSS/ACIS - SME - IP Office 8.0
APSS/APDS - Avaya UC Services
Public Profile
Hope this helps.
John Anaya
Signet6 Network Sciences
ACSS/ACIS - CS1000 Rls 7.5/Call Pilot 5
ACSS/ACIS - SME - IP Office 8.0
APSS/APDS - Avaya UC Services
Public Profile
There was a new Life Cycle document out detailing the end of most of the COTS except the new HP G7's, the CPPIV, and 7.5 Sales support etc. I dont have it to hand at the moment but it will be on Avaya. One of the other things other than the support side, patches etc is you cannot increase the Licenses if that is an issue to you.
- Thread starter
- #16
Ok then from what I can tell I should be able to get the following on 5.5 up until Nov 2015 if I go with the PASS maintenace:
any patches that I may not have now if needed
Add Licenses via eAuth
up to Tier 3 support
Thanks for all the input it really helps.
any patches that I may not have now if needed
Add Licenses via eAuth
up to Tier 3 support
Thanks for all the input it really helps.
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