It's a little tougher now. did you purchase the PASS subscription when you upgraded your system?
If you did, you have support for patches within your release (Software Subscription - Tier 1) If you bought Software Subscription + Upgrades - Tier 1) then you have software release upgrades included (you have to pay for any required hardware and labor)
If you didn't purchase this, you are looking at an additional $2.00 to $5.00 per port, based on the length of Subscription you purchased.
This is part of the new Avaya Maintenance Plan. So you have to look at it like this. You buy the Software Maintenance on the system from Avaya. That is covered. You can buy more coverage (hardware and onsite technical support) but that will drive the costs up a little more. You may be getting a discount from Avaya based on the volume you purchase, but if you are not, then a Service Provider can provide the hardware and onsite maintenance for you at a lower cost.
What you need to take a look at is what you want your maintenance based on. How are the 1800 provisioned ports configured? How many TDM stations? How many IP sets? How many TDM trunks? How many IP trunks. Do you have special applications (Contact Center)? Then you have to figure out what type of SLA guidelines you are looking for. Do you want 8a-5p M-F coverage or 24X7X365? What are your SLA times for Critical/Major/Minor/MAC issues? Do you want to have your system monitored for alarms? Do you want Carrier Services added to your contract? All these items come into play when looking for the best price for Maintenance.
Hope this helps.
