If you go with a Nortel certified vendor, with BCM experience you will get a great unit. I have replaced 30 Norstars with BCMs and I am continuing to migrate.
NARSBARS

My company is a major reseller of IP Office & INDeX we are also moving to suport BCM,

On paper the BCM certainly looks to be a capable product.

The IP Office is allso a capable product, there are a few bugs in the latest level of firmware ( which should be resolved withinn the next week), however this is true for almost all systems (anyone who says thier system is bug free is either lying or does not fully know the product!)

If you are migrating toe IP Offie from INDeX the bigest problem you will have is user familiarity.

It uses the same handsets but there are a number of operational differences that can result in the usual " the old system did it this way" type complaints.

for more info on the IPO check the IPO forum, & I would sugest you check the posts here to get a feel for the BCM.

Unles you have some unusual requirements either system should be good for your needs (although the IPO will requre LESS user retraining).

I have tryied to give a fair asesment to your question, but as I have more experience of the IPO & INDeX than the BCM this post should be considered biased

I have now been informed by a BCM engineer that the BCM has limits on the number of DDI's & pick up groups it will support.

Is this correct?

I dunno know what u mean by DDI but there are only 9 Pick-Up-Groups on BCM.

regards,

subx

i think BCM is way superior to IP Office.
We install both but BCMs are more sturdy and have less bugs.

Bcpaul

DDI is a digital drop and insert mux.
Bus 8 is reserved for this module.
I think this is the maximum assignment but you really ought to check the documentation.

Maximum number of PRI's in latest released BCM 3.6 code is 3.

system configuration is typically (based on PRI) 2/6 split
#PRI circuits                      digital sets  IP sets max
1                                  160           58
2                                  128           58
3                                   96           58

system configuration is typically (based on PRI) 3/5 split
#PRI circuits                      digital sets  IP sets max
1                                  128           90
2                                   96           90
3                                   64           90

Hey,

Some good advise given so far.Another one for you to ponder on, i have just learnt the BCM will be replaced after 3.7 is this true ?