sundance-communications.com/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Comdial Telephones & Systems FXII Future

Spoke with a rep. at Vertical/Comdial this morning who had some interesting news. Apparently Comdial/Vertical is moving quickly to phase out FXII/MP5000 equipment/support due to various issues, one being the sourcing of parts (ribbon cables between cabinets, digital cards, etc.)

Apparently this is in an effort to move forward with the SBX and the new coming MBX units as well as the Wave IP platforms.

I figured that at some point the Vadavi and Comdial stuff would be eliminated in favor of their newer stuff but never thought it would happen this quickly! We just installed two FXII systems in two new buildings LAST YEAR!

Just wondering if anyone had further info. or could confirm/deny any of this? I know sometimes reps. say things that are more "water cooler" talk than truth. Thanks!

This should probably be in the "installers" section since it is purely speculation as per time frames. However, yes at some point the MBX will replace the FXII, but that is really not a surprise, and they have not released any EOL or EOS dates that I am aware of.

Steve

Steve,

I was mostly wondering about a timeframe. This rep. I spoke with seemed to indicate this would be happening sooner rather than later.

Also kind of bummed that none of the new products have integration support for their older counterparts. I realize most of the new stuff is SIP but it still kills me to think of needing to replace all my FXII cabinets for the future, sure would be nice if they could develop an expansion card/option for those of us with heavy FXII investments to keep advancing. Would be great if they could come up with a way to use an SBX IP or Wave IP platform as strictly a voicemail upgrade from the Corporate Office stuff.

Obviously I've misread your post. SBX voicemail an "upgrade" from Corporate Office? :rolleyes:

On topic, my understanding is the MBX will support the FX series of telephone sets shortly after introduction. At least you'll be able to save the investment in sets.

Deltron,

So if I am understanding you correctly, we could keep our sets (we have mostly 8024S) but would need to ditch all of our FXII cabinets and put in all new MBX units at each of our buildings? The guy I spoke with at Comdial did not explain that all that well.

I was hoping Comdial/Vertical would offer us an option to use the SBX or MBX units as a "bridge" to some of their newer features/products, apparently that is not the case.

To tampasteve, sorry if this topic seems like "speculation", wasn't trying to make it that. Was just trying to get some feeling for the future of our FXII stuff. If support/parts for these units are going to become extinct I would like to start preparing my boss for a replacement scenario.

Does anyone have experience with the SBX/MBX stuff yet or have seen it work, any comments good or bad? We have around 80-120 phones per building x 5 buildings. From my initial research of the SBX units it seems they are built for a smaller business (less than 50). Any thoughts?

Yeah, the SBX is really meant for smaller offices than yours. The MBX is technically not general released yet (IIRC), so only beta sites would have any say in how it works. With that said, we are pretty excited that it gives some of our customers with FXII a place to migrate to when they are ready.

Steve

Ken, if I understood correctly the sets used on the FXII will have an interface card on the MBX shortly after it's released.

They also told me Triad, Infinite and STS sets would also be supported. We'll have to wait and see what is actually implemented. There's a lot of large FXII systems out there so a path to the new system would make sense. If not there's certainly going to be some unhappy dealers and customers.

Tampasteve,

Do you have any details on the MBX? I am picturing a 2-4u type rackmount appliance something like the Wave IP?

Have you seen any details on the voicemail/auto-attendant options for the MBX systems?

If anyone has any details it would be greatly appreciated! Trying to begin developing a plan or direction for the next couple years of how to proceed. Thanks!

I'll be at Vertical headquarters the early part of November for the dealer show/meet. I'll report details as they are relayed to the dealers at that time.

The FXII will be around for quite a while. Comdial has alot of large companies and Gov. agency locations. They will not just pull the plug on it. And even if they do they will support it for 3 years and the warrenty will be good also. The Wave will give you a migration path when you are ready. Also the Wave can be networked with the FXII if needed. There are so many parts out there on these system that you should able to support the product for years. Avaya is doing the same thing with the Partner and already did it to the legend.