technology, networking and IP telephony
Posts tagged Nortel
Avaya USB Headset Adapter humming
Jul 24th
I use the Nortel/Avaya Mobile USB headset with my laptop and 2050 softphone. On occasion I’ll use it on my 1140E desktop phone and have noticed a humming from time to time.
After digging through the net and all my documentation I came up with the following reference in one of the UNIStim release notes.
A constant humming noise is sometime heard through the headset when either the Enhanced USB Headset Adapter or the Mobile USB Headset Adapter is connected to the 1120E, 1140E, 1150E or 1165E IP Deskphone. The humming noise heard within the headset can be corrected by upgrading the Headset Adapter firmware to version 2.00.98 or greater.
The USB Headset Adapter firmware version 2.00.98 is available for download from the “Software Download” link under “Support and Training” on the Nortel website located at: http://support.nortel.com. The firmware is available for the 1120E, 1140E, 1150E and 1165E IP Deskphone models under “Phones, Clients and Accessories” as file Adapter3v2.0098.zip.
To load the version 2.00.98 firmware onto the USB Headset Adapter perform the following procedure:
- Download the firmware file Adapter3v2.0098.zip from the Nortel Technical Support web site
- Load the file Adapter3v2.0098.zip onto a PC
- Uncompress (unzip) the file to obtain Adapter3v2.0098.exe.
- Connect the USB Headset Adapter to the PC
- Start the Adapter3v2.0098.exe application to load the firmware onto the device.
Hopefully this helps someone else out. It took me quite sometime to locate any reference and I had almost given up.
I’ve placed copies of the zip archive and the readme file on my server.
Cheers!
Nortel Backbone Concentrator Node (BCN) and Site Manager
Jul 23rd
Yes, I still have three Backbone Concentrator Nodes (BCN) hanging around the place, still working just the same as the day they were installed some 13 years ago.
We had an issue tonight with a Verizon ATM DS-3 circuit on one of our BCN routers. The issue forced me to take a little nostalgia trip so I thought I would see if anyone else still has any AN/ARN/ASN/BLN/BCN routers still installed in their network.
It had been so long since I had done any work on these beasts that I didn’t even have Site Manager installed on my desktop. Yes, you heard me right Site Manager! Thankfully the CLI interface, Bay Command Console (BCC), isn’t too bad but there are a few things you can’t do in the CLI or that are much easier in Site Manager.
I installed Site Manager v15.5.x without any issues, it still installs into C:\SM, isn’t that so quaint. I added two of my BCNs into the connection list and with the press of F5 (Dynamic Configuration) I was off and running. Have a look at the the image below. I still remember all those T1 and serial interfaces not to mention all those DSU/CSUs stacked high in the adjacent cabinet. It’s amazing how far things have progressed in 13 years when you think about Wide Area Networking.
I can remember when 56Kbps lease lines were the norm and T1 lines (1.54Mbps) were the king. Fast forward to 2010 and I only have about 3 T1 lines left in the data center from probably a high of about 31 when we still had our OC-48 SONET ring. Gone are the T1 circuits and the SONET muxes and in their place are a whole lot of dark fiber and Layer 3 switching/routing.
It might be hard to see but that’s a Gigabit interface (1000BaseSX) in slot 10 on that router with an FRE4 processor… those were the days. I’m still doing a few high speed interfaces along with BGP if you can believe it! The introduction of the Accelar and Passport products really left these legacy routers relegated to providing slow speed WAN connectivity.
Is anyone else still using their AN/ASN/ARN/BLN/BCN routers?
Cheers!
UNIStim Firmware Release 4.2 for IP Deskphone
Jul 9th
Avaya has released UNIStim firmware 4.2 for their IP deskphones;
- 0621C7G for 2007 IP Deskphone
- 0623C7M for 1110, 0624C7M for 1120E, 0625C7M for 1140E, 0627C7M for 1150E and 0626C7M for 1165E IP Deskphones
- 0627C7M for 1200 Series IP Deskphones
- VPN Configuration Wizard release 01.00_00.25
The major change in this software release is the re-branding of the IP deskphone to Avaya from Nortel.
UNIStim 4.2 is the minimum software release that includes changes related to re-branding of the IP Deskphone software to Avaya from Nortel. All instances of Nortel branding within the IP Deskphone software including the start-up splash screen, User Interface elements, and Certificates have been changed to Avaya branding. In addition, the VPN Configuration Wizard software has been rebranded to Avaya
Please refer to the release notes and the product bulletin for complete details.
Cheers!
Update: Monday August 16, 2010
Avaya has re-released the bulletin because of a typo in the document.
Avaya and Nortel: is the honeymoon over?
Apr 7th
Last week I spent a day up in Basking Ridge, NJ at the Avaya’s global headquarters. The purpose of the visit was to delve deeper into the product roadmap (details man, details!) and talk about the recently announced PASS program that Avaya and it’s voice resellers are implementing on July 1, 2010 regarding voice maintenance and support contracts.
While the discussions were covered by a non-disclosure agreement there wasn’t a lot of information that hasn’t already been disclosed in either the product roadmap presentations or other material released by Avaya. With that said there were some technical details on how Avaya plans to integrate the CS1000 with their Aura platform. Unfortunately I can’t really go into the details… especially since a few of the Avaya presenters actually mentioned this blog in my discussions with them. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not? I guess so far so good, and I haven’t yet received any DMCA take down notices.
In any case I thought I would give my opinion on the current state of the Avaya/Nortel marriage. In general I try to avoid posting articles based solely on opinion. I’m much more comfortable basing my discussions on facts and theories that can be proven or dis-proven rather than just subjecture and assumptions. It’s almost expected that in any large acquisition there are bound to be bumps in the road… to date I haven’t seen any as a former Nortel customer. There haven’t been any product supply or support issues and the pricing and discount models (post Avaya) have remained virtually unchanged. In fact last week we just stood up another CS1000E with 500+ IP phones and 36 Ethernet Routing Switch 5520s with a single Ethernet Routing Switch 8600 at the core at a newly constructed corporate office. So it would appear that it’s definitely business as usual when working with Avaya to procure Nortel hardware and support. Unfortunately not everything has been all roses. I learned last week that Avaya had it’s first round of employee cuts where it eliminated some redundant positions that came about through the Nortel acquisition.
In my opinion it’s seems that Avaya is on the right course and is dedicated to retaining the existing Nortel user base and even growing that user base. The next critical step is in the actual integration of the different product offerings… how will a Nortel CS1000 communicate with the Avaya Aura platform and how will Avaya leverage the existing Nortel investment? Having sat through those presentations last week I’m fairly confident that Avaya won’t let their Nortel customers down.
Let me know what you think?
Has the transition been seamless for you and your organization?
Are you on board with the Nortel/Avaya product roadmap or have you already decided to jump ship? (I think I see a good poll question in that last one)
Cheers!


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