Avaya has released software v7.1.3.1 for the Ethernet Routing Switch 8600/8800.

• L3VSN default route was not correctly installed in the RTM when it was received via ISIS. As a result L3VSN traffic that needs to use the default route was being dropped. This problem is specific to L3VSN only. It did not affect GRT default routes via ISIS. (wi00996566)

Please refer to the release notes for all the details.

Avaya IP Softphone 2050 Release 4.3

Avaya has released the IP Softphone 2050 Release 4.3.081 for Microsoft Windows.

There is specific mention of support for 64bit versions of Microsoft Windows 7 and Microsoft Windows Vista;

Important Note : It is strongly recommended to install the next updates for Microsoft Windows 7 to the PC
including the specific updates noted below. Failure to install these Windows 7 updates may cause the
2050 IP Softphone to crash or not work as intended.
KB981679 (part of Service Pack 1 for Windows 7)
KB979303

The following issues are resolved;

• wi00715416 External – Improved robustness of Licensing Server in releasing licenses, if IP Connection drops
• wi00903652 External – Issue with node-locked licensing not working with CS1000 R7.5 and 2050 R4.2
  wi00906095
• wi00867565 External – Error message when starting IP Softphone on Windows 7
• wi00908928 External – Graphics issue on Windows 7
• wi00896132 External – Dual stream recording does not work properly with 2050 after a call is transferred to the 2050
• wi00951184 External – 2050 reverts to PC speaker and soundcard instead of USB device when PC is restarted
• wi00889263 External – SR 1-1462175541: IP Softphone trace route shows only final destination, not intermediate hops.

Please refer to the release notes for all the details.

Cheers!

• (101102-26211, wi00838178, wi00828501)
  Corrects an issue running on Windows 7 where the IP Softphone 2050 does not connect to the call server after displaying “Terminal Manager Connect”.
• (100721-77062, wi00832321)
  Corrects an issue where the IP Softphone 2050 may hang if it receives a call after being idle for several hours and the call is answered immediately.
• (wi00839244)
  Corrects an issue where the IP Softphone 2050 would crash when clicking “Add Link To” in the Local Directory.
• (wi00842584)
  Resolves an issue with duplicate audio streams where the Receive audio stream is not reopened after both the Rx and Tx streams have been closed.

The release notes can be found here. You can also find additional information in the IP Phone Fundamentals manual which is here.

Cheers!

The following enhancements are now available;

The following issues have been resolved;

• (091210-67218/091216-70624) 2050 is not marking QoS values in packets (see Technical Advisory Section)
• (091030-43866) IP Call Recording stops working after retrieve call from Hold
• (091203-63291) Unable to configure annotation feature keys in Expansion Module.
• (091008-30561) i2050.exe process does not release GDI Objects
• (100224-05132) 2050 IP Softphone on CICM: Delay when hanging up from a call
• (100310-13208) Configuration tool does not support customized skins
• (100312-14320) Configuration tool errors when applying Node/TN info. The configuration tool will now allow empty values for any parameter in the config.ini file and will not overwrite the registry entry if it is blank. This allows customers to upgrade to new configuration settings without changing selected values such as the Node/TN information that may already be set in the registry.
• (100405-25547) Inconsistent behavior of IP 2050 Settings for first launch if ConfigurationTool
• (090812-96650) GN Netcom 8110 USB adaptor does not work on the docking station

The following enhancements are available;

• Support for Microsoft Windows 7
• Log file improvements

The following issues have been resolved;

• (090304-89596) IP Softphone 2050 freezes when calls are answered on Nortel USB Headset
• (081009-83319) IP Softphone 2050/3.3 One-way speech path
• (090903-09977) IP Softphone 2050 getting double DTMF tones on CS2100
• (090317-99855) New Call Voice Notification fails to say the CLID properly
• (090526-47034) Translation error in GUI – correct word “Release” in French, German and Spanish
• (090515-40414) Agent voice is recorded on IPCR after Mute key is activated
• (090510-36664) IP Softphone 2050 Logs have no limit in size

There were some qualifications that should be mentioned. The release notes specifically indicate that 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 are not supported although it doesn’t mention that they don’t work. The release notes also make mention that while the IP Softphone 2050 may run in VDI (Virtual Desktop Interface) from both VM Ware and Citrix Xen Desktop, neither are supported. I couldn’t imaging the potential issues of running a softphone in a VDI configuration but I guess someone has been toying with the idea.

We have about ten Contact Center users utilizing the IP Softphone 2050 v3.x with Contact Center 6 on a Nortel Succession 1000 4.5 Call Server. These users work out of their home and are connected across a Juniper SSL VPN SA4000 appliance utilizing Juniper’s Network Connect client software. We provide them an HP NC6900 laptop with all the software and they connect to their home network and Internet broadband. It’s been very successful so long as the Internet broadband connection remains stable.

You can find the complete release notes here and here.

Cheers!

We’ve been using the IP 2050 v2 for connecting to our Nortel Succession 1000M Call Servers with very good success. It’s very reliable and the audio quality has been excellent. I should point out that we lease our corporate laptops with a 24 month refresh so we always have decent hardware to work with. And it doesn’t hurt when you have a Gigabit network backbone from Nortel of course.

We’ve held off deploying the IP 2050 v3 because of the new licensing server that is required although we can’t fault Nortel for moving towards such a solution. While we’ve been very honest in our purchasing and deploying of the IP 2050 softphone I can only guess how many others out there haven’t been so honest. If you’re interested in the Nortel IP 2050 just don’t forget that you’ll need to purchase a copy of the Nortel IP 2050 software along with an Internet IP User ISM (license) for each user.

You may also want to evaluate Microsoft Office Communications Server before you deploy the IP 2050 in any large numbers. We’ve started testing OCS in our lab and we’re hoping to start evaluating it’s voice and video conferencing capabilities in the next few months. You’ll probably still want to use the Nortel IP 2050 Softphone for any Nortel Contact Center (Symposium) agents but for basic voice, instant messaging and video conferencing OCS looks very promising.

Cheers!