Avaya IP Office Support Services (IPOSS) frequently asked questions (FAQ)

"BrantTel provides comprehensive support for Avaya IP Office with over 40 years experience"

What is Avaya IP Office Support Services (IPOSS)?

It is a BrantTel lead service offer backed by Avaya which provides global services to support and maintain Avaya IP Office systems. We can maximize uptime by providing rapid remote software support giving customers peace of mind knowing that their communications system is backed by the product manufacturer.

With this service your Avaya IP Office system will be eligible to receive Avaya software/security packs and updates as an entitlement (no additional fees), as well as the ability for BrantTel to escalate a service issue to the Avaya for vendor support.

Vendor support is needed to ensure that the BrantTel team can collaborate with Avaya’s technical assistance team for issues related to software bugs or issues where only Avaya can update the software code and have broad exposure to their entire customer base around the world to identify the path to resolution, this is commonly referred to in the technology space as Tier 3 and 4 support.

As the platform is software-based review logs/debugging of the software is critical to understand the issue at hand. Avaya IPOSS Support is part of the required services needed to ensure system issues can be rapidly restored and software updates can be applied. Without IPOSS you will not receive security patches and you will not be eligible to upgrade your system software without paying for it.

How is IPOSS coverage purchased?

The Avaya IPOSS coverage is purchased by BrantTel and associated to your account. It is our policy at BrantTel to ensure that every new IP Office system is purchased with Avaya IPOSS. Avaya IPOSS must be purchased for each “node” that is running IP Office or Session Border Controller (SBC) software. All nodes must have coverage in place, or the customer is not eligible for support. Contact advisor@branttel.com to get a quote for IPOSS.

What is considered a “node”?

Each of the following are considered a node and require an associated IPOSS fee, so to understand the number of nodes we will need the count the number of:

• IP500 chassis(es)
• IP Office Server Edition (SE) instance(s) running on a physical server, a Virtual Machine running Server Edition.
• An Avaya Voicemail Pro (VMPro) Server running on a physical server or Virtual Machine.
• An Avaya Session Border Controller (SBC) running on a physical server, a Virtual Machine.

Note: An Avaya UC Module (UCM) is not considered a separate node from the IP500 Chassis.

If I don’t have IPOSS but would like to purchase it what release of software do I have to be at?

You must be at the current release of software or 1 release behind. As an example, with if the current software release is R11, then only companies running R10 or R11 can purchase IPOSS, any customers running earlier releases of software would need to pay and upgrade their system to the latest release before they could purchase IPOSS.

The IPOSS contract must be renewed to continue coverage.

BrantTel sell’s IPOSS Co-Delivery whereby the customer will require BrantTel engagement to make use of the IPOSS coverage. All customers with IPOSS require a BrantTel Managed or Support Services contract in place, if you do not have a contract in place you will not be able to make use of the Avaya IPOSS Services and additional charges would be required to be approved for any support inquiries.

Is the Avaya hardware required to perform an upgrade included with this coverage? How about the services to perform the upgrade?

No, the IPOSS entitles the customer to receive the new software release at no additional charge, but it does not include any of the hardware (such as IP500 Chassis/servers/virtual machines) or services for BrantTel’s technical staff to perform the upgrade of the Avaya IP Office system. When an upgrade is considered, the entire environment needs to be reviewed including the physical servers and gateways, virtual servers (the hypervisor release), endpoints (desk phones, conference phones, headsets, video room, etc) as well as the integrated applications like reporting software, contact centre, call accounting or bill back software and CRM platforms just to name a few.

What Support Coverage available?

Support coverage is available in 24x7 or 8x5 models.

What Term length and payment terms exist?

Coverage terms available are 1,3 or 5 year Prepaid terms, so these Avaya Services are only available as prepaid upfront contracts. Avaya does not offer annual or monthly payment options for this service.

Can I cancel the Avaya IP Office Support Service and receive a credit for the remaining term?

Avaya does not provide credits or refunds on the IPOSS services. If you purchase a multiyear agreement there will not be any situations where you can receive a credit or refund if you cancel the service.

When I purchase IPOSS when does the service coverage start and expire?

Coverage starts the 1st day of the month following the order acceptance from Avaya. The start date is not able to be modified or adjusted to the date that the system was put into service or activated, it is the purchase date of the IPOSS service that sets the start and expiry date of the service.

What services are delivered with IPOSS to ensure I have comprehensive support on my Avaya IP Office system? 

We recommend customer purchase the BrantTel Managed Essential service to ensure your Business Phone System and communication system meets the needs of providing high uptime and reliable phone services for your organization. The Managed Essential Service includes our team of Phone system experts are available to your and will perform the following services as part of our offering:

• Advanced Hardware Replacements
• 24x7 Emergency Remote Support Services from BrantTel
• Remote Support Services from Avaya to address software and security issues on the Avaya system
• Entitlement to software and security upgrades on the Avaya IP Office, minimizing the risks of security or software vulnerabilities
• Entitlement to software upgrades of Avaya IP Office and SBC to ensure your system is supportable and expandable to meet the needs of your business.

Additional References

BrantTel also provides support for Avaya Aura

The following could require Avaya Support Website logins or have restricted access, but if there are question please reach out to advisor@branttel.com for further information:

Avaya Support Website: https://support.avaya.com/

Avaya information reference: https://sales.avaya.com/documents/1399616729040

Avaya Service Agreement Supplement (SAS) Service Description: https://sales.avaya.com/documents/1399552206276