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As you may have already figured out by reading my articles over the past few years, I have been working with NEC Key and PBX systems for some time now. For the longest time it has always been known that NEC’s platforms were well known for longevity and long term investment return. I have seen both the 2000 and 2400 PBX platforms around for decades and they always seemed to have an upgrade or retrofit path into the latest and greatest. This was also a similar pattern with the Elite 48/192 key system product line stepping up to the IPK and then the IPK2 with some minor CPU and cabinet changes but most cards and terminals could migrate without problem.

Now comes the day of change, a new era for NEC if you will. NEC has decided to discontinue it’s long running of the 2000IPS and IPK product lines in an effort to move into the SV8100 and the SV8300 respectively. The apparent goal is to unify common cards and chassis where the CPU and licensing still separates the men from the boys (PBX to Key Systems, so to speak).

Let’s start with the key systems and look at the obvious changes coming into 2010.

The NEC IPKII was pretty much a complete redesign of the Elite 48/192 and IPK systems but just like the IPK from the 48/192 it shared the same cabinet and cards for the most part. We introduced the iSeries model phones just like the PBX market but they were still “key system” only type models priced slightly less than the “pbx system” models. The key system iSeries phones could not step up and work with the 2000/2400 systems but the “pbx system” iSeries models could step down and work on the key system platforms. The 192/48 also shared common programming structure with a similar database, programming access and administration software (SAT Utility). With the introduction of the IPKII the cabinet and many of the cards were still the same or enhanced, however, the IPKII took on a completely new programming structure and feature set. The CPU came standard with an Ethernet interface and could house an in-skin voice mail system called In-Mail which could be maintained by the same database and programming administration as the key system itself. The VMP-U40 EliteMail LX and the CTI-LX were the in-skin voice mail offerings for higher port capacity and unified messaging/fax integration. A web based programming interface called WebPro was also introduced and also came standard on the product. We would use a local client version called PCPro to backup/restore and keep offline databases where making changes in WebPro was real time. Also PCPro was only available as a purchased product rather than a free dealer tool until NEC released a promo about a year after the product release. The IPKII added a higher capacity than the predecessors and realized virtual extensions for the first time which was nice. Unlike the PBX big brother systems, the virtual extensions were capable of multiple call paths making the IPKII an ideal system outside of capacity from a technical point of view for group ringing enviroments. It was completely non-blocking. The programming structure was taken and developed from the NEC Aspire system and many bugs were not worked out until years after it’s release and the IP PVA cards required for networking sites, IP phones and a specialty conference board was a long struggle to a stable release and fully supporting NAT. Many customers of the pre-2.X software release had come to find that in order to get remote sites or IP phones connected they would have to purchase and rely on expensive VPN equipment to do the job. A big “FAIL” for the NEC systems in my opinion. To recoup costs in development and bug fixes, NEC released a 2.X software version to allow for advanced networking features but was also the primary fix for some long awaited IP fixes along with the support of NAT and of course the licensing came at an additional cost to the client which to say the least wasn’t welcomed by many. This pretty much stabilized the product which quickly thereafter was discontinued due to the arrival of the SV8100. So finally we move into the SV8100 system which programs much like the IPKII and a similar database structure using newer versions of WebPro and PCPro but the hardware is completely different.

So now we have a reversed mentality where the hardware has relatively seen some longevity moving into new platforms and the CPU/Programming may have changed but now it’s the opposite where the CPU and programming was carried over into newer revisions but the hardware is completely replaced thus making an upgrade path relatively an undesired expense. The cabinet is now a 2U rack mountable 19in chassis with a smaller “mini” version as well. The cards are mounted into the face stacked in a horizontal fashion rather than vertical and have modular interfaces rather than meeting with amphenol tails integrated into the cabinet back plane. This almost gives the system a “network appliance” kind of look and cable management can be really interesting now than we use 8-pin RJ type connections each supplying 4 circuits and connecting back to a telco backboard or a patch panel feed system for connectivity.

Many new features have been introduced along with the licensing system. The SV8100 now supports SIP trunking, higher capacity IP blades stacked on the CPU and completely newer terminals that have modular type interfaces where small displays can be changed out for larger displays, 12 buttons for 24 buttons, side panel colors, etc. However, there has been some stepping back as well. Many bug fixes on the IPKII were not carried over to the SV8100 and the main one for me and my clients was the lack of NAT support again. Only recently have we introduced support for NAT and once again an upgrade cost to the clients. NEC’s migration path from the IPKII has only recently been brought to fruition even though the SV8100 has been on the market for about 2 years now. Overall the key system has moved for the best adding support for Zeacom’s Call Center, Desktop CTI and voice mail platform, adding capacity and remote site integration and standard SIP device support. If you’re not well invested in the IPK/IPKII products than the SV8100 is a top choice system in my opinion otherwise the cost for all the new hardware would have to be justified by the new features and capabilities.

Moving forward into the PBX line…

The 2000IPS is now replaced by the SV8300 we have similar changes. The 2000IPS programming software “MatWorx” is replaced by PCPro (a different version than that of the SV8100) but programs very similar to the 2000IPS. There is no built-in WebPro interface like that of the IPKII and SV8100. In my opinion, this is still a great tool to be desired, knowing that any IPKII/SV8100 system can be administered from any PC with a browser. I hate lugging my laptop around.

The command structure for the SV8300 is basically the same but all the hardware is new. There is support for the iSeries model phones just like the SV8100 but requires a retrofit keypad to be purchased for each iSeries device. Once again, some stepping back initially with bugs previously fixed on the 2000IPS as well as support for NAT and a big “FAIL” for me was the lack of a backup CPU (Dual stand-by processor) which many of my 2000IPS customers employ. There are rumors of a backup/Dual CPU to be released in late 2010. Also while discussing the “stepping-back” it also took a while to develop a stable and supported version of the Zeacom OAI Call Center, Desktop/Console CTI and voice mail products. As with the 2000IPS, NEC still doesn’t support OAI outside of the main site in a multi-site environment. If you want to have a multi-site configuration using the Zeacom applications and allow for redundancy you would have to use the traditional CCIS networking and have each site equipped with a Zeacom server using network queuing and/or network voice mail which could get very costly to license and deploy. You would still have to use a numbering plan to define network routing and would lose the ability to park/page/group ring/pickup etc. among stations in multiple sites unlike that of a “remote PIM” type environment, where all sites act as one system. Another feature set I still haven’t seen carried over is the ability to stack multiple calls on a single button like the smaller key systems. This is a huge application especially in a sales/customer service environment. Most executives woulnt’ want to be bothered with a second call but this is a major feature as it relates to group department ringing. And finally my last complaint would be still the lack of support for analog devices going off-hook to a specific trunk group without needing a special programming work around using LCR.

My short term experience with the SV8300 has been good and the added support of traditional SIP devices is moving us in the right direction. NEC also has a very well priced migration promotion for 2000IPS customers wanting to upgrade. Despite some minor setbacks I would still highly recommend the SV8100/SV8300 systems.

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