Agenda
Day one
User Group Minutes / User Group closed session
Ericsson diversification rationale	slides
Aastra corporate presentation	slides
Product roadmap	slides
Day two (25th)
Damovo IP experience	slides
PNM UC experience	slides
Customer upgrade project experence	slides
BT update on NTS and Ofcom activity	slides

User Group AGM held on 24th-25th April.

Summary

This user group AGM meeting had  one dominating topic ... the Aastra acquisition of Ericsson Enterprise. There were a good mix of end clients and partners at the event with over 120 attending the first day. Feedback has been subsequently sought from all those who attended and will be shared with members when results are available.

The rationale was clearly explained to the audience from the perspective of ericsson and then Aastra. The fact that we had two of the most senior representatives from Aastra clearly indicated the importance they associate with the user group. Strong commitment was made toward support for the group going forward and to increasing the vendor / customer opportunity for dialogue.

For many end customers the commitment to the product was at the forefront of their concerns. The Aastra team made those commitments to the product development roadmap and emphasized how much additional focus the new organisation would put toward incresed quality and speed to market for products. 

Points of customer interest raised by the acquisition activity:

1. The phase out of DNA is being reviewed
2. A greater range of SIP end points will be made available across the enterprise range.
3. A greater focus on open system design will be a key strategy for Aastra across all portfolios.
4. MX-ONE, Business Phone remain core platforms and product roadmap retained 
5. The whole of the old Ericsson enterprise operation will move to Aastra.
6. The product name will be re-branded to Aastra-product name (i.e.MX-ONE).

General issues raised at the main User group:

Software Assurance costs, and what real options exist for the end customer. There seems a degree of confusion and clarification is sought from the service provider/vendor.

There is a lack of general understanding and at present it would seem the adoption can vary depending on the service partner policy. The other matter is the cost / benefit argument, something the new Aastra organisation needs to look at !

Upgrading to Solidus 5 requires a upgrade of SQL to the 2005 version. Currently this is only the 32bit version. This had not been identified by the Vendor. Euroclear would like to see a statement on version support.

Aastra need to provide better information on the SQL requirements and rationale behind supported versions.

A number of DNA version issues were reported and it was suggested that an application roadmap be provided to indicate what works with what.

Aastra need to undertaken a review on DNA phaseout plans, especially in light of Netwise remaining with Ericsson. 

The new 5446 IP phone implementation has been reported as problematic by a number of users, caused by firmware varients and configuration difficulties. This is not everywhere, as a number of clients have reported no difficulties at all.

The configuration of the IP endpoints process information needs to be reviewed  to address how clearly it is communicated by the supplier and subsequently understood by the end customer. The implementation process needs to be better understood so that clients do not underestimate the scope of work required.   

Actions for members