Avaya phone compatibility with Cisco Unified Communications Platform

[MrKristoff]

Hello,

We are currently an all-Cisco user on the network routing, switching, and security side, however, we are an all-Avaya user on the phone, IP phone, and voice communications side.  I am fed-up with all the problems we have had with Avaya and would love to migrate to Cisco.  My department head wants to know is it possible to have a Cisco platform managing all the unified communications and voice mail on the back end, but continue to utilize Avaya phones currently in place in every office until such time as we can replace in the coming years through attrition?  This is primarily a cost measure which is the primary factor in management not wanting to make any changes whatsoever due to the investment made already in the existing system.

[Jaime Valencia · Accepted solution]

This is the Video Over IP forum, I suggest you move this to the IP Telephony area

[Jens Didriksen · Accepted solution]

We are an all-Avaya VoIP shop as well - when I discussed this with a Cisco architecture/solutions engineer as part of evaluating Cisco UC solution, I was told CUCM would indeed be able to manage the Avaya phones, voice mail etc.

Suggest you reach out to your Cisco rep re this.

/jens

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[MrKristoff]

Hello Jens,

That is good to hear.  I understand that all the phones must be sip phones and that they can be configured as 3rd-party hardware based on other info I have received, but is good to know someone else has already explored this in a live-environment and found that it is indeed an option.  Thanks for your response.