Tips on Replacing a Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) Phone System

Your company currently has a Cisco Unified Communications Manager Phone System (CUCM), and it’s end of life. What do you need to know about replacing it?

In this video I explain 6 things you need to know before replacing your CUCM.

Want my recommendations on which business phone system vendors your company should quote? Ask me today.

About Mike

Mike Smith has been helping companies select the best telecom, WAN, security, and cloud services since 1999. He founded AeroCom in 2003, and has been the recipient of numerous business telecommunications industry awards, including being recognized as one of the top 40 business people in tech-heavy Orange County, CA. Follow Mike on YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit and SpiceWorks.

Transcript

Your company currently has a Cisco Unified Communications Manager phone system and its end of life. So it’s time to replace it. But you’re wondering, Hey, where do we start? What do I need to know? Well, my name is Mike Smith. I’m the president of Aerocom. Let’s put our heads together on this.

My Recommendations

But first, if you’d like my recommendation on the best phone system vendors, your companies should be quoting to compare to your compare for replacing your existing Cisco system. Reach out, send me an email or give me a call (714.593.0011). I will help you make a lot better decision. In a fraction of the time. I’ll introduce you to the best vendors you should use. I’ll help you get quotes from them, get demos on their product. More information on that at the end of the video. Also, if you like the video, don’t forget to hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss any of my weekly videos that I put out and hit the like button and leave me a comment. I love to hear from you.

Is your Cisco end of life?

All right. Things you need to know when it comes to replacing your Cisco Unified Communications manager phone system

number one is don’t worry about looking into replacing it with another on prem Cisco phone system that is antiquated technology. You’re going to want to focus on cloud systems.

Number two is Cisco. WebEx is Cisco’s new cloud phone system. Well, I shouldn’t say brand new. It’s been out a few years, but that’s Cisco’s version of their cloud phone system, just so you know. And if you’d like a quote on Cisco WebEx, reach out and contact me. I will make sure you get introduced to the best group to work with over there and get the best pricing possible.

Number three, unfortunately, you will not want to use your existing desk phones with your new phone system. Most phone systems you won’t be able to use them with. There are are ways to jailbreak the Cisco desk phones, but the amount of time it’s going to take you for every single desk phone is not worth it. It’s just worth buying new phone. So already put that out of your mind. There’s no way you’re going to be able to use your existing desk phones. That’s going to be something you’re going to have to purchase as new phones.

Take Inventory

Step number four is you’re going to want to take inventory. you’re going to start with the number of users you have. So make sure you have an approximate count for how many users your company has, meaning that people that are using the phone system that need voicemail, that need a direct extension, a live extension all the time. How many users do you have currently and then how many common area phones are out there? Like how many phones are sitting around in common areas like the kitchen, conference rooms, things like that. You also want to take inventory of what are the major features that your company is using today with the Cisco Unified Call manager? also, are there any wish list item features, any pain points with the current Cisco system? Like I know if you’re using Cisco Jabber today for mobile devices, that’s probably a pain point. So that’s probably something you maybe you want a better mobile app, things like that. So make sure you take inventory of the features you want.

Call Center Setup with Cisco

Also, you might want to look at, Hey, do we have a call center setup with our current Cisco system? I think Cisco’s product is Cisco. Finesse is with the unified call manager. That’s their call center component. So do you have finessed setup? Do you have a call center service that’s being used right now with your Cisco system? Definitely something you need to know as you’re looking into new systems. something else you want to think about is desk phones versus headsets. How many people are going to need a desk phone moving forward versus people who are going to be fine with just a headset, Not something that has to be You don’t have to know that exact number right out of the gate, but definitely something that’s going to come up as you get closer to actually making the purchase. And lastly, an inventory, know how many IDs or phone numbers your company has today and how many of those you plan on keeping moving forward.

Budgeting

Okay. Let’s talk about budgeting. How much should you budget for this new phone system? What are what are some of the numbers? Well, the nice thing is with cloud phone systems, it really goes into an operational cost, a monthly cost, as opposed to back when you purchased your Cisco phone system. That was a big one time cost, a CapEx expenditure. Well, this is going to be a monthly expenditure. And the nice thing is a lot of times it’s about the same amount or less than you’re paying today. Your company is paying today for your phone service provider and your phone system maintenance and licensing that you pay for. So when you equate all those things and add them up, the monthly cost is usually the same or less than that. So it’s really not any more that you’re spending today most of the time. Now, in terms of a one time cost, it’s really up to you in terms of how much, how many handsets are you going to be buying, how many headsets are you going to be buying the system itself? Are you going to do a self install or are you going to want some help on the install? If you’re going to want help on the install, it’s called professional services with most cloud phone system vendors. And I’d say a guesstimate is maybe around $50 one time cost per user. So that’ll kind of give you an idea. But don’t really put that in stone because depending on how big your company is, there might be some incentives out there as well where maybe they throw in a couple of free months to help alleviate that one time costs.

Quote Several Vendors

And the last tip I have for you is make sure you quote multiple vendors. So again, if you’d like my recommendation of the best vendors, reach out and contact me. Another vendor that you might want to consider is teams phone system. Take a look at all my videos I’ve done on teams phone system. That’s definitely something people are thinking about. But there’s there’s certain reasons why you may want to look at the team’s phone versus other cloud phone system vendors out there.

Still confused? Reach out and contact me

But again, if you’d like more information on all that stuff, take a shortcut, reach out, send me an email or give me a call (714.593.0011). I’d love to help you with it. I’ve been a broker for all the major cloud phone system vendors for over 20 years, so I know the landscape inside and out. I know which vendors your company should be and which ones they should avoid. I will introduce you to those vendors, introduce you to the best salespeople to work with at those vendors. Set up demos for you to see their phone systems in action, and also oversee the coding process and make sure you guys get the best pricing on the vendors of your choice. The nice thing on top of all that is I don’t charge your company anything for my services. The cloud phone system vendors actually pay me my broker fee so I don’t have to charge your company anything. So there’s no excuse not to at least reach out and get my opinion on this stuff. It’s the reason why I do these videos. I love to quote phone systems and I’ve been doing it for a long time. So reach out, send me an email, give me a call. I would love to help you on this project. All right. Again, don’t forget to like the video. Subscribe to the channel so you don’t miss any of my weekly videos that I put out. And let me some comments down below. Thanks again for watching and I’ll catch you on the next one.