The story

CAMC is certainly a busy place. In 2008, it oversaw 98,103 emergency department visits, 3,131 births, 33,132 ambulatory surgeries, 557,867 outpatient visits, along with 35,294 inpatient discharges, 26,597 general operating room procedures, 1,687 open-heart bypass procedures and 8,294 procedures performed in cardiac labs.

To perform all these tasks, CAMC relies heavily on a legacy Avaya system, more specifically an Avaya CM4. For this system, the term legacy is more than fitting, as CM4 was released all the way back in 2007 and reached end of support somewhere around 2011.

Avaya’s product lifecycle policy meant that CAMC would still qualify for extended support. For many clients like CAMC, extended support isn’t good enough. Extended support through Avaya often means complex issues that would normally be fixed by Tier IV services will remain unresolved unless the client chooses to upgrade. Furthermore, the OEM will give its “best effort” in replacing parts but cannot guarantee it.

With Avaya Direct, if CAMC wanted to get the level of support it needed, it would have to upgrade. For this organization, an upgrade wouldn’t be easy or cost-effective and would likely