Avaya Phone System Replacement in Northern Ireland

Why NI Businesses Are Replacing Their Avaya Phone Systems

Avaya IP Office has been the workhorse of business telephony in Northern Ireland for over a decade. Thousands of businesses across Belfast, Lisburn, Newry, Derry, and the wider province rely on Avaya IP Office 500 V2 systems for their daily communications. These systems have been remarkably reliable — many installations are 10-15 years old and still running perfectly.

But two converging forces are now compelling NI businesses to act. First, the ISDN network that connects most Avaya systems to the outside world is being permanently switched off in January 2027. The ISDN30 PRI cards inside your Avaya control unit will have nothing to connect to. Second, Avaya itself has shifted its strategic focus away from on-premise IP Office hardware towards cloud-based solutions, making it increasingly difficult and expensive to maintain these systems long-term.

This does not mean you need to panic or rush into an expensive replacement. You have clear options, and the right choice depends on your specific situation. Let us walk through exactly what is happening and what you can do about it.

Avaya IP Office 500 V2: End of Life Reality

The Avaya IP Office 500 V2 is the most common Avaya system in Northern Ireland. It is a modular platform that supports digital phones (1400 series, 9500 series), IP phones (J100 series, 9600 series), and various trunk cards including ISDN30 PRI and ISDN2e BRI.

Here is the current situation with Avaya IP Office:

• Hardware availability — Replacement IP500 control units, expansion modules, and trunk cards are becoming scarce. Avaya has reduced manufacturing of on-premise hardware as it pivots to cloud services. Spare parts are available through third-party channels but at increasing cost
• Software licensing — New Avaya IP Office licenses (for additional users, voicemail ports, or features) are becoming harder to procure. Avaya's licensing model has shifted towards subscription-based cloud offerings
• Support contracts — Avaya maintenance and support contracts for IP Office are still available but at premium pricing. Many NI businesses have found their annual support costs increasing significantly at each renewal
• Software updates — While Avaya continues to release software updates for IP Office, the pace of development has slowed. The platform is in maintenance mode rather than active feature development
• ISDN dependency — Most Avaya IP Office systems in NI are connected via ISDN30 PRI. With ISDN being switched off in January 2027, every one of these systems needs at minimum a trunk migration to SIP

Option 1: SIP Trunking — Keep Your Avaya Running

If your Avaya IP Office is working well and you are happy with its features, SIP trunking is the fastest and most cost-effective migration path. It solves the ISDN switch-off problem while keeping your entire system intact.

How SIP Trunking Works on Avaya IP Office

• Remove the ISDN card — The IP500 PRI card (or BRI card) inside your Avaya control unit is removed or deactivated. This is the card that currently connects your system to the ISDN network
• Configure SIP trunks — SIP trunk parameters are configured in the Avaya IP Office Manager software. This includes the SIP provider credentials, codec settings, and call routing rules
• Port your numbers — All your existing phone numbers (028 Belfast numbers, 028 NI numbers, or any other numbers) are ported from BT/Openreach to the SIP trunk provider. Your customers continue calling the same numbers
• Test everything — We test every incoming route, outgoing route, hunt group, voicemail, auto-attendant, and short code to confirm everything works exactly as before
• Go live — Once testing is complete, the SIP trunk goes live and the old ISDN lines are ceased. The entire process can typically be completed in a single day

What Stays the Same

Everything your staff interacts with stays exactly the same:

• All Avaya handsets (digital and IP) continue working without any changes
• Extension numbers remain the same
• Hunt groups and call routing are unchanged
• Voicemail greetings and mailboxes are preserved
• Auto-attendant menus continue as programmed
• Short codes and speed dials work as before
• Call recording (if configured) continues functioning

SIP Trunking Costs for Avaya

• One-off setup — £500 to £2,000 depending on system complexity, number of lines, and whether a software upgrade is needed
• Monthly SIP trunk cost — £3 to £8 per channel per month (compared to £15-25 per ISDN channel)
• Number porting — Typically free or included in setup
• Software upgrade (if needed) — Avaya IP Office needs to be running R9.1 or later for SIP trunking. If your system is on an older release, a software upgrade is required (additional cost)

Example: A Belfast business with 30 ISDN channels currently paying £600/month in line rental could migrate to SIP for approximately £150-240/month — saving £360-450 per month. The one-off setup cost is typically recovered within 2-4 months.

Option 2: Hosted VoIP — Replace the Avaya Entirely

If your Avaya system is aging, if you want modern features, or if you want to eliminate all on-premise telephony hardware and maintenance, hosted VoIP is the long-term solution.

What You Gain by Replacing Avaya with Hosted VoIP

• Mobile apps — Every user gets a smartphone app (iOS and Android) that turns their mobile into a full business phone with their office number. Make and receive calls on your business number from anywhere
• Call recording — Built-in call recording for compliance, training, and dispute resolution. Stored securely in the cloud with easy search and playback. See our call recording guide for details
• Microsoft Teams integration — Make and receive calls directly within Microsoft Teams using your business phone numbers
• CRM integration — Connect your phone system to Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, Microsoft Dynamics, and hundreds of other business applications. Incoming calls automatically pop the customer record on screen. Learn more about screen popping and CRM integration
• Video conferencing — Built-in video meetings without needing separate Zoom or Teams licenses
• AI features — Call transcription, sentiment analysis, and automated call summaries
• No maintenance — No PBX hardware to repair, no annual Avaya maintenance contracts, no engineer visits for software updates. Everything is managed in the cloud
• Automatic updates — New features are added automatically. Your system is always on the latest version
• Work from anywhere — Office, home, or mobile — every user gets the same experience regardless of location

What Happens to Your Avaya Handsets?

This is one of the most common questions we get from NI businesses considering an Avaya replacement:

• Avaya digital phones (1400 series, 9500 series) — These are proprietary digital handsets that only work with Avaya IP Office. They cannot be reused on a hosted VoIP platform. They will need to be replaced with new IP handsets
• Avaya IP phones (J100 series, 9600 series) — These are SIP-capable IP phones that may be compatible with some hosted VoIP platforms, depending on the specific model and firmware. We assess compatibility on a case-by-case basis
• New handsets — We typically deploy Yealink IP handsets which offer excellent call quality, modern design, and significantly lower cost than Avaya equivalents. Yealink T3, T4, and T5 series handsets range from £60 to £250 depending on the model

Hosted VoIP Costs (Avaya Replacement)

• Setup and deployment — £0 to £5,000 depending on the number of users, handset choices, and migration complexity. Many plans include zero-cost setup
• Monthly per-user cost — £8 to £15 per user per month, including all features, updates, and support
• Handsets — Yealink IP phones from £60-250 per handset, or included in the monthly subscription on certain plans
• Number porting — Free or included

Example: A 20-user Belfast business replacing an Avaya IP Office with hosted VoIP might pay £200-300/month for the complete system — including all features, mobile apps, call recording, and ongoing support. Compare this to the combined cost of ISDN line rental (£300-600/month) plus Avaya maintenance contract (£1,000-3,000/year) that they are currently paying.

SIP Trunking vs Hosted VoIP: Which Is Right for Your NI Business?

Here is a straightforward comparison to help you decide:

Not sure which option is right? Contact us for a free assessment. We will look at your specific Avaya system, your business requirements, and your budget, and give you an honest recommendation. If SIP trunking makes sense, we will tell you. If hosted VoIP is the better path, we will tell you that too.

Why NI Businesses Choose Drakos for Avaya Migration

• Avaya IP Office experts — We have worked with Avaya IP Office systems for over 20 years. We know the Manager software, the hardware modules, the trunk card configurations, and the quirks of every software release
• Belfast-based engineers — On-site support available across all of Northern Ireland. We come to your premises for installation, configuration, and go-live support
• Both options available — We offer SIP trunking (to keep your Avaya running) and hosted VoIP (to replace it). We recommend what is genuinely right for your business
• End-to-end service — System audit, SIP provisioning, number porting, configuration, testing, go-live support, staff training, and ongoing management
• ISO 27001 certified — Our information security management is independently audited and certified
• Proven track record — Hundreds of Avaya migrations completed across Northern Ireland, from small offices to large contact centres

Frequently Asked Questions