TOSHIBA TELEPHONE SYSTEMS USERS

This coming October, Toshiba is going to stop selling any new parts and licenses. This is a big deal as we will no longer be able to expand your existing system without Toshiba providing us the parts and licenses to do so.

We understand that this puts you in a bind. But don’t worry, Dove Communications isn’t going anywhere. We are still here to provide you with our support and guidance as we always have.

The History:

On March 2017 Toshiba announced that they would “wind-down the Telecommunications Division starting immediately.” Toshiba dealers were caught off-guard and shocked to hear the news. Their Telephone System Division had been operating in the U.S. since 1975 and was one of the top distributors for SMB telephone systems amongst their competitors for decades. The biggest shock, though, was they were only taking orders until May, 2017; giving dealers only a two month notice before claiming they would shut down completely.

Soon thereafter, on May 11th, Mitel confirmed that they would acquire the telecommunications division from Toshiba, but only for a limited amount of time. Their underlying goal was to acquire Toshiba dealers and users in order to convert them into Mitel PBX customers.

Their conversion strategy apparently did not go as initially thought. Less than 2 years later, Mitel announced a “Phase Out Plan” for Toshiba CIX and IPedge products, with an “End of New Systems Sales” date as of October 31st, 2018. Add-on hardware such as phones and cards will not be available after October 31, 2019, and support will only be offered until October 31, 2021, with limitations of course.

There are a lot of obvious issues here, but the biggest problem is with the “End of New Systems Sales” in effect, Mitel will also no longer sell new licenses and all existing unused licenses that dealers have purchased in the past will not be valid. So, purchasing cards now, just in case they’re needed in the future, is out of the question.

The result — current Toshiba users will not be able to add new voicemails, SIP trunks, new users, etc. Ultimately, not allowing any room for company growth or expansion.

I’m a Toshiba telephone System User. Now what?

Although, for the time being, we will offer as much support as we are able to with our well- qualified technicians, we do recommend transitioning into a new phone system as soon as possible.

Dove Communications has been supporting traditional & VoIP phone system for the past 25 years. I am very confident that myself and my company can be great assets in finding the right solution for your business.

There are many options today for unified communications and phone system solutions. We work with all the major providers like Spectrum, AT&T, Jive, Ring Central, 8×8, Nextiva, Mitel, Panasonic and many more to find the right solution for our clients. In many cases, we are able to install a new phone system while we reduce our clients existing phone and internet bills.

Some of the newer features which can benefit your company are:

• Multi-location integration of call transfer and unified communications throughout all facilities
• Video conferencing and conference bridges
• Voicemail to email
• Desktop integration with your desktop and integration with popular applications as Microsoft Outlook, Skype for Business, Salesforce, and many CRM software
• Mobile app on your smartphone acting as your phone system extension
• Call recording options
• Support of remote home offices
• Sales force integration
• Presence notification
• eFax

Not all VoIP providers are alike. The key is to find the right provider which will allow an easy transition from your current setup to the many benefits of today’s features.

We are here to help you to make sure to find the right solution within your budget and ensure that we are not overlooking anything in the transition.

We want to make this transition easy for you and your establishment, and we would love the opportunity to discuss and explore the many options for your telecommunication needs.

So there is no interruption to your communication efforts, please contact us today.

Please call us at 213-234-2500 or email us at [email protected] so that we may begin assisting you with the process.