How do companies save money on add-ons to telephone systems?
Many companies purchase refurbished additions from vendors who offer one year, two year or 18 month warranties.

How difficult is it to find refurbished equipment?
Thanks to the many bankruptcies and consolidations, the used equipment market has ample supplies. One area company, with an office in Belgium, purchased an entire Avaya Definity system there from a newly collapsed company for one-fourth the cost of a new system.

When did the used equipment market start?
According to Gary Champion of Champion Resources, AT&T (now Avaya) started their used equipment endeavor in about 1984 selling systems as they came off leases held by AT&T Leasing. They used IBM’s success as a model. In 1998 Lucent (now Avaya) authorized five companies as Authorized Remarketing Suppliers to install and maintain refurbished systems. Nortel initially resisted working with the secondary market. However, customers often had no choice when systems they used became manufacture discontinued and their only source was the used equipment market.

Will purchase of refurbished equipment void maintenance contracts?
Officially, systems sold by non-authorized dealers sometimes referred to as independent suppliers void maintenance contracts. However, in reality, customers find that their service providers are eager for revenue and don’t usually walk away from maintaining equipment purchased from non-authorized dealers.

How can organizations find dealers?
Both Avaya and Nortel list authorized dealers on their Web sites. In addition, people I’ve spoken with have gotten information from user groups such as Avaya’s www.indug.org, and Nortel’s www.nearmug.com. One person I spoke with learns valuable information from a Yahoo business Chat group. Industry trade groups such as the NATD, National Association of Telecommunications Dealers are also a source of referrals.

What about carriers and company data departments?
Interestingly, landline and wireless carriers purchase refurbished equipment as well. Somera Communications, which supplies used equipment to carriers, was touted in the October 12, 2001 Business Week as a company to watch. Somera purchases equipment from defunct carriers, refurbishes and tests it and writes new software for it before selling it to telephone companies. Enterprise data centers are also purchasing used equipment. One IT Manager has bought name-brand servers from defunct hosting centers. The key in all of the above examples is working with a reliable reseller who stands behind the equipment.