Why is Software Assurance Important?

Software assurance for your telephone system is an important component of your maintenance program.

Provided by the manufacturer, Mitel or NEC depending on your system, software assurance entitles the end user to software updates and new releases usually including new features and security updates as well as fixes for known existing problems in the past software releases.

Software Assurance also includes manufacturer support for your system, when we determine that a problem you are experiencing is due to a software issue we contact the manufacturer for guidance and work with the engineering department to see if they have other reports of the same type of issue, we then determine if the manufacturer is in the process of  developing a "fix" for the problem in an upcoming release of software. If your issue is not software related the manufacturer provides support in determining where the problem lies and identifying a solution. Without software assurance the manufacturer will not provide that support.

If your software assurance is not up to date, the manufacturer may require you to purchase multiple releases of software to get to the current release and will usually charge a premium for these releases of software.

As you have realized by now, it is wise to keep your software assurance up to date and protect the investment you have made in your system, while continuing your relationship with the manufacturer so that they are ready to provide support if called upon especially in an emergency.

Keep in mind that with a hosted telephone system these updates occur transparently and automatically in most cases, saving you money and keeping your telephones running trouble free, usually at no additional cost to you.