Navigating the Future of Mitel Solutions: Why 101VOICE Is Your Ideal Migration Partner

Author: Alice Edwards

With Mitel's End-of-Life (EoL) announcements, evolving partnerships, and increasing security concerns, ensuring your communication infrastructure is secure, resilient, and future-ready has never been more critical. Here’s what you need to know about these changes and how 101VOICE can help you navigate them while safeguarding and maximizing your current investments.

As businesses evolve, so too must their communication systems. For those relying on Mitel, particularly former ShoreTel users, significant changes are on the horizon. With End-of-Life (EoL) announcements, shifts in strategic partnerships, and increasing security concerns, it’s crucial to ensure your communication infrastructure remains robust, secure, and adaptable.

Here’s what you need to know—and how 101VOICE can help you navigate these changes smoothly while maximizing your existing investments.

Mitel’s End-of-Life and Support Timeline: A Critical Update

Mitel, a leader in unified communications, has announced significant changes to its MiVoice Connect platform, originally developed by ShoreTel. This phase-out marks a pivotal moment for businesses that have depended on this system for over two decades.

Initially, Mitel planned to support MiVoice Connect until December 2029. However, recent developments have accelerated the timeline, creating urgency for businesses to act:

While Mitel is technically supporting the system until 2029, the reality is that without updates or patches after 2025, businesses are left exposed to potential security risks and operational challenges. This timeline necessitates immediate planning to ensure continuity and security in your communication systems.

The Complexity of Migration: Planning for the Future

Migrating from legacy systems like ShoreTel/Mitel MiVoice Connect is no small feat, especially with the accelerated End-of-Life (EoL) timeline. This transition requires careful planning, as businesses must navigate the intricacies of data migration, system compatibility, and extensive user training. For larger enterprises, these tasks can be especially resource-intensive.

At 101VOICE, we understand the complexities involved and are dedicated to making your migration as seamless as possible. We’ve developed a comprehensive onboarding process tailored to meet your specific needs, ensuring a smooth and efficient transition to our cloud-based communication system:

1. Detailed Assessment and Roadmap: Our team works closely with you to assess your current communication setup and understand your goals. We identify the best migration strategy and create a clear, step-by-step roadmap to guide the entire process, minimizing downtime and ensuring compatibility.

2. System Configuration and Installation: Our experts handle all technical aspects of configuring your new system, whether remotely or on-site. This includes hardware and software installations, ensuring a fully operational cloud-based phone system with minimal disruption to your daily operations.

3. Flexible Training Options: We know that user adoption is key to a successful migration. That’s why we offer personalized training options, including one-on-one sessions for administrators and team-wide training sessions. Our goal is to equip your team with the knowledge they need to use the new system efficiently from day one.

4. Dedicated Support: Once your system is up and running, our dedicated support team remains available to address any questions or concerns quickly. With 101VOICE, you’re never left on your own—we’re here to ensure your system continues to perform at its best long after the migration is complete.

Security Concerns: The Risks of Staying on an Unsupported System

As Mitel phases out support for its older systems like MiVoice Connect, the risks associated with staying on an unsupported platform become more severe. Once the development ends in December 2025, businesses that continue to use MiVoice Connect will no longer receive critical security patches or updates, leaving them vulnerable to a growing number of cyber threats. Unsupported systems become prime targets for cyberattacks, including ransomware, eavesdropping, and service theft, which can compromise sensitive data and disrupt critical operations.

In fact, a 2023 report from Verizon Business revealed that 14% of all data breaches last year were due to the exploitation of known vulnerabilities—many of which targeted unpatched systems. Even more alarming, the report highlighted a 180% increase in vulnerability exploitation, primarily driven by ransomware attacks that specifically target outdated and unsupported technologies. This growing trend underscores the danger of relying on systems that no longer receive updates (sources Tech.co and VoIP Review).

For VoIP systems, the risks are especially pronounced. VoIP technologies are susceptible to a range of cyberattacks, including Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, vishing (VoIP phishing), and toll fraud. These threats can lead to significant financial losses, operational disruptions, and even the exposure of sensitive information. Given these escalating risks, it is critical for businesses to migrate to supported, secure platforms.

Leveraging Your Existing Investments: Cost-Effective Migration Solutions

One of the primary concerns businesses face when considering a migration is the potential loss of their investment in existing hardware. The good news? With 101VOICE, you don’t have to start from scratch. We specialize in providing cost-effective migration solutions that allow you to continue using your existing Mitel IP4xx and 69xx series devices, ensuring you get the most out of your current infrastructure.

Beyond Mitel devices, we can seamlessly integrate a wide range of third-party devices and applications already in use, such as door phones, fax machines, and even advanced solutions like Informacast mass notification software. This ensures that your communication environment remains cohesive and familiar while benefitting from the enhanced functionality of 101VOICE’s modern solutions. By preserving and integrating your existing hardware, we help you save on unnecessary costs and minimize operational disruptions, all while upgrading to a more resilient and future-proof communication platform.

Our goal is to provide a migration path that protects your existing investments, reduces downtime, and gives your organization the flexibility to scale as your needs evolve.

Adapting to Changes in Mitel’s Strategy: Exploring New Opportunities

Mitel’s decision to end its exclusive partnership with RingCentral marks a pivotal shift in the communications landscape. Previously, businesses using Mitel were guided toward RingCentral as their cloud UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) solution. This exclusivity limited options for organizations that were looking for flexibility in how they managed and scaled their communication systems. Now, with the exclusivity lifted, businesses are no longer bound to this predefined path, creating an opportunity to explore alternative solutions that better fit their needs.

For businesses still reliant on legacy Mitel systems like MiVoice Connect, this change means they can now evaluate a broader range of cloud and on-premise options without being tethered to one provider. This flexibility is essential as organizations transition to more modern platforms that provide enhanced security, scalability, and features.

101VOICE is perfectly positioned to step in and provide those alternatives. Our solutions are not only scalable and flexible, but they also offer seamless integration with your existing devices—like the Mitel IP400 and 6900 series devices—and infrastructure. This allows businesses to upgrade their communication systems without discarding their existing hardware, ensuring a more cost-effective and less disruptive transition.

Moreover, with 101VOICE’s commitment to reliability and financially backed 99.999% SLA, businesses can gain greater assurance of uptime and performance, something critical for mission-critical sectors like healthcare, education, and government. Unlike the uncertainty that comes with Mitel’s changing strategies, 101VOICE offers a stable, secure, and flexible communication platform that adapts to your needs now and in the future.

By presenting this change as an opportunity to seek out better, more tailored solutions, this point emphasizes that 101VOICE offers the freedom to break free from the limitations of Mitel’s previous offerings, while ensuring the continuity, reliability, and scalability needed in today’s business environment.

Choosing 101VOICE made our migration process seamless. When I considered our options from a cost, support and end-user experience perspective 101VOICE was the best option and checked all the boxes.

Raymond Mar (City of San Pablo)

Why Choose 101VOICE?

At 101VOICE, we’re not just a service provider—we’re your partner in communication success. Our expertise in Mitel systems, combined with our commitment to leveraging your existing investments, ensures that you’ll get a migration solution tailored to your unique business needs.

Here’s why 101VOICE stands out:

• Comprehensive Migration Support: From planning to execution, we guide you every step of the way to ensure a smooth transition that minimizes disruption and leverages your current infrastructure.

• Security-First Approach: We prioritize keeping your communication systems secure and compliant, especially as legacy systems like MiVoice Connect become more vulnerable over time.

• Cost-Effective Solutions: By reusing your existing Mitel IP4xx and 6900 series devices, we help you save on unnecessary expenses, ensuring that your migration is as economical as it is efficient.

• Scalable Options: Whether you’re ready to fully embrace the cloud or need a hybrid approach, we have solutions that fit your business. Our flexible offerings can adapt to your current needs and scale as your business grows.

• Advanced NG911 and Compliance Solutions: In today’s rapidly evolving regulatory landscape, compliance is more critical than ever. 101VOICE offers advanced NG911 (Next Generation 911) solutions, ensuring that your communication systems meet the highest standards for emergency services. Our compliance solutions are designed to keep your business aligned with the latest regulations, giving you peace of mind that your systems are both safe and legal. This is a key consideration, especially for Mitel users looking to maintain or upgrade their systems—101VOICE not only helps you transition smoothly but also ensures your new setup is future-proofed against regulatory changes.

Don’t wait until it’s too late! Start planning your migration today with 101VOICE and ensure your business communication systems are ready for the future. Contact our team at sales@101voice.com or book a demo here.