MC Discontinued?

[AnythingHosted]

We have been eagerly awaiting the MC range in the UK, however noticed that it appears to have been completed removed from the Meraki website. 

Is this product line being discontinued? 

[ControlAltIT]

It is starting to look that way unfortunately.  They’re missing from the products page and cost calculator.

I’m not surprised, the line is really neglected.  We’ve had the phones in our business for almost two years now.  In that time they’ve been more like a beta product than your typical Meraki gear.  They’re missing a lot of basic stuff you’d expect in a phone system.  

It’s a shame too, because the phone quality and potential for the platform were really good.

[Uberseehandel]

I was warned, in a positive sense, to expect an announcement.

The languages the phone will operate in have increased to English, French, Spanish, German and Italian. The web pages are still there . . .

However, it is very hard for US folk to negotiate fixed line deals outside North America. They don't appreciate how different the rest of the world is, and how it is often far more sophisticated than what exists in N.A. The business processes are different. The charging model is different. Somebody with a background in non-US telcos (fixed or mobile makes no difference) could launch a Europe wide network in months rather than the year+ or so it took for Meraki to expand to Canada. And in East Asia they are light years ahead.

However, I can still access the web pages, hopefully there is a positive announcement imminent.

[ControlAltIT]

I hope the links are down to make changes to the portfolio and announce improvements.  But I would be shocked if that were the case.

[ControlAltIT]

I hope the links are down to make changes to the portfolio and announce improvements. But I would be shocked if that were the case.

[BlakeRichardson]

It sure looks that way. 

[MRCUR]

The Cisco Spark guys sit in the Meraki office... 

[PhilipDAth]

The MC product family is currently being re-developed, and will be re-launched again in the future.

[MerakiDave · Accepted solution]

@PhilipDAth is correct, MC is not being killed, only de-emphasized (temporarily removed from website and webinars) for some additional development and feature work, to be relaunched in the coming months although the timeline is TBD.  The product is still orderable, reach out to your Meraki sales rep for details.

[BlakeRichardson]

@MerakiDave Are current MC customers being made aware of this? If not might pay to reach out to customers especially if they are new to let them know. 

[MerakiDave]

@BlakeRichardson Any/all existing customer operations and experience will not be disrupted, full support continues, Meraki Community forums for MC remain active, etc and nothing changes in Dashboard regarding the management and operations of an MC network, it'll just be business as usual for all current MC customers.  

[BlakeRichardson]

@MerakiDave I understand that I was thinking from the point of view of a customer who recently bought some MC units and when going to the website find they are no longer advertised and freak out especially if they were deploying MC units in stages.

A simple email from account managers to customers explaining what is going on would be at least polite. Currently there is nothing on Meraki.com about this. I am just saying as a customer I would prefer to be told this rather than having to find out by asking.

This is simply my own opinion of this. 

[AnythingHosted]

Hopefully when relaunched it will be available in more than just US and Canada. 

[Hashtag]

I was a bit taken back by this as a Meraki Reseller and user. Our company bought MCs a few months ago and expected to continue to deploy and now that we we are growing I have to buy more. I went to go and check out the MC line on the website and to find that MC was totally wiped off... It made me start scratching my head. You said that they can still be ordered but how does purchasing current equipment going to different from potentially "new" equipment with the additional development and features? Are we better off waiting or is it still going to be the current equipment just software based changed?

[MerakiDave]

@Hashtag I'd say to get with your local Meraki reps to discuss.  I have no roadmap info, but yes, the MC74 remains orderable and is not going away, and would remain post-relaunch.  There is no indication yet if the relaunch will or will not include new physical models.  If you have existing MC customers looking to expand their deployment, continue to sell & deploy like usual.  There is no change in Support or documentation or the partner portal or anything existing in Dashboard today.  But if you will have net new MC customers, at least in the coming months, it's best to engage with your local Meraki reps for incremental validation and they can engage the PM team if needed.  

[Turas]

Just wondering if you were able to shed any more news with us on this front.  We are about three months from the product being de-emphasized so I was hoping that Meraki would have some thoughts on the plans going forward.  Is the plan at least in place for what needs to happen before the phones can be reintroduced or are things still in flux as to the when or even if the product was still something that Meraki is pursuing?

[Turas]

I am also hearing from my suppliers that the phones are now no longer order-able which contradict the earlier statement from Meraki.  Are you able to confirm that these are now totally out of circulation with maybe the exception of warranty replacement units?   

[MRCUR]

Todd Nightingale mentioned in his Cisco Live presentation that the original MC launch didn't go as he'd hoped but does plan to relaunch "soon". See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uockxz-Kz_U

[Turas]

Thanks for the link.  I will check that out. 

[Merakified]

Any updates on this?  Some of the weak points with the platform are proving difficult for my employees.

[MRCUR]

@Merakified Multiple people have mentioned recently that the phones are not available to order anymore. See my post about from Todd’s recent comments on development of a new platform. 

[Merakified]

At what point does he mention the MC platform?

[Turas]

I don't remember when but there is really not much there.  He mentions that it did not go well and stay tuned for future updates.  I was disappointed honestly as I was hoping for a little more meat.  

[MerakiDave]

@Turas I don't have roadmap to share but can say that MC is not a dead product.  As others have pointed out, yes, it has been removed from the web site and removed from training material like CMNO & CMNA.  But it will be relaunched. 

As @MRCUR mentioned, Todd has stated in hindsight that he considered the MC a failed product launch, but in true Meraki fashion, it was a "graceful failure" in that it's back to the drawing board to address call quality issues and build out missing features that kept it from fully ramping into prime time enterprise use. 

I know critics and competitors dropped all kinds of FUD on the heels of MC getting pulled for redevelopment, saying Meraki lost its way (nonsense).  Then Meraki had the most successful product launch in their history with MV.  If you don't fail on occasion, you're not trying hard enough, and that is the spirit of the MC relaunch that Meraki has embraced. 

Do some monthly check-ins with your local Meraki team on the status of MC.  And I'm sure the Community, Blog posts and Webinars will come full force when there's good news to share.

[Uberseehandel]

@MerakiDave

when the phone is relaunched, I would ask that the functional designers configure adding a feature that is very popular - being able to connect via a local internet connection to a SIPGate in the Cloud. My provider allows me a choice of call features and packages at very affordable prices and much more straight forward than the call and data packages offered by the local F&MNOs.

Also don't nail down the softphone option. For example Cisco approved Bria runs just fine on a smartphone, and restrictions on softphones the system will interact with will increase the resistance of organisations to switching.

Oh, and don't take too long about it.