Metaswitch compact PCI hardware – so that’s a 2510 or a 3510 chassis and the CH9020/CH9024 call feature servers. These products are currently in their end of life process and you have some decisions to make about how to handle that. So from a dates point of view, the compact PCI hardware was first sold in 2004 and the end of sale date was November 2015. So it had a good long run but now it’s a couple of years past that end of sale date. So what that means for you today is that if you have a Metaswitch hardware warranty service, you can still get replacements and that will continue to be true until 2023 – so you have a good long window to deal with that. But in the meantime, you have this concern that you can’t get any spares, that new Metaswitch software releases will not be available on your hardware and so you will need to be thinking about how to handle the situation. So as you plan for the future, you have a couple of options: The first is to replace the hardware – it sounds simple enough. Metaswitch have released an ATCA media gateway that has been available since 2012 so again, that’s specialist hardware, it has connections for DS3s and you can use it to connect to the PSTN over SS7, with ISUP trunks, MF trunks, PRIs in your network and all of that. That’s great and the ATCA media gateway is a good product and it works well and it has a higher capacity than the old one and it comes in both a 2 slot version which is good for a small to medium size carriers and also a 14 slot chassis which has much more scale. The problem is that while this is newer, fundamentally it’s still a hardware platform – it’s still specialized hardware and eventually it will also go end-of-life. You may buy yourself an extra 5 or 10 years but ultimately you are going to be in the same boat. So a key question to ask yourself is: do you want to spend the money it takes to replace your media gateway hardware, only to have to do it again somewhere down the line. So your other option is to instead, try to become a VOIP only provider – i.e. try to remove the need to have TDM connectivity in your network. If you are able to do that, then that’s pretty powerful because the reason you need specialist telecoms hardware is because you have that physical connectivity. Once you become an IP only provider, then you no longer need specialist hardware. So you are not relying on this constant hardware upgrade cycle. But how to do actually do that? It’s not as simple as it sounds – if you can really become pure IP, then that means you need to remove SS7, remove ISUP trunks, remove any MF trunks you may still have – all of that on the network side – and then on the subscriber side, you need to get rid of any TDM subscribers, so maybe you’ve got some GR-303 connectivity still, maybe you have some PRIs to PBXs and you would need to remove all those connections. On the subscriber side, that’s not that hard. You can fairly easily replace your TDM subscribers with VOIP connections, at least from the switch, even if you have TDM still at the customer premises. On the network side, it’s not so easy. Many people will set up SIP trunks for you, but removing SS7 connections entirely from your switch is more of a challenge – primarily because a lot of the LECs, the RBOCS, will only allow CLECs and ILECs to connect to them over SS7. So, there’s more of a challenge there. It is actually becoming possible to do this – it’s not easy but it is a strategy that you can take and I’m actually planning to write more about that in the fairly near future. Read that article here. There is also another way to do this which does not require entirely removing TDM from your network. You could, depending on your situation, potentially consolidate your equipment. So if you have multiple media gateways in your own network, then you could designate one of them as your TDM media gateway and maybe that one is on ATCA and everyone else uses TDM in that location and the rest of your connectivity is all VOIP so you could gradually consolidate all your TDM activities in one place. The other option, if you are a small carrier, maybe you could collaborate with another local carrier and have them run your switch for you, and you still manage your subscribers and maybe the subscriber devices (IADs and so on) but another carrier has the TDM switch. Also here is a second article on on it. https://www.uctoday.com/unified-communications/why-service-providers-need-to-evolve-beyond-metaswitch-networks/ This is the only 2 things I have seen Answer from Altruistic_Wash9968 on reddit.com
🌐
Light Reading
lightreading.com › home › cloud
Microsoft to quit Affirmed and Metaswitch in telecom retreat
July 24, 2024 - When Andrew Ward decided to schedule a meeting for people affected by Microsoft's recent telecom layoffs, he thought perhaps 100 people might attend. Stunned by the level of interest, the CEO of Award Consulting ended up with about 350 registrations and more than 200 people on the Zoom call that happened this week – which became a full-blown webinar instead of a casual, in-person chat. Those numbers provided evidence of the move's impact and the concern that surrounds it. Ward previously worked for Metaswitch, the UK-headquartered network software developer that Microsoft bought for a reported $270 million in 2020.
🌐
Metrigy
metrigy.com › microsoft-done-with-metaswitch-which-vendors-stand-to-gain
Microsoft Done with Metaswitch? Which Vendors Stand to Gain
Word of the implosion started with news reports that Microsoft let go of a large number of employees attached to Azure for Operators—these employees being from the acquisitions of Metaswitch and Affirmed Networks, both of which make up a large portion of Azure for Operators. As I’ve learned in discussions with multiple sources, it does appear that these reports are true, that the worst-case scenario of employee layoffs, as well as products’ end of life (EOL), has indeed occurred.
🌐
Light Reading
lightreading.com › home › cloud
Layoffs crash into Microsoft's Azure for Operators
June 4, 2024 - Microsoft is cutting employees in its Azure for Operators business, which targets the telecom industry. The moves dovetail with similar cullings at other telecom vendors, amid a downturn in operator spending.
🌐
NetSapiens
netsapiens.com › home › analysis of the alianza aquisition of metaswitch. what does it mean and what does the future hold?
Analysis of the Alianza Aquisition of MetaSwitch. What Does it Mean and What Does the Future Hold? - NetSapiens
April 1, 2025 - Microsoft laid off employees from sales, sales engineering, professional services, and software development. The key takeaways were: Metaswitch products are no longer accepting new customers
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/voip › metaswitch end of life?
r/VOIP on Reddit: MetaSwitch End of Life?
April 23, 2024 -

Heard today that MetaSwitch is going end of life completely. Anyone know if this is true? If so, why?

Top answer
1 of 4
5
Metaswitch compact PCI hardware – so that’s a 2510 or a 3510 chassis and the CH9020/CH9024 call feature servers. These products are currently in their end of life process and you have some decisions to make about how to handle that. So from a dates point of view, the compact PCI hardware was first sold in 2004 and the end of sale date was November 2015. So it had a good long run but now it’s a couple of years past that end of sale date. So what that means for you today is that if you have a Metaswitch hardware warranty service, you can still get replacements and that will continue to be true until 2023 – so you have a good long window to deal with that. But in the meantime, you have this concern that you can’t get any spares, that new Metaswitch software releases will not be available on your hardware and so you will need to be thinking about how to handle the situation. So as you plan for the future, you have a couple of options: The first is to replace the hardware – it sounds simple enough. Metaswitch have released an ATCA media gateway that has been available since 2012 so again, that’s specialist hardware, it has connections for DS3s and you can use it to connect to the PSTN over SS7, with ISUP trunks, MF trunks, PRIs in your network and all of that. That’s great and the ATCA media gateway is a good product and it works well and it has a higher capacity than the old one and it comes in both a 2 slot version which is good for a small to medium size carriers and also a 14 slot chassis which has much more scale. The problem is that while this is newer, fundamentally it’s still a hardware platform – it’s still specialized hardware and eventually it will also go end-of-life. You may buy yourself an extra 5 or 10 years but ultimately you are going to be in the same boat. So a key question to ask yourself is: do you want to spend the money it takes to replace your media gateway hardware, only to have to do it again somewhere down the line. So your other option is to instead, try to become a VOIP only provider – i.e. try to remove the need to have TDM connectivity in your network. If you are able to do that, then that’s pretty powerful because the reason you need specialist telecoms hardware is because you have that physical connectivity. Once you become an IP only provider, then you no longer need specialist hardware. So you are not relying on this constant hardware upgrade cycle. But how to do actually do that? It’s not as simple as it sounds – if you can really become pure IP, then that means you need to remove SS7, remove ISUP trunks, remove any MF trunks you may still have – all of that on the network side – and then on the subscriber side, you need to get rid of any TDM subscribers, so maybe you’ve got some GR-303 connectivity still, maybe you have some PRIs to PBXs and you would need to remove all those connections. On the subscriber side, that’s not that hard. You can fairly easily replace your TDM subscribers with VOIP connections, at least from the switch, even if you have TDM still at the customer premises. On the network side, it’s not so easy. Many people will set up SIP trunks for you, but removing SS7 connections entirely from your switch is more of a challenge – primarily because a lot of the LECs, the RBOCS, will only allow CLECs and ILECs to connect to them over SS7. So, there’s more of a challenge there. It is actually becoming possible to do this – it’s not easy but it is a strategy that you can take and I’m actually planning to write more about that in the fairly near future. Read that article here. There is also another way to do this which does not require entirely removing TDM from your network. You could, depending on your situation, potentially consolidate your equipment. So if you have multiple media gateways in your own network, then you could designate one of them as your TDM media gateway and maybe that one is on ATCA and everyone else uses TDM in that location and the rest of your connectivity is all VOIP so you could gradually consolidate all your TDM activities in one place. The other option, if you are a small carrier, maybe you could collaborate with another local carrier and have them run your switch for you, and you still manage your subscribers and maybe the subscriber devices (IADs and so on) but another carrier has the TDM switch. Also here is a second article on on it. https://www.uctoday.com/unified-communications/why-service-providers-need-to-evolve-beyond-metaswitch-networks/ This is the only 2 things I have seen
2 of 4
4
They EOL'd the MaX UC portion of their product (MaX UC Desktop/Mobile, MaX Meet, MCT, AMS). Essentially all of the soft clients, SMS, XMPP, and meeting portions of their offering. They are by no means completely out of the space, but it would definitely indicate they are focusing LESS on UCaaS and pushing people more towards Teams deployments with their Perimeta/CFS. There are integrators already chopping at the bit to bring 3rd party soft client offerings into the mix but will likely have less features (XMPP, Meetings) but most customers (at least mine) are not using those features in the soft client. SMS/MMS can still be integrated directly into 3rd party clients with a carrier without the need for a middleman server like AMS as well. If you have more questions I could try and answer but I don't think Metaswitch is going anywhere.. just changing focus a little bit (which makes sense since they are owned by M$). Not a terrible thing because MaX UC wasn't great and the dev cycle was slow. Using something like Acrobits may be a better customer experience anyway!
🌐
Alianza
alianza.com › blog › navigating-the-end-of-metaswitch-and-determining-the-best-path-forward
When the Other Shoe Drops: Navigating the Path Forward as Metaswitch Reaches End-Of-Life
September 6, 2024 - On June 3, news broke that dramatically changed the telco landscape for many communications service providers: this is the day that Microsoft laid off almost everybody associated with the traditional Metaswitch platform, including sales, sales ...
Find elsewhere
🌐
Light Reading
lightreading.com › keyword › headcount
Headcount
Microsoft to quit Affirmed and Metaswitch in telecom retreat · Microsoft to quit Affirmed and Metaswitch in telecom retreat · Jun 13, 2024 · | 7 Min Read · byIain Morris, International Editor · The Edge Network · Crown Castle cuts jobs, ...
🌐
Teraquant
teraquant.com › is-it-beyond-metaswitch
Is it Beyond Metaswitch, or After Metaswitch? The Long-Term Value of a Warm, Personable Corporate Culture
June 19, 2024 - The discussion now uses the other definition of the ancient Greek word, “after” Metaswitch? Last week, Microsoft announced layoffs most of which amounted to gutting of the Metaswitch company, which lost about 80% of its employees.
🌐
Glassdoor
glassdoor.com › Reviews › Metaswitch-Reviews-E344512.htm
Metaswitch Reviews: Pros And Cons of Working At Metaswitch | Glassdoor
What are employees saying about Metaswitch layoffs in 2025?Explore Glassdoor's employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Metaswitch layoffs and their outlook for job security at Metaswitch in 2025.
🌐
Omdia
omdia.tech.informa.com › om123487 › the-demise-of-metaswitch-how-microsoft-left-operators-in-the-cold
The demise of Metaswitch: How Microsoft left operators in the cold Omdia
August 28, 2024 - In June 2024, Microsoft announced layoffs in its Azure for Operators division, which included former Metaswitch and Affirmed Networks employees. This article comments on these layoffs and provides insights into which competitors may benefit.
🌐
Light Reading
lightreading.com › home › network automation
Ribbon chases hole left by Microsoft's Metaswitch switch off
October 25, 2024 - Microsoft's Metaswitch abandonment has opened possibilities for Ribbon, Alianza and other vendors. Ribbon's CEO Bruce McClelland touted 'substantial replacement opportunities.'
🌐
Blind
teamblind.com › company › affirmed networks › affirmed networks discussions
Affirmed Networks Discussions - Blind
Layoffs: 1. eBay 2. SaaS startup (Sequoia Capital funded) 3. Google - cloud (February data unrelated to current situation) 4. Lyft (coming soon) Hiring freezes: 1. Affirm 2. Tubi 3. Uber...Read more ... ----------------------------------------------------- BigCos GAFAM (US): Tier 1: Google, Meta, Apple Tier 1.5: Amazon Tier 2: Microsoft BATXJOHMiZT (China): Tier 1: Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, JD, Pinduoduo Tier 2: Xiaomi, Oppo, Huawei, Meituan, iQIYI, ZTE, TCL -----------------------------...Read more
🌐
Award Consulting
awardconsulting.com › home › articles › major metaswitch layoffs reported
Major Metaswitch layoffs reported - Award Consulting
June 5, 2024 - I don’t want to break any confidences from private conversations, but based on activity on LinkedIn, it’s pretty clear that a very significant number of staff from the Metaswitch group in Microsoft has been laid off – including huge parts ...
🌐
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Metaswitch
Metaswitch - Wikipedia
2 weeks ago - In June 2024, Microsoft made major cuts to its Azure for Operators business, which then included most of Metaswitch.
🌐
Portsip
portsip.com › home › unified communications › the risk of metaswitch under alianza: why service providers should transition to portsip
The Risk of Metaswitch Under Alianza: Why Service Providers Should Transition to PortSIP
January 23, 2025 - However, this optimism quickly turned to concern as Microsoft, with its enterprise focus, deprioritized Metaswitch. In June 2024, Microsoft announced the end-of-life (EOL) for the MaX UC client, and soon after, layoffs wiped out much of the ...