These phones are designed to work with Cisco Call Manager (CCM) which normally uses a proprietary protocol called SCCP (skinny). When using CCM with SCCP the phone can have functionally beyond what Cisco’s SIP implementation allows. If switching from CCM to a hosted PBX platform, caution should be taken as some functionality may have to be removed. If the phones are already on another hosted PBX platform they should already be operating under the restrictions documented here. Nevertheless, it is worth to double check if the limitations below are not essential.
Support for hosted PBX service includes the Cisco 7940 and the Cisco 7960 phones.
All other devices in this series are NOT supported. The models which are NOT supported include (but not limited to) 7905, 7941, 7942, 7945, 7961, 7962, 7965 (again these ARE NOT SUPPORTED).
We only support the device with the SIP firmware (not MGCP nor SCCP) and with Cisco’s SIP firmware these devices include the following limitations:
- TFTP Provisioning must be setup in advance due to security limitations
- Shared lines feature is not supported by the device
- BLF is not supported by the device
- Sidecar are not supported
- Multiple Call Appearances (Number of Line Keys) are not supported
- When receiving an intercom call, the phone will not auto answer them
- When using the Attendant Console to dial, you will have to manually answer the call for requested call to start.
- We do not program the "services" key
- Only English is supported
- External directory show only the users of the PBX, it is not editable. However, the user’s speed dials are included as a separate directory
- Only one outbound proxy can be used per phone
Cisco announced that the End Of Life (EOL) for the Cisco 7940 and 7960 phones was January 22, 2010. They have stopped software releases on July 23, 2011, the last SIP firmware appears to be in 2008. This series of devices was not designed to be used on an internet hosted platform, to use all of its features it should be used with Cisco Call Manager (CCM) which is normally on the local network (or VPN).
If a customer wishes to continue to use Cisco Call Manager (CCM), it is possible to configure CCM to use our SIP Address Trucking service (instead of Hosted PBX) to route the calls for you (it is possible additional Cisco hardware or Cisco licenses might be required). In this one case, you should be able to use ANY phone that your CCM supports, including 7961, 7962, 7965, etc. as it would be up to the Cisco hardware to translate any request to our platform (this document will not discuss this option).
Details about limitations with possible workaround
TFTP Provisioning
This device was not designed to use hosted PBX from the internet, using the TFTP protocol to get configuration parameters has a number of issues. TFTP is bad at transferring large file over long distances (firmware). It has very limited security when compared to https (configuration + credentials).
When transferring firmware, we have seen cases when it took over 90 minutes to complete. In this specific case, we have customers in Iraqi using a satellite and using our servers in Los Angeles, CA. -Newer protocols like HTTP have packet windowing which takes care of propagation delays. TFTP is generally not designed to work over routers.
Limited security for provisioning credentials is a major issue with hackers attempting to gain access to your accounts and drive up your bill by calling premium numbers.
Our TFTP servers require that you enter the subnet you expect provisioning to be requested from. This is done in VCP via Manage Subnets action, it is important you keep the list of subnets as tight as possible as you might have others on the subnet that may attempt to pull the credentials without your knowledge. Normally access to the "Manage Subnets" is not available to most PBXs, you will need to request that access is granted for you so you can manage these subnets and allow TFTP access from your Cisco 7940 or Cisco 7960 devices.
When a Cisco phone requests provisioning from our TFTP servers it may get the complete configuration or a partial configuration. After a device is created in VCP, the device should be auto provisioned within the next two days otherwise it will only get a limited configuration (which doesn’t not contain any credentials). If you have factory reset the device or missed the window for the full configuration you will need to reset the setting on VCP’s Device page to disable the partial configuration (again this will be limited to a few days OR even a few provisioning cycles).
Shared Lines Appearance (SLA)
These devices have no support for this feature
Busy Lamp Field (BLF)
These devices have no support for this feature. If your users need this feature, they can use the web base feature in VCP called Attendant Console or they can replace the phone with a more modern device (such as a Cisco SPA508)
Sidecar
While the device does have the option for a sidecar, we have not reviewed and suspect that if we did, it would only be useful for speed dialing as the phone does not support BLF with the SIP firmware. If your users need this feature, they can use the web base feature in VCP called Attendant Console or they can replace the phone with a more modern device (such as a Cisco SPA508)
Multiple Call Appearances (Number of Line Keys)
This feature allows for one device registration to be use across multiple keys on your phone, it make handling multiple calls easier. However, the device does not implement the feature correctly. It ends up using the same credentials for each key and this causing problems with call handling and so this isn’t allowed.
Auto Answering (Intercom or Attendant Console)
The phone does not support the instruction from our system to answer the call automatically. If the device was placed into an intercom group the users phone would only ring which would intern delay the intercom for all others in the intercom group.
If this is required by your user, you can create a second line for the sole purpose of answering all calls sent to it. You would add the line to the intercom group (but NOT the user account’s call blast). You would also need to set a parameter for the device. The "Auto Answer" parameter is a bitmapped field, 0 = no lines will auto answer, 1= line one will, 2 = line two will, 3 = both line one AND line two will, 4 = line three will, and so on. If they also want this for the Attendant Console, it would have to be added to the Call Blast, however it should not be set to ring!
Services Key
The services key allows the phone to bring up a customized screen. This screen is hosted on a webserver. There are examples of configuring this button on the internet if your users require it to do something. The "Services URL" parameter can be configured to point to the service hosted on your own (or the users) web server.
English is supported
While the SIP firmware might appear to have the option to select other languages, it does not function
External directory
Our implementation of the directory does not allow for editing or management of the items listed in the directory. If a user want something custom, they can put it in the speed dial in VCP and they will see it listed on the phone under the Speed Dials directory. Otherwise you might have to implement your own custom solution, examples can be found on the internet.
Outbound Proxy
Hosted PBXs require the use of outbound proxies. This device only permits one for the entire device, not per device line like most other devices. This is normally not an issue.
This device uses TFTP provisioning. That service requires that the public IP address where the phone is located be added to the domain before the provisioning request will be honored. That can be done within VCP's General page... Manage Subnets. (if you do not see this Action near the upper right then the feature will need to be enabled for you, contact support).
Larger sites will normally include our TFTP server's address when the device request its DHCP address. However smaller locations might not have a DHCP server capable of such customization...
To configure a Cisco 79X0 phone for our TFTP Server..
Unlock the phone be able to modify settings...
- Press the "Settings" button
- Scroll down to "Unlock Config" and press the "Select" button
- (You will now be asked to enter the password. The factory default password is "cisco")
Change the provisioning TFTP server...
- Press the "Settings" button
- Scroll down to "Network Configuration" and press the "Select" button
- Scroll down to "TFTP Server" and press the "Edit" button
- Press the "<--" softkey to clear the old value
- Using the keypad enter the address 38.102.250.243 (use * for a macro:code.
) - Press the "Accept" button
- Press the "Save" button - The phone will now reboot
Uploading ....