[cisco-voip] Recommendations for new handsets

[Jeremy Bresley]

On 7/7/2015 4:58 PM, Terry Oakley wrote:
>
> We are in the process of updating our fleet of handsets (most are 7 
> years or older) and looking for recommendations for what handset model 
> we should move to.   Currently most of our sets are the problematic 
> 7941/61 with a number of 7911sets.   In classrooms and meeting rooms 
> we have 7945 and 7965 sets that have been very reliable.
>
> We are looking at either the 9900 or 8800 series (color screen) but we 
> are seeking your experience and knowledge of those series or what you 
> believe would be a series that we should look at.
>
> Thanks
>
> Terry
>
> *Terry Oakley***
>
> Telecommunications Coordinator *| *Information Technology Services
>
> *Red Deer College **|*100 College Blvd. *|*Box 5005 *| *Red 
> Deer***|*Alberta *| *T4N 5H5**
>
> work (403) 342-*3521 **| ***FAX (403) 343-4034
>
>
We've deployed a couple of sites with the 8851s as the 7945s are getting 
price increases (sign of impending EOL usually).

Plus'es on the 8851s:  Higher res screen (check docs if you have custom 
backgrounds, sizes are different than any previous models, at least one 
doc has the wrong size for thumbnails listed), Bluetooth support, 
Proximity support for phone connectivity (contacts, mobility), USB port 
for charging a phone (or slow charging a tablet except on the 8861s)

Minus'es: Firmware 10.2 had some serious bugs.  Worst ones we hit were 
related to Energy Efficient Ethernet that would cause the PCs to 
randomly drop connection, and unplugging the PC and plugging it back in 
was the only way to recover (or resetting the phone). Engineers with 
these phones having to reboot 4-6X in an 8 hour work day were NOT 
happy.  Upgrading to 10.3 firmware has had them be pretty stable.  If 
you do run into any code bugs, there are only 3 total releases of 
firmware for these phones, so they are fairly new and aren't as long 
lived as the 7900's firmware.

Different: These are SIP only phones.  If all your existing phones are 
SCCP, this has ramifications for things like SRST configs as well as 
call flow troubleshooting.  (This is an issue for the 9900 series phones 
as well.)
The overlay stickers that come with the 7900 series phones with the text 
descriptions for the buttons don't exist on 8800s, they're pictograms 
only for the physical buttons, may require some additional documentation 
for users to know what the buttons do.
The handsets are the newer slimline design, don't sit on the shoulder 
nearly as well as the 7900s more rounded models, this may make a 
difference if your users don't use headsets.

You didn't mention using any KEMs, the 8800s use the BEKEM which is a 
36-line (9 buttons per side, two columns, 2 pages) rather than the 
24-line of the 7916-24s.  8851s support 2, 8861s support 3.

Having used a number of 7941s, I'm pretty sure users would be ecstatic 
with an upgrade to an 8800 due to the improved display alone.  The 
Bluetooth only exists on 8851/8861s, not available on the 8811/8841s.  
There's also the new 8845/8865 which are video enabled units.  The 8865 
is basically the 8861 with a camera, the 8845 is an 8851 minus the USB 
port and KEM support (does have Bluetooth/Proximity)

Jeremy "TheBrez" Bresley
brez at brezworks.com
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