[cisco-voip] Recommendations for new handsets

Fri Jul 10 18:07:42 EDT 2015

We haven't gotten our 8845s yet - but have worked with the 8861 phones for a while - personally once you get used to them the 8800 series really grows on you - and it's a really good looking phone as a bonus, both on the screen and overall design.

As already noted, the absence of text over the hardware buttons along with the changed icons on the buttons makes it a challenge initially to hit the right button on transfer, conf etc when you're not thinking about it and used to a 79XX. This was similar with the 99XX series for us. We're iffy on if we like not having the text option but you eventually get better at it (I sometimes still don't hit the right button or encounter Button Identification Paralysis :).

The Expansion Module has much more limited space for name/extension/line display info than the old modules since it's split left/right down the middle which is a shame - but looks good overall.

Though confusing the first time we were trying to upgrade - the dual-firmware banks does help on upgrade downtime during a firmware transition and is a really nice feature.

Overall while there are things we would change - we're going to slowly transition our 79XX to 88XX over time and I agree the firmware should improve dramatically as they mature. We also think the 88XX's will be received as a significant upgrade over the 79XX though those continue to be well-performing workhorses for us.

Ken Johnson
Director for Network and Telecommunication Services
Information Technology
903-233-3520 (w)
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From: cisco-voip [mailto:cisco-voip-bounces at puck.nether.net] On Behalf Of Heim, Dennis
Sent: Tuesday, July 7, 2015 11:48 PM
To: Jeremy Bresley; cisco-voip at puck.nether.net
Subject: Re: [cisco-voip] Recommendations for new handsets

I would recommend the 8800's. There have been numerous bugs, but those will get resolved in due time. I'd imagine by the time you order, and it gets fulfilled, more of the major bugs will be resolved. The 7800/8800/DX/MX/IX is where you want to be from the future proof perspective.

Dennis Heim | Emerging Technology Architect (Collaboration)
World Wide Technology, Inc. | +1 314-212-1814
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From: cisco-voip [mailto:cisco-voip-bounces at puck.nether.net] On Behalf Of Jeremy Bresley
Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2015 10:48 PM
To: cisco-voip at puck.nether.net<mailto:cisco-voip at puck.nether.net>
Subject: Re: [cisco-voip] Recommendations for new handsets

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<mailto:brez at brezworks.com>
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