Cisco Certified Expert Network Consulting

Cisco has been designing and selling IP phones for around two decades and has delivered almost 100 million IP endpoints that include desktop and wall-mount phones, conference phones, and mobile wireless handsets. Cisco's IP phones range from bare-bones voice-only devices with no display to multi-line IP video phones with color touch screens and the ability to run sophisticated applications. Used in conjunction with Cisco's Unified Communications Manager (formerly CallManager) call control platform, Cisco's IP phones help define the user experience for productive collaboration and are the critical endpoints for IP PBX systems that make up the core of modern business telecommunications. Advanced deployments of Cisco's IP phones can support rich media, mobile communications, IM, real-time presence, collaboration services, and more within a centralized environment that is easy to manage, extensible, highly secure, resilient, economical and intuitive.

Progent's Cisco CCIE (Voice)-certified IP phone consultants can help you maintain and manage Cisco's legacy IP phones, migrate to newer models, or expand your IP telephony solution to incorporate multiple sites, mobile workers, collaborative applications, and immersive telepresence technology. Progent offers online and on-premises consulting and troubleshooting services and can help you with occasional tasks like configuring a router for SIP trunking or major projects like replacing an outdated PBX system or planning and implementing the IP telephony infrastructure for a new site. Whatever your requirements, Progent's certified experts can save you time and money and help you derive maximum business value from your investment in Cisco VoIP phone and video phone technology.

Cisco IP Phones: VoIP and IP Video Endpoints
A collaboration endpoint is a user instrument, either a hardware phone or a soft phone application that runs on a PC or mobile computer. In the Internet Protocol world, every VoIP handset or soft phone has an Ethernet connection. VoIP phones offer all of the functions that a conventional phone handset provides, but IP phones can also provide additional features such as the ability to access the web or host productivity-enhancing applications.

Unlike traditional Private Branch Exchange (PBX) technology, in a Cisco IP telephony environment you can perform almost instant moves, additions, and modifications. All you do is move the IP phone to its new spot, attach it to the Ethernet connection, and the phone registers itself with Cisco Unified Communications Manager (formerly CallManager). All client privileges and settings are automatically replicated, doing away with the expense and hassle of dispatching technicians to wiring closets. An additional efficient feature is extension mobility, which allows you to sign into any Cisco IP phone and get your personal phone number and privileges.

Cisco offers a wide selection of VoIP and IP video handsets. Cisco's entry-level Small Business SPA 300 family are basic IP and Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications devices that feature high-quality audio, compatibility with hosted IP phone systems or an IP PBX, easy installation and safe remote provisioning, transparent software updates, and browser-based configuration. The value-priced SPA301 is a one-line VoIP phone with no screen or speakerphone, a base dialer that has a single Ethernet connector, and a corded handset with no keys. The SPA302D, designed exclusively for operation with the Cisco SPA232D Multi-Line DECT Analog Telephone Adapter, is a multiline cordless Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) IP phone that offers 10-lines, a 176 x 220 color screen, and a dial pad with a speakerphone. The SPA303 is an affordable 3-line SIP-based IP phone with two switched ports, a 128x64 monochrome screen and a speakerphone.

The SPA500 Series IP phones are low-cost endpoints with support for SIP and SPCP call control protocols, two switch ports, speakerphones, Power over Ethernet, and voice conferencing capability. Most models have a 128 x 64 pixel monochrome screen display, The SPA501G IP Phone supports eight lines and has eight soft buttons but no LCD display. The SPA502G VoIP phone supports a single line and has no programmable buttons. The SPA504G has four lines and has four programmable keys. The SPA508G IP Phone supports eight lines and eight soft keys. The SPA509G supports 12 lines and features 12 programmable keys. The SPA512G VoIP phone supports four lines, no programmable keys and supports 10/100/1000 Ethernet. The SPA514G IP Phone supports four lines, has soft keys, and supports 10/100/1000 Ethernet. The top-of-the-line SPA525G2 includes a 320 x 240 color screen, supports five lines, and features five soft keys.

Cisco's Unified IP Phones 3900 Series and IP Phones 6900 Series are specialty IP voice devices intended for occasional-use settings such as cafeterias, elevators, and conference centers. Cisco's Unified SIP Phone 3905 IP Phone features a 128 x 32 pixel monochrome display, an integrated Ethernet switch, a speakerphone, and PoE. The simple Cisco Unified IP Phone 6901 is a single-line device with no screen and uses a hook switch for transferring a call or joining a conference.

The 7800 Series of budget-priced IP phones are VoIP desktop endpoints with backlit mono screens, four soft buttons, 11 fixed-feature buttons, an Ethernet switch with Class 1 PoE, and a speakerphone. Cisco's 7800 Series support only the SIP call control protocol. All devices in Cisco's 7800 Series incorporate the same advanced speakers and microphones as Cisco's 8800 Series IP phones to provide a state-of-the-art audio experience. Cisco's EnergyWise power-save technology, available on the advanced 7800 units, reduces after-hours energy usage by as much as 60 percent. The Cisco IP Phone 7811 is a one-line phone designed for shared areas and for workers with infrequent call needs. The IP 7811 comes with a 3.28-inch 384 x 106 screen plus a narrow-band speakerphone. Wideband audio is offered through an optional handset. Cisco's IP Phone 7821 is a two-line VoIP phone with a 396 x 162 screen. The IP Phone 7841 is a four-line endpoint with a 396 x 162 screen and is the only model in the 7800 line to support Gigabit Ethernet. The high-end IP Phone 7861 is a 16-line device intended for administrators, call center agents, and supervisors who have significant call requirements.

Cisco Unified IP Phone 7900 Series are dual-protocol (SIP/SCCP) IP voice and video devices with a 320 x 240 pixel color display, an integral 1xGb Ethernet switch, Class 3 Power over Ethernet (PoE), 10 fixed-feature keys and a speakerphone. The Cisco Unified IP Phone 7945G is a two-line unit and the Cisco Unified IP Phone 7965G features four lines. Both VoIP phones include a 5-inch display and four soft keys. The Cisco Unified IP Phone 7975G device is an eight-line IP voice and video phone featuring a 5.6-inch touch screen and five soft buttons.

Cisco's IP Phone 8800 Series is a portfolio of SIP-only IP phones that includes desktop devices, a conference phone, and wireless IP Phones. The desktop units are five-line IP phones featuring a 5-inch 800 x 480 pixel display, a Gigabit Ethernet switch, a speakerphone, four programmable keys and 12 dedicated keys. Cisco's IP Phone 8811 includes a mono screen and supports Class 2 Power over Ethernet (PoE). The Cisco IP Phone 8841 has a WVGA color screen and supports Class 2 PoE. Cisco's IP Phone 8845 has a WVGA color display, 720p HD video, an adjustable camera, Bluetooth, Cisco Intelligent Proximity for Mobile Voice, and supports Class 2 Power over Ethernet. The Cisco IP Phone 8851 has a WVGA color screen and one USB port with charging capability, supports Intelligent Proximity for Mobile Voice and Class 3 PoE, and is offered in Bluetooth and non-Bluetooth versions. Cisco's IP Phone 8861 has a WVGA color display, Bluetooth, two USB ports with charging capability, and supports Cisco Intelligent Proximity for Mobile Voice, Wi-Fi, and Class 4 Power over Ethernet. The Cisco IP Phone 8865 includes a WVGA color display, 720p HD video, a tiltable camera, Bluetooth, dual USB connections with charging capability, and supports Cisco Intelligent Proximity for Mobile Voice, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and Class 4 Power over Ethernet.

Cisco's wireless IP phones are industrial-grade Wi-Fi devices intended for professionals who are mobile within campus, warehouse, health-care or other venues where IT management wants user endpoints that offer more control, data security and durability than is achievable with the BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Device) style of mobile collaboration. Cisco's 8821 and 8812-EX wireless VoIP phones offer mobile onsite users the benefits of voice over wireless LAN (VoWLAN) communications in environments that support 802.11x Wi-Fi. Cisco's 8821 Wireless VoIP Phone includes a 2.4 inch color display, a rugged shell designed to withstand dropping and IP67 for particulate and splash resistance, long-life batteries, a built-in full-duplex speakerphone, and a Bluetooth radio for hands-free operation with wireless headsets. Cisco's 8821-EX Wireless IP Phone adds protection against sparking for hazardous work sites. The 8821-EX also has a shell composed of industry-standard yellow plastics, which makes the 8821-EX easy to find the event of a crisis. Learn about Progent's Wireless IP Phone integration consulting.

Cisco's legacy 9900 Series of high-performance VoIP endpoints integrate high-quality voice with business-grade color screens to provide a rich multimedia experience for knowledge professionals, managers, and executives. The two models in this line incorporate a Standard Definition 24-bit color screen, a Bluetooth transceiver to support a wide choice of headsets, and an integrated 1 GE Ethernet switch. The Cisco Power Save feature is optional and can lower off-hour power draw by as much as 90 percent. The IP Phone 9951 features a 5-inch screen and allows up to 2 Cisco IP Color Key Expansion Modules for adding scalability to programmable line and feature keys. The Cisco IP Phone 9971 features a 5.6-inch screen, a built-in Wi-Fi radio for connecting to wireless environments, and 4 soft-label touchscreen keys to invoke Cisco Unified Communications functions. The 9971 supports up to 3 Cisco IP Expansion Modules for adding scalability to customizable line and feature keys.

Cisco's Legacy UC520, UC540 and UC560 VoIP Gateways
The end-of-life Cisco Unified Communications 500 (UC500) Series is an all-in-one VoIP gateway appliance and software package designed for small businesses. UC500 models provide voice, data, voicemail, automated attendant, IP video, firewall and WiFi functionality, work with older generation Cisco VoIP phones, and support a variety of PSTN interfaces.

All Cisco UC500 packages included a compact switch with 8 Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) ports plus additional foreign exchange stations (FXS) and foreign exchange office (FXO) ports, a firewall, and VPN support. Integrated WiFi was optional. VoIP client capacity can be expanded by attaching Cisco Catalyst Express companion switches. Each UC500 model also included software licenses for Cisco Unified Communications Manager for VoIP call processing as well as Cisco Unity Express for voice messaging and automated attendant. The Cisco UC520 system supports 8 to 16 VoIP users and includes 4 FXS and 4 FXO ports. The Cisco UC540 system supports 24 to 32 VoIP users and has 8 FXO ports. The Cisco UC560 gateway supports 48 VoIP clients and 12 FXO ports.

Progent's Cisco-certified VoIP consultants can help you to maintain your legacy UC500 VoIP system or plan and carry out an efficient migration to a modern IP telephony and voicemail solution such as Cisco's cloud-managed Business Edition 4000.

Progent's Integration and Troubleshooting Support for Cisco IP Voice and Video Phones
Progent's Cisco-certified engineers have in-depth backgrounds integrating, updating and troubleshooting Cisco's VoIP phones, video phones and soft phones. Progent can analyze your current network and Internet access infrastructure to determine whether your system is configured to accommodate high-quality Voice over IP and HD video, help you to choose and deploy Cisco products that make sense for your current situation and downstream growth plans, and integrate your Cisco Unified Communications solution with products from other suppliers.

Progent's CISSP certified cybersecurity consultants can assist you to create, carry out, and validate an enterprise-wide security plan for your converged communications solution. Also, Progent can assist your organization to deploy Cisco high-availability mechanisms such as Cisco Unified Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST) to provide affordable call control backup in remote-branch and teleworker sites, and Progent's disaster recovery and business continuity preparedness experts can help you develop a viable disaster recovery strategy to ensure the availability of your vital communications environment.

Cisco Unified Communications Manager Integration
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM), formerly called CallManager, is the heart of Cisco's IP telephony technology. Cisco Unified CM and Unified Communications Manager Express (CME) allow you to create a seamless, multisite IP-PBX that provides centralized management of your Cisco IP phones and integration with Cisco's portfolio of collaboration applications such as Unified Communications Manager IM and Presence Service with Jabber support, Cisco Unity Express (CUE) for voicemail management, Unified Contact Center Enterprise (Unified CCE) for building an advanced customer contact center, and Cisco Unified Mobility with Mobile Connect for Single Number Reach (SNR). Progent's CCIE-certified experts can provide online and on-premises consulting and troubleshooting support for any phase of Cisco Unified Communications Manager planning, integration, and maintenance including creating efficient dial plans, deploying Cisco IP phones, configuring SIP trunk connections, setting up Cisco ISR G2 routers with support for CUBE (Cisco Unified Border Element) to interconnect multiple VoIP networks, building high-availability environments with full redundancy, and integration with third-party unified messaging software like Microsoft Exchange and Skype for Business.

SIP Infrastructure Solutions
SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) has become the dominant call management protocol for IP telephony and many of Cisco's current IP phones are single-protocol SIP devices. With a SIP trunk you can connect your local IP telephony network to an Internet telephony service provider (ITSP) and from there to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). This is a low-cost and easy-to-manage way to expand your IP telephony ecosystem outside your firewall without requiring a IP-to-PSTN gateway. SIP trunks support voice, IM, multi-media conferencing, emergency 911 calls, and other real-time IP communications. Progent's SIP technology experts can help you to design and integrate a SIP infrastructure solution that incorporate SIP VoIP phones and video endpoints, SIP gateways and trunking, SIP conferencing, SIP proxies, Unified Communications applications, and SIP management with Cisco Unified CM. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for SIP trunks and the Cisco CUBE session border controller, see SIP and CUBE infrastructure solutions: SIP trunks and Cisco CUBE integration consulting.

Contact Progent about Consulting Services for Cisco IP Voice and Video Phones
To talk to a Progent representative about consulting or troubleshooting services for Cisco VoIP and IP Video products, call 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.

To see additional details about Progent's engineering support for Cisco technology, select a topic:

• Introduction to Progent's Cisco Engineering Services
• Fast Online Assistance from a Cisco CCIE Consultant
• Cisco Firepower Firewalls: Configuration and Management Support
• ASA 5500-X Firewall with Cisco Firepower: Setup and Troubleshooting Expertise
• ASA 5500 Firewall Troubleshooting Assistance
• Cisco PIX 500 Firewall Management Support
• Cisco Routers Configuration and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco Wireless Consulting Services
• Aironet Access Points Engineering Help
• Cisco Small Business 100, 300 and 500 Wireless Access Points System Design Support
• Cisco Catalyst Wi-Fi 6/6E Wireless Access Points Solution Design, Deployment and Troubleshooting Support
• Cisco Wireless Controllers Consultants
• Cisco Meraki Wireless APs Consulting Help
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and CallManager Consulting and Troubleshooting
• Cisco Jabber Migration and Support Services
• Catalyst Switches Configuration and Maintenance Services
• Nexus Switches Configuration and Maintenance Services
• Meraki MS Switches Support and Troubleshooting Services
• Cisco Security and VPN Engineering Services
• SIP and CUBE Integration Solutions: SIP PSTN Trunks and CUBE Integration Expertise
• Cisco Duo MFA Two-factor Authentication (2FA) Services for Remote Workers
• Design and Support for Cisco-based Datacenters and Colocation Centers
• Infrastructure Optimization Consulting for Internet Service Providers
• Centralized Cloud-based and Hybrid Network Management Solutions for Cisco-based Infrastructure