atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums VOIP Phones & IP PBX Cisco Telephones and Systems The install finally begins - UC560

Okay the hardware install is complete! (does a little happy dance)

I spoke with the vendor today, tech will be out on Weds to finalize configs. Then we will test for a bit and set a cut over date.

Things I have left for vendor to do:

Extension mobility for 3 users, should be pretty easy (hahahaha like everything else in this install)

Finalize AA setup - I have some questions about linking DID's to AA sub-menues.

Get all the scripts done, and pass them to someone with a decent voice to create!

Setup shared extension buttons.

And I think that's all.

Thanks.

Yeah I ate the one on the adapters. Lost count as I was going along.

No problem with sharing, I have received plenty of help from this place over the years, figured I could share some myself.

Once this is all complete I will post up a lessons learned post on some of the tweaks I had to do to get things running.

it seems that the higher priced Cisco vendor more accurately quoted the job and probably would have resulted in less labor from you. Was the vendor you bought the Cisco from also the same vendor that suppled the PRI?

Yes and the price break they gave us on the PRI was one of the deciding factors in the decision to go with this vendor.

While the UC500 series has had lots of problems over the years, I feel I must say this in their defense.

This configuration is not officially supported by the Small Business team or the system. Remote sites are supported through specificly supported routers and/or an additional system at a remote site.

I have the same setup that we were able to make work and it had nothing to do with the phone system at all, in fact I changed no programming on the system to make it work. In the end it was ALL about access-list and nat rules. Once that was done the phones connected automatically across the site to site vpn (asa to asa).

This was an Out of band solution so no UC500 support could/would help. In fact the UC540/560 is supported by their small business group, not TAC.

The fault in Keep's case as I see it, was with the salesman selling the UC500 solution as a standard CME install rather than understanding the product and its limitations. I am not saying the UC500 series doesnt have faults but in this case I dont see how Cisco failed at all. If its an unsupported feature or solution then you technically shouldnt do it.

I did my OOB solution and am happy with it but now have a fiber link between locations so it no longer matters.

As far as Cisco allowing partners behaviors, does ANY manufacturer do that? I gained a great deal of business from customers leaving Avaya/Cisco/Nortel vendors over the treatment and support they recieved from their current vendors. Its the same all around for almost any manufacurer. Local vendors can be good or bad regardless of the product lines they offer.

See now not once was it ever mentioned that my install was not a supported installation for this product.

I did the same thing with access-lists and NAT rules to make it work. But not once was I ever told that it was not supported. Hearing that now, just pisses me off. Where is it stated that this type of installation is not supported? I would really like to read that one.

Anyway. More Cisco quirky items came out today.

I have each of my locations setup with a blast group, (call group) each blast group has General Delivery voicemail box. You cannot set up an MWI for the GD mailbox....huh? Yeah you heard that correctly, you cannot set a MWI anywhere for a GD box. Even better to access the GD box, you must log into a personal mailbox that is a member of the blast group. So what do you do if none of the members have a personal mailbox? I guess the messages just sit there in limbo.

Solution.

Set up phantom extension with voicemail box say - 3000, set the DID to 3000, CF all calls into 3000 to the blast group pilot number say 3100. Now if no one answers, it will leave a voicemail at ext 3000, that you can add as a "watch" button on the phones to indicate there is a voicemail message in the general box.....what kind of hoaky setup is that?

I also got my analog adapters today, the ATA 186's were replaced with the ATA187's which I got. Guess what, not supported by my current setup.............I get to upgrade all the software on the system to add functionality that should have been included out of the box.

And I thought I was almost done with the configs.

Ha finally found the cause of this issue!

None of the "default" 3 digit extensions were cleared out of the system. So there extension "311" was in the database, of course with nothing attached to it, it was causing issues when trying to dial 3110. Ahhhh its always the little things.

If I were in your shoes I would toss that vendor off the job, hire another one to finish and then go after the first one for damages.

Well I just have to chime in here & hope it helps more customers who might read this thread. It has been posted on this site MANY times to check out your vendor. Bad vendor = bad experience & therefore leads to the customer having a bad taste in their mouth with the manufacturer regardless if the platform is tried & true in the field.

I would like to thank Keep for joining our community & doing an outstanding job as well as keeping us all informed of the "experience" during this process. :toast: