Unable to pickup calls

[sdhawan123]

Hi,

I have a Cisco 7940 and when i receive a call on this phone the call cannot be picked out without pressing the Answer Key even after the handst is lifted.

Can anyone tell me the cause and how this can be rectified.

Many thanks.

[Rob Huffman]

Hi Shank,

This is most likely a problem with the Hookswitch. After deploying Cisco IP Phones for the last few years we (and many others) have found this to be the most common hardware problem. There is a "Best Practice" for cleaning the Hookswitch contacts (link below) that does work on occasion. Usually the phone has to be replaced/RMA'd

Best Practices for Cleaning and Troubleshooting Cisco IP Phone Hookswitch

From this interesting Tech note;

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/phones/ps379/products_tech_note09186a00801c0810.shtml

There was also a problem with the 7.2 phone firmware that caused similar looking symptoms but I am pretty sure that it was for the 3rd generation phones 7970/7961/7941. This could be rectified in the short term by booting the phone.

Hope this helps!

Rob

[sdhawan123]

Hi Rob

I think it would be better to get the phone replaced.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers

[james.reed]

The easiest thing to do is RMA the phone.  If it's out of warranty, I've

taken the phone apart and bend the steel spring straight that is atta

ched to the hookswitch.  I've noticed that the spring wears out and gets weak.  This causes it to n

ot have enough tension to actually take the phone "off hook".  This fix will work for a while, but e

ventually, it gets soft again.