Spa9XX compatability with UC540/560

[eoncablewire]

I have a client that has 10 or 11 of the Spa9XX phones in use presumably with Asterisk. I had hoped to bump the current vendor by dropping in a UC560 and save the day. The current vendor is proposing add IP phones to the other digital system they have.

Is there perhaps a firmware update that adds skinny support?

Thanks

Johnny

[Steven DiStefano · Accepted solution]

No Sir.

The SPA5xx series phones are the new show in town.

In fact, the SPA9xx were never supported.

Thanks,

Steve

[eoncablewire]

Thanks for the response Steve,

Wow, just think of all the deals we could win if we could walk in and replace their sip server with a UC560. Seems it would be a simple firmware update to essential turn the SPA9XX phones into SPA5XX phones.

I hope the BDU sees the sense in upgradign the firmware so we dont have customers that lose their investment.

When I proposed essentially throwing their phones in the trash and buying new phones (5XX) that looked identical to them .. they thought I was crazy.

I agree with them, it doesnt seem right. Why should they have to re-purchase the same phones (they way they see it). Now they want to work with a stable vendor which doesnt have this type of problem.

Is there any way to get support for these phones on the UC500 series so we can hold onto the installed customer base?

Thanks

Johnny

[Steven DiStefano]

I understand.

You may want to ask your SBAM about a 'change your voice" program, where you maybe can get rebate for those old phones, which always only ran SIP (never SCCP).

The BU PMs monitor this commuity too, so they can comment, but this has been discussed before we invested in the SPA500 which do both SIP and SPCP (a tokenized version of SCCP).

The answer has always been not supported.

Steve

[eoncablewire]

Well the site I visited didnt seem to have the phones programmed correctly, so I know if I had a viable

cost-effective option I could have stolen the account.

They thought I was trying to scam them when I told them the current phones wouldnt work but that another identical phone with a new model number would work.

Point is that I have found quite a few sites where they are using SPA9XX phones with Asterisk or other servers and if all I have to do is walk in with a UC box and drop it in and upgrade the phone firmware to add a new client, why not?

I understand the difference between Cisco SMB and Cisco classic but In my opinion Cisco SMB should always be compatible with Cisco SMB. With that said I think that all SMB voice products should be compatible or at the very least the only voice platform should support all SMB end points.

Does the UC500 support sip clients yet? If so wouldnt that also solve the problem?

Johnny

[Steven DiStefano]

As always, very astute observation Johnny.  Unfortunately, UC540/UC560 with CCA dont support SIP Endpoints.

Perhaps a UC520 can be made to treat them as such (like a 3rd party sip endpoint), but I have no skill or experience with that.

ISR G2 running CME do support them, but the CCP really offers a 'CLI Blob' entry window to get them populated.

Steve

[eoncablewire]

I am ALL about stable and supported, so I would rather stick to the current methods or lack of for the time being.

I wonder if the hardware is shared between the Spa 9XX and 5XX. If so it seems a small matter to use the 5XX firmware. Perhaps the BU will reconsider making those phones compatible with the UC500's.

Thanks

Johnny