Solved: Re: CSCve15706 - 8821 built in microphone fails after customer use

Pops.1953 · ‎03-28-2018

Hello,

Anybody out there in CISCO world have any suggestions or helpful hints on resolving

the microphone not working on 8821 wireless phones?

thanks; Pops

knickfan · ‎03-31-2018

I too have had this issue. I have had 6 phones in less than 6 months do this. There was no fixing the phones, but Cisco did let me RMA them. I have 15x 8821 devices and this has happened on almost half, I wonder if there is an issue with this model currently.

View solution in original post

knickfan · ‎03-31-2018

I too have had this issue. I have had 6 phones in less than 6 months do this. There was no fixing the phones, but Cisco did let me RMA them. I have 15x 8821 devices and this has happened on almost half, I wonder if there is an issue with this model currently.

Hamburglar22 · ‎04-23-2018

I've deployed over 70x 8821s and I've had to RMA 50x phones. 45 out of 50 of them have had the 1Way Audio/Broken mic issues. The other 5 had various other issues. MIC Certificate error, constantly reverting back to factory defaults, etc. Some of the RMA'd phones I've had to send back for RMA, as well. There's definitely a problem with these phones and I hope Cisco addresses them asap.

jcg6211 · ‎05-14-2018

I'm not adding anything of value here, but just to add that we've had several issues with 8821 microphones as well. We've RMA'ed at least a dozen due to the microphone failing, we've had them revert to factory default, and a few other random things. These phones are a nightmare maintenance-wise. I work for a hospital and I'm not real happy about getting called while on-call due to this faulty product! Hang on to your 7925's as long as you can!

Pops.1953 · ‎05-14-2018

I feel your pain. I also work for a hospital system and in the 2 years or so that we have been using the 8821 phones we have RMA-ed probably over 200.

I believe the Microphone maybe an actual hardware failure. One good drop and it's toast.

The 7925 models were much more durable in this regard. And better in every other way as well.

Something we have been trying for the "losing programming etc" issues and it "seems" to help some. is....

After doing a factory reset,

Under WLAN configuration

Under #4 instead of 802.11 mode : Auto / change it to 5 GHZ

In our system the 2.4 GHZ channel is jam packed with too many devices.

Under #5 On call power save ; Disable it.

Hope this helps; let me know if it does or not.

Hamburglar22 · ‎05-15-2018

@Pops.1953 wrote:

I feel your pain. I also work for a hospital system and in the 2 years or so that we have been using the 8821 phones we have RMA-ed probably over 200.

I believe the Microphone maybe an actual hardware failure. One good drop and it's toast.

The 7925 models were much more durable in this regard. And better in every other way as well.

Something we have been trying for the "losing programming etc" issues and it "seems" to help some. is....

After doing a factory reset,

Under WLAN configuration

Under #4 instead of 802.11 mode : Auto / change it to 5 GHZ

In our system the 2.4 GHZ channel is jam packed with too many devices.

Under #5 On call power save ; Disable it.

Hope this helps; let me know if it does or not.

Thanks for this suggestion, Pops. Do you do a factory reset out of the box, before you deploy the phones, or when only you notice that the phones have lost their settings? I get this periodically, too. Phones losing their settings.

How has Cisco handled your RMAs? They've now told me that since the phones are out of warranty, they won't RMA the ones with bad microphones. This is rather frustrating as we've only deployed them since October, 2017, but they were purchased from our resellers in May, 2017.

Out of the 200 (ridiculously high number btw) that you RMA'd how many of he replacement devices did you RMA? I've had to RMA a handful of replacements. There's definitely something inherently wrong with these phones!

Just curious what firmware you're all running. Not that it's made a difference on which phones have had bad mics, but I'm currently running on sip8821.11-0-3SR6-15.

NID · ‎10-04-2018

I have a fleet of around 150.

I am using firmware sip8821.11-0-4-14 and that has fixed most of the various grumbles Users have with the 8821's.

I was RMAing perhaps 1 in 10 for various one-way audio issues. Software or Microphone.

But when I moved to 11-0-3 & then 11-0-4, I have only RMA'd 1 this year and that was definitely the microphone.

I also locked down their settings as much as possible with a Wireless LAN profile and have the minimum sound at 1.

And yes, use 5 Ghz only!

Pre 11-0-3 we were factory resetting them & reloading credentials at least once a month.

Regards

Pops.1953 · ‎10-04-2018

Do you think that is the firmware upgrade actually fixed some Microphone problems?
Pops.1953

jcg6211 · ‎10-04-2018

I don't think the firmware has helped with the microphone issues. It was a manufacturing issue and I think Cisco had it narrowed down to a range of serial numbers. I currently have 10 sitting on my desk that I need to RMA for the microphone issue.

Pops.1953 · ‎10-04-2018

Ok, thanks. I wish we had that few needing to be sent for RMA.

NID · ‎10-04-2018

I think the firmware upgrade fixed lots of 'unexpected' problems.

Users that were consistently complaining about problems that could not be re-created, settled down almost immediately the firmware was upgraded.

The one-way audio was always a constant reoccurring grumble before the upgrade.

solivarr · ‎02-22-2019

SOLUTION FOUND:

Cisco has found a large majority of microphone failures to be a result of using the phone with third party phone covers / cases and provides helpful suggestions in the bug workaround section which I have provided below:

Workaround:
Certain phone covers or cases have been found to cause or contribute to microphone failures with the Cisco 8821. Please discontinue using phone covers or cases to prevent damage to the microphone.

Ask the user to disable the background noise filter. This has been shown to work for microphones that are partially damaged

Further Problem Description:
Cisco Wireless IP Phone 8821 Support for Third-Party Cases and Covers:
https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/cuipph/8821/english/technical_bulletin/Cisco_Technical_Bulletin_for_Wireless_IP_Phone_8821_RC3.pdf

Pops.1953 · ‎03-29-2019

This is directed at 90% of the official Cisco employee posts.

I apologize ahead of time for my next comments…

Who are you trying to fool?

You are trying to feed us bunch of misinformation and out & out lies.

You KNOW the real problem is that this model phone is an inferior product.

The microphone was built too fragile for use by normal people.

A couple of good drops on the floor and the microphone is toast.

Please come out with a newer more ruggedized version of the 8821 or a completely new phone

model that can stand up to normal wear and tear of a hectic environment of a hospital.

We still have many 7925 phones in service here and they work great.

I have been carrying mine for about 5 years now with no issues.

I am in the IT department here at the hospital and we get 7925 phones turned in beat to heck,

with chunks missing from the case, the numbers worn off the buttons and the phone STILL works!

G3261 · ‎01-23-2020

I am with you on this....CISCO decided to introduce new model of wireless phone without considering that organizations have to change their WL infrastructure (moving from 2.4 to 5GHz) which will be a huge cost for some places. Why this decision made by Cisco....who knows? Our 7925s still working fine no problems with them.

jcg6211 · ‎01-23-2020

January 2020, the 8821 is still crap!!! Microphone issue still persists!