CISCO is Awful

EsiDastyar59927 · ‎03-01-2021

hi

I don't know anything about IP-Phones. we have more then 20 CISCO 7940 and learned to configure them manually.

now there's problem with some of them:

1- some of them reset themselves during configuration or after configuration, and after reset, I have to configure again and again and...

2- some of them after configuration: if I turn them off and then on, I have to configure them again (turning off means reset factory in this situation).

3-some of them after confutation wont connect to the server and I have to wait 2 or more days then it will connect to the serve. (I don't know how its happen but it happen).

4-one of them now showing "TFTP File not found" on the screen and Setting button not working. (that's new one).

5-i don't know anything about firmware configuration and don't know why this problem happens. I think I am living in 1950 because everything about so confusing and hard. also there's no video or topic or anything that could help someone like me.

I don't know why it should be so hard to solve this problems. why there no easy ways to do...

6-the support of CISCO is most awful that I've ever seen.

Leo Laohoo · ‎03-01-2021

Are you using Cisco-branded call manager or not?

EsiDastyar59927 · ‎03-01-2021

NO

Nithin Eluvathingal · ‎03-01-2021

1- some of them reset themselves during configuration or after configuration, and after reset, I have to configure again and again and...

What call control platform are you using (CUCM or CME)?And what configurations are you trying?

2- some of them after configuration: if I turn them off and then on, I have to configure them again (turning off means reset factory in this situation).if you do factory reset, all configurations will get removed and that's quite normal.

3-some of them after confutation wont connect to the server and I have to wait 2 or more days then it will connect to the serve. (I don't know how its happen but it happen).CUCM or CME

4-one of them now showing "TFTP File not found" on the screen and Setting button not working. (that's new one).More details required regarding the configurations to answer this.

5-i don't know anything about firmware configuration and don't know why this problem happens. I think I am living in 1950 because everything about so confusing and hard. also there's no video or topic or anything that could help someone like me.

I don't know why it should be so hard to solve this problems. why there no easy ways to do...

What you are trying to do with firmware ?

6-the support of CISCO is most awful that I've ever seen.

7940's are EOL product and it got EOL 2015.

EsiDastyar59927 · ‎03-01-2021

what configuration!!!! SIP-Configuration.

I don't know what CUCM or CME means!!!

who said I did reset factory??? I said they reset themselves... I cant do anything.

one of them showing TFTP File not found in the past few days and we didn't do anything and setting button not working

Leo Laohoo · ‎03-01-2021

Wait ... So you are trying to configure the 7940/7960 for non-Cisco call manager, like Asterisk? Is this correct? Do you even have Asterisk running?

@EsiDastyar59927 wrote:

some of them reset themselves during configuration or after configuration, and after reset, I have to configure again and again

Old Cisco phones, like 7940/7960 and running old 8.X.X firmware, if they are unable to contact a/any call manager they will reboot. This is by design.
If you are "manually" configuring them, then it will not work and will not be possible because the only way to configure Cisco phones into non-Cisco-branded call managers is using SEPmacaddress.cnf.xml file.

EsiDastyar59927 · ‎03-01-2021

im using issabel if thats what are you asking. and we have more then 15 of this phones and are working very well

Leo Laohoo · ‎03-01-2021

@EsiDastyar59927 wrote:

im using issabel if thats what are you asking. and we have more then 15 of this phones and are working very well

How many Cisco-branded phones are working with Issabel?
How many Cisco-branded phones are not working?

@EsiDastyar59927 wrote:

TFTP File not found

When a Cisco phone boots up, any phone and any "flavour" of call manager, it will look for the following files:

Configuration file
Firmware &/or firmware-releated files
Dial plan

Error message you've pictured means the phone cannot find the files found in the TFTP server. Maybe DHCP Option 150 is set incorrectly? Maybe the phone still has residual config from previous operator?

EsiDastyar59927 · ‎03-01-2021

SEPmacaddress.cnf.xml file. whats this???? i dont know

and heres picture of TFTP File not found

EsiDastyar59927 · ‎03-02-2021

we have 21 CISCO 7940-SIP Configuration Phones

16 of them working well.

5 of them not working well (1 of them said TFTS file not found, 1 of them reset it self.1 of them takes 2 or more days to connect to the server and 2 of them reset factory themselves or can not connect to server and every days there's new problem with them

(Maybe DHCP Option 150 is set incorrectly?) I don't know what is that

Leo Laohoo · ‎03-02-2021

@EsiDastyar59927 wrote:

we have 21 CISCO 7940-SIP Configuration Phones

16 of them working well.

5 of them not working well (1 of them said TFTS file not found, 1 of them reset it self.1 of them takes 2 or more days to connect to the server and 2 of them reset factory themselves or can not connect to server and every days there's new problem with them

Did you, at least, factory-reset the phones?

EsiDastyar59927 · ‎03-02-2021

yes i did but still problem remains

Leo Laohoo · ‎03-02-2021

@EsiDastyar59927 wrote:

SEPmacaddress.cnf.xml file. whats this???? i dont know

(Maybe DHCP Option 150 is set incorrectly?) I don't know what is that

If you do not know how to configure the phones, then look or hire someone who knows (Issabel)? The situation is difficult/challenging only because the flavour of call-manager like Issabel is used because it is not a very "mainstream" or popular in the Enterprise world.

Java might chime in later but there have been a several threads of people successfully getting Cisco phones to work with Asterisk-based system. And the majority of the phones are the more complex/complicated XML-based phones like 79x5 and newer.

I cannot even help you because this is the first time I've even heard of "Issabel" (which is a "fork" of 3CX).

No offense meant but calling Cisco's support as "awful" is a bit "rich", when:

7940/7960 phones are way past the end-of support date.
7940/7960 phones have very "simple" configuration file of about <20 lines of configuration. They are not overly "complex" like the newer XML-based phones (which can go over 100 configuration lines). Read between the lines.
Any person with basic knowledge in call-managers would know what "SEPmacaddress.cnf.xml" &/or "DHCP Option 150" means.

EsiDastyar59927 · ‎03-02-2021

first of all CISCO IS AWFUL, AWFUL and again AWFUL. (I don't want to use another words if you know what I mean)

i searched and I configure this phones all the time.

all I'm saying is why there's nothing useful for some one like me who wants to solve this problem

again CISCO is AWFUL

also I'm sending this all over the internet and email about this Company.

thank you but your not helping so don't answer it would be better.

I'm showing now why I'm saying this company is AWFUL!

TONY SMITH · ‎03-02-2021

The 7940 phones were last sold in 2010, so must be over 10 years old by now. Cisco offered support for these phones up to 2015, five years after end of sale, assuming that you had a valid support contract with Cisco. However the phones were only ever supported when used with Cisco's call control systems.

What level of support do you expect Cisco to give you, using obsolete phones with third party software that they were not designed for? And do you expect that support to be free of charge?

More constructively, do you have technical support from your software vendor? If so, and if they recommend that you use 7940 phones then they are probably best able to assist.

Have you considered the possibility that the phones are simply dying of old age?