Demo a Cisco IP Phone ?

[dkraut]

Hi All, hope I'm posting in the most appropriate place.  I am trying to find out if there is a way we can demo an IP Phone in our environment.  Actually, all I really need to demo is the ability of a Cisco IP Phone to connect remotely to an ASA 5510 and remain connected dependably (We have a lot of remote SOHO users).  We're currently having all kinds of issues with "Brand X" (non-Cisco VoIP system) and I believe upper management is finally ready to take a serious look at replacing "Brand X" with with Cisco.  Any help would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks!

[Jonathan Schulenberg · Accepted solution]

Current generation phones have the AnyConnect SSL VPN client embedded in their firmware so it is possible for a phone to connect to an ASA. I have a 7975 sitting on my desk at home and it works quite well as long as my Internet connection is stable and not congested.

You would need a demo enviroment to connect with though and, to my knowledge, there are no public ones.  Reach out to a Cisco partner or your Cisco AM for assistance here.

Please remember to rate helpful responses and identify helpful or correct answers.

[travis-dennis_2 · Accepted solution]

Also take into account the service is only going to be as dependable as the Internet connection. 

As Jonathan stated, your Cisco AM should have a couple of "showcase" clients where they take prospects to let them see the system in action in a real world setting.  When I was on the customer side of the fence  My Cisco AM would bring 1-2 customers per month by to look at what I was doing with VoIP over VPN using the public Internet.  Mind you this was 13 years ago.  Not so cutting edge now.

I have personally seen the IP Phone/ASA comnination stayed nailed up for weeks at a time using cable Internet.  The only issues I have ever seen once this is configured properly is the Internet conenction dropping.  Nothing you can do about that though.