Install a Key Expansion Module on the Cisco IP Phone 8800 Series Multiplatform Phones

[Zepster44]

Hey guys, this may be a total 'n00b' question but, I cannot find any information on this.  I have several 8865 phones and 2 8800 KEM's working with Cisco Webex Control Hub.  I have an issue where both key pads are being recognized by the phone and when you go to the user in Control Hub, it shows a KEM on the device.  The KEM boots up, shows a spinning circle and then goes to a white screen.  I have tried the factory reset on it and it goes through the motions, resets back to a white screen.  Any help would be appreciated if I need to create a template or something to get the screen to display.

thanks!

[Zepster44 · Accepted solution]

Just in case anyone is ever caught in a similar situation, it turns out that the 8800 KEM doesn't show anything on it until you fill all your speed dial slots up on the phone it is plugged into.  It took me 5 months to get this answer, because nobody knew until I contacted Cisco support and even then, they didnt know until we tried a few things first and then stumbled upon this.

[bijpraka]

This doesn't seem right. Are you trying to configure BLF or Speed dials on the KEM? Nevertheless it has no dependency on what is not configured on the main phone. This is totally controlled by the configuration. 

Thanks.

[Zepster44]

Thank you for responding so fast.  When I posted my initial message back in February, nobody responded.  I posted 3 other times and 1 person responded, but, with no solution.

My whole issue was that the phones and phone system were all new installs.  So when the KEM plugs into the 8865 phone and comes up and is just a white screen with the 1 button lit, it makes you wonder what you did wrong.  The instructions that come with the KEM say nothing about this, so, as a new user, you think that the KEM is damaged, only to realize that once you program a template on it, that it actually works.  My phone right now has no speed dials programmed to it, so this is how it looked out of the box.

[bijpraka]

I see. If there is no configuration on the phone then the KEM will always bootup with a white screen as it has nothing to show/display.

It would at least need one line registered on the phone and then you can subscribe to a BLF list tagged to the registered line or configure speed dials on all the keys to dial out from the registered line.

[Zepster44]

Exactly.  And as a new user, I had no idea, so, the documentation would be good to update for the KEM explaining this especially for newbies.

[bijpraka]

Just to understand the use case, what was being expected on the KEM when there is no configuration on it?

Even a phone without any configuration boots up with a blank white screen. So isn't it expected?

Thanks.