Unable to configure Cisco Phone CP-7965G or CP-8861

[rauladan23209]

I purchased two brand new Cisco phones (CP-7965G, CP-8861) for a demo to a client. A client stated that he would give me the business but he wanted Cisco phones. We use a third party cloud hosted PBX provider.
Upon changing the FTP settings on the CP-7965G, I have never been able to get back on the phone again.
It just keeps rebooting as per enclosed pictures. I have followed the instructions to reset it as found on the internet but it just keeps rebooting.
The CP-8861 just says "detecting network..." and never connects. Unable to access phone thru a browser.
Any suggestions on how to get back on the phone to try to reconfigure them are greatly appreciated.

Raul

[Leo Laohoo]

Let us start with the most basic troubleshooting:  Are the phones even getting a valid IP address?

[rauladan23209]

Yes, they are getting valid IP's with gateway and dns included

[Maren Mahoney]

It looks like you've performed a factory reset on the 7965 and it's looking to upgrade firmware. The 7965 uses the SCCP protocol natively, but can be configured for SIP as well. However, the 79XX series (except the oldest 7940/60 phones) don't use open-standard SIP but use Cisco Unified SIP. To my knowledge, except for Asterisk there are no 3rd-Party PBXes that work with the 79XX phones. (But I could be wrong there...)

As for the 8861, that does have a firmware that will work with 3rd-Party PBXes using SIP. The first thing you want to do is determine if you have the 3PCC (the multiplatorm) phone. Look on the back:

If you do not have the 3PCC version of the phone, there is a process for transitioning the firmware from Enterprise to 3PCC if the phone itself is a newer version of the phone model. (I've done the transition twice and it was painful.) You can see some of the information on how to do this here:

Convert between Enterprise Firmware and Multiplatform Firmware for Cisco IP Phone 7800 and 8800 Series Guide 

These are both awesome phones and I hope you get at least the 8861 working! If you have more questions after you do the research let us know.

Maren

[rauladan23209]

Thank you Maren for your response.

If I understand you correctly, I won't be able to use the 7965 phone because it uses a CIsco Unified SIP. Am I correct?

I do not have a 3PCC version of the phone and I will try to do the conversion as you recommended.

The vendor (White Label Communication ) that we are using shows those phones on the list of supported phones.

Thank you again for your input. Very Grateful.

Raul

[Maren Mahoney]

If your PBX vendor says both phone models are supported, then they should have information on getting them registered and working. Yes, the 7965 uses Cisco's vendor-specific SIP but it is entirely possible that your PBX vendor has figured out how to integrate them.

Maren

[rauladan23209]

Maren,

Another question. How can I regain access to the 7965G phone that it is in a constant loop?

Regards, Raul

[Maren Mahoney]

The screen you are seeing on the 7965 indicates that it is trying to download firmware. A Wireshark capture should make it possible to see if it is reaching out to a TFTP server and, if so, exactly which one. There should be factory firmware in it already in the factory partition on the flash harddrive, though. If it is reaching out for a firmware its either been told to (by your PBX, for instance) or there is something wrong with the image in the factory partition on the phone.

Maren

[rauladan23209]

WOW! Thank you for all the info. I greatly appreciate it. I contacted the vendor as per your request and I am configuring a DHCP server with option 150 and their TFTP server. I will let you know how it work out. I still have not had time to convert/upgrade firmware on the other phone. I will keep you posted. Thank you very much!

[Maren Mahoney]

If the 7965 receives the TFTP server address as part of the DHCP pool it may be able to download firmware from that server.

Good luck!

Maren

(Please do me a favor by marking answers as helpful, and if one of them is "correct" mark it that way. You'd be surprised how much it would help.)

[Leo Laohoo]

---

@rauladan23209 wrote:

I purchased two brand new Cisco phones (CP-7965G, CP-8861) for a demo to a client.

---

In my personal opinion, unless the phones are running 3PCC/MPP firmware, this demo is not going to go far.

Configuring Cisco phones (Enterprise image) for Asterisk/3CX is known, industry-wide, as the most difficult exercise to do -- And no other vendor/manufacturer can "top" this.