MAC Address Barcode Label Missing from IP Phone Boxes

[jcp408]

Anyone else run into this?

We are VAR. On all of our recent shipments of new phones the MAC address barcode label that has been affixed to the bottom side (opposite side from the p/n-s/n label) on individual IP phone boxes is no longer there on new phones shipped from Cisco or it's distributors? This started with deliveries we received about 3-4 weeks ago. All the affected phones were manufactured in Malaysia. To be sure the MAC addresses are still listed on the outside of original Cisco cases along with the serial number, but that's it.

Not being able to scan the MAC address on a per phone basis without opening up the box is a real pain and complicates deployment. We use TAPS whenever it makes sense but for some of our customer's designs it's not a 100% solution.

Jon

[gshonting]

I work for a VAR as well, I have done 2 jobs in the last 2 months and have found that the sticker with the mac address is still there, but they put the p/n s/n sticker right on top of it.

So I decided to use the sticker on the outside of the box with the MAC/SN with my barcode scanner and have foud several boxes where the MACs on the outside of the box don't match whats inside the box.

Before this latest round of screw-ups with packaging I used to get boxes with the sticker correctly placed, but the boxes were in upside down so that when I open the box to scan I have to flip all of the boxes over.

If anyone from cisco is reading this, Please let the people responsible in manufacturing know that this is a huge pain for us. If I have 30 boxes of phones, I need to be able to use my barcode scanner and then use that to batch input the phones. I depend on the large sticker on the outisde , but if that if mangled (often) then I open the box and use the stickers inside, which should be facing up and not have another sticker over it.

It is critical that the sticker on the outside match what is inside, that the inside sticker is not covered and that the boxes are aligned in the box properly.

[jcp408]

Thanks for your added perspective. I was able to combine your information with ours. The p/n-s/n label covering the bar code label was dead on. The Cisco BU finally was able to track down what was going on. Their reply is below:

"The problem was taking place at the fulfillment site in Houston. Our manufacturing manager was not aware that those working at the fulfillment site were covering the MAC address labels with other labels. Having discovered that fact, thanks to your reporting, we are making sure that this doesn't happen again."

Jon