Unable to get (goldlabs) labs working for UCS500 first looks.

[Robert Prideaux]

I have been trying to get this working for a few months. (It is under the PEC and is the recommended course for "Engineers for UCS 500" - there are a couple more to follow.)

Finally got a response (after several failed attempts, waiting for session times etc) that (are you ready for this?)

The sole source of Training for the UCS 500 line, is in a lab environment that DOES NOT SUPPORT Win 7!

I received a number of registry hacks, Telnet instructions (I run 64 bit)  - but the first reg hack refers to a non existent key.

Now I am prepared to go to great lengths to succeed in my SMB Pro practice - but Cisco seems determined to see me fail.

Steve, if you read this, can you please talk to some of the Suits and try to get this sorted?

All the problems I have encountered trying to get my (very expensive) lab up and my first client installed, means I am looking at losing my business, (going broke due to the huge sums spent and so much lost billable time) which I have worked damn hard to build over the last 13 years.

Even Microsoft have better learning facilities for Partners, than this (and doesn't that make you shudder???).

The attitude at Cisco seems to be (from my perspective) that SMB Pro just hangs together, needs no configuration, not an Enterprise (AKA Catalyst et al) product and hence does not deserve/need any real support.

And no, as I am trying to run a small business of my own, I have no deep pocketed boss to pay for me to swan off and get my CCIE so I can understand this.

I don't have the time to finish my CCNA even - after wasting 4 months with this mess.

This is not my only supported product set (as is normal in an SMB focussed MSP setup), so I cannot just focus on this one piece of hardware to the exclusion of everything else.

Why can I not get a concise, accessible, workable set of training for this product set?

Why are Cisco using a lab environment (and lets face it, Steve's VOD's are better) that MUST be costing Cisco an arm and a leg - yet is non functional for the current deployable windows operating system?

(Oh yes, don't use IE 9 - that does not work either...).

Help, I'm drowning,,,

[Steven DiStefano]

Rob,

If you PM me your contact information, we can try to have your Sales team contact you within the region.

There are many events in addition to the First Look, Advanced, and Advanced day 3 training (virtual) that are local to a geography, and maybe we can get you hooked into that.

In terms of support for Windows 7, CCA and SCC support this, so not clear on what the exact integration was which prevented this?  Was it the connection to the virtual labs?   I do know some people who sign up for the classes to get the PDF and then they run them on their own HW (NFR kit which you should have).

Thanks for the plug on the Technical Enablement Labs https://supportforums.cisco.com/docs/DOC-9836

But you said VOD, so I got a little nervous, because I havent been maintaining the old VODs pages.  Please click this link above and see if these labs can help you too.

I have come to believe that while UC500 is a complex offering (alot of robustness), it can be mastered using a steps to success model as follows:

1) be famaliar with the CCA Feature Description Guide and make sure you dont oversell something CCA cant support.  There will always be feature lag time between CME and UC500 (trickle) and in some cases there will be things that we dont support that have been in CME for a while.  But this becomes a problem if you are stuck on site (show up and throw up) for the first time realizing something you said you can do is not supported.  We do feel since CCA 3.0, that we realy have what you need to be competitive and successful managing it with CCA.    Dont go down the path of CLI unless you want to walk away from CCA (the support policy will dictate that as it is too difficult to support CLI interaction with CCA.

2) perform Site Survey (high level first) to determine the site design.  Determine the features required, what can be positioned that the end customer doesnt have, and build the design and price the BOM (using QPT).  Then dig into the deeper requirements gathering of which phones require which features on which buttons, and accumulate the Phone MAC addresses, names, numbers, etc in the Bulk Import XML file you will use later for CCA TSW.  Get the detailes you will need to stage the system in your own office like park slots, call hold recall instruments, AA menu actions, etc.

3) STAGE the system.   CCA 3.0 disables auto Ephon-dn assignment which allows the entire system to be configured without any phones plugged in.  Using all the data you collected, this is a big advantage for you to build it in your office as well as SW Upgrade to the latest SWP and prepare your CCA PC for interconnect (The CCA Admin Guide now includes prerequisite checks).  Plug in a few phones to do basic feature checks before you head to the customer site. Address any issues without the end customer pressure on you.

4) Deployment should be walking around to place the phones, plugging them into the ethernet (back to the switches to the UC5xx), doing the PSTN interconnect, and tweeking any last minture changes the customer would like, not building it on site.  Run some cutover tests and perform some end user training, which ususally goes a long way as the phone instruments are usually different (softkeys take getting used to and if taught correctly, will be liked).

I hope this helps a little.   I believe you can master this.  I think maybe we dont enforce some of this stuff above, and there are too many chances to get into trouble if you dont have a set of practice steps that work.

[Robert Prideaux]

Hi Steve

great reply as usual.

Yes, the Win 7 issue is the Gold labs training. CCA etc has no issues. I actually tried configuring from my prod desktop - but found building a little Atom based ITX format box with XP Pro and using an SSD hard drive, connected via the "PC" port, makes a great config tool!

The only virtual training I have seen trawling around is the Gold labs - and that seems a complete disaster.

Not sure what you meant by running the labs myself (am happy to; but am unsure as to how that works?)

Your advice re: the steps to rollout etc are all good - and to be honest, after 40 years in this game they are pretty solid advice.

Change the words a bit and they are exactly are as should be followed when rolling out (or design/config) any server/client setup. (something I am very familiar with.)

The disaster I am facing is the the lab kit does not work, let alone staging my clients kit.

The main problem is that nothing works...

I have a lab setup with a complete SMB Pro range, from phones to Video cameras.

The SA500 and the ESW units  (with a little brain sweat) have been easy enough to setup and configure, they work fine and have done since new.

Phone on my desk(525G) has worked since new, as a standalone SIP unit (and it replaced some linksys SPA962/942 units). So have had SIP for near 5 years.

But I just cannot seem to get the  UC box past Go.

Latest little pitfall?

I use a VDSL1 net connection over cable. The ISP insists on making the connection a DHCP one, even though, as a business grade service, I have a static IP.

The UC560 logins in (well, I can see a session if I log in via another connection to my ISP account) but the UC box says it has no WAN session.

Trying to do a reset (the old issue) and it hangs "loading voice related data".

What is it with the Factory reset option that is so flaky?

I do not want to go down the CLI path as A. it is specifically exluded as a support option and B. I think it just adds another layer of complications.

and C. I don't have time to master the damn thing as it is too complex!

All I have ever tried to do is configure a single SIP Trunk on it - and it just does not work... forget adding in PSTN and faxes!!!

I can configure the extensions (through CCA etc) and users, voicemail etc.

I have tried to use the SMB support line but it is swamped and running a small business, you just don't have the time to tie up the phone or be available just when someone calls you back - hence my desperation to access some training on this I can do out of hours..

I now have TWO UC560's I cannot reset = or get working.

Yeah, sorry about the VOD comment - I was thinking (in particular) of one of your old VODs on the ESW range - but it applies to all your doco as well!

Finally, not sure how to contact you direct; only have the support email (no reply...).

My contact here for Cisco is the SMB channel manager, Amy Wang (who is brilliant, but training is not her area), maybe you could send your email through her? for me to respond to

Thanks

Rob.

[David Trad]

Hi Robert,

Since you are in Australia I am more than happy to give you a call and try to help you out where ever I can, I know exactly what you are saying and am quite epithetic to your situation.

I am not from Cisco and work for a VAR, but none-the-less am not shy to help anyone out with their problems, over the last couple of years I have had a specific contact within Cisco who mentored and tutored me with the UC-500 systems and for that am in debt to him, and as a result do my best to give back to the Cisco community as a repayment to that debt, it is just a pity that this particular person could not do this with many other partners, but then that would be spreading ones self too thinly, and am very mindful of that.

Send me an e-mail if you beleive I can help you out, especially if you need help with getting those UC's factory reset I am pretty versed now with getting labs setup as I just love playing with the toys and also getting them ready for demonstrations.

Either way I hope you get what you are looking for and the difficulty with working with Cisco becomes a non-issue.

Cheers,

David.