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Jose Mendez
Level 1
Level 1

In this procedure I'm going to start from scratch with an image and  go step by step on how to tailor it to size an 7965/7945's IP Phone  display. At the end there is also a troubleshooting section and links to other IP Phone model image specifics.

 

 

Components for this specific  howto:

  1. 7965/7945 IP Phone
  2. CallManager Linux-based  (5.x/6.x/7.x/8.x)
  3. The Gimp editing software   
  4. A  picture file of your preference

 

Prerequisites:

  1. Read  the official guide: http://tools.cisco.com/squish/4441e
  2. CallManager  Administrator and OS Administrator access

This document contains the step by step Procedures and the Video for Modifying the background Image of an IP Phone.

 

The Complete recording of the Video can be accessed here.

 

Background image change.jpg

Steps:

Open  the picture with The Gimp

  1. In my case, the image I selected  is 225x168px, so it doesn't meet the size requirements (see  Prerequisites).
    1. screenshot_003.png
    2. Go to Image > Canvas Size (If your image is  bigger than the specified size, go to Image > Scale Image and follow  next steps).
    3. screenshot_005.png
    4. Click the chain icon next to the  pixels drop-down menu, and change the canvas size (or image size if you  are scaling it) to Width:320 / Height:212
    5. Click the "Center"  button so that the image stays centered on the new space, or drag the  preview thumbnail to a corner of your choice within the canvas' space  (if you are scaling the image the "Center" button and the drag option  are not there)
    6. Click Resize
    7. Note the changesscreenshot_006.png
    8. Now we need to put a white  background.
    9. Right click the image layer on the layer window flatten.jpg
    10. Click  Flatten Image at the very bottom.
    11. Now we need to make sure  there are no more colors than the phone can accept.
    12. Go to  Colors > Posterize. screenshot_007.pngThis  tool works with powers of 2. An IP Phone cannot display more than  65535 colors, so increase or decrease the posterize levels to no  more than 15, as 15 is the closest power of 2  to 65535 (2 to the power of 15 is 32768)
    13. Click  ok
    14. Go to File > Save as > choose PNG as the file type
    15. screenshot_008.png
    16. Click Save
    17. screenshot_010.png
    18. Now  lets fabricate the thumbnail
    19. Go to Image > Scale Image and  type 80 in the Width field
    20. The Height field should automatically  populate to 53
    21. Save the image in PNG type just as we did before
    22. Try  to keep simple, short names like img.png and img-tmb.png
  2. Now  we will tailor the XML file that lists the available images
    1. Download this example List.xml, or copy this content to a regular text file, and save it as an .xml archive:  
    2. <CiscoIPPhoneImageList>

       

      <ImageItem  Image="TFTP:Desktops/320x212x16/IMAGE-THUMB.png"
      URL="TFTP:Desktops/320x212x16/IMAGE.png"/> 

      </CiscoIPPhoneImageList>
    3. Replace  IMAGE-THUMB.png in the code wih the name chosen for your preview size  image. Don't forget the double quotes at the end.
    4. Replace IMAGE.png in this code with  the name chosen  for your full size image. Don't forget the double quotes at the  end.
    5. Save the file so that it reads: List.xml  (case sensitive)
    6. If you need to present more than 1 image options to your users, copy/paste the <ImageItem.... block and replace the names with the other image names as in step 2 an 3
  3. Time to upload all 3 files to  the TFTP server
    1. Go to Cisco OS Administration >  Software Upgrades > TFTP File Managementscreenshot_009.png
    2.  
    3. Click on Upload File
    4. screenshot_012.png
    5. In the Upload File field enter the path where your  full size image, thumbnail image and List.xml files are
    6. In the  Directory field, enter: /Desktops/320x212x16 (include the forward  slashes and delete any white space at the end)
    7. Hit the  Upload file button for each individual file you are transferring
    8. Back  at the TFTP File Management window, type the name of your files and  click Find to verify they are there.
    9. Go to Cisco Unified Serviceability > Tools > Control Center - Feature Center > Select the Cisco TFTP radio button and restart the service by clicking the green triangle button at the top of the page, or the Restart button near the end
    10. screenshot_013.png
  4. On the IP Phone,  go to Settings > User Preferences > Background Images, and choose the thumbnail that you want to apply. They should be there now

 

 

Troubleshooting:

NOTE: When dealing with image difficulties, try restarting the TFTP after each file upload

 

Problem: you go to Phone settings, and there you can see other background options, but can't really see the picture
Solution: it is most likely because of the color depth issue. Change the levels as mentioned in step 1-11

 

Problem: you go to Phone settings, and there are no options to change the image
Solution 1: After saving the file with some text editors, eventhough you specify an .xml extension, the program might add a .txt at the end. Erase it.
Solution 2: open an SSH session to the CallManager node where the XML and PNG files were uploaded. run this command, make sure the files were correctly uploaded:

  • file list activelog cm/tftpdata/Desktops/320x212x16

 

If not, then you uploaded them to another node, or there is something wrong with the TFTP transaction

Solution 3: open the List.xml file with a browser. If it shows a syntax error, then there is a quote, bracket or other mistake in the XML syntax. No files will be shown in the phone. A good syntax should look like this in your browser:

 

good-xml.jpg


Problem: You can see the thumbnail just fine, but when you select it, it shows "FILE NOT FOUND" error message.
Solution 1: At this point we are sure the XML file is ok, because the thumbnail is there, but the path or the name of the full-size image is incorrect. Open the XML list and make sure the image extension is lower case png  and not GIF, JPG or other format, and that the name is correct.
Solution 2: see solution 2 from previous Problem
Solution 3: it has happened that the TFTP transaction flow is affected somehow, so you might correct the XML file, save it, but when you go to the upload step you are actually uploading an old version of it, still pointing to a JPG image or to an older image name. In order to verify the contents of the file you just uploaded, run this command from an SSH Session, and check if the syntax is ok and pointing to the correct file:

  • file view activelog  cm/tftpdata/Desktops/320x212x16/List.xml

 

Problem: You go to the Background Images menu on your IP Phone, but the "Selections Unavailable" message comes up, some phones may show the thumbnails just fine.

Solution 1: After saving the  file with some text editors, eventhough you specify an .xml extension,  the program might add a .txt at the end. Erase it.
Solution 2: open an SSH session to the CallManager node where the XML and PNG files  were uploaded. run this command, make sure the files were correctly  uploaded:

  • file list activelog cm/tftpdata/Desktops/320x212x16

 

If not, then you uploaded them to another node, or there is something wrong with the TFTP transaction

Solution 3: open the List.xml file with a browser. If it shows a syntax error, then  there is a quote, bracket or other mistake in the XML syntax. No files  will be shown in the phone. A good syntax should look like this in your  browser:

 

Image specifications for other models:

These same instructions may be used with different phone models, however the TFTP directory path may change according to the display size of your model. Please verify the specifics.

 

7911: Desktops/95x34x1 . The background dimensions are 95x34, the thumbnail is 24x9.

 

7941/7961:  http://www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/docs/voice_ip_comm/cuipph/7962g_7961g_7961g-ge_7942g_7941g_7941g-ge/7_1/english/administration/guide/62614241cus.html#wp1030672

 

7942/7962: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cuipph/7962g_7942g/7_0/english/administration/guide/7962cus.html#wp1030672


7970/7971/IP Communicator: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/docs/voice_ip_comm/cuipph/7970g_7971g-ge/english/5_1/sip/english/adminstraton/guide/7970cst.html#wp1088046


7975: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/docs/voice_ip_comm/cuipph/7975g/6_0/english/administration/guide/7975cst.html#wp1088046

 

7985: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cuipph/7985g/4_1/english/administration/guide/7985adm2.pdf

 

Update:

Latest setting for Cisco Unified IP Phone 7975G, 7971G-GE, 7970G, 7965G, and 7945G based on CUCM 8.5:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cuipph/7975G_7971g-ge_7970g_7965g_7945g/8_5/english/admin_guide/7970cst.html

Comments
jochaver
Community Member

Great guide, great help, thanks Jose!!

Andrewkai
Level 1
Level 1

Can I change background image on my 7940 phone? cuz I cannot find change background option under my phone's setting.

Cheer!

Andrew

Aaron Harrison
VIP Alumni
VIP Alumni

You can't. 7940s and 7960s do not support background images.

You can point the 'idle URL' in ccmadmin to a web page, but that is always a bad idea as it means you have to 'exit' the page before being able to dial etc.

Andrewkai
Level 1
Level 1

Thanks for your reply Aron. Do you have any links from cisco that I can confirm to my customer that 7940s doesn't support backgroung images?

Could you help me provide some guide on how to configure idle URL on 7940s?

Cheer!

Andrew

Andrewkai
Level 1
Level 1

Thank you Andres.

dannywon
Level 4
Level 4

You can try this app!  I have tried and it works well:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jq-phone/id460091669?ls=1&mt=8

Aaron Harrison
VIP Alumni
VIP Alumni

Hi Danny

You'd hope you had tried it, since you are listed on the screen shot as the copyright owner :-)

In a similarly shameless manner I would like to present my own application for creation and bulk deployment of images. It's new, and in Beta testing at the moment - and is currently available free of charge. www.ipcommute.co.uk

Other options include:

www.unifiedfx.com

www.voipintegration.com

But I find mine the easiest to use ;-)

Aaron

Alberto Douglas
Level 1
Level 1

whar about background for one specific extension? only one user with a background (7942)

thanks

rutibuni
Level 4
Level 4

Jose Mendez provided links to IP phone admin specifications which is absolutely correct. For newer phones, the same info is available in their corresponding admin guides.

hello,

I have a question. is there any way to changin the background automatic for all my ip phones 7941. because I have to do in 38 but I don´t want to do one by one.

Regards.

Benjamin

Bryant Onojeta
Level 1
Level 1

Great Post!!! This is good step by step on the this process thanks again Jose.

This is still helpful 5 years after your post, thanks Jose.

I had the list and images up, but missed restarting the TFTP service. Your guide quickly helped me figure out what I had missed.

 

Thanks a bunch for taking the time to write this up. 

-Bain

James Tuson
Level 1
Level 1

Great - this helped me 5 years after your post. In case it helps others, I used ImageMagick in windows to format my images to the correct bit depth, and create the thumbnails.

Logo2015.png is my image already sized to the correct pixel height and width for the phone model e.g. 320x212.

  • convert.exe -colors 256 -depth 16 Logo2015.png Logo2015_16bit.png
  • convert.exe -resize 80x53 -depth 16 Logo2015_16bit.png tn-Logo2015_16bit.png

A portable version of ImageMagick for windows can be downloaded here: http://www.imagemagick.org/script/binary-releases.php

 

David Sandoval
Level 1
Level 1

So, with Call Manager 11 my phones are trying to download the file.png.sgn any way to get around that? Or do I need to digitally sign my background images now?

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