Cisco CallManager System Guide, Release 3.1(1)
Cisco IP Phones

Table Of Contents

Cisco IP Phones

Supported Cisco IP Phones

H.323 Clients and CTI Ports

Phone Button Templates

Default Phone Button Templates

Guidelines for Customizing Phone Button Templates

Methods for Adding Phones

Directory Numbers

Phone Features

Phone Association

Phone Administration Tips

Phone Search

Messages Button

Directories Button

MaxStationsInitPerSecond Service Parameter

Phone Failover and Failback

Phone Configuration Checklist

Where to Find More Information


Cisco IP Phones


Cisco IP Phones as full-featured telephones can plug directly into your IP network. H.323 clients and CTI ports are software-based devices that you configure similarly to the Cisco IP phones. The Cisco CallManager allows you to configure phone features such as call forwarding and call waiting for your phone devices. You can also create phone button templates to assign a common button configuration to a large number of phones.

Once you have added the phones, you can associate users with them. By associating a user with a phone, you give that user control over that device.

This section covers the following topics:

H.323 Clients and CTI Ports

Phone Button Templates

Methods for Adding Phones

Directory Numbers

Phone Association

Phone Administration Tips

Phone Failover and Failback

Phone Configuration Checklist

Where to Find More Information

Supported Cisco IP Phones

Table 33-1 provides an overview of the features available on the following Cisco IP phones supported by Cisco CallManager:

Cisco IP Phone 7900 family (models 7960, 7940, and 7910)

Cisco IP Phone 7914 expansion module

Cisco IP Conference Station 7935

Cisco IP Phone model 30 VIP

Cisco IP Phone 12 series

Table 33-1 Supported Cisco IP Phones and Features 

Cisco IP Phone Model
Description

Cisco IP Phone 7960

The Cisco IP Phone model 7960, a full-featured, six-line business set, supports the following features:

An information (i) button

Six programmable line or speed-dial buttons

Four fixed buttons for accessing voice-mail messages and adjusting phone settings, services, and directories

Four soft keys for accessing additional call detail and functionality

A large LCD display that shows call detail and soft key functions

An internal, two-way, full duplex speakerphone and microphone mute

Cisco IP Phone 7940

The Cisco IP Phone model 7940, a two-line business set with features similar to the Cisco IP Phone model 7960, includes the following features:

An information (i) button

Two programmable buttons (You can configure these buttons as two lines or one line and one speed dial.)

Four on-screen mode buttons for accessing voice- mail messages and adjusting phone settings, services, and directories

Four soft keys for accessing additional call detail and functionality

A large LCD display that shows call detail and soft key functions

An internal two-way, full duplex speakerphone and microphone mute

Cisco IP Phone 7914 Expansion Module

Cisco IP Phone 7914 Expansion Module extends the functionality of the Cisco IP Phone 7960 by providing 14 additional line appearance buttons. You can configure these buttons as lines or speed dial.

The Cisco IP Phone 7914 Expansion Module has a LCD to identify the function of the button and the line status.

You can daisy chain two Cisco IP Phone 7914 Expansion Modules to provide 28 additional lines or speed-dial buttons.

Cisco IP Phone 7910

The Cisco IP Phone 7910, a single-line, basic feature phone designed primarily for common-use areas with medium telephone traffic such as lobbies or breakrooms, includes the following features:

Four dedicated feature buttons for Line, Hold, Transfer, and Settings

Six programmable feature buttons that you can configure through phone button templates in Cisco CallManager

Available features include Call Park, Redial, Speed Dial, Call Pickup, Conference, Forward All, Group Call Pickup, Message Waiting, and Meet-Me Conference.

A two-line LCD display (24 characters per line) that indicates the directory number, call status, date and time

An internal speaker designed to be used for hands-free dialing

Cisco IP Conference Station 7935

The Cisco IP Conference Station 7935 voice instrument, a full-featured, IP-based, full-duplex hands-free conference station for use on desktops and offices and in small-to medium-sized conference rooms, includes the following features:

Three soft keys and menu navigation keys that guide a user through call features and functions

Available features include Call Park, Call Pick Up, Group Call Pick Up, Transfer, and Conference (Ad Hoc and Meet-Me)

An LCD display that indicates the date and time, calling party name, calling party number, digits dialed, and feature and line status

A digitally tuned speaker and three microphones, allowing conference participants to move around while speaking

Microphone mute

Cisco IP Phone 12 SP+

The Cisco IP Phone model 12 SP+ offers many of the same features as PBX or POTS telephones. This IP phone includes the following features:

12 programmable line and feature buttons

An LED associated with each of the 12 feature and line buttons to indicate feature and line status

A two-line LCD display (20 characters per line) for call status and identification

An internal, two-way speakerphone and microphone mute

Cisco IP Phone 30 VIP

The Cisco IP Phone model 30 VIP offers many of the same features as PBX or POTS telephones. This IP phone includes the following features:

26 programmable line and feature buttons

An LED associated with each of the 26 feature and line buttons to indicate feature and line status

A two-line LCD for displaying date and time, calling party name, calling party number, and digits dialed

An internal, two-way speakerphone with microphone mute

Dedicated feature buttons for Transfer, Hold, and Redial


H.323 Clients and CTI Ports

Cisco CallManager Administration enables you to configure software-based devices such as H.323 clients and CTI ports. Software-based Cisco CallManager applications such as Cisco SoftPhone, Cisco AutoAttendant, and Cisco IP Interactive Voice Response (IVR) use CTI ports that are virtual devices.

H.323 clients include Microsoft NetMeeting devices and NetVision Symbol phones.

You configure H.323 clients and CTI ports through the Phone Configuration pane in the Cisco CallManager Administration like you do phones, but they often require fewer configuration settings.

For instructions on how to configure H.323 clients and CTI ports, refer to the "Cisco IP Phone Configuration" chapter in the Cisco CallManager Administration Guide.

Phone Button Templates

Cisco CallManager includes several default phone button templates. When adding phones, you can assign one of these templates to the phones or create a new template.

Creating and using templates provides a fast way to assign a common button configuration to a large number of phones. For example, if users in your company do not use the conference feature, you can create a template that reassigns this button to a different feature, such as speed dial.

To create a template, you must make a copy of an existing template and assign the template a unique name. You can make changes to the default templates included with Cisco CallManager or to custom templates you created. You can rename existing templates and modify them to create new ones, update custom templates to add or remove features, lines, or speed dials, and delete templates that are no longer being used. When you update a template, the change affects all phones that use the template.

Renaming a template does not affect the phones that use that template. All Cisco IP phones that use this template continue to use this template once it is renamed.

Make sure all phones have at least one line assigned. Normally, this is button 1. Phones can have additional lines assigned, depending on the Cisco IP phone model. Phones also generally have several features, such as speed dial and call forward, assigned to the remaining buttons.

You can delete phone templates that are not currently assigned to any phone in your system if they are not the only template for a given phone model. You cannot delete a template that is assigned to one or more devices. You must reassign all Cisco IP phones using the template you want to delete to a different phone button template before you can delete the template.

Cisco CallManager does not directly control all features on Cisco IP phones through phone button templates. Refer to the Cisco IP Phone 7900 Family Administration Guide and the Getting Started publications for individual Cisco IP Phone 7900 Family models for detailed information.

Default Phone Button Templates

Although all Cisco IP phones support similar features, you implement these features differently on various models. For example, some models configure features such as Hold or Transfer using phone button templates; other models have fixed buttons or on-screen program keys for these features that are not configurable. Also, the maximum number of lines or speed dials supported differs for some phone models. These differences require different phone button templates for specific models.

Each Cisco IP phone model comes with a default phone button template. You can use the default templates as is to quickly configure phones. You can also copy and modify the templates to create custom templates.

Custom templates enable you to make features available on some or all phones, restrict the use of certain features to certain phones, configure a different number of lines or speed dials for some or all phones, and so on, depending on how the phone will be used. For example, you may want to create a custom template that can be applied to phones that will be used in conference rooms. Table 33-2 provides descriptions of the default phone button template for each Cisco IP phone model.

Table 33-2 Default Phone Button Templates Listed by Model 

Cisco IP Phone Model
Default Phone Button Template Description

Cisco IP Phone 7960

The default Cisco IP Phone 7960 template uses buttons 1 and 2 for lines and assigns buttons 3 through 6 as speed dial. Access other phone features, such as call park, call forward, redial, hold, resume, voice mail, conferencing, and so on using soft keys on the Cisco IP Phone 7960.

Cisco IP Phone 7940

The Cisco IP Phone 7940 comes with two preconfigured phone button templates provided:

7940 (2-Line)—Uses button 1 and 2 for lines.

7940 (1-Line)—Uses button 1 for line 1 and button 2 for speed dial.

All Cisco IP Phone 7940 phones use one of these templates.

Access phone features, such as call park, call forward, redial, hold, resume, voice mail, conferencing, and so on, using soft keys on the Cisco IP Phone 7940.

Cisco IP Phone 7914 Expansion Module

The default Cisco IP Phone 7914 Expansion Module template uses buttons 1 through 11 for speed dial and leaves buttons 12 through 14 undefined.

Access phone features, such as call park, call forward, redial, hold, resume, voice mail, conferencing, and so on, using soft keys on the Cisco IP Phone 7960.

Each Cisco IP Phone 7914 Expansion Module can use a different template.

Cisco IP Phone 7910

The default phone button template for the Cisco IP Phone 7910 (named Default 7910) uses button 1 for message waiting, button 2 for conference, button 3 for forwarding, buttons 4 and 5 for speed dial, and button 6 for redial.

The Cisco IP Phone 7910 has fixed buttons for Line, Hold, Transfer, and Settings.

Cisco IP Conference Station 7935

Because this phone only has a single line, Cisco does not provide a default phone button template.

Cisco IP Phone 30 SP+

The default Cisco IP Phone model 30 SP+ template uses buttons 1 through 4 for lines, button 5 for call park, button 6 for redial, buttons 8 through 13 and 22 through 25 for speed dial, button 14 for message waiting indicator, button 15 for forward, and button 16 for conference.

Note For only the Cisco IP Phone model 30 SP+, assign button 26 for automatic echo cancellation (AEC).

Cisco IP Phone 30 VIP

The default Cisco IP Phone model 30 VIP template uses buttons 1 through 4 for lines, button 5 for call park, button 6 for redial, buttons 8 through 13 and 22 through 25 for speed dial, button 14 for message waiting indicator, button 15 for call forward, and button 16 for conference.

Cisco IP Phone 12 Series

All Cisco IP Phone model 12 Series phones (12 S, 12 SP, 12 SP+) use the default Cisco IP Phone model 12 SP+ template.

The default Cisco IP Phone model 12 SP+ template uses buttons 1 and 2 for lines, button 3 for redial, buttons 4 through 6 for speed dial, button 7 for hold, button 8 for transfer, button 9 for forwarding, button 10 for call park, button 11 for message waiting, and button 12 for conference.


Guidelines for Customizing Phone Button Templates

Use the following guidelines when creating custom phone button templates:

Make sure that phone users receive a quick reference card or getting started guide that describes the most basic features of the custom template. If you create a custom template to be used by employees in your company, make sure it includes the following features and that you describe them on the quick reference card you create for your users:

Cisco IP Phone 7960, 7940—Line (one or more)

Cisco IP Phone 7910—Forward all

Cisco IP Phone model 12 SP+—Line (one or more), hold, call park, and forward all

Cisco IP Phone model 30 VIP—Line (one or more), call park, and forward all

Consider the nature of each feature to determine how to configure your phone button template. You might want multiple buttons assigned to speed dial and line; however, you usually require only one of the other features described in Table 33-3.

Table 33-3 Phone Feature Description 

Feature
Description

AEC

If you are configuring a template for the Cisco IP Phone model 30 VIP, you must include one occurrence of this feature and assign it to button 26. Auto echo cancellation (AEC) reduces the amount of feedback the called party hears when the calling party is using a speakerphone. Users should press the AEC button on a Cisco IP Phone 30 SP+ when using speakerphone. Users do not need to press this button when speakerphone is not in use. This feature requires no configuration to work.

Answer/release

In conjunction with a headset apparatus, the user can press a button on the headset apparatus to answer and release (disconnect) calls.

Auto answer

If this feature is programmed on the template, activating this button causes the speakerphone to go off-hook automatically when an incoming call is received.

Call park

In conjunction with a call park number or range, when the user presses this button, call park places the call at a directory number for later retrieval. You must have a call park number or range configured in the system for this button to work, and you should provide that number or range to your users, so they can dial into the number(s) to retrieve calls.

Call pickup

Call pickup allows users to pick up incoming calls within their own group. When a user activates this feature, the phone dials the appropriate call pickup group number automatically.

Conference

When users press this button, they initiate an ad hoc conference and then conference other participants in one at a time. Only the person initiating an ad hoc conference needs a conference button. You must make sure an ad hoc conference device is configured in Cisco CallManager Administration for this button to work.

Forward all

Users press this button to forward all calls to the designated directory number. Users can designate the forward all in the Cisco IP Phone Configuration panes, or you can designate a forward all number for each user in Cisco CallManager Administration.

Group call pickup

Group call pickup allows users to pick up incoming calls within their own group or in other groups. Users must dial the appropriate call pickup group number when using this feature.

Hold

Users press this button to place an active call on hold. To retrieve a call on hold, users press the flashing line button or lift the handset and press the flashing line button for the call on hold. The caller on hold hears a tone every 10 seconds to indicate the hold status or music (if the Music On Hold feature is configured.) The hold tone feature requires no configuration to work.

Line

Users press this button to dial a number or to answer an incoming call. You must have added directory numbers on the user phone for this button to work.

Meet-Me conference

When users press this button, they initiate a meet-me conference, and they expect other invited users to dial into the conference. Only the person initiating a meet-me conference needs a meet-me button. You must make sure a meet-me conference device is configured in Cisco CallManager Administration for this button to work.

Message waiting

Users press this button to connect to the voice-messaging system.

None

Use None to leave a button unassigned.

Redial

Users press this button to redial the last number dialed on the Cisco IP phone. This feature requires no configuration to work.

Speed-dial

Users press this button to speed dial a specified number. System administrators can designate speed-dial numbers in Cisco CallManager Administration. Users can designate speed-dial numbers in the Cisco IP Phone Configuration panes.

Transfer

Users press this button to transfer an active call to another directory number.This feature requires no configuration to work.


Methods for Adding Phones

You can automatically add phones to the Cisco CallManager database using auto-registration, manually using the phone configuration panes, or in groups with the Bulk Administration Tool (BAT).

By enabling auto-registration before you begin installing phones, you can automatically add a Cisco IP phone to the Cisco CallManager database when you connect the phone to your IP telephony network. For information on enabling auto-registration, refer to the "Enabling Auto-Registration" section in the Cisco CallManager Administration Guide. During auto-registration, Cisco CallManager assigns the next available sequential directory number to the phone. In many cases, you might not want to use auto-registration; for example, if you want to assign a specific directory number to a phone.

If you do not use auto-registration, you must manually add phones to the Cisco CallManager database or use the Bulk Administration Tool (BAT). BAT, a plug-in application, enables system administrators to perform batch add, modify, and delete operations on large numbers of Cisco IP phones. Refer to the Bulk Administration Tool Guide for Cisco CallManager for detailed instructions on using BAT.

Directory Numbers

Using Cisco CallManager, you can configure and modify directory numbers (lines) assigned to specific phones.

You can set up one or more lines with a shared line appearance. A Cisco CallManager system considers a directory number to be a shared line if it appears on more than one device in the same partition.

In a shared line appearance, for example, you can set up a shared line so that a directory number appears on line 1 of a manager phone and also on line 2 of an assistant phone. Another example of a shared line would be a single incoming 800 number that is set up to appear as line 2 on every sales representative phone in an office.

The following notes and tips apply to using shared line appearances with Cisco CallManager:

You create a shared line appearance by assigning the same directory number and partition to different lines on different devices.

If other devices share a line, the words Shared Line display in red next to the directory number in the Configure a Line Number pane in Cisco CallManager Administration.

If you change the Calling Search Space, Call Waiting, or Call Forward and Pickup settings on any device that uses the shared line, the changes apply to all devices that use that shared line.

To stop sharing a line appearance on a device, change the directory number or partition number for the line and update the device.

In the case of a shared line appearance, Delete removes the directory number only on the current device. Other devices are not affected.

Do not use shared line appearances on any phone that will be used with Cisco WebAttendant.

Do not use shared line appearances on any Cisco IP Phone 7960 that requires auto-answer capability.

Phone Features

Cisco CallManager enables you to configure these phone features on Cisco IP phones: call waiting, call forward, call park, and call pickup.

Call Waiting

Call waiting lets users receive a second incoming call on the same line without disconnecting the first call. When the second call arrives, the user receives a brief call waiting indicator tone.

Configure call waiting on the Directory Number Configuration pane in Cisco CallManager Administration.

Call Forward

Call forward allows a user to configure a Cisco IP phone so that all calls destined for it ring another phone. Three types of call forward exist:

Call forward all—Forwards all calls.

Call forward busy—Forwards calls only when the line is in use.

Call forward no answer—Forwards calls when the phone is not answered after the configured number of rings.

Configure call waiting on the Directory Number Configuration pane in Cisco CallManager Administration.

Call Park

Call park allows a user to place a call on hold, so that anyone connected to the Cisco CallManager system can retrieve it.

For example, if a user is on an active call at extension 1000, the user can park the call to a call park extension such as 1234. Anyone connected to the system can then dial 1234 to retrieve the call.

To use call park, you must add the call park extension (in this case, 1234) in Cisco CallManager Administration when configuring phone features. For more information about call park, see "Call Park" section on page 26-1.

Call Pickup

Call pickup allows you to use your phone to answer another ringing phone in your designated call pickup group.

You configure call pickup when configuring phone features in Cisco CallManager.

When adding a directory line, you can indicate the call pickup group. The call pick up group indicates a number that can be dialed to answer calls to this directory number (in the specified partition). For more information about call pickup, see "Call Pickup and Group Call Pickup" section.

Phone Association

Users can control some devices, such as phones. Applications that are identified as users control other devices, such as CTI ports. When users have control of a phone, they can control certain settings for that phone, such as speed dial and call forwarding. For more information on associating phones with users, refer to "Associating Devices to a User" in the Cisco CallManager Administration Guide.

Phone Administration Tips

The following sections contain information that might help you configure phones in the Cisco CallManager Administration.

Phone Search

The following sections describe how to modify your search to locate a phone. If you have thousands of Cisco IP phones in your network, you might need to limit your search to find the phone you want. If you are unable to locate a phone, you may need to expand your search to include more phones.


Note The phone search is not case sensitive.


Searching by MAC Address

To search for a phone by its MAC address, choose Device Name and ends with, and enter the last 4 or 5 characters in the MAC address.

Searching by Description

If you enter a user name and/or extension in the Description field when adding the phone, you can search by that value on the Find and List Phones pane.

Searching by Calling Search Space or Device Pool

If you choose calling search space or device pool, the options available in the database display, you can choose one of these options from the drop-down list box below the Find button.

Finding All Phones in the Database

To find all phones registered in the database, choose Device Name from the list of fields; choose "is not empty" from the list of patterns; then, click Find.


Note The list on the Find and List Phones pane does not include analog phones and fax machines connected to gateways (such as a Cisco VG200). This list shows only phones configured in Cisco CallManager Administration.


Messages Button

You can configure a voice-mail access number for the messages button on Cisco IP Phone 7960/7940, so that users can access voice mail by simply pressing the messages button by performing the following actions:

1. Configure the Cisco CallManager VoiceMail service parameter with the voice-mail DN.

2. Repeat this procedure for all Cisco CallManagers in the cluster.

3. Reset the phones in the cluster for the change to take effect.

For information on how to access the Service Parameters Configuration pane, refer to the "Updating a Service Parameter" section in the Cisco CallManager Administration Guide.


Note For Cisco IP Phone model 12 SP+ and 30 VIP, you can access voice mail by configuring a button with the message waiting feature using a phone button template.


Directories Button

The Cisco IP Phone 7960/7940 can display a directory of employee names and phone numbers. Although you access this directory from the directories button on the IP phone, you must configure it before users can access it. To use the corporate directory, you must enter users into a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory configured with Cisco CallManager.

The URL Directories enterprise parameter defines the URL that points to the global directory for display on Cisco IP Phone 7960/7940 phones. The XML device configuration file for the phone stores this URL.


Tips If you are using IP addresses rather than DNS for name resolution, make sure that the URL Directories enterprise parameter value uses the IP address of the server for the hostname.

To verify that the phone is accessing the correct URL after you change the URL directories enterprise parameter, perform the following steps on the Cisco IP phone: press settings, 3 (Network Configuration); then, press 27 (Directories URL).

If the phone URL was not updated correctly after changing the URL Directories parameter, try stopping and restarting the Cisco TFTP service; then, reset the phone.


MaxStationsInitPerSecond Service Parameter

The CallManager uses the MaxStationsInitPerSecond parameter to control the number of phones registered per second. The Cisco CallManager queues the registration messages up front and processes them at the rate you specify. The default specifies 10 phones per second. You can modify the MaxStationsInitPerSecond parameter on the Service Parameters Configuration pane. If the performance value is set too high, phone registrations could slow the Cisco CallManager real-time response. If set too low, the total time for a large group of phones to register will be slow.

Phone Failover and Failback

This section describes how phones failover and failback if the Cisco CallManager to which they are registered becomes unreachable. This section also covers conditions that can affect calls associated with a phone, such as reset or restart.

Cisco CallManager fails or becomes unreachable

The active Cisco CallManager is the Cisco CallManager from which the phone receives call processing services. The active Cisco CallManager usually serves as the primary Cisco CallManager for that phone (unless the primary is not available.)

If the active Cisco CallManager fails or becomes unreachable, the phone attempts to register with the next available Cisco CallManager in the Cisco CallManager Group specified for the device pool to which the phone belongs

The phone device reregisters with the primary Cisco CallManager as soon as it becomes available after a failure.

Phone is reset

If a call is in progress, the phone does not reset until the call is finished.

Phone Configuration Checklist

Table 33-4 provides steps to manually configure a phone in the Cisco CallManager Administration. If you are using auto-registration, Cisco CallManager adds the phone and assigns the directory number automatically.

Table 33-4 Phone Configuration Checklist 

Configuration Steps
Procedures and Related Topics

Step 1 

Gather the following information about the phone:

Model

MAC address

Physical location of the phone

Cisco CallManager user to associate with the phone

Partition, calling search space, and location information, if used

Number of lines and associated DNs to assign to the phone

Phone Search

Step 2 

Add and configure the phone.

Adding a Phone, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide

Step 3 

Add and configure lines (DNs) on the phone. You can also configure phone features such as call waiting, call forward, call park, and call pickup

Adding a Directory Number, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide

Step 4 

Configure speed-dial buttons.

You can configure speed-dial buttons for phones if you want to provide speed-dial buttons for users or if you are configuring phones that do not have a specific user assigned to them. Users can change the speed-dial buttons on their phones using the Cisco IP Phone Configuration panes.

Configuring Speed Dial Buttons, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide

Step 5 

Configure Cisco IP phone services.

You can configure services for Cisco IP Phone 7960/7940 models if you want to provide services for users or if you are configuring phones that do not have a specific user assigned to them. Users can change the services on their phones using the Cisco IP Phone Configuration panes.

Configuring Cisco IP Phone Services, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide

Step 6 

Associate user with the phone (if required).

Associating Devices to a User, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide


Where to Find More Information

Related Topics

Call Park, page 26-1

Call Pickup and Group Call Pickup

Enabling Auto-Registration, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide

Configuring Cisco IP Phones, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide

Associating Devices to a User, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide

Updating a Service Parameter, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide

Additional Cisco CallManager Documentation

Cisco IP Phone 7900 Family Administration Guide

Getting Started publications for individual Cisco IP Phone 7900 Family models

Bulk Administration Tool Guide for Cisco CallManager