UC500.com

You all can add me to the list of angry partners.
I can echo your complaints and add a few when it comes to the presence and mobility server.

I had a MUCH easier time learning the Avaya IP Office with all of its faults than this and it had more "out of the box" features.

The only thing that I can say is that at least the Aussie support team is Jonny on the spot with the help. The Mass call center has a little to learn when it comes to the pain that we are feeling out here.

This app just pisses me off!! I created a VPN using the wizard. CCA creates the users as local, then gives them level 15 access! Also, when I enable split tunneling, the CCA adds an access list, then associates them to the tunnel so it completely cuts off outside access!! CRAPITY CRAP CRAP!

Stick with the CLI. Learn the basic commands and pick up the advanced configurations as needed. The UC500 ships with a factory config, so look up the commands and see what they do and how they function, then break them and see what happens. Great way to learn. Remember that 'wri mem' is your friend! Use it often.

SDM is also crappy when it comes to config a firewall and running CME on the same box. The SDM firewall screws up RTP traffic. WTF? So buy an ASA5505 or some other firewall if you are running CME on an ISR.

Just my 2centz.

- Dapunisher
A+. Network+, MCP, CCNA, CCVP

I have never worked with anything 'Cisco', ever. I didn't know IOS from CCA from a hole in the ground. I do telephones, basic IP networks, web servers (LAMP), email servers and a metric butt load of Linux stuff. Our entire client base is 'Small to Medium' businesses. We do network, IT and communications management for shops that aren't big enough to have their own IT departments.

One of our sales team 'discovered' the UC500 - heard the word 'convergance' and was sucked in. He got us all signed up, hooked up and we took the online SMB courses and got those 'certs'. We ordered our first box for our own use. Eager with anticipation and excited to be offering a capable, flexible and configurable product to our customers (remember, our ONLY Cisco experience was the SMB courses) - we cracked the seals on the boxes.....

What a F'n nightmare. It took 6 weeks, untold hours on the phone, regional sales reps, calls to the engineering team. We had everything from CCA version upgrades (we were give 'fast track' access to the 1.5 Betas) to IOS upgrades to giving PDI VPN access into our stuff, etc, etc, etc. Oh, by the way, that ARC-View Express you just bought? It won't work with this product line - here's a 'side car'. What do you mean it won't work out of the box? Can you tell me the CLI commands to turn on the side-car? That was just to get the phones working!

Worse, we find the hours we spent on the SMB courses was essentially wasted. What was in those courses had as much to do with the UC500 as Mopar has to do with Ford. The SMB courses were essentially an indoctrination into the sales program and only confused and frustrated our efforts to make this dog hunt.

Realizing we'd been basically 'screwed' with marketing lube. We choose to dive in anyway - hey, it's Cisco! They're cool! We can beat it! We can make it work! We are Geeks! WE CAN LEARN and overcome!!

Yea - right.

First thing we tried was to configure the Auto Attendant. How on Green Fairy's own earth can ANY manufacture sell a product without *ANY* documentation on it's functions or how to configure it's features? All we wanted to do was manage the AA - allow our customers the ability to call in to our extensions direct or leave voice mail. Functions we had in our previous PBX (TalkSwitch) that worked within an hour of opening the box.

We discovered the CUE editor on the Cisco web site via frantic google searches (Cisco's own search was useless). After 2 weeks of searching, phone calls, waiting on call backs, update to this and that and 'custom' scripts copied all over, we discover that CUE editor didn't know about the UC500 and the only way we had to debug our scripts was to load them up and try them out.

You gotta be frigg'n kidding me. Made for some interesting days - let alone customer service headaches for our existing cilents - lemme tell ya.

2 weeks later we had a demo box. Though, we call it our 'development' kit.

I won't go into detail on the licensing|access|service contract hassles. How many times I was told to "Go get this file" Only to find "it won't let us download it" due to some who-knows-what wasn't lined up proper in Cisco land.

Just this past week I finally found a Command Reference and an Admin guide for CME that seems to apply ::knock on wood::. Those have been added to my CUE editor guide - so I'm collecting documentation. 4 MONTHS AFTER WE RECEIVED THIS PIG!

When we first started down this road - we were told this product was for the 'Small, Medium Business' niche. I think someone at Cisco needs to pull their head out and actually look and see what already exists in that niche. How those products work. Traditionally, you buy a box - you plug it in - you tweek it via Web interface - it works. None of this CCA, CLI, Web interfaces to 4+different IPs or combinations of all the above just to get the damned voice mail working as desired.

You don't take an Enterprise product - make it a 'light' version and expect it to be your flag-ship in a new market space.

If we didn't have so much time, cash, beer and blood invested in all this hardware we'd have dumped this product line months ago and cut our losses. At this point - I damn near feel Cisco should be paying US to further develop this product line for this market.

As it is - since we're 'committed' to this product, my entire job description has changed and I'm madly playing 'catch-up', learning IOS, CLI, CME, CUE and god knows what else is out there (no one can tell me). Hell, I may even end up as at least CCNA when this is done. I basically have a whole new job now. Thanks Cisco!

Frustrated? Cheated? Taken advantage of? Oh hell yea! Someone call the beer guys - looks like this week is going to be at least another 'caser' and I'm already pissed off. Sales tells me we just sold 2 more of these pigs - and each one is going into an existing netowrk - with unique call plan requirements.

Joy.

Yes I am angry, but for almost the opposite reason as Warren.

We got in a UC520 today and were supposed to make it work. The guys who went on the SMB partner training were told, "it's easy to setup, 10 minutes tops to get a dial tone". Sure! But you missed out that I'd be chasing my tail for a few days to get the rest of it working. And we have to have this system installed by Friday! (2 days time).

The CCA is a piece of rubbish and I am disgusted that a company the size of Cisco can't make a decent GUI that actually works correctly. Why are they even pushing this UC520 when it doesn't even have a decent interface? Ok fine, the advance configuration has to be done by CLI. Fair & fine, but where is the proper step-by-step, this is how you do it, documentation???

How do you disable the stupid thing from being a DHCP server on VLAN1? We have our own DHCP server and don't want this interferring thank you very much. If we try and delete the pool using CLI then CCA stops working.

We are also having problem changing the voicemail language to UK. Apparently this is a common thing, but the Cisco guys who are usually very good, haven't come up with a solution yet.

I'm sure this is a great piece of equipment, if you have a few weeks to work it out. I've been setting up a software based PBX for a year now and that IS easy. Although it's programmed in Germany, even their German translated to English documentation can get you setup and working in a few hours.

If anyone can point me at some step by step guides/docs (even if it's all CLI) I'd much appreciate it.

I agree.

CCA is not yet mature enough to allow any of us to RELY on it to get ANY client happy with their new UC500. We will all end up at the CLI eventually, or else we'll have very mad clients ;)

What puzzles me is why they spent time taking the Network Assistant code and making CCA from it. Why not use the SDM or ASDM code base?

I know you said you do not appreciate SDM, and its had a pretty rocky history, but the last few versions I have been pleased that Cisco stuck it out. I am very comfy at the CLI but new folks getting started need something to jumpstart their learning. Once you check the setting in the preferences to show you the CLI lines it is submitting BEFORE it sends it, SDM becomes a great learning tool, which is what I think its true value is.

CCA just sends commands without showing us what it is doing, and we are left to disassemble that to actually grow ourselves. If that's all we get, then the CLI is our only hope.

Until the UC500 I've had NO Call Manager experience, only tons with the rest of the Cisco devices and VoIP. So learning all this ephone, ephone-dn, and overlay stuff has been my only focus. That leaves CCA out, and leaves me with my books, Cisco's website, and this site as my main resources ;)

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The Montopolis Group, Ltd.
http://blog.montopolis.com