SIP Cisco 7970?

[Matthew]

The Cisco 7970 support in LMCE (via the Asterisk subsystem) seems to use the 7970 in its default SCCP protocol version. But the 7970 can be upgraded to SIP protocol by upgrading its firmware (available for purchase from Cisco). And Asterisk's support for SIP is much more reliable and robust than its SCCP support. Does anyone have instructions for configuring the LMCE server as the TFTP server to perform the upgrade, and configuring the Asterisk subsystem to use it?

[tschak909]

trust me, you don't want to do this... the 7970's SIP firmware is a bit buggy, does not sound as good, takes longer to signal/connect, etc.

I've been using the 7970 with this system for two months now without a single problem.

-Thom

[Matthew]

I have multiple 7970s. Maybe I'll upgrade one to SIP and test it next to another as SCCP. Will the Orbiter and other phone LMCE features (eg. directory button) still work on the SIP version?

BTW, do you know where to get power supplies and PoE injectors cheap, that work with the Cisco (reverse polarity PoE) phones? Like under $30?

[tschak909]

I have multiple 7970s. Maybe I'll upgrade one to SIP and test it next to another as SCCP. Will the Orbiter and other phone LMCE features (eg. directory button) still work on the SIP version?

BTW, do you know where to get power supplies and PoE injectors cheap, that work with the Cisco (reverse polarity PoE) phones? Like under $30?

the Orbiter will currently not work with the SIP image, some work will need to be done to make it work.

As for the PoE injectors... I get all my stuff from voipdw.com ... But, Power-Over-Ethernet with a 7970 can be a wee bit problematic in my experience. I've seen all sorts of weird stuff like the display backlight not properly working etc.

-Thom

[teedge77]

yeah, cisco recommends not using poe because it wont give full power to the screen. i never had any trouble with the phone itself though. just a slightly darker screen. also...it doesnt use the proprietary cisco poe (i suppose i could have had a bad injector...but i doubt it). i tried with a cisco poe injector and it wouldnt work. i had to use one from the sonicwall we have.
i havent seen any place with power supplies less than 30 dollars either.

[Matthew]

Which sonicwall injector model did you use? I've read that using the wrong polarity injector can fry the phone, so I don't want to try it without some empirical test results first .

[hari]

Hi all,

i'm running the sip software with asterisk and don't have any problems. The newer ones don't register with asterisk but SIP70.8-0-2SR1S works great.
For the Orbiter be sure to put the right URLs in the "SEP<MAC>.cnf.xml" file (delete the link to SEPDefault7970.cnf.xml and put your desired config in /tftpboot):
<authenticationURL>http://192.168.38.1/pluto-admin/authenticate_cisco.php</authenticationURL>
<servicesURL>http://192.168.38.1/pluto-admin/ServicesMenu.php</servicesURL>
It works perfect. The 7970 SIP image supports all xml push features (old 7960 and 40 with sip lack xml push because of limited ram, haven't checked the newer G series).

For upgrade instructions see the voip-info.org wiki.

I'll try to use the Aironet injectors (AIR-PWR-INJ) with the 7905 phones. Hope it won't fry. A friend has a 7970 running on a cisco poe  switch (3800 series). The display is bright enough to be misused as a night light for the whole room. But as teedge77 wrote: you can't select full brightness from the menu.
There are newer single port injectors from the voice line with built in power supply. A good cisco dealer should be able to deliver them at about 50-60€. They support all cisco phones (old ones and new ones with 802.3af).

best regards,
Hari

[Matthew]

Thanks for all the hard info.

Hi all,

i'm running the sip software with asterisk and don't have any problems. The newer ones don't register with asterisk but SIP70.8-0-2SR1S works great.
For the Orbiter be sure to put the right URLs in the "SEP<MAC>.cnf.xml" file (delete the link to SEPDefault7970.cnf.xml and put your desired config in /tftpboot):
<authenticationURL>http://192.168.38.1/pluto-admin/authenticate_cisco.php</authenticationURL>
<servicesURL>http://192.168.38.1/pluto-admin/ServicesMenu.php</servicesURL>
It works perfect. The 7970 SIP image supports all xml push features (old 7960 and 40 with sip lack xml push because of limited ram, haven't checked the newer G series).

For upgrade instructions see the voip-info.org wiki.

Do you think you could update the LMCE wiki 7970 entry by merging the voip-info.org instructions to use LMCE's tftp server and DHCP?

[teedge77]

well i guess its possible that i had a bad cisco injector. according to this page

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/phones/ps379/products_data_sheet0900aecd805efaeb.html


The Cisco Unified IP Phone 7970G supports IEEE 803.af PoE (Class III). In addition, the phone supports Cisco Prestandard Power over Ethernet (PoE), allowing power to be drawn from any of the Cisco Inline Power-capable blades and boxes. When connected to a Cisco PoE device, the phone will use Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) to negotiate the power available. The phone can also be powered locally with a power supply (CP-PWR-CUBE-3).


so any 803.af injector should work ok. not sure why my prestandard cisco injector didnt. ive never used it though, since i didnt use the WAP it was purchased for. i just use a power supply with the phone for now. i had borrowed the sonicwall injector from work since it wasnt being used. once i saw it worked with that was enough. i may still work the injector in later. ill use the poe for the bedside phones so they arent too bright for the room at night.

matthew are you going to be using a voip provider or an analog line?

[hari]

so any 803.af injector should work ok. not sure why my prestandard cisco injector didnt.

oh, i hope they work with the old 7905 phones.. i will post my results,

Hari

[hari]

Do you think you could update the LMCE wiki 7970 entry by merging the voip-info.org instructions to use LMCE's tftp server and DHCP?

this has to be integrated in a sane way. There is a (disabled) option for the protocol (SIP/SCCP) on the web gui already when adding a 7970. I also have to figure out where lmce sets up the asterisk extensions. "chan_sccp" configures the lines on the phone itself (takes options from sccp.conf). For SIP we have to add a peer to sip.conf and create a SEP<MAC>.cnf.xml with the corresponding line.
I will get into this next week (no sense to set up till my dsl is back). Step by step instructions will follow. Until then you can put my post in the wiki as a stub.

best regards,
Hari

[Matthew]

I have cleaned up the wiki entry for the Cisco 7970. I'm looking forward to seeing you extend it with info for upgrading firmware with LMCE. Thanks.

[colinjones]

has anybody tried any Avaya handsets?

[tschak909]

so is anyone going to try my directory patch?

-Thom

[Matthew]

so is anyone going to try my directory patch?

-Thom

I'm going to try it as soon as I get my 7970 up and running. Which means first getting a power supply, which looks like a $50 item nearby, but might have to be shipped. Or maybe a PoE switch, if I can find one for under $100 for 4+ ports. Then I might want to wait for the Asterisk and LMCE instructions for upgrading to SIP to be merged, or maybe just try it with SCCP.

If you can help me get there, I'll be happy to do the testing.