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Audience
Channel account managers, channel systems engineers, worldwide territory managers, and other Cisco staff who support channel partner sales enablement. This document may also be provided to channel partner sales, engineering, and support staff as appropriate, via the Partner & Reseller site on Cisco.com.
General Questions
Q. What is the Cisco® Unified IP Phone 500 Series?
A. The Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series are cost-effective, entry-level phones designed to work solely with the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business. These phones address the needs of a lobby, laboratory, manufacturing floor, or hallway environment. They have enough features to be used for cubicle, retail, classroom, or manufacturing workers or for anyone who conducts moderate amounts of telephone traffic. Two models are available. The Cisco Unified IP Phone 521G provides a single line with two call line appearances. The Cisco Unified IP Phone 524G provides four line keys with up to eight call line appearances. Each model has four soft feature keys that provide one-touch access to redial, transfer, conference, and hold or resume. The 521G and 524G also have fixed feature keys that provide mute, full-duplex speakerphone, headset, and voicemail access features and a menu key to access call history, directory, network settings, user preferences, reboot, restart, and factory reset.
Q. Are the Cisco Unified IP Phones 521G and 524G replacing existing phones in the Cisco Smart Business Communications System (SBCS) portfolio?
A. No. These new phones are additions to the expansive Cisco IP endpoints available in the SBCS portfolio.
Q. What are the main differences between the Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series and the other entry-level Cisco phones?
A. Refer to Table 1 for feature differences. In general, the Cisco Unified IP Phones 521G and 524G are low-cost, fully featured phones. Some of the primary differences between the Cisco Unified IP Phones 7906G and 7911G, the Cisco Unified SIP Phone 3911, and the Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series follow:
• The Cisco Unified IP Phones 7906G and 7911G offer support for Extensible Markup Language (XML) applications.
• The Cisco Unified IP Phones 7906G and 7911G offer enhanced security such as certificates, Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP), and Transport Layer Security (TLS).
• The Cisco Unified IP Phones 7906G and 7911G support extended features such as Telephony Application Programming Interface (TAPI)-based applications and Extension Mobility.
• The Cisco Unified IP Phone 7911G has a switch port for daisy-chaining to a PC.
• The Cisco Unified SIP Phone 3911 provides a single line with a half-duplex speakerphone. It has fixed feature keys that provide one-touch access to redial, transfer, conference, line button, hold or resume, mute, speakerphone, and voicemail access features. This phone has no softkeys.
Table 1. Comparison of Cisco Unified IP Phones 7906G, 7911G, and 3911 and the Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series Models
Q. Who are the target customers for the Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series?
A. The Cisco Unified IP Phones 521G and 524G address the communication needs of any Cisco Smart Business Communications System (SBCS) implementation. These phones are designed to work solely with the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business, the central piece of any SBCS solution. Both phones can be used in lobbies, in laboratories, on a manufacturing floor, or on the wall in a hallway or breakroom. They have enough features that they can be used for cubicle, retail, classroom, or manufacturing workers or for anyone who conducts moderate amounts of telephone traffic. These phones are an excellent choice for customers undergoing the transition from traditional digital or hybrid key systems (KTS) and PBXs to the Cisco Unified Communication 500 Series system. Additionally, the phones are optimized for solution deployments to replace traditional voice systems, or to layer a next generation voice solution into a CAT5 wired environment.
Q. Who can sell the Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series models?
A. Partners who are Select Certified or higher can sell these phones.
Q. What should I do if I want to upgrade from an older phone to this new phone?
A. The Cisco Technology Migration Program (TMP) will be available within two weeks of first customer shipment (FCS). Use the Cisco TMP tool to verify the discount.
Q. What Cisco Configuration Assistant release is required for the Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series?
A. Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series models are supported by Cisco Configuration Assistant release 1.6 and later.
Q. What release of Cisco IOS® Software does my Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series platform need in order to support the new Cisco Unified IP Phone 521G and 524G models?
A. The Cisco Unified 500 Series needs to be running Cisco IOS Software release 12.4(11)XW7 or later to support the 521G and 524G models.
Q. What languages are supported on the Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series?
A. Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series will support only English at FCS. However, additional language support will be added in the near future. Please stay tuned for further updates on language support.
Q. Do the phones support the Cisco Unified IP Phone Expansion Module 7914?
A. No.
Q. Do the phones support Cisco Unified Video Advantage for desktop videoconferencing?
A. No.
Q. What codecs does the Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series support?
A. G.711, G.729, and G.729a audio-compression codecs are supported.
Q. Do the phones have speakerphone capability?
A. Yes; a hands-free full-duplex speakerphone with a built-in microphone is supported.
Q. Do the phones have headset connectivity?
A. Yes; a 2.5mm connector on the phone enables the use of a headset.
Q. Does Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express support the Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series?
A. Yes, but the phones will work only when plugged into the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series models, which run Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express for their call processing.
Q. Do the phones support Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST)?
A. No. The Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series does not support SRST; therefore, any phones attached to it will not support it.
Power
Q. Do the phones support Cisco Inline Power or IEEE 802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE)?
A. The phones support only IEEE 802.3af PoE.
Q. What are the power requirements for the Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series?
A. The maximum power that the Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series models require is 5 watts.
Q. Is there a recommended powering option?
A. No. Powering decisions depend on the customer's environment. You can use IEEE 802.3af PoE, or use the Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series external power adapter for local power. This external power adapter is sold as an accessory for the 500 Series phones.
Q. Can the phone displays be turned off when not in use to conserve power?
A. Yes. The phones have the ability to conserve energy by having their displays shut off. The user can set the phone to have the display turn off when a predetermined amount of time has passed since the phone was used. The user can turn the display back on by simply pushing a button on the phone or lifting the handset.
Availability and Ordering
Q. When can I order the Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series?
A. The Cisco Unified IP Phones 521G and 524G will be orderable in North America and the European Union in early April 2008 and, like all Cisco products, will be on controlled release for a short period of time. The phones will become orderable worldwide within six weeks of the initial shipments.
Q. Is a station user license required?
A. No. These phones do not require a station license. The Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series unit that the phones are plugged into comes with built-in station licenses.
Q. What items are included in the Cisco Unified IP Phones 521G and 524G list price?
A. The Cisco Unified IP Phone 521G and 524G models are shipped with the base unit, an attachable foot stand, a handset, a handset cord, an Ethernet cord, and documentation.
Q. What accessories are available for the Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series?
A. Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series accessories are an external power adapter, a wall-mount kit, and a spare handset. In the event a new handset cord is required, you can simply order the standard handset cord that is available today for the Cisco Unified IP Phone 7900 Series. This cord will also work for the 500 Series phones.
For More Information
Q. Where can I learn more about the new Cisco Unified IP Phone 521G and 524G models?
A. For more information about the Cisco Unified IP Phone 500 Series models, visit: http://www.cisco.com/go/sbcs or http://www.cisco.com/go/uc500. For specific information about the Cisco Unified IP Phones 521G and 524G, visit: http://www.cisco.com/go/uc500.