User Requirements for Phone Features
This section evaluates the end users' requirements for the Cisco IP Phones. Appendix A lists the currently available Cisco IP Phone models and describes the features that are available in each model. The cost of the Cisco IP Phones ranges from $100 to $1000 depending on the model. It is important to choose the right model because the purchase price has a direct impact on the total cost of the project.Limiting the number of IP Phone models to one or two in the network reduces operational overhead. If you deploy varying phone models, operational staff has to be trained to support the varying phone models.The questions in Table D-1 will help you to gather the end users' requirements and decide on the IP Phone model and features to enable for each user group. Use the employees' business functions to place them into user groups. For example, the following classification is commonly used:
No. | Question | User Group 1 | User Group 2 | User Group 3 |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Do you require support for Cisco Power over Ethernet (PoE) or IEEE 802.3af inline power?This decision has to be made globally and should not depend on the user groups. | |||
Basic Phone Features | ||||
2 | Place calls using handset | |||
3 | Support for external headset | |||
4 | Speaker phone support | |||
5 | Set Call Forward All to another number from the IP Phone | |||
6 | Redial the last number dialed | |||
7 | View list of previously dialed numbers | |||
8 | View list of missed calls | |||
9 | View list of received calls | |||
10 | MWI to indicate new voice-mail messages | |||
11 | Number of lines required on the phone | |||
12 | Number of calls required per line | |||
13 | Supplementary features such as Hold, Conference, and Transfer | |||
14 | Call Park | |||
15 | Meet-Me | |||
16 | Call Pickup and Group Pickup | |||
17 | Call Waiting | |||
18 | Call Forward Busy (CFB) to Voice Mail | |||
19 | Call Forward No Answer (CFNA) to Voice Mail | |||
20 | Auto Answer | |||
21 | Display the calling party number and name | |||
22 | Number of speed dials required on the IP Phone | |||
Advanced Features | ||||
23 | PC connectivity required from the IP Phone | |||
24 | Support of XML services on the IP Phone, such as Personal Address Book (PAB), Fast Dials, corporate directory lookup, etc. | |||
25 | Support of Cisco IPMA feature on the IP Phone | |||
26 | Call Back | |||
27 | Extension Mobility feature support | |||
28 | Wireless support | |||
29 | Customized ring tones on IP Phones | |||
30 | Color display or black-and-white display on the IP Phone | |||
31 | Touch-screen display functionality on the IP Phone | |||
32 | Is Gigabit Ethernet connectivity to the upstream LAN switch and to the PC a requirement? |