Cisco Certified Network Consulting

Sending live voice and video over IP has progressed from simply being being a smart way to save money on phone bills to being a strategic technology for productive collaboration. Converged IP communications, once restricted to integrating Internet-based voice and faxes on a single platform in order to take the place of expensive PBX systems, today incorporates rich media, mobility, IM, presence, services, and much more in a single ecosystem that is easy to manage, scalable, highly secure, fault-tolerant, economical, and user friendly.

Cisco is the leader in providing the hardware and software infrastructure required to support the current paradigm of unified communications (UC). Cisco's unified communications product line adds to the productivity of IT systems by slashing operational costs; combining rich media features with familiar software applications to improve worker output; supporting teamwork among employees, associates, and vendors to save effort and improve business outcomes; and simplifying the management of your communications environment.

Cisco's UC technology address these important product areas:,

• Call Control Agents for managing calls and sessions
• VoIP and Video Endpoints to enhance end-user engagement
• UC Applications for more productive access to real-time, chat, voice and video, voice messages, desktop sharing, and voice/video conferencing
• IP Gateways for connecting to public networks and teleworkers

Call and Session Processing Agents - Unified Communications Manager/CallManager
The call-processing agent is the heart of the Cisco IP collaboration solution and gives you the versatility to deploy a centralized call-processing model, a decentralized model, or a mix of the two. In a centralized approach, Unified Communications Manager (UC Manager or CUCM) extends enterprise telephony capabilities to packet telephony products such as IP phones, media management appliances, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media programs throughout the network. Unified Communications Manager supports additional voice, video, and data services such as unified messaging, video conferencing, and group-based customer interaction networks.

The latest release of Cisco Unified CM, previously branded Cisco CallManager, includes a variety of enhancements that speed up ROI by cutting administrative and support expenses, increasing worker output, facilitating teamwork, accommodating the bring-your-own-device style of computing, fortifying data protection, and making optimal utilization of network resources. Top new features include Global Dial Plan Replication (GDPR), simplified certificate management, expanded support for standards-based single sign-on (SSO) for managers and users, hardware-independent call recording, on-the-road access without the need for VPN tunneling, a revamped self-care utility that makes it easy for end users to select their preferences for all devices, and support for Transport Layer Security for mobile clients.

In cases where you implement a centralized Cisco Unified Communications Manager cluster to control voice processing for users at distributed sites, IT managers can help achieve non-stop phone service using Cisco SRST, a Cisco IOS Software image for routers. If a WAN connection fails, Cisco SRST in the Cisco router provides basic UC Manager capabilities until the connection is restored. To learn about Progent's consulting services for Cisco routers, see consulting services for Cisco ISR routers.

For small business networks, branch offices, and retail environments that do not require the full functionality offered by Unified CM, Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express, previously named CallManager Express offers an economical PBX alternative that meets the requirements of locations with up to 450 users. Since Unified Communications Manager Express Unified Communications Manager Express (Unified CCX) is embedded in the IOS Software running on a Cisco router, smaller offices can quickly set up a converged voice/data environment.

The Cisco Business Edition 6000 is a family of complete platforms that provide fundamental unified communications features including routing, IP gateway, premium voice/video, messaging, instant messaging and presence, teleconferencing, and paging services, enabling any user to collaborate on any endpoint from any site. All solutions are delivered preinstalled with virtualization and UC applications, making deployment fast and easy and cutting cost of ownership for organizations with as many as 1000 workers. All BE6000 versions come packaged preconfigured with a virtualization hypervisor and UC applications software. You can simply enable collaboration applications when their needs dictate.

The small-scale BE6000S supports five preselected collaboration applications installed on a single integrated ISR router/IP gateway/virtualized E1600 M2 blade server platform and supports as many as 150 workers and 300 endpoint devices. The mid-market Business Edition 6000M supports four collaboration software application options enabled on a single virtualized C220 M4 server and can handle up to 1000 workers, 1200 endpoint devices, and 100 contact center agents. The top-of-the-line BE6000S Supports 8 unified communications application options enabled on a virtualized Cisco UCS C220 M4 server platform and has the ability to support up to 1000 users, 2500 devices, and 100 contact center agents.

For additional details about Progent's support for Unified Communications Manager, see Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and CallManager planning, integration, migration and troubleshooting.

Cisco IP Phones: IP Voice and IP Video Endpoints
A collaboration endpoint is a user device, and can be a physical phone set or a software phone application that runs on a desktop or handheld computer. In the Internet Protocol world, each VoIP phone has an Ethernet connection. IP phones have all of the features that a conventional phone handset provides, but Voice over IP phones can also have additional features including the ability to access websites or host business software.

Unlike traditional PBX technology, in a Cisco IP phone network you can perform virtually instantaneous moves, additions, and changes. You merely move the IP phone to its new spot, attach it to the Ethernet connection, and the device announces itself with Cisco Unified Communications Manager (formerly CallManager). All user rights and configurations are programmatically re-established, eliminating the cost and delay of sending technicians to wiring closets. Another helpful feature is extension mobility, which allows you to sign into any Cisco VoIP device and receive your personal phone number and privileges.

Cisco provides a wide range of Unified CM phones. Cisco's entry-level SPA 300 Series are basic IP and DECT phones offering high-quality voice, compatibility with hosted IP telephony systems or an IP private branch exchange (PBX), simple installation and safe remote provisioning, in-service software updates, and web-based configuration. The low-end SPA301 is a one-line IP phone with no display or speakerphone function, a base dialer that has one Ethernet port, and a corded handset with no keys. The SPA302D, intended exclusively for use with Cisco's SPA232D DECT ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter), is a multiple-line wireless Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) handset that offers 10-lines, a 176 x 220 pixel color screen, and a keypad with a speakerphone. Cisco's SPA303 is an economical 3-line SIP-based phone with two Ethernet ports, a 128x64 mono display and a speakerphone.

Cisco's SPA500 Series VoIP phones are affordable endpoints that support SIP and SPCP call control protocols, two Ethernet switch ports, speakerphones, PoE, and conferencing capability. Most versions have a 128 x 64 pixel mono screen display, The SPA501G VoIP phone supports eight lines and has eight soft keys but no hi-res screen. The SPA502G IP Phone supports a single line and has no programmable keys. The SPA504G has four lines and has four programmable keys. The SPA508G has eight lines and eight soft buttons. The SPA509G VoIP phone supports 12 lines and features 12 programmable keys. The SPA512G IP Phone supports four lines, no soft buttons and supports 1xGb Ethernet. The SPA514G supports four lines, has programmable keys, and supports Gigabit Ethernet. The top-of-the-line SPA525G2 IP Phone has a 320 x 240 color display, supports five lines, and includes five programmable buttons.

Cisco's Unified IP Phones 3900 Series and IP Phones 6900 Series are specialty VoIP endpoints intended for occasional-use settings like lobbies, hallways, and conference facilities. Cisco's Unified SIP Phone 3905 IP Phone features a 128 x 32 pixel mono display, an integrated Ethernet switch, a speakerphone, and Power over Ethernet. The simple Cisco Unified IP Phone 6901 is a single-line endpoint without a screen and uses a hook switch for transferring a call and conferencing.

Cisco's 7800 family of economical IP phones are VoIP endpoints with backlit monochrome screens, four programmable buttons, 11 dedicated buttons, an integral Ethernet port with Power over Ethernet, and a speakerphone. The 7800 Series support only the SIP signaling protocol. All devices in the 7800 line feature the same high-fidelity speakers and microphones as Cisco's 8800 Series IP phones to provide a state-of-the-art audio solution. Cisco's EnergyWise power-save technology, available on the higher end 7800 models, cuts off-hours energy consumption by as much as 60 percent. The Cisco IP Phone 7811 is a one-line VoIP phone designed for shared locations as well as for workers with infrequent voice communications requirements. The IP 7811 comes with a 3.28-inch 384 x 106 display plus a narrow-band speakerphone. Wideband audio is offered via an optional wideband handset. Cisco's IP Phone 7821 is a two-line phone with a 396 x 162 display. The IP Phone 7841 is a four-line endpoint with a 396 x 162 screen and is the only model in the 7800 series to support Gigabit Ethernet. The top-of-the-line IP Phone 7861 VoIP phone is a 16-line device intended for administrators, call center agents, and supervisors who have significant voice communications requirements.

The Cisco Unified IP Phone 7900 Series are dual-protocol (SIP/SCCP) media endpoints with a 320 x 240 color screen, an integral 1xGb Ethernet switch, Class 3 Power over Ethernet (PoE), 10 fixed-feature buttons and a speakerphone. The Cisco Unified IP Phone 7945G is a dual-line unit and the Cisco Unified IP Phone 7965G includes four lines. Both VoIP phones include a 5-inch screen and four soft keys. The Cisco Unified IP Phone 7975G unit is an eight-line IP voice and video phone with a 5.6-inch touch screen and five soft buttons.

Cisco's IP Phone 8800 Series is a portfolio of SIP-based IP phones that features desktop devices, a conference phone, and mobile wireless IP Phones. The desktop units are five-line IP phones featuring a 5-inch 800 x 480 pixel display, a Gigabit Ethernet switch, a speakerphone, four soft keys and 12 fixed-feature keys. The Cisco IP Phone 8811 features a backlit monochrome screen and supports Class 2 PoE. The Cisco IP Phone 8841 has a WVGA color screen and supports Class 2 Power over Ethernet. Cisco's IP Phone 8845 has a WVGA color display, 720p HD video, a tiltable camera, Bluetooth, Cisco Intelligent Proximity for Mobile Voice, and supports Class 2 PoE. The Cisco IP Phone 8851 has a WVGA color screen and a USB connection with charging capability, supports Intelligent Proximity for Mobile Voice and Class 3 PoE, and is offered in Bluetooth and non-Bluetooth models. The Cisco IP Phone 8861 includes a WVGA color screen, Bluetooth, two USB ports with charging capability, and supports Cisco Intelligent Proximity for Mobile Voice, Wi-Fi, and Class 4 PoE. The Cisco IP Phone 8865 includes a WVGA color screen, 720p HD video, a tiltable camera, Bluetooth, dual USB ports with charging capability, and supports Cisco Intelligent Proximity for Mobile Voice, Wi-Fi, and Class 4 Power over Ethernet.

Cisco's wireless VoIP phones are hardened wireless devices intended for workers who are on the move within campus, warehouse, health-care or other venues where management requires portable phones that offer more control, security and ruggedness than is achievable with the BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Device) style of mobile communications. Cisco's 8821 and 8812-EX wireless IP phones provide mobile onsite users the benefits of voice over wireless LAN technology in environments that support 802.11x Wi-Fi infrastructure. Cisco's 8821 Wireless VoIP Phone includes a hi-res color screen, a durable shell rated Mil-SPEC 810G to withstand dropping and compliant with IP67 for particulate and moisture resistance, long-life batteries, a built-in full-duplex speakerphone, and a Bluetooth radio for hands-free operation with cordless headsets. The 8821-EX Wireless IP Phone adds spark suppression for use in hazardous work sites. The 8821-EX also has a shell composed out of industry-standard yellow plastics, which makes it easy to find during an emergency. Learn about Progent's Cisco Wireless VoIP Phone integration support.

Cisco's legacy 9900 line of high-performance VoIP phones combine high-definition voice with high-resolution color screens to deliver a rich collaborative UC experience for managers and executives. Both IP phones in the 9900 family feature an SD VGA color display, a Bluetooth 2.0 radio to work with a wide choice of headsets, and an integrated Gigabit Ethernet port. Cisco's Power Save feature is offered as an option and can cut off-work energy use by up to 90 percent. The Cisco IP Phone 9951 features a 5-inch display and supports up to 2 IP Color Key Expansion Modules for adding scalability to programmable line and function keys. The IP Phone 9971 features a 5.6-inch display, a built-in 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi radio for deployment with voice-over-wireless LAN environments, and 4 soft-label touchscreen keys to invoke Cisco UC features. The 9971 IP phone allows up to 3 Cisco IP Expansion Modules for expanding programmable line and function keys.

Unified Communications Applications
Within Cisco's Unified Communications architecture, IP voice, video, and other converged applications are independent from the call-processing and voice-processing infrastructure, and they may reside anywhere within the network. A single network framework offers an open environment for feature-rich business applications and provides a solid basis for downstream convergence-based software. Cisco works with third-party IT industry partners to provide a wide selection of IP phone and video software applications and products. Cisco also supports the capability to create and manage specialized in-house applications.

Collaborative application software offered by Cisco and supported by Progent include:

Cisco Jabber
Jabber is a UC client application that provides presence, instant messaging, business-quality voice, video, voicemail, desktop sharing, and real-time conferencing capabilities for PCs, Apple Macs, iPads and Android tablets and iPhones, Android phones, and Blackberries. Cisco Jabber is a rebranding and combination of the Cisco Unified Personal Communicator, Cisco Mobile, and WebEx Connect, with important improvements to video capabilities and screen sharing, and expanding the collaboration experience to more operating systems and endpoint hardware. Jabber operates in conjunction with Cisco Unified CM for call and session control, Cisco Unified Presence for IM and presence, Unity Connection for voice messaging and programmable attendant, and WebEX Meeting for conferencing.

Because Cisco Jabber is based on popular industry protocols, it can communicate with a wide range of non-Cisco platforms. As an example, Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol enables Cisco Jabber to trade IM and presence information with various XMPP clients such as Adium for Mac OS, IBM Sametime, and Microsoft Lync and Office Communications Server. Cisco Jabber collaboration features can be accessed from Microsoft Office programs including Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft SharePoint. This extensive platform compatibility maximizes productivity by delivering a common user environment and accommodating the bring-your-own-device paradigm of computing. Progent can provide the expertise of Microsoft-certified Exchange and Outlook consultants and Microsoft SharePoint programmers who can help you to use Jabber with Microsoft's popular collaboration platforms. Progent also offers help with Apple iPhone integration and management and Google Android smartphone integration to assist your organization to increase the productivity of your BYOD environment.

WebEX Meeting Center
WebEX Meeting Center provides web conferencing for users with a web browser or almost any PC or handheld device. Cisco WebEx Meeting Center is delivered as software as a service (SaaS) via Cisco's WebEx Cloud. This makes it simple to deploy and scale, streamlines administration, avoids major up-front investment, offers high availability and world-class security, and provides consistently high performance. Key capabilities include the ability to share discrete content or an entire screen with remote participants in real time, the capability to add multimedia into presentations including Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, session recording plus playback for training and demonstrations, single sign-on (SSO) and support for Cisco collaboration products such as Cisco Jabber and Cisco TelePresence, plus strong data privacy and encrypted connections with tight policy management.

WebEX Meeting Center runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux-powered desktops and allows mobile workers to start, calendarize, and participate in meetings on Android smartphones and tablets, iPhones and iPads, BlackBerry phones, and Microsoft Windows Phone. Users can also initiate web conferences with a few clicks from Microsoft Office, Outlook, Lotus Notes, and a variety of IM applications.

Cisco TelePresence Portfolio for On-premises Teleconferencing Ecosystems
For medium-size businesses and larger enterprises who want to build a local or hybrid in-house/cloud solution for video conferencing, Cisco provides a selection of Cisco TelePresence products that enable high-definition video conferencing for users with virtually any IP endpoint at any location. Cisco TelePresence Server is a scalable teleconferencing bridge that runs with Cisco Unified Communications Manager to provide multiparty telepresence to UC environments and can expand conferences to support cloud-based WebEx Meeting Center users. Cisco TelePresence Conductor software streamlines the control of how teleconferencing resources should be rationed for each attendee, enabling managers to define the exact service level and experience required for every user. Cisco TelePresence Content Server collects video and presentations for live streaming as well as video on demand viewing.

Cisco's Unity Connection Platform and Unity Express for Unified Voice Messaging
Cisco's Unity Connection, an extension of Cisco Unified Communications Manager, is a unified voice messaging platform that accelerates collaboration by offering flexible set of alternatives for accessing calls and messages within an environment that is simple to deploy and manage. Unity Connection allows you to read and manage voicemail from your email inbox, browser, Cisco Jabber messaging integration platform, a Cisco Unified IP Phone, a smartphone, or an iPad or tablet. Unity Connection also provides sophisticated speech-recognition features for hands-free operation and powerful Automated Attendant features that include smart routing for incoming calls and easily customizable call-screening and message-alert options. The Unity Connection system runs as a fully virtualized system that can reside on a BE6000 server or a Cisco Services Ready Engine 910 router service module and can support as many as 20,000 mailboxes on each server.

Cisco Unity Express (CUE), available in select Cisco ISR routers, offers cost-effective voicemail, integrated messaging, IVR, and greeting functions for small to medium businesses (SMBs) and enterprise branch locations with as many as 500 voice mailboxes. Unity Express allows you to manage voicemail messages using a Cisco IP Phone display, your web browser, or your email client. ISR Routers for which Unity Express is available as an advanced integration module include Cisco's 1861, 2900, and 3900 Series. Progent can provide comprehensive consulting and troubleshooting services for Cisco routers.

Cisco Unified Contact Center
Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise (Unified CCE) integrates closely with CUCM and agent desktop software like Finesse to provide automatic call distribution features that allow an organization to connect customers with the proper salesperson or service representative. UCCE offers smart call routing, computer telephony integration, multichannel customer contact management, call queuing, interactive voice response (IVR) and advanced company-wide reporting to simplify the deployment and administration of a modern customer contact center. Cisco products incorporated in Unified CCE's customer contact management ecosystem include Cisco Unified IP Phones, Cisco Voice Gateways, and Cisco LAN/WAN technology.

Cisco Unified Contact Center Express (Unified CCX or CCX) provides a packaged bundle for creating a customer contact center for mid-scale systems that handle up to 400 agents. Several packages are offered, as well as a variety of optional advanced features. Unified CCX integrates closely with Cisco Unified CM and provides intelligent call routing, contact management, integrated reporting, interactive voice response, and the ability to manage voice, email, web chat, and social media inquiries. Unified CCX includes Finesse, a web-based customizable desktop agent that requires no client software setup. Optional enhancements include conditional routing, estimated-wait-time announcements, and productivity optimization with workforce and quality management.

Cisco Mobile Connect for Single Number Reach (SNR)
Mobile Connect, commonly referred to as Single Number Reach, allows users to be called from one phone number that rings simultaneously on their Cisco IP Phone and their cell phone. Users can switch active calls between their Cisco VoIP phone and their cell phone without disruption. Unanswered calls can be redirected to a Cisco Unity or Cisco Unity Connection voicemail account. Users can create personal access lists that determine which calls are extended to different phones.

Prime Collaboration
Cisco Prime Collaboration provides an automated process for first-time deployments and for “day 2” moves, adds, changes, and deletions. A user-friendly console provides a single view of a user and the user's services. Cisco Prime Collaboration Provisioning significantly speeds up company-wide rollouts and reduces the time needed for ongoing updates. Prime Collaboration also offers advanced analytics including application adoption and consumption rates, enabling organizations to make more efficient use of resources and further lower TCO.

Cisco Communications Gateways
Cisco's collaboration gateways permit Cisco Unified Communications environments to communicate with other systems and with users working outside the corporate firewall. Cisco's portfolio of gateways deliver UC services for a broad range of gateway and session-border-control deployments.

Collaboration gateways available from Cisco and supported by Progent include:

Cisco Expressway Collaboration Gateway
Cisco's Expressway is a powerful collaboration gatekeeper that allows companies to provide workers, vendors, customers and prospects, or partners who are working on different network environments, collaboration platforms, or endpoint equipment to access to Unified Communication services. The Expressway gateway works with an enterprise Cisco Communications Manager system or Cisco Business Edition 6000, or can be run via the cloud with Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution (HCS) to help make collaboration more pervasive. Key features of Cisco Expressway include:

• Mobile and Remote Connectivity: Remote users with any Jabber-supported device or teleworkers with Cisco TelePresence endpoints get the benefit of single-sign-on as well as TLS security and are able to access all their Jabber workloads (video, voice, data IM, and realtime presence) without requiring the inconvenience starting a VPN connection. In addition, telecommuters can use their Cisco TelePresence endpoints without the need for a VPN tunnel, providing a user environment at home identical to the corporate office.
• Jabber Guest Support: Expressway is critical for enabling the Cisco Jabber Guest, which permits “guests” to interact with your business easily and safely through lightweight web-browser and mobile multimedia phone calls.
• Cisco Cloud Connectivity: Expressway can act as a gateway that connects between on-premises Cisco or non-Cisco systems and the WebEx cloud. By offering support for Cisco Collaboration Meeting Rooms, Expressway deliver an advanced, extensible conferencing experience that seamlessly integrates voice, video, and content sharing to any client, anywhere, using any endpoint.
• Interoperability: In case your organization already has non-Cisco video products, Expressway can assist you to move easily to a Cisco solution whenever it makes business sense. Cisco Expressway offers video interoperability with industry standard H.323, H.264 Scalable Video Coding, or SIP systems. Interoperability standards supported by Expressway include IPv4 to IPv6, H.323 to Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), and Microsoft Lync H.264 Scalable Video Coding (SVC) to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC.

• WebEx Cloud Connected Audio (CCA) for high-capacity SIP-media-connected conferencing
• Voice and Video recording
• SIP-based Call-center and IVR applications
• Policy-based security evaluation of phone calls
• Business-to-business teleconferencing over SIP

Cisco's End-of-Life UC520, UC540 and UC560 VoIP Gateways
The legacy Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series is an early VoIP and unified communications appliance and software package for small organizations. UC500 packages deliver voice, data, voicemail, automated attendant, IP video, security, and WiFi capabilities, run with older generation Cisco IP Voice endpoints, and support various PSTN interfaces.

All of Cisco's UC500 series bundles include a compact switch appliance with 8 Power-over-Ethernet ports and additional FXS and FXO ports, a firewall, and VPN support. Integrated WiFi is optional. User capacity can be increased by connecting with Cisco Catalyst Express switches. Each UC500 model also comes with licenses for Cisco Unified Communications Manager for VoIP call processing and Cisco Unity Express for voice messaging and automated attendant. The Cisco UC520 system supports 8 to 16 VoIP users and incorporate 4 foreign exchange stations and 4 FXO interfaces. The Cisco UC540 system supports 24 to 32 clients and provides 8 FXO ports. The Cisco UC560 system allows 48 users and 12 FXO ports.

Progent's Cisco-certified VoIP consultants can assist you to support your legacy UC500 VoIP gateway or plan and implement a smooth upgrade to a modern IP telephony and voicemail solution such as Cisco's Business Edition 4000.

How Progent Can Help You with Cisco IP Voice and IP Media Phones, Cisco Unified CM, and Video Conferencing
Progent offers online or on-premises access to a certified CCIE Collaboration specialist to help you to plan, deploy, manage and repair converged communications networks that incorporate Cisco Unified Communication products in an in-house, cloud-based, or hybrid environment. Progent's Cisco-certified engineers have extensive experience integrating Cisco Unified Communications Manager and CallManager, IP voice and video phones and other endpoints, UC applications like Jabber and WebEx Meeting Center, Cisco's teleconferencing technologies, communication gateways, utilities built into Cisco switches and routers. Progent can also offer support for related technologies such as Cisco SRST, Cisco Unified Border Element, H.323 gateways, CAC, IP voice trunks, various signaling protocols, and AVVID. Progent's SIP infrastructure consultants can in addition assist you to create SIP connectivity environments that incorporate SIP VoIP phones and video phones, SIP trunks, SIP conferencing and SIP administration tools via Cisco Unified Communications Manager.

Progent's custom application programmers can create specialized IP telephony software that will help your organization to incorporate the capabilities of Cisco Unified Communications Manager into your company operations for increased productivity. Progent can evaluate your current network and Internet access infrastructure to determine whether your system is configured to accommodate high-quality Voice over IP and high-definition video, assist you to select and install Cisco products appropriate for your current situation and future growth objectives, and interface your Cisco collaborative communications solution with technology from other vendors. Progent's CISSP-ISSAP certified network security consultants can show you how to develop, carry out, and validate an enterprise-wide security and compliance plan for your unified communications ecosystem. In addition, Progent can help your organization to deploy Cisco high-availability technologies like Cisco Unified Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST) for affordable call control redundancy in branch office and telecommuter sites, and Progent's disaster recovery and business continuity planning experts can help you develop a viable DR/BC strategy to ensure the availability of your vital unified communications system.

Cisco Unified Communications Manager/CallManager Upgrade Services
Releases of Cisco Unified Communications Manager 8.6 lower than 8.6 and all versions of its predecessor CallManager have arrived at end-of-life. Therefore Cisco Engineering will no longer enhance, repair, or validate the product software. Security patches for this business-critical product will end, which in certain circumstances could cause compliance or potential liability issues.

Progent will continue to provide expert consulting and support for end-of-life versions of Unified CM and Cisco CallManager, but if you are still running an out-of-dated edition of this critical application your organization should start immediately to plan your upgrade. Progent's Cisco-certified consultants can assist your company to migrate non-disruptively to the latest version of Cisco Unified Communications Manager and can routinely save clients up to 50% off consulting costs compared to competing computer service companies because of Progent's documented procedures and experience in this practice area. By adhering to best practices, Progent can make sure your business sees a quick payback on your investment by helping you benefit fully from the new and improved features, lower management and maintenance costs, more productive collaboration capabilities, and stronger security offered by the newest version of Cisco Unified Communications Manager.

Progent's migration consulting services include ROI analysis, project management or co-management, system testing and validation, Cloud integration, configuring collaboration endpoints from Cisco and third-party providers, mobile integration, security and compliance services, streamlined management, disaster recovery planning, network infrastructure design, training for IT staff and end users, and ongoing consulting services and troubleshooting. Progent also offers fixed-priced migration service bundles to keep your costs visible and affordable.

For more information about Progent's consulting support for Cisco networking products, select a topic:

• Introduction to Progent's Cisco Support
• Fast Remote Support from a CCIE Engineer
• Cisco Firepower Firewalls: Integration and Troubleshooting Support
• Cisco ASA 5500-X Series Firewall with Firepower Services: Setup and Management Support
• Cisco ASA 5500 Firewalls Troubleshooting Assistance
• Cisco PIX Series Firewall Management Services
• Cisco Routers Engineering Expertise
• Cisco Wireless Network Design Services
• Cisco Aironet Access Points Consulting Help
• Cisco Small Business 100, 300 and 500 Wireless Access Points System Design Services
• Cisco Wireless Controllers Support Services
• Meraki Wireless APs Deployment Support
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and Cisco CallManager Integration and Troubleshooting
• Cisco Jabber and Management Services
• Catalyst Switches Consulting and Support Expertise
• Cisco Nexus Switches Configuration and Maintenance Expertise
• Meraki Switches Deployment Expertise
• Cisco VPN Engineering Help
• SIP and CUBE Infrastructure Solutions: SIP Trunks and CUBE Integration Consulting
• Design and Support for Cisco-powered Datacenters
• Infrastructure Optimization Services for ISPs
• Centralized Management Solutions for Cisco-powered Infrastructure