Cisco Unified Communications Reviews

We use it for routing, switching, data center, unified communication, and several series of Cisco devices. With Cisco Unified Communications devices, we utilize contact center, IP telephony, IP voice, corporate voice, and audio conferencing.

Cisco Unified Communications is stable and works well for us. We have enough skill sets within the organization to manage things on the platform. We have a long-standing partnership with Cisco, so if we need any support, Cisco is always there to support us.

We have worked with Cisco Unified Communications for many years. In recent years, regarding internal organization collaboration, we have mostly moved to Microsoft. However, in our contact center and customer journeys which we support, we continue to use Cisco Unified Communications extensively.

Currently, all future propositions for UC are not Cisco-based.

Easy integration with Microsoft Windows would be beneficial. It integrates with SharePoint and Outlook, which was not available at one point in Cisco Webex.

Regarding improvements, the focus should be on how cloud-friendly Cisco Unified Communications products are and how technically and commercially simple they are compared to competitors such as Genesys.

All features are present. The concerns lie in the ease of using features, pricing, and whether it is available directly on the cloud or requires going through a Cisco channel partner. Features themselves are not an issue, and Cisco can develop new ones quickly if needed.

If current customers are using Cisco Unified Communications and enjoying its features with devices that are not end of life or end of sale, they will continue using it. However, when moving to the cloud, comparisons become necessary. The simplicity, customer journey, transformation journey, and architecture complexity define whether Cisco Unified Communications is the right product or if third-party solutions are more suitable.

We have been using Cisco Unified Communications for 10-12 years, possibly more.

Quality-wise, there have been no issues.

There have not been many scalability issues.

The customer service has improved significantly.

Neutral

We have worked with Cisco Unified Communications for many years. For internal company organization collaboration, we have mostly moved to Microsoft. In our contact center and customer journeys, we continue to use Cisco Unified Communications extensively. For remote collaboration within the company, we have transitioned from Cisco Unified Communications to Microsoft.

Our integration with CRM systems for the contact center has been very smooth. While we have integrated with many CRM systems, I do not have personal experience with ERP integration.

Most of our team operates remotely.

On a scale of 1-10, I would rate Cisco Unified Communications as an 8 or 9.

It is basically a contact center solution. In contact centers, it acts as a bridge connecting the customer and the product company and the end customer. For example, if we are running a bank, the customer needs information, they will use different mediums to communicate with the bank, like via call, email, chat, or video. The contact center helps facilitate better communication through these channels.

We have mostly banking customers. In banking, they use inbound and outbound calls. The contact center defines scripts for valuable customers so they can be answered quickly. We offer call, chat, and video chat communication options through the contact center.

Cisco supports third-party gadgets, including workforce management systems. These can be directly integrated with Cisco, a feature not widely supported by other contact centers. Additionally, redundancy is set up, meaning if one side of the server goes down, the other side will take over to prevent the contact center from completely failing.

Sometimes, minor temporary issues can arise while updating the servers. These updates can cause bugs that lead to temporary issues. Although they do not have a major impact, these issues still need to be corrected.

I have been working with Cisco Unified Communications for the last two and a half years.

It is stable compared to other countries and in India. Even though India mostly uses traditional setups, Cisco provides stability. Other countries sometimes suffer technical issues, but Cisco offers redundancy to maintain functionality even if part of the system fails.

The solution is scalable.

Cisco's technical support is reliable and available 24/7. We have data with priority tickets resolved within five minutes. You need a Cisco account and service agreement to use the support, but they are prompt and helpful.

Positive

I am aware of other solutions like Avaya and Genesys. Genesys offers both on-prem and cloud solutions, but Cisco has a more stable setup.

I mostly work on already deployed setups. If the customer faces an issue, we fix it. Complexity arises sometimes due to server communication loss or network disconnection, impacting users. In such cases, Cisco TAC engineers provide 24/7 support.

The pricing varies based on the setup. ECCX has lower pricing for up to 400 users, whereas PCC is more expensive. Pricing increases based on requirements and features.

I am aware of other solutions like Avaya and Genesys. Genesys offers both on-prem and cloud solutions, and NICE inContact is popular in the VPN segment.

Cisco might be more costly compared to some other solutions, but its stability and support make it worthwhile. Customers can rely on Cisco TAC for quick resolution of issues.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.

We use this only for communication purposes, which includes a few use cases for it.

We haven't used the video calls and other features because we based our use on basic communication, so I cannot give full feedback regarding valuable benefits from Cisco Unified Communications' high-quality voice and video capabilities.

It is very reliable, and this is what I appreciated about it when I was working with it because reliability is crucial. There are no downtimes, and there are no major issues that impact our communication or the network side.

Since we implemented these devices in our campus, the communication has been really user-friendly. Whatever changes we want, if we want to add some features, it's very user-friendly, and our requirement was fulfilled; that's the main thing for how it helped our team to communicate better.

I want to see improvements, especially for the GUI interface, as it should be much easier and user-friendly in Cisco Unified Communications.

It would be beneficial if it could be more web interface-oriented, which would improve user-friendliness and configuration, since we have some issues taking backups.

We have been working with this device for more than 10 years, and I have been working with Cisco Unified Communications for that duration.

Cisco Unified Communications was working, but for about six months we have not been using it, so while I was working with it previously, currently we don't have it in place.

It is very scalable, but regarding advanced features, I have not used them, so I cannot provide much information about that.

In the early stage, when we required support because we were unaware of this unified system, we contacted Cisco for help and they guided us thoroughly.

I would rate the technical support eight out of ten, as I've found their customer service to be quite decent.

Positive

We are using our own very old system now because we have temporarily shut down the office where Cisco Unified Communications system was installed, so we are using the old device which we had in our office.

The process was straightforward because our requirement was very basic, and since we were using it only for calling and similar functions, it was very easy for them and us to manage for the past 10 to 12 years.

I was there with the team who deployed this project, guiding them about our requirements to fulfill them and follow the procedures.

We have not used fully functional advanced features such as Jabber and other capabilities in Cisco Unified Communications because most of our people don't want to use them.

We haven't utilized much of the analytics aspect of Cisco Unified Communications for our specific requirements.

Regarding price and value, it is already expired and has reached end of life.

We directly requested Cisco because we know it is a reliable product; this is why we didn't evaluate any other options.

It's a good product and a good solution; this is what I can recommend. Although I think it's now an old device and I am not familiar with new technologies in the market, it has worked for us for the last 12 years.

On a scale of one to ten, I rate Cisco Unified Communications an eight.

We have a Communication Manager cluster with almost 200 phones and 150 softphones (Jabber). All call handling is done with this solution. We have it integrated with Active Directory. This solution was added to the Unity solution for voice mail integrated with Office 365. The Expressway C & E solution was also incorporated for the registration of softphones (Jabber) from the Internet in a very simple way for end users. Finally, we have the connection to the PSTN through a gateway with SIP trunk.

Using the Communication Manager, it gave us the possibility to move around the office, and even outside the office, keeping our phone number always accessible using Jabber. This is essential to be able to apply it from the home office without problems and without having to always have a connected VPN.

Additionally, it improved communication between collaborators a lot when using video calls with Jabber, since body language greatly improves communication, making it richer and shortening the time necessary for a call.

We use Extension Mobility and Jabber a lot with mobile remote access. In addition to video calls with Jabber, this greatly enriched communications between coworkers. 

The integration with Active Directory is important to be able to see the complete directory from the phone or application, since one does not always remember the internal number of the person with whom you need to talk. 

The voice mail integrated with Outlook is very good because it allows you to reply from the mail, if the message was left by a colleague.

The new versions of Communication Manager have improved security with authentication and authorization, as they have incorporated many advanced functions. Perhaps an improvement option could be to incorporate the Voicea solution with Communication Manager, allowing it to make a translation between different languages automatically in a conversation. This particular feature would be make a large difference. 

Another option that can be used is to have the possibility of recording without needing to have an additional application.

More than five years.

None.

Our primary use is communication between users as well as inbound and outbound calls for the organization. Also included is IM & Presence for the users.

Having a single system including the routers and switches all from the same system gives ease of use. Using the phones was seamless and provided several features the previous system did not have.

Using Jabber for IM & P, as well as phone control, was the most valuable.

The Click to dial feature was one of the most important features for the customer.

Some features take a lot of steps to configure, so having areas where a few clicks can configure a feature for a user would be nice.

I have been working with Cisco Unified Communications for more than 19 years.

The list of features the system provides is massive, and the XML used by the end devices allows for custom features to be designed.

That being said, currently I find the ability to block incoming calls based on the originating number to be the best feature to come along.

The ability to block the numbers of problem callers has helped the stress level of the end users as well as reduced wasted time. When we have a caller, human or machine, that dials into the system simply to harass our employees I can block it quickly & simply without interrupting service to the system.

It would be nice if the reporting system was more in depth. I have a reporting solution sold by a third party which works very well, but the built-in solution should be better.

Real Time Monitoring Tool (RTMT) - This tool allows you to monitor different systems. Call manager, Unity Connections, UCCX, CUPS and so on. Each of these systems can run slightly different versions, which can make it difficult to monitor the internment. You can only have 1 instance of RTMT on your computer, so if the versions are different you will get warnings about how some aspects may not function because of the version mis-match. I use the highest version I can, because it's typically backwards compatible, but a web interface for this functionality would be a big improvement.

8 years

I have only deployed one system from the ground up, and that was in 2007. The issues encountered were due to the partner, not the system.

Not due to the system. When I have managed global UC systems, I have found instability due to poor infrastructure in some countries.

No. The system I currently maintain was installed and maintained by a team that manages clusters all over the world. The clusters all communicate with one another, allowing for VoIP calls throughout the world.

The Customer Service from Cisco is excellent. They have proven to be responsive to whatever I might need.

The Customer Service from my Cisco Partner is also excellent. I have worked with many partners over the years, and this team is very, very good at responding quickly to whatever I might need.

Cisco TAC is the very best support I have seen from any company I have every had to work with. Regardless of the issue, I know that I can open a ticket and that the help I receive will be what I need. If it's a production outage, they will jump on the call immediately and bring whatever other resources they may need to get me up and running again.

*** You pay for it. The SMARTnet contracts to support your products are expensive. You need contracts for hardware as well as for software licensing. It will cost you, but you do get what you pay for.

No

The initial setup was complex. The first system I put in place managed 12 locations, and setting everything up is no small task. Standardization is key. You want to have standard naming conventions on EVERYTHING! Be sure that you know what features you will be supporting and which ones you won't. DO NOT allow a vendor that you are not familiar with to go into a location and work with the folks on site AT ALL. Each vendor is going to try to sell, or at least be polite enough to answer the questions that your users ask them. The problem can be that the users end up wanting features that you aren't supporting. Most companies don't have "extra" UC engineers, and each feature that you want to have requires planning, testing, implementing and supporting. So unless you want to have unhappy users that want what they want but can't have it, don't let someone talk to them about all of the features that you aren't supporting.

Other systems I have managed have been installed by vendor teams, however the system I manage now is all mine. It was installed by an in-house team, and we don't use vendors at all to perform upgrades or enhancements. I have access to a lab which allows me to test everything I might want to implement.

If you use a vendor team, be VERY careful. The biggest mistake I have seen is when a company has a vendor come in, build the system and simply hand it off. If you do this, you are preparing for failure. Be smart, if you are having a vendor install the system, insist that you sit with them every step of the way, and that you are "hands on". With the first system I implemented I sat with the engineer and configured everything myself. He told me what to do, and made sure I did it correctly, but once the system was in and the vendor left I was able to manage it very well.

Another company I worked for had a vendor doing an upgrade and "handing it off". After they made a complete mess of one of my European sites, it took me a month to straighten out everything they botched.

Bottom line - ALWAYS perform your vendor related work with the vendor, never have it built & delivered. You never know what they might do to "make it work", and some work arounds don't allow for changes later on.

Pricing can be tough. Once you tell Cisco who your partner of choice will be they get the best discount percentage. Anyone else you have pricing solutions won't get as good of a deal from Cisco so odds are their pricing will be more.

Licensing can be an unbelievable mess. Cisco has improved it with the Enterprise License Manager (ELM), but it's still not perfect. Take the time to understand Cisco's licensing model, you won't be sorry. I always recommend to over-purchase at least a little. They have cheaper licenses, but you can end up without the licensing you need if you try to nickle and dime yourself on the license types you buy.

Yes. When installing my first system, I looked at Nortel and ShoreTel to compare with Cisco.

Be sure to have a solid, appropriate infrastructure before getting any VoIP solution. I have spoke with plenty of folks that have complained about voice quality with their VoIP solution, and with every case I found that they didn't have the correct network infrastructure to support voice.

If you're going to install VoIP in an office, be sure to do the following items.

* Have all cabling certified for voice - if it's not certifiable, replace it.

* Ensure that every Ethernet switch has 2 separate runs back to the core, going in different directions and terminating in separate switches.

* The Voice VLAN is correctly configured for every switch port that will carry voice

* QoS is implemented on the LAN and the WAN. (if you don't it WILL bite you at some point)

Of course you also want to be sure your switches have UPS power, and that they are PoE switches correctly sized for your needs. Be sure you know the draw of every device (phone, wireless AP, camera or whatever) that you intend to connect to the switch. If you over subscribe the power on your switch, end devices will not power up.

Cisco Unified Communications can be used to connect all your offices using VPNs between them.
With SIP enabled you can make voice or video calls in Unicast and multicast sessions.
Call routing can be performed very easily on this device.
The URI dialing feature allows you to make any to any dialing.
It also has powerful speech recognition which is better than any other speech recognition software.
The single digit dialing works like magic. You can reach important people of your organization by just pressing one button. It also works with the soft communicator where you don't need to differentiate VLANs.
You can create partitions in CM Dial plans. You can control who calls you or who you call.
Also adds a lot of security to your organization's voice and video infrastructure.
Also includes centralized management.

A few of the important features are available only Cisco Unified Call Manager 4.0 or above.
To have 2 call management server configured as failover would be expensive.

The best feature I would say about Cisco Unified Communications is the Telepresense.
With Telepresence you can get high definition video and get the feeling of being in the same room even though the other person is miles apart. This technology is being adopted by a lot of organizations for meeting purposes.
This will make you feel like the other person is sitting right next to you.

• More reliable than other unified communication devices.
• Lower cost of ownership.
• It extends the video capability to your workers during a single, unified communications infrastructure from the desktop to teleprocessing rooms.
• Interoperability and standards support.
• It is scalable for up to 40,000 users.
• It can be extensible to 80,000 users.

• One of the major flaws in the unified CM is handling the configuration of the Voice mail port.
• Failure of higher call-control utilities such as transmit recall.
• Failure of higher directory searching and call on utilities.

I have work on Cisco Unified Communication Manager (Call Manager) for one and a half years and it is a remarkable device which provides fully integrated communications, converging voice, video, and data over a single network infrastructure using standard protocols.