Cisco IP Phone 8851 with Multiplatform Firmware – Charcoal (CP-8851-3PCC-K9)

Solid VoIP phone
As a professional network admin I’ve spent a lot of time working with Cisco networking equipment and their phones are no exception. Having used their older model VoIP phones (7911 and 8945) I can vouch for their ruggedness. In the right hands these are exceptional phones for any small office/home office setup or for anybody interested in learning VoIP on the side but would like a phone like this to play with. Definitely worth the money.The older models I’ve worked with came with Enterprise firmware which meant that they were designed for use with Cisco’s proprietary CUCM environment. I had managed to get them working in Asterisk by hand-crafting the XML config files and loading them on a local TFTP server. This model specifically comes with the 3PCC (3rd Party Call Control) which does not require the tedious process of building a XML config by hand but instead is configured all through a web interface. I definitely recommend choosing the 3PCC model if you’re planning to use Asterisk or other 3rd party call control like voip.ms or similar SIP service as the configuration is much easier and features like call history aren’t lost each time on reboot. 3CPP firmware will not register with CUCM and no amount of “XML tweaking” will make it work so do keep that in mind if you plan on using it in the future. Cisco does offer the ability to migrate a 3PCC phone to Enterprise firmware but is very costly and does not permit switching back and forth between Enterprise and 3PCC firmware.The phone I ordered came brand new and sealed as listed. All original Cisco brandings Stock firmware was 11.0.1 MSR1-1 but I was able to upgrade it to the latest 11.3.3 released on the 28th of January 2021. It’s good to note, Cisco does not require an active service contract in order to download the latest firmware for this phone however they do require you create an account with them before letting you download it.The phone does not come loaded with any wallpapers to choose from so by default you get a gray background, you’ll have to provide a wallpaper yourself through the web configuration. The URL option for specifying the location of the image does support tftp if you happen to already have one up and plan to use it to store your custom backgrounds or you can specify a HTTP/HTTPS URI. The screen resolution is 800×400.Sound quality is superb. I highly recommend going with a SIP provider that supports G722 and enabling it in the phone configuration. By default it uses G711 Ulaw. The bandwidth utilization between the two is identical but G722 utilizes compression in the SIP stream to provide a much clearer audio channel both sending and receiving, but if the other side isn’t using G722 you won’t hear the improvement, keep that in mind.I definitely recommend Cisco’s line of phones for anyone serious about VoIP. With proper care these phones will last a very long time. Even the older model phones that I have lying around still power up and register even though Cisco no longer considers them supported. Asterisk doesn’t care the age of the phone, it will register all the same.

Does not work without a Cisco Activation Code
We were trying to purchase a practical office phone for our brand new medical spa. We’ve always heard good things about Cisco so didn’t think that we would have a problem. Once received it took us a while to finally open the package and start setting the phone up, like I said we are opening a brand new business so there was a lot going on. When I was setting up the phone, I realized it didn’t come with a power cord which I thought was odd so I did some research and these VOIP phones have their power source from the ethernet port. Once I managed to get the phone power, it immediately was requiring an Activation code. This is where things turned South. I did more research and all sources were stating that I reach out to my IT Department to acquire the code. I have no IT Department as we are a brand new med spa. I called Cisco Customer Service and they actually were quick to answer my calls (I probably called them over 10 – 12 separate times over the course of two weeks almost ten hours in total) but when I told them my issue they told me I had to create a Cisco ID in order for them to assist me, which I tried doing but to my surprise, my brand new small business was not on the list of Cisco partners to choose from so I was unable to create a Cisco ID. I believe your company needs to have some sort of service contract with Cisco to use this phone. They kept referring me to my IT Department or told me to reach out to Amazon. Obviously I have no IT Dept, I have one employee and Amazon was not available to me as it was passed the 30 day return timeframe. So I reached out to the seller, a wholesaler. We went back and forth until they decided not to assist me further because the serial number I was giving them (which was what was on the packaging, on the phone, and what was in Cisco’s system) was off by one digit and they told me that wasn’t the phone they shipped me. At this point I have come to the realization that I will eat the $279.00 cost of the phone and have to get another. The only reason I am posting this review is to alert other small business owners or home office dwellers to be aware that this phone requires an Activation Code with Cisco and will not work without the code. The support you will try and get from Cisco or the seller will not be helpful. Do not purchase this phone.

Nice phone
Nice phone

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Ich kann das Cisco 8851 3PCC nur empfehlen – ein klasse Telefon mit hervorragender Audioqualität. Die Freisprecheinrichtung ist exzellent, und mit meinem Jabra Headset ist das Telefon einfach unschlagbar.Mehrere Punkte sollte man allerdings dringend beachten:1. Es gibt einen Unterschied zwischen den Modellreihen. Das Cisco 8851 3PCC eignet sich für die Verwendung z.B. mit einer Fritz!Box oder CloudPBX; das Cisco 8851 K9 eignet sich nur für die Verwendung mit CUCM (Cisco Unified Communications Manager) bzw. kann nur über größere Umwege über XML-Dateien programmiert werden.2. Man sollte sich zumindest grundlegend mit SIP-basierter Telefonie auskennen. Der Admin-Modus ist nichts für Anfänger, und weiterführende Anleitungen sucht man im Internet relativ vergebens.Ist man technisch begabt, sollte die Konfiguration zumindest beim 3PCC-Modell kein Problem sein.