Deploying a Voice over IP network can be daunting given all the technologies required to deliver consistently high voice quality. This becomes especially troublesome as the network grows and more network infrastructure and endpoints are added. Cisco has found a unique solution to this problem and has formally been granted a patent for these technologies by the US Patent Office. The patent (US Pat: 8867405) has been granted for technologies enabling a zero-touch, network-wide, voice deployment. And the best part? This is supported today on the Cisco SMB 500, 300, and 200 Series Switches.
The Cisco solution incorporates a combination of VSDP (Voice Services Discovery Protocol), CDP, LLDP-MED, Auto Smartports, and mDNS. This unique solution addresses the auto-configuration of the network of switches as well as the auto-configuration of the Voice endpoints, AP’s, UC, and desktops/servers. Endpoints are automatically discovered and instructed which QoS and Voice VLAN parameters to use, and the switch ports are dynamically configured. The entire network converges on (and automatically adjusts to) the parameters needed to deliver high quality voice.
What makes this solution especially unique is that one can literally take a new switch as it arrives from the factory, plug in the IP phones and other endpoints, and have a functioning network without any configuration.
“Cisco has raised the bar for this product category”
– Kevin Tolly, Founder, The Tolly Group
For a more detailed description of the capabilities, a document has been posted on Cisco’s Support Forum.
A demo showing how this capability compares to competitive products in the market:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OowfcLEEnW8&feature=youtu.be
Another demo showing the ease of deployment with the Auto capability in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXDuWSay1lU#t=185
Awesome! Congratulations Ivor and team.