CAWJames

We have maybe 200 1005ha, and a lot of them, I would say half, have the bios battery problem, or what looks like it. Time going to 2002 and press F1 at startup as the bios has reset. They shipped with the bios numbered 8, and when we upgraded the bios to 16, it solved the problem....but now we are getting some of the updated ones showing the same problem. Ours are around 2 years old now, and its getting annoying. Keep them charged and they mostly seems fine, woe betye letting them drain though! Had some salivating salesmen on the phone today. when I mentioned I needed replacement laptops that would fit in the netbook trolley, tablets and ultrabooks would be considered! James

Sorry, I cooked my server from source, rather than using a distro. I don't know if asterisknow comes with freepbx, if it does, then in Module Admin you should have an option for OSS PBX Endpoint Manager, which can be installed and automatically looks after TFTP and provisions a multitude of sip phones, including a lot of the cisco ones. Writes all the XML/config files for you and saves a bucket load of time! Our firmware on the 7940 is 3-8-12, which I thought was the newest for that model. James

Ah ok, the 7940 does use the old system. You must have the newer phones. Don't you have the OSS PBX Endpoint Manager module installed in FreePBX? It does most of this for you.

This one of my SIPXXXXXXXXXXXX.cnf files, notice the logo url link 3/4 of the way down. phone_label: "Users Name" line1_name: "501" line1_shortname: "501" line1_displayname: "501" line1_authname: "501" line1_password: "password" messages_uri: "*97" proxy1_address: "192.168.100.251" proxy1_port:"5060" proxy_emergency: "" proxy_emergency_port: "5060" proxy_backup: "" proxy_backup_port: "5060" outbound_proxy: "" outbound_proxy_port: "5060" proxy_register: "1" timer_register_expires: "120" preferred_codec: "none" tos_media: "5" enable_vad: "0" dial_template: "dialplan" network_media_type: "auto" autocomplete: "4" telnet_level: "2" nat_enable: "1" nat_address: "" voip_control_port: "5060" start_media_port: "16348" end_media_port: "20134" nat_received_processing: "0" dyn_dns_addr_1: "" dyn_dns_addr_2: "" dyn_tftp_addr: "192.168.100.251" tftp_cfg_dir: "./" time_zone: GMT sntp_mode: "directedbroadcast" sntp_server: "0.uk.pool.ntp.org" time_format_24hr: "1" date_format: "D/M/Y" dst_offset: "1" dst_start_month: "March" dst_start_day: "" dst_start_day_of_week: "Sun" dst_start_week_of_month: "2" dst_start_time: "2" dst_stop_month: "Nov" dst_stop_day: "" dst_stop_day_of_week: "Sunday" dst_stop_week_of_month: "1" dst_stop_time: "2" dst_auto_adjust: "1" services_url: "" directory_url: "" logo_url: "http://cawhqap04/caw.bmp" telnet_level: "2" phone_prompt: "Cisco7960" phone_password: "" enable_vad: "0" network_media_type: "auto" user_info: phone James

We give the receptionist at each centre FOP2, Flash Operator Panel 2. The best web based switchboard for the Asterisk PBX. Works very well, written by the person/people that wrote the original FreePBX FOP. Cost us something like £35 for a white label perpetual licence(gets rid of all copyright footers and allows you to rebrand) There is a trial that only allows 15 buttons, so you can try it out. Users can only change the image if they have access to the TFTP server serving the XML files. It can't be changed on the phone itself, although the URL can be seen in the settings. On the BLF, I just remember the word hints from my googling about! You could try Enable Custom Device States in the advanced settings in FreePBX. James

We don't use the BLF functionality of the phone, as the 7940 only has 2 line keys. So cant help with that one. But I'm pretty sure it has something to do with 'hints'. The wallpaper is a link to a picture hosted on a website, depending on the model you have, you have to conform to certain requirements. If you use FreePBX you can add this in OSS, or if you are using command line pure asterisk it goes in the XML file for the phone. I used this as reference No Good Tips & Tricks: Hacking The Cisco 7940 IP Phone Call pickup we do with the FOP2 add-on, I do eventually want to get this working on the phones themselves, but we are very early on in our roll-out. I am learning as well, but any help I can give, let me know. James

We use the 7940 on Asterisk 10, if that helps. What do you need? James

Its as dynamic as you want it to be. It can show a ticker connected to an xml file. We have our database output all of our room bookings to xml files periodically, then xibo picks these up and displays room bookings. So all you would need to do, is set the ticker to update from the xml periodically, and change the xml file from your studio computer, maybe share it somewhere where both can access it. there is probably a much easier way, but that's the one off the top of my head! James

Ok, have been hitting the books, and from what I can work out, Server ML's, be it Standard or DC, are only needed for managed servers, and are not needed on management servers, unless they are managed themselves. BUT as we use the Forefront Endpoint component, the servers that are covered by this become managed, and any servers being backed up by DPM are managed too, so need a license. So looks like all my single proc servers, of which there aren't many these days, need the Standard Server ML, and my 3 VM host servers need DC. Also not sure the CIS DC license is available under EES anyway, so that idea may be out. Anyone back this up? Thanks again James

Afternoon all, I know the SC2012 licence comes in 2 flavours, Standard and Datacenter, depending on how many OSE's on the particular server. 2 for Standard, unlimited for DC and Standard covers 1 processor, DC covers 2, for more procs, stack up the licences. All that is fairly self explanatory. (Although the first quote from our reseller the other week included old style SC licenses, with different Server ML, OpsCentr and SCCM lines, muddy waters indeed!!) My question is, do I have to buy a licence for every physical windows server we own, or just the ones that run a particular part of SC, such as the DPM servers and the SCCM management server? Either isn't a problem, but don't want to over-license, every penny counts(and pays for more toys!). We also license some server licences within our EES agreement, so I could roll some of these up with a CIS license, instead of a SC and a server license, hopefully ending up cheaper, if its the former of my two assumptions. Thanks for any help in advance, James

So annoying, I don't know if I need intune or not, as SCCM can look after mobiles through activesync just like intune, although all the new versions are yet to be released, ie SCCM SP1 and the new version of intune for Windows 8/8 phone. All I really want is geotracking, as the buzzword is 'Safeguarding' at the moment! I can use windowsphone.com and findmyphone, but don't know how many phones i can tie to an account. Is it too much to ask to have a big map where the powers that be can watch people/phones move and make sure they aren't lying in a ditch or uncontactable and showing hundreds of miles from where they should be. I don't know if the new version of intune will offer this. For once, i wish MS would use us as beta testers on final versions!

We use a company called Dalycom, they resell Gamma trunks. We started with 5 lines plus around 20 DDI's plus CLI flexibility, so we can present pretty much any number on the outgoing call. Each DDI was 69p, and the rental on the lines wasn't a lot. In our first production month for one of our satellite centres, running 6 phones, our first bill was a shade over £100, as there was a one time fee for the connection for the endpoint(ie where the incoming calls point to) and the couple of months after that barely push £50 a month including calls. No brainer really, and we are planning to push it out over all 5 centres during this year. For phones we hit a popular auction site, and got some cheap grandstream budgetones for a tenner each for classrooms(think cheap nasty, but good enough for a incidental phone) and £30 each for a load of Cisco 7940G phones with psu's for the desks(we bought 30). As we phase out our ISDN systems, this system will be brought in, and we can get rid of our non geographic 0844 numbers too, as the sip DDI's are portable, where BT DDI's are usually tied to an exchange(we moved 2 centres into one, 2 miles from one, and 15 from the other, all the same std code, but 3 different exchanges, no chance to keep any range of numbers, hence the 0844). Also thinking of tying it into Exchange and Lync, for a truly awesome internal conferencing/communication system. Got to love EES and the enterprise cal pack! Oh and make sure you have the bandwidth and the stability for multiple phones, we have 10/10 leased lines at most of the centres, and 100/100 at the main one, so not really a problem for us. If you have any questions let me know. James

But the devices are available now, Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, you would think they would have it out by now, how else are IT depts going to start testing for deployment Glad to see I'm not the only one waiting!

Ah the resurrection of an old thread, bracing! Are we any further forward with this? Will I definitely have to have an intune license for our mobiles, or can I just live with SCCM2012? Mostly want to be able to geolocate for safeguarding purposes. Is there a release date for SP1 yet, all this new tech and I can't deploy it! No way I am screwing up my current SCCM setup with a beta. Thanks James

It can be done in the preceding versions on W7, but only if you right click on the active excel icon in the taskbar and select Excel, it will spawn a completely seperate instance rather than a new 'tab' inside the already running instance, then you can move one to one screen and one to another. James Edit, Actually this works for all Office applications.

HomeAccess Plus looks very nice, might be worth having a play with that, although we are a non RM house, I'm sure I can wangle it somehow! James

Writing back isn't so much of a problem, as photo's and data collected on the road will most likely be emailed to enabled mail addresses in our document management system, or sent straight to an administrator for filing. The access of shares will mainly be for informational/reading purposes, ie being able to access a work based learning tutors private folder on a student on the go. We use Canon's Therefore to hold all the documents on a student, BUT some keep their own set of documents or things that don't get archived for easy access on laptops. We are trying to stop the culture of hefting umpteen devices, laptops, portable printers and the like that they take around with them. We envisage them rocking up with a tablet and/or a smartphone and doing all with things that can be pocketed(ok maybe not the tablet, but you get the idea). In the future, when we have changed the way they work, all will be Therefore based, and shares wont need to be accessed so much, but for the time being, that's how it is. And maybe one day, we wont have to buy 60 boxes of A4 a month, all will be tablet based. I can but dream! thanks for the reply James

Was it an RMA job on the main unit then? I have a call in with HP, so maybe they have seen this before and know what to do. I'm just glad I still have switching, as I don't have a spare 96 port switch sitting on the shelf! My servers would still work, but the staff and students would be quite annoyed not to have desktop access! Thanks James

Afternoon all, We are about to embark on a project to give as much access to our network to our teams in the field as we can. We are going to be issuing iPads and smart phones to them all, try to take a few steps out of the information process, eg, person takes a picture of an insurance certificate and emails it straight to our DMS, rather than photocopying it, faxing it or posting it, and all the many steps the manual process takes now. My question is, is there a secure way for them to access their home shares over the internet on a mobile device without VPN? Currently they have a "U:" drive mapped to their desktops held on a 2008R2 file server, this would be what we would want them access to, and maybe each centres general drive too. We are looking at the Private APN approach, but that becomes useless when on someone else's wifi instead of the 3G. And some mobile devices don't give you windows folder share access anyway. We could install VPN clients on the mobile devices or use built in VPN, but that could be clunky and end up in many phone calls that end "have you gone to the settings, network, vpn menu and turned your vpn on, etc" I seem to remember back in the mid 2000's having a "Windows Storage Server Appliance" made by HP, that could share a folder as a webpage, is that still an option with the right firewall bricks removed? Thanks in advance for any suggestions, James

Morning all, We have a year or so old 4204Vl with all modules filled, 96 gb ports and 4 gbic in all across the 4 modules. Suddenly today it started partially blocking a fibre link to a remote switch, and then locked up, so I power cycled it, ie pulled the kettle lead out, left it a few seconds and reconnected it. All seems fine network wise, everything works as it should that is connected through it, all trunks, LACP, LAG, fibre links work again. BUT I have now lost all forms of remote management access, telnet, HTTP, SNMP etc. Anyone have any idea on what this could be? Its still pingable, and have checked the ARP tables on a spare linux server (plenty of pings first)to make sure something hasn't been introduced to the network on the management address, by DHCP or otherwise(MAC in ARP matches switch's MAC) Thanks in advance James

Oh and we already licence configmgr, through enterprise cals and server licences, which I assume illicits a reduced price (fingers crossed!)

Thanks for that, anyone know what intune is for EES customers? I assume its a FTE count product(or I could be wrong!) Thanks again James

Yes, but do I NEED intune, or can everything be done through configmgr 2012 sp1? That is the question. Thanks James

Morning people, With the imminent arrival of above mentioned os on phones and our upcoming end of mobile contract, I am seriously considering going all windows(if they are any good that is) on phones and computers. I'm fed up of users ringing me to ask questions about phones I cannot see in front of me, and probably haven't seen in the flesh for 2 years, let alone know how they have personalised it etc.. They don't seem to like the answer "I can wipe it remotely, then it should work just like the day I gave it to you." We already run SCCM 2012, but my question is, will this be enough to properly look after the WP8 phones, or will we need to licence InTune as well? I know this question may be unanswerable at this point, but thought id ask as google is not answering my questions(bad google). Thanks James

Nice idea, but it only applies to your own mobiles and is IMEI locked. Don't think you can apply it to a general area of mobile use. And you cant force all the students to use your apn, they would just change it back! When I was at boarding school, BBC Micro/Master were king and there was no internet! James