2811 vs 3845: Building a VoIP system with used gear

Hey guys,

I'm putting together a voice network at work using used, remarketing product that we get in all the time. At the heart I am debating on whether to use a 2811 or a 3845 and can't really see why I would use the 2811. The 2811 we have is running 12.4(1R) with CME 3.1, has 256MB of RAM, 64MB of Flash and 16K of NVRAM.

I haven't run a show version or show inventory on the 3845 yet but I'm guessing it will have CME on it as well. It comes with (2)PVDM2-48 DSPs, (1) VWIC2-MFT card & (1) VWIC2-FXO 4-port card.

I have two 3845's and since I'm doing this with used equipment I'm thinking it would be better to have one for a spare. I know the 2811 only supports 36 phones but the 3845 supports 250. I'm not sure but the 3845 might even have an AIM-CUE in it, I will have to check though. I chatted with Cisco yesterday and they told me CME 3.1 came with Voicemail and Auto-attendant features built in, does anyone know if this is true?

We currently have a fractionalized T1 coming into the office and we have 34 phones connected to a Panasonic PBX.

General thoughts? Suggestions or recommendations?

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Comments

pitviper

Either platform would work, config would be the same, and the parts are interchangeable. Since you’re looking at 34 phones, the 3800 would be the better choice of the two. It’s honestly a tad overkill (2821/2851 is more than enough) but if you have one on hand why not!?

Regardless of which platform you use, I would load IOS 15 and run at least CME 8. CME 3.1 is pretty old and missing some major enhancements.

As for AA and Voicemail – It’s essentially a function of CUE (not CME). You can do a really rudimentary AA script without CUE but it leaves A LOT to be desired (and is a pain to setup) and no voicemail at all without CUE (or an external voicemail server).

genXrcist

pitviper wrote: »

Regardless of which platform you use, I would load IOS 15 and run at least CME 8. CME 3.1 is pretty old and missing some major enhancements.

As for AA and Voicemail – It’s essentially a function of CUE (not CME). You can do a really rudimentary AA script without CUE but it leaves A LOT to be desired (and is a pain to setup) and no voicemail at all without CUE (or an external voicemail server).

To get IOS 15 I need a smartnet contract on it right? Is it true you can't put smartnet on used equipment?

As for AA and voicemail, thanks for the info. Basically it's doable but it sucks. With 34 phones do you think the AIM-CUE is good enough?

pitviper

genXrcist wrote: »

To get IOS 15 I need a smartnet contract on it right? Is it true you can't put smartnet on used equipment?

Yes and no - You'll have to check the actual serial number with Cisco to see if the unit is SmartNET eligible.

Which brings up a good point... For a production voice router, you're going to want SmartNET
coverage. You'll need it for phone upgrade files/firmware and so on.

genXrcist wrote: »

As for AA and voicemail, thanks for the info. Basically it's doable but it sucks. With 34 phones do you think the AIM-CUE is good enough?

AA is doable, not VM (without CUE) though. You can do up to 50 voicemail boxes with an AIM-CUE (more with the NM/NME versions) and the router won't even blink.