I spent some time today configuring a SNOM VoIP telephone to work with our OCS environment.
The benefits of the SNOM phone over other UC handsets include dialpad and standalone network operation (does not require USB connection, but instead plugs directly into a network cable). This is desirable because sometimes applications running on the laptop can cause Communicator from having all of the CPU and resources needed to insure a good quality voice conversation. The SNOM phones can be found online for around $100 online – about the same price as the Polycom cx200.
The Play-On-Phone feature of Exchange 2007 works with these phones and the presence information in OCS is automatically updated when you are on a call.
The web interface on the phone is nice – you can place calls, view missed/received and dialed numbers. You can configure the buttons on the phone to perform a myriad of features.
Getting SNOM to talk to OCS
Out of the box, the system ships with a version 6.x firmware, and it first must be upgraded to version 7.x, and then to version 8.2.15 before it can communicate with OCS.
However, once 8.2.15 is on the phone, the configuration could not be easier. Simply browse to the web page of the phone itself and then type in your SIP-URI (usually the same as your email address) followed by your username and password.
