It's Been A Pleasure Doing Business With This Phone

Author's Rating:

Pros: Clear Sound Quality; Useful Features; Connectivity with PC

Cons: Somewhat expensive; Limited speed-dialing; Pixel Screen; Can be difficult to setup

The Bottom Line: 
The Cisco 7960G IP is a great phone for businesses, as it is loaded with features, has great sound quality, and connects with the PC. Only has some minor setbacks.

Author's Review
The Cisco 7960G IP Phone is one of the best phones suited for large businesses that handle complex networks and many employees. This phone has great sound quality and connection, decent size and appearance, and reasonably easy to setup. I work at State Street, a global investment banking firm, and every single cubicle has one of these phones. It’s very useful for networking over 1000 employees here, the sound quality is crystal clear, and it has many practical features and functions, although the speed dialing is limited.

Features:

9 out of 10

1. Messages – Allows you to directly access voice mail with a touch of a button.
2. Directories – identifies incoming messages and categorizes them for
users on the screen (Missed, Placed, Received, and a Directory Lookup Function as well). These have helped me quickly and effectively return calls using direct dial-back capability. The corporate directory integrates with the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP3) standard directory.
3. Settings - this key allows the user to adjust display contrast and select from a large of unique ringer sounds, volume settings for all audio such as ringer, handset, headset, and speaker. Network Configuration preferences can also be set up, either automatic or manually set up for Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP), Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP), and CallManagers. This allows the ability to move around without system administration, you can simply move your phone to another location on the network and plug in.
4. Services - The Cisco 7960G allows users to quickly access diverse information such as weather, stocks, quote of the day, or any Web-based information using extensible markup language (XML).
5. Help - The online help feature gives users information about the phone's overall functions. The screen displays information for using features; for example, the Directory button can show local and server-based directory information.

The phone also allows a headset (needs to be attached separately) or a speakerphone (built-in) to be used, as well as mute button. The headset is great for when you need to use the computer or write something down, and you don’t want to tilt your head to hold the phone against your shoulder. It’s not incredibility comfortable, and my manager gets her hair stuck in it, but it can be useful. The high-quality speaker phone is also great for all those people who put you on hold for hours. These buttons light up when they are active, and turn on with the touch of a button. In addition, the phone will inform you of the current date and time display a call timer during calls, and messages if you have a voicemail or if you missed any calls.

Speed dialing is not this phone’s strength, as it only has 4 speed dial buttons, and some of the corporate phone book lookup can be tedious sometimes. A speed dial for most people doesn’t happen with that much speed, as I often have to do a manual lookup due to the limited speed dial functions. Luckily, in our office, I only have to dial a 5-digit extension for people in the building, but for other offices, the lack of this function may not be as appealing.

On a side note, there are quite a few ringtones to choose from, but many of them are unsuitable for the workplace. You can choose from the classic ring to a saxophone tune to a tone called “Jamaica”. I personally find the rest of the sounds pretty useless since any fancy ringtone would attract attention, but I suppose it’s a fun addition if you can use it.

Design:

9.5 out of 10

The Cisco 7960G IP is built very well, in terms of durability and ergonomics. The phone also has a little light at the top to let you know if you have any missed calls, or flashes during an incoming call. The screen is very simple, and easy to use with the up and down navigation buttons, as well as 4 soft keys for menu options at the bottom. The phone isn’t as flashy as a cell phone, but it fits any office well with its dark gray and silver color. It can be adjusted to 60 degrees, and it’s about 4.5 inches thick, and goes up to 8 inches in height at its maximum. I don’t think it’s a large phone at all, and it can be mounted on a wall as well to conserve space. In terms of durability, I haven’t dropped or abused the phone much, and it’s been in these offices for quite a while. I don’t think the frustrated hang-up will crack the plastic, so they’ll probably last you quite a while. The only thing that could be improved on is the pixelated screen, which disappointed me because I expected an LCD color screen from Cisco.

Programming/Configuration:

8.5 out of 10

The 7960 can be either a breeze or a pain to setup – it mainly depends on how complex and large your network needs to be. Its features include:

• G.711 and G.729a audio compression
• H.323 compatible and Microsoft NetMeeting compatibility
• An IP address assignment-DHCP client or statically configured (also supports BOOTP)
• Built-in EIA/TIA RS-232 port for add-on options such as line expansion, security access, and more. This port supports 802.1q virtual LANs, which allows PC and phone to work together seamlessly in the same phone jack, without mixing the two up. In my cubicle, there is a Cisco LAN switch, so only one power and data cable plugs into the phone jack, which is extremely useful and space saving, since I won't to need buy a bulky DC adapter or put it in my office.

In case you would like more information about these features, http://www.tech-faq.com/ is an informative site to visit to learn more about these terms to help you better comprehend establishing a phone and PC network, or simply understand what these protocols and other telecommunication terms mean.

For personalized settings, it’s pretty simple and straightforward - the phone will guide you on saving your preferences on volume, display, and ring tone as well as ring volume.
However, for more complex changes, such as changing a password, you will need to get into the system via the computer and Internet. Most of these problems are solved by our technical staff, so I don’t have a problem, but it may be a hassle for those who have to do it themselves. Also, This IP 7960G is not suitable (as it would take more network setup and isn’t really built for it), for conference rooms, so we use the IP Conference Station 7936 VoIP Phone, which is built much better for a large meeting.

Sound Quality:

10 out of 10

The network/VoIP server can play a large factor in sound quality due to quality and speed of the connection, and my network is high-quality due to the size it needs to maintain. Personally, the 7960 does sounds extremely clear and the speakerphone is even better, because I don’t have to talk any louder and the microphone is sensitive enough to hear me without leaning into the phone. Also, I can talk and listen to the speakerphone simultaneously – good for arguments with unhappy clients. The calls are never have static or anything, but if you need to, the speaker and headset volumes are adjustable. One feature that I particularly like is that the microphone on the phone is designed to receive voice, but it filters out breathing sounds so you’ll rarely hear that scratchy sound of someone breathing on the mouthpiece.


The Cisco 7960G IP phone is perfect for large or small businesses that want to network PC and phone, handle a large amount of calls per day with great sound quality, as well as a plethora of other features. Some better speed dialing could make this phone even better, but it’s not a huge setback. If you’re looking for a network phone, my advice is get into the Cisco network – one of the better phones and networks out there.