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Introduction to the Cisco UC500

Introduction

Cisco’s UC500 is a purpose built appliance for SMB (Small and Medium Business) solutions that provides IP PBX, voicemail, switching, VPN, firewall & optional wireless functionality.

The IP PBX & voicemail features are based on Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express (CME aka CUCME) & Cisco Unity Express (CUE).

The switching, VPN, firewall & wireless are based on IOS features while management is provided via the Cisco Configuration Assistant (CCA) tool. 

UC500 provides the following benefits:

  • Cost-effective, converged data and voice solution in an appliance.
  • Key system/small PBX features plus innovative convergence applications for up to 48 users with the use of an optional expansion switch.
  • Intuitive GUI for easy installation, adds, moves, and changes.
  • Firewall & VPN support, based on US DoD certified IOS firewall technologies.
  • Optional integrated Wireless LAN support for mobility with abilty to extend wireless coverage
  • UC500 offers voice-mail and automated attendant capabilities for IP and analog phone users & these are fully integrated into the appliance. 

The appliance does not include onboard, non‑removable flash. Unlike most Cisco routers and switches, the UC500 platforms do not include an internal flash chip for storage. All persistent storage resides on one removable CompactFlash cards in front‑panel slots

image.pngThe focus of this guide is on the UC500 Series appliance

Components of the UC500

● Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express (CUCME) for call processing of Cisco Unified IP phones, providing a phone system rich in features.

● Cisco Unity® Express for voice messaging and Automated Attendant, to help improve communication among employees and with customers.

● An integrated 8-port Power over Ethernet (PoE) local-area network (LAN) switch.

● Network security functions including Cisco IOS Firewall, which protects the wide-area network (WAN) entry point into your network, and virtual private network (VPN), which gives up to 10 remote users highly secure access to your network.

● Optional integrated wireless LAN (WLAN) capability on some models or external access points and Cisco Wireless LAN Controller Modules, to enable mobile networking, which can help increase employee flexibility and productivity.

● Cisco Configuration Assistant so you can easily configure devices and technologies including unified communications (phones and software), switching, routing, security, and wireless.

● Supports optional remote system-monitoring capabilities.

● Supports Cisco Unified IP phones, including wireless handsets and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones.

● Cisco Unified CallConnectors for integration with Windows PC applications including Microsoft Outlook, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, or Salesforce.com CRM.

● An ability to expand switching capabilities through a connection to Cisco Catalyst® Express 520 Series Switches, which provide an additional 8 to 24 ports.

The full data sheet for the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business can be found here

What the actual appliance looks like

Front part of the appliance:

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You can see the 8-port PoE-capable switch, the WAN uplink port, the console port and the CF (Compact Flash) slot, which are the things I will be using on the lab.

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The appliance is a bit heavy and quite loud (only when booting).

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Deployment Scenario example

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Files needed

For this lab, I have purchased a used Cisco UC540 (UC540W-BRI-K9) appliance (there are two other versions of the UC500 Series, UC520 and UC560).

Since this has largely been EoL, it has been somewhat difficult to find the actual files for upgrading the device to the latest version available, although the link can be found (here).

There are various components used on this appliance:

COMPONENT LATEST VERSION AVAILABLE RELEASE DATE
IOS Release 15.1(4)M6 --> uc500-advipservicesk9-mz.151-4.M6  July 2013
UC500 Software Pack 8.6.2 July 2013
CUE Release 8.6.5 July 2013
CCA Release 3.2.3 July 2013

A note about the filesystems

These are the filesystems available on the UC500:

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For this lab, I have purchased a used Cisco UC540 (UC540W-BRI-K9) appliance (there are two other versions of the UC500 Series, UC520 and UC560), and a Cisco 7960 IP Phone.

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The purpose of this lab is to place a call from the Cisco 7960 IP Phone (which will be directly connected to the UC500) to a number in the PSTN (i.e my smartphone), and also to receive incoming calls on the 7960 (which will be assigned a DID number).

Topology

The topology will be as follows. I have included here IPs and network assignments.

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Sources:

UC 500 Software Packs
https://community.cisco.com/t5/small-business-support-knowledge-base/uc-500-software-packs/ta-p/3294095

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