Item: Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Rating: 7
Author: Juan Ignacio Zappacosta

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I used CUCM until some months ago in a strategic consultancy firm and with many customers within Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. I was being used by all external consultants and the operative teams within the customers. There were very few business problems and we were very happy with this solution. We faced some delays and latency in some calls but the issues were always related to connectivity or network. It is not a "cheap" solution and the quality of the product was more than satisfactory. If the meeting has more than 199 attendees you will not be able to attend the call.

Pros and Cons

It is a secure solution. There are no severity 5s vulnerabilities associated with this solution.
The quality of the sound is excellent. There are very few solutions with such good quality in terms of latency, quality and delay/response.
It is highly scalable and easy to use.

It should have a free or beta version.
More than 199 should be allowed to attend the meetings.
During the meetings, the users should read the reasons why they are facing issues (connectivity issues, network, latency, poor quality/only sound, etc).

Return on Investment

Cisco as a brand is always a plus and a positive impact.
A negative impact may be considered if the price is too expensive for small companies.
I had a very good experience using this solution. The previous solution (skype 4B + outlook) was full of vulnerabilities and the downtime was unacceptable.

Alternatives Considered

RSA Archer and Qualys Container Security (CS)

We had a great experience with Cisco IP phone communicator and this was the main reason why this new solution was purchased. Some members were more likely to purchase Skype for Business solutions but in the end, the good experience with Cisco solutions made the difference.

Support Rating

Every time I had issues with this solution the help desk proactively solved all issues. In most cases it was related to "connectivity issues" and not issues related to the solution itself. It would be great to have an alternative submitting the tickets by "chat" as many other applications.

Key Insights

Do you think Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager) delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)'s feature set?

Yes

Did Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager) live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager) go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager) again?

Yes

Other Software Used

TIBCO Spotfire, Tableau Desktop, Microsoft Power BI

Likelihood to Recommend

Cisco Unified Communications Manager is a good solution for large and medium companies since big companies don't face many connectivity issues. It has everything you need, you can bring people together anytime, anywhere and on any device. Small companies and families are not under the scope of this application since is not that cheap and it has no beta or free version. I highly recommend to work on some enhancements of the look and feel and if it is possible in the integration to other apps.

Cisco Unified Communications Manager Review

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)