So we are mere weeks away at this point, so it’s time to start thinking about what you will bring with you…  If this is your first #CLUS then first – CONGRATS!   You will be overwhelmed.    Here’s my random ramblings about how to prep.

Do Not Show Up On Monday If Possible – If you can show up Sunday with time to register – do it, the line up on Monday is crazyness!

Here are some basic tips that you need to know

A)  Assume you will leave your hotel in the morning – and you don’t return until your head is ready to hit the pillow

B) Consider the weather, and the effect it may have on you when packing

C)  Comfortable shoes – forget the fancy leather unless you are really looking to make a fashion statement, you will be on your feet – a lot – and walking – a lot.

D)  Day Bag – You will be gone all day, and you might get some swag – bring a backpack or a bag.    The event provides a bag normally – but sometimes the bags have missed the mark, so bring another one just in case – trust me you will need an extra bag for swag you bring home.

E) There are shuttles.   The event provides shuttles from hotels to the event venue on a very constant basis.

F) You could be busy – every – single – night.  There are events all over every night.

G)  Lunch is provided

H)  Get your calendar, but plan some time for the World of Solutions.  Sometimes there is just as much good stuff there, as there is in the sessions

I)  Don’t fret if you didn’t get into a session – if you didn’t get the session you really wanted, don’t worry – go anyway, just before it starts they will let in a standee line.

J) Internet Access:  Have a plan, especially if you are an international traveller, for Canadians I use ROAM Mobility.     The event has WiFi and it has been good the last few years, check your hotel and see if it is included.     Just a tip – Internet Access WiFi almost never works when in the large general sessions, you are better on LTE or 3G if you are blogging or vlogging.

K)  Get A Map – Map where your hotel is, figure out how to get to the venue, then figure out how to get around.  The good news is if you are rushing between sessions #CLUS has literally 300+ people just standing around to give directions, normally in a funny hat or shirt, use them.

L) Have fun.

Stuff to bring and things to plan

1.  Cash – seems obvious but sometimes if you are out and about it is easier to pay in cash, especially in groups.
2. Cards – If you have more than 1 credit card, bring both, just in case one is lost, or locked out.
3. Reservations and Confirmations – Print these, yes old school hard copy that way in case you need to reference it
4.  Plan your route to and from the airport ahead of time – Uber, Shuttle, either way figure this out ahead of time
5.  Extra clothing, different clothing, interesting clothing, an extra pair of shoes, de-odourant, toothbrush, hair brush.
6. Extra phone chargers, with longer than normal cords
7. Power Bar – compact if possible
8. Portable Power Block – One of those USB power charger things comes in handy.
9. Laptop, Tablet, and Phone – I tend to find the tablet works better than the laptop, and I like the weight.   I also bring a MacBook Air instead of a full size laptop.
10. Hat, Sunglasses.

Meraki MC74 Update

Yesterday we received additional details in a Podcast with Simon Tompson @merakisimon about how the MC74 came to be, and a small glimpse into what is ahead.

The Meraki MC74 isn’t the first phone they have built.  The original phone had a full keypad and many more buttons, however it  became very clear that they simply couldn’t built what they wanted using something that restrictive

The team has seen the 7″ IPS display as a “Blank Canvas” of which they can develop any features they please.   Buttons are too restrictive.

They wanted to launch a “Flagship product” to show what they could do, and what is coming,  it is a natural next step to offer up a more value oriented product which we could see in the coming months.

Reporting in the Meraki portal is a huge feature today, I am sure lots of reporting will be coming.   Along with many features, and while I cannot prove it, I have a feeling – we are running Android here.

Everything in the MC74 is encrypted, all of the signalling, and all audio traffic is SRTP.    Audio paths are all point to point for phones, or point to gateway for PSTN calls.   Everything this phone does – is SIP.

Dashboard is Live!

You can now create phone networks in Dashboard.

Hardware

In my opinion the device itself is of exceptional quality in the hand

In a video I posted on Youtube at Cisco Connect Toronto I was able to put my hands on the device.  It has a sculpted back which is rounded.   3 buttons, 2 for volume and one for hardware mute.   The handset itself magnet locks to the phone and feels very natural even without a noisy old school hookswitch.     The audio quality is SUPERB running G.722 and the handset feels good in the hand and comfortable to use.    My only concern is the same with many other VoIP platforms – the lack of sidetone when using G.722 makes the phone feel hollow a bit.

 

Make A Wish – Revealed!

I am sure you have seen this button

By now you might know, Meraki does actually READ these wishes, many are correlated with software, word matching and that kind of thing.   Many features you see today in other Meraki products are derived directly from “Make a wish”

In a Meraki blog post they posted a view of the screen displayed in San Francisco that the developers see when you post.  So go ahead and send in your wishes, they are listening.   The MC74 team will be using this to generate new features and functionality.

Last but not least, go ahead and make a wish “Make me a sandwich”  and when you are done that “Konami Code”   – you will get a little surprise with both.

 

 

The information was leaked about a month ago,  in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission,   Cisco was providing letters of Attestation regarding a product called the “Meraki MC74”.  Why is this important on launch day?  Well keep reading

The only thing we knew then – was that it was some kind of WiFi Device.

Today I am extremely excited to show you something that will in my personal opinion – change the face of small and medium business IT.     It’s no secret, I do work for a Cisco partner, and I guess I do drink the Cisco sauce a little bit.

This is the new Meraki MC74 – a cloud managed VoIP telephone.    Meraki has not told us that it has WiFi inside, but FCC documents reveal this device does have Wireless inside, and the device DOES have bluetooth support – but comments about DFS compatibility, could that mean this has a WiFi chipset in it Meraki has not told us about?

• Streamlined Deployment
• Simplified Management
• Delightful End-user Experience

The easy deployment and management of all Meraki products will still exist, including the one portal to rule them all.

This will be the “Premium” experience phone, and we should expect lower end phones coming at some point.

The intention is that you will be able to ship this DIRECTLY to a user, with no admin intervention from the device.   The unboxing process has been “optimized” to provide a clean user designed unboxing.

Meraki’s launch team tell us that it was “Painstakingly Designed and Built” and will provide a 7″ IPS Display which will give them a blank canvas to create features.   They will continue to iterate features from customer feedback, and will be the first in a series of telephones from Meraki.

They will have IVR and Auto Attendant type services available, and Directory Services are handled using a few options, one of which is CSV.    Google Apps integration will also be offered.

The handset has a magnet to assist with location of the hook switch, which is also IR instead of the mechanical hook switch

Built in stand, and wall bracket which does include the Meraki bubble level if you want to wall mount it.

The key for Meraki in this new product is software integration and they are telling us that features will be announced in the coming months.

My Take…

This is huge.   I don’t even think Meraki realizes how huge this is.    Today this means I can have Switching, Wireless, Security – and now Phones – in a single pane of glass, with a single interface.  The interface is easy – very easy.   This will reveolutionalize how small and some medium businesses see and use IT.  This will drive the sales of additional Meraki services.

With more and more businesses moving to the cloud, Office 365,  SalesForce, and the other cloud type SaaS providers, small businesses can now be agile.     With the growing cost of IT, one of which is the people cost, the SMB market continues to try and do more, with less.  Let us be honest here, many SMB’s operate with a single IT resource, or a single contracted resource.    This means agility.   This means servicing end users from anywhere, anytime and from a single pane of glass.

Ahh, the single pane of glass thing.   We have all heard that one before, where a single pane really means looking through 8 single panes and then pretending to be a single window, which really just results in a foggy image of that single pane.     Not this time.

This will be a big deal – ok now for some more details.

More info…

Phone Screenshot…

Features will include

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

Persistent conference bridges

Directory Integration – CSV, Google Apps

End User Web Portal, for Call Forwarding, Voicemail and Outbound Calls for access to this information when the user is away from the phone.    Call logs, play voicemail all from any browser anywhere.

Click to Call Integration – Users can click phone numbers on their PC and the MC74 will dial.

There are three parts you need.  The phone,  the Meraki Cloud license – and the SIP Service.     At launch it will be offered in USA only.    Meraki WILL NOT be setting themselves up as a SIP provider, you can use a SIP provider in the USA.

Extension to Extension calls are “Not an Issue” so there is some indication that phone to phone calls are possible without the service.

Administration

Just like looking at switches or access points, phones are no different.     There is a very consistent look and feel.

Day 1 there will be service through IntelePeer but the plan is multiple service providers in the USA and around the world.

You will be able to order numbers directly from the Meraki Dashboard, confirm and activate immediately.

IVR Programming will be very easy.

That’s it!   Cannot wait to get this in my hands to try it out.

 

 

 

Meraki add’s 2 new AP’s today..   MR52 and MR 53.   Both have the same basic features

• 802.11ac  is now 4×4 Antenna’s with 4 Spatial Streams – 4×4:4 over the 3 streams of the MR42
• 160MHZ Wide Channels – 2.5gbit performance

Along with the Meraki Features that we already have in the existing access points

• Air Marshal
• Auto RF Planning
• CMX Location
• Bluetooth LE Radio

This is where the similarity ends, the difference between the various models is in the interfaces

• MR52 is dual 1-Gigabit Interface in either LAG, or Active/Passive failover
• MR53 is single mGIG Interface which also works as 1 Gig

 

MS350-24X – Multigigabit

Meraki is entering into Multigigabit with up 8 mGIG ports up to 10GBe and also supporting UPoE 60W capability to support newer access points.

Launching Today – $7495 USD

MS425 – 10G Aggregation Switch

Launching Today

MS425-16  – $14,000 USD

MS426-32 –  $22,000 USD

Let us step away from Technology for a moment.   I simply agree with Rex Murphy on this one..

 

In the wake of a 7.8 Magnitutde earthquake in Equador on April 16 the Cisco TACOPS team is dispatching teams from botth their San Jose, California and Raleigh, North Carolina hubs to the area.   Bringing with it satellite, WiFi, Route/Switch, VoIP, Security and a plethora of highly skilled technical response engineers.

As aftershocks continue to plague the country as of this writing over 600 have been reported dead by Reuters.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ecuador-quake-idUSKCN0XI26F

The team is working to assist with the restoration of emergency management and first responder telecommunication and data networks in remote areas that continue to be cut off from both the original earthquake and the aftershocks.

Following this tweet from Chuck Robbins – CEO of Cisco Systems the TACOPS team went into monitoring mode and began coordinating how they could best lend their assistance.

Cisco is also pushing additional equipment out from their global depot network and that gear will meet the team on site.

About Cisco NERV Technology

Cisco has built what has become the reference platform for emergency communications preparedness inside the NERV – Network Emergency Response Vehicle, with everything from Voice, Video, Radio and Data communications all over IP over just about any medium.  GSM, LTE, Multiple forms of Satellite, Wifi, Mesh and everything in between.

If your organization is looking to build a response vehicle from mild to wild and beyond the Cisco NERV team is willing to help you with experience from their actual disaster response scenarios.   Contact your Cisco partner today and ask them to engage the TACOPS team.

About Cisco TACOPS (from Cisco.COM)

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/about/supplier-sustainability/tactical-operations-tacops.html

Uniquely Trained

The Cisco TacOps team comprises expert networking, radio communications, and systems engineers along with logistics and operations coordinators.

Members of Cisco TacOps and the employee-volunteer Disaster Incident Response Team (DIRT):

• Are trained in the U.S. National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS)
• Participate in large-scale exercises to validate technology solutions and train alongside other responders

Uniquely Equipped

TacOps specializes in emergency networks that support the immediate needs of rescue, law enforcement and security, and humanitarian assistance teams. TacOps can also support traditional enterprise and service provider networks.

TacOps maintains many resources that are ready to deploy immediately, including:

• Cisco Network Emergency Response Vehicles (NERVs)
• Satellite-equipped support vehicles
• Fly-away networking kits that can be shipped or carried by hand
• World-class cybersecurity solutions that protect first responders and affected populations

A geographically dispersed network unites all these resources so that TacOps can easily scale the response based on needs on the ground.

Uniquely Supported

The team’s humanitarian relief operations are provided through the overall Cisco Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program. To ensure delivery of high-quality expertise and equipment around the globe

 

 

Last year Cisco Live! launched a new mentorship program last year, where NetVets (Those are attendees who have attended 3 out of the last 5 events) sign up to offer mentorship to new attendees.

I am a first time attendee – do I really need this?

In a word?  Yes – you do.   If you have never attended Cisco Live! before, and you do not have a friend or colleague who has who can walk you through what your week will be like – you may come away from your first Live! event thinking “Wow, I wish I was better prepared” or “I wish someone could have shown me around”

This is exactly what the mentorship program is designed to do.   Help you find the sessions that matter, make sure you get to all the places you need to get to – and there is a good chance you might make some new friends, colleagues or find your way to the next social event.

Ok, I am sold, how do I sign up for Mentorship?

That is the easy part, go to this link

Click Here for to sign up as a first time Cisco Live! attendee

I am interested in being a Cisco Live! Mentor, how do I get involved?

NetVets will be contact by electronic mail, if you are not a NetVet but still want to be involved, you can contact @CiscoLive on twitter

What is a NetVet?

I am glad you asked…   Taken from the Cisco Live! web site, click here for more information

NetVets play a unique role in the Cisco Live community. As long-time attendees of Cisco Live and Networkers events, they have a unique perspective — one that makes them a valuable resource to their fellow attendees and for Cisco itself.

If you have attended at least three previous Networkers or Cisco Live conferences globally on a Full Conference or IT Management registration type in the last five years (making Cisco Live U.S. 2016 your fourth event since 2012), you’re eligible for NetVet status.

Along with recognition of your loyalty to Cisco, you’ll also enjoy special benefits that can enhance your Cisco Live experience. The perks include a pass to the NetVet Lounge, a free e-book from Cisco Press*, and priority session scheduling. You’ll also receive a unique conference badge that showcases your NetVet status.

 

See you at Live!

Unless you have been living under a WiFi faraday cage for the last many years, you have probably used Ekahau’s amazing site survey and design tools.

I am quite the fan,  as seen in the video below, interviewed at Cisco Live last year by the ESS team talking about how I love their product.  In full disclosure, they sent me a REALLY nice box of chocolates and an Ekahau shirt afterwards as a thank you.

Ekahau has announced they are divesting their RTLS design tools to Arista, and focusing only on WiFi design tools.

http://www.ekahau.com/real-time-location-system/news/press-releases/ekahau-to-focus-solely-on-wi-fi-network-design-tools-divests-rtls-business-to-airista-inc

I see this as a great focus for Ekahau, they are the leader (IMHO) in the WiFi design space, and this will allow them to focus on their WiFi design tools.   They have added some additional features as of late, including the spectrum analysis built right into the survey.

CONFIRMED!

Insiders have confirmed that MAROON will be the Cisco Live Customer Appreciation Event Headliner!      The CAE will be held this year at the T-Mobile Arena

Opening Act will be Elle King

If you have not visited Cisco Live! before, one of the greatest thank you’s for going is the Customer Appreciation Event – with free everything and a promise of an amazing time.   Don’t forget to find your favorite #CLUS friends to party along with you.

Bring your camera (or just your mobile phone),  and make sure you tweet all the photos of the amazing event,  I will also use Periscope to share my experience again this year.

For more information on the Cisco Live CAE CLICK HERE

2015 Best Ever!

Aerosmith rocked Petco Park in 2015, I personally left with vocal chords strained so bad it took three weeks to recover.

Photo Courtesy of @BrianCSCO

Listening to “Dream On”, “Love in an Elevator”, or “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” was an absolute dream come true for me, as a long time Aerosmith fan, there was no better gift from Cisco than this amazing band.

 

Get Home with Ease #CLUS Pro Tip #2 – UBER for Free!

When leaving events at Live, Cisco does provide shuttle busses, but sometimes you may experience long lines and long waits while 15,000 people try and find their way back to their hotel.    Share an Uber ride with others, and get out of there quick, and in style.

You can even get a FREE Ride, find someone in your group who is not an UBER user, have them sign up quickly on their mobile device and use YOUR promo code,  they get a free ride, and so do you!