Introducing the Cisco Smart Business Communications System

The Cisco SBCS is a unified communications appliance aimed squarely at the small-business market. These all-in-one devices support data, voice, video, AA, voice mail, security, and wireless for up to 50 users. They leverage UC500 Series devices, including PoE switches, to provide the expansion capability to scale to the maximum endpoint capacity. Many connectivity modules for WAN, Internet, and PSTN options are available, and a simple-to-use graphical interface configuration tool makes it cost effective for small businesses to take advantage of Cisco's Unified Communications products.


Hardware Components

The core of the SBCS is the UC 500 Series for Small Business. This multiservice appliance incorporates routing, firewall, VPN, IPS, PoE switchports, WAN and PSTN connectivity options, and wireless options. The SBCS incorporates CME 4.2 and CUE 3.1.1, with the features found on larger ISR hardware. The Catalyst 520 switch allows for expansion of the system to support more endpoints than the UC500 core unit supports.

For more complex wireless deployments, the Cisco Mobility Express Solution with the Cisco 521 Wireless Express Access Point and the Cisco 526 Wireless Express Mobility Controller provide scalable, manageable, and secure wireless connectivity for both data and voice endpoints.

The SBCS supports a wide range of Cisco IP phones, including video and wireless capabilities. Specialized applications, both from Cisco and third-party vendors, can integrate with the SBCS to further leverage the productivity gains offered by unified communications.

The SBCS comes in two form factors: A desktop or wall-mount unit for installations of up to 16 users and a rack-mount unit for 32-48-user deployments; the smaller units support ISDN BRI PSTN, FXO, and FXS connections, and the larger units add support for Tl and El interfaces, both PRI and CAS.


Security Features

The SBCS supports the Cisco IOS firewall, Easy VPN Server and Remote, NAT, and 802. lx authentication.


Wireless Features

The smaller SBCS can be ordered with an integrated wireless AP, or external 521 Series wireless APs can be connected. The larger SBCS models do not support internal APs. The standalone administrative capability of the Cisco Configuration Assistant will support up to three connected APs. For support of up to 12 APs, the use of a Cisco 526 Wireless Express Mobility Controller for every 6 APs is required. The SBCS systems provide full support for wireless security, including WPA and WPA2, LEAP, PEAP, WEP, as well as voice VLANs with QoS.


Cisco Configuration Assistant

The CCA is a powerful and simple GUI tool for administering the UC500 Series platforms. This tool is used to deploy, configure, and maintain the SBCS devices, allowing control of the following:

• Switching
• Telephony
• Wireless
• Security
• Network services
• Internet connectivity

The GUI tool provides a network map view, showing the devices discovered in the system, as well as a front-panel view of the SBCS system, showing ports and their status. The CCA even allows drag-and-drop upgrades to IOS software, phone firmware, and language files.


For those who miss the CLI, it is still possible to do all administrative tasks from the command line if you so desire.