My opinion:
Flash it back to SCCP, install Chan-SCCP-B module, and set the phones up as full function Skinny client phones.
You have all of the server-managed programmability that you could want with a minimal amount of overhead. I deploy these all the time and my customers are always super happy with them. You get awesome sound quality, programmable buttons, and they just work.
Maybe for the 7960 - for the 7940, 2 buttons just means 2 line appearances - hard to get fancy with 2 buttons.
If it’s more than a few phones, we will include iSymphony - so call control is covered there too.
Things I don’t like about these phones:
- Only Cisco switches for PoE - Boo!
- Speakerphone sounds hollow - on the remote side it sounds fine, but on your (Cisco) side it sounds like an AM Radio - old Polycom speakerphone sounds WAY better.
We had 34 of them donated - we are in turn donating complete systems to a couple of Charity’s - It’s just nice to be able to use them at all - and I REALLY try to stick with stock Asterisk machines.