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.