Cisco Meraki has been working hard to expand their portfolio of cloud controlled devices this year with VOIP phones and IP security cameras. Customers who currently have a Meraki network will be glad to hear that both phones and security cameras are configured in the same dashboard we are all familiar with. Both devices are added to the dashboard in the same manner as their switches, firewalls, and APs.
Meraki Phones
This year at Cisco Live I was fortunate enough to see the Meraki phones first hand. The handset has an intuitive touch screen interface allowing users to make calls, check voicemail and view contacts in a corporate directory. In the Meraki dashboard portal, phones are displayed in a new tab that appears on the left once a phone is added.
Currently the phones offer similar functionality to other cloud based VOIP systems with the added benefit of ease of deployment and management. Customers with the current Meraki network will continue to enjoy the single pane of glass feel for all of their network infrastructure.
Beyond the hardware phone, a user phone portal allows users to check missed calls and listen to voicemail anywhere though a web browser. In addition Meraki has developed a “Call from Browser” plug-in to enable users to quickly dial numbers from their computers and integrate directly with the hardware phone.
For more information check out Meraki’s website: https://meraki.cisco.com/products/communications
Meraki Security Cameras
As if VOIP phones weren’t enough, two months ago Meraki announced the addition of two security cameras; the MV21, an indoor rated camera, and the MV71, an outdoor, IP66 and IK10 rated camera. Each camera has 128GB of on-board solid state memory for storing up to 20 hours of footage.
Footage can be accesses locally from each camera’s individual IP address, or from anywhere via the Meraki dashboard. Videos can be exported through the dashboard and stored for up to 30 days.
The cameras can either be powered via PoE+ ethernet port, or via an external power supply.
For more information about the Meraki security camera family check out Meraki’s website: https://meraki.cisco.com/products/security-cameras
The InterNetwork 