Tag: VoIP

Cisco 2960 Error: %ILPOWER-3-CONTROLLER_PORT_ERR: Controller port error: Power Controller reports power supply VEE under voltage and lockout

by Samuel Mitchell, posted in Cisco, Routing & Switching, VoIP

I got a report that all our VoIP phone were down in a particular area that were connected to a Cisco 2960 switch. Upon investigation,

Initially, I ran the following show commands to check the status of the ports and power:

show power inline

The switch output:

showpowerinline

It was indicating that there was no device drawing power from the switch which was strange because there were VoIP phones connected to this switch.

With further checks, I came across these errors in the event logs:

poe_error

This error was telling me either the switch power module failed or some device caused a surge in power that causes the port power module to overload.

My resolution: Restart the switch which restored the switch to normal operations.

Being curious about the error, I researched it and came across this Cisco report:

https://quickview.cloudapps.cisco.com/quickview/bug/CSCsw18530

It was stating that this error is due to a bug in a particular version of IOS for 2960 switches.

The solution is:

Workaround:

Longer cable (>50ft) seems to fix the issue in most cases.

Solution

This issue is fixed in 12,2(55)SE3 , 12.2(58)SE1 and later releases. The
following interface configuration commands have to be applied to resolve the
issue,

Switch(config)# int x/y
Switch(config-if)# power inline port 2x-mode
Switch(config-if)# shut
Switch(config-if)# no shut

The fix is present in the following platforms :

3750-E,3560-E, 3750-X, 3560-X, 3560-C, 2960S, 2960,2960C,2960X

The other platforms do not support 2X power mode and the workaround would be to
use a longer cable.

Polycom phone “go off hook” error message

by Samuel Mitchell, posted in Alcatel, VoIP

I was called to assist with an incident ticket whereby a Polycom SoundStation IP 6000 conference phone was not able to make or receive calls.

The first thing I did was to check what was the error message when trying to call the phone. The error displayed was “go off hook” and initial impression was that the phone was plugged out but based on the error this could not be the case.

When I check the phone screen, it was showing that the phone was being forwarded to an extension that did not exist hence the error. A little background knowledge, this phone is connected to an Alcatel VoIP Telephony system using the sip protocol. The way this system works is that is an extension does not exist in the system, it immediately give a message “go off hook” so it was strange when I got this message when testing the issue.

So the solution as you probably conclude is to disable the forwarding (which should not even be on a conference phone).