Yealink firmware update needed for T21P_E2

[Chris A Johnson]

T21P_E2-52.84.0.125.rom fixes some performance issues, but the latest version 3CX wants to deploy is 52.84.0.95, and 3CX will revert an upgrade unless we remove the provisioning URL (which isn't an option in this location due to some unavoidable network structure). Do we have a timeline on this update (or better) being available via 3CX?

 

[JohnS_3CX]

Hi Chris,

There is no timeline for this and if the firmware is not problematic I do not foresee any changes coming for these models.

We would be interested if you can share what issues you are facing and if you have a method for replicating them.

 

[Chris A Johnson]

Customers are reporting that there's a significant delay between issuing commands via the softphone and the T21P E2 responding. This problem doesn't occur with the T42S or with the firmware listed above.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for reporting. I performed some basic tests here using this model and the supported firmware, and issued commands to it via the Windows client in CTI mode. The very first command from phone startup did come with a delay, but after firing away about 10-15 calls (consecutive and staggered) I cannot really say that the device had any delays.

In addition, the version you mention does not appear to have any optimization whatsoever with regards to CTI commands performance, Yealink's document refers only to some very minor stuff (certs, UA string length, and Yealink cloud sync).

In conclusion, if there are any delays, I have no reason to think that the newer firmware addresses them in any way. Perhaps the users are actually facing issues which may be caused by some 3rd unknown factor?

 

[Chris A Johnson]

If our customer complains further of poor performance, I'd advise that we have to remove the provisioning URL and manually program the phones so as to have access to the latest firmware and they can decide if the likely increased time and cost for simple management tasks is worth it.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

Just to be clear, if you did not experience this yourself and only have reports from users about slow performance, then I would say it's better to reserve judgement until you can confirm it. I would definitely give my users the benefit of the doubt, but I would ultimately want to know what's truly happening.

If you wanted to get more details, you could keep the supported rom on half the phones, then the new rom on the other half and see whether both user groups still register complaints. If the users are not aware of this then there is less chance they would be biased and you would get more accurate feedback.

You can also raise this with Yealink directly if you wish and see if there is indeed any further changes between the two versions, or just placebo amongst the users.

 

[Chris A Johnson]

You're not my manager and this response is not appropriate.

I have already run the tests I require to believe that the installation of the new firmware resolves the issue, until 3CX reverts it. I would not post here if I had not.

 

[cobaltit]

You're not my manager and this response is not appropriate.

I have already run the tests I require to believe that the installation of the new firmware resolves the issue, until 3CX reverts it. I would not post here if I had not.

I see nothing wrong with John's advice. It's sound advice for testing to confirm if the firmware upgrade does resolve your particular issue without potentially creating other issues. Do note I said advice, and not command, directive, order, or whatever you thought it might be. John made efforts to recreate the issue, detailed his results, and further examined the published change logs for the firmware to see mentioned anything that might affect your issue. If anything your response was not appropriate.

 

[Chris A Johnson]

I see nothing wrong with John's advice

This is consistent with the sentiment in your avatar.

The problem our customers are experiencing is real and gaslighting is not an appropriate response.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

Hi Chris,

Some times in text posts the message might not come across as intended and if that was the case then I apologize if I came across as authoritative, it was not my goal to doubt you in a condescending way.

I was trying to offer a couple of ways to help which could hopefully assist in getting closer to whatever the cause is. Reason being because quite often the users of any given system will report things the way they perceive them, not necessarily in a way a person with a tech background would think so we always look for ways to filter out the noise from the data and get as close to ground truth rather than rely on inference. In my case this means I need to doubt my own judgement too, using this doubt as a tool to ensure I wasn't thrown off by correlation of events, while thinking I discovered causation.

Anyway, I hope this clears the air and I will continue to periodically test my T21P E2 for a couple more days in case we can catch it misbehaving. Let me know in case I can be of any further assistance, and if you want to share any findings directly then feel free to PM me and I'll be glad to assist you.

 

[Chris A Johnson]

Thank you.

I suspect a memory leak, triggered or sped up by heavy use. (This particular customer runs a heavily-used disabilities support queue with multiple agents, long calls, frequent transfers and almost everything managed by remote from the Windows app)

 

[JohnS_3CX]

Indeed it may be so, I will stress the device further and see what we can catch

 

[JohnS_3CX]

After some further testing and a few days of uptime, the only issue so far appears to be a small delay when the phone is left idle overnight and you come back to it the next day. Once it "wakes" though it goes back to normal operation.