Sunday, April 17, 2011

The Cisco Notification Service

Have you found yourself wondering how you can be notified when the next release of Cisco code becomes available, or when critical field notices, security advisories, or end of sale notices are released? Rather than relying on word of mouth or constantly checking Cisco's website, try using the Cisco Notification Service.

The Cisco Notification Service allows existing Cisco customers with a valid CCO login to subscribe to product notifications when they are released via email or RSS. Here is how to set them up.

1.) First, login to your CCO account and navigate to the Support > View All Support Tools and choose Cisco Notification Service from the list.


2.) You will land at the Cisco Notification Service - Profile Manager page. Here you can see that I have two existing notifications. To create a new one, select Add Notification. This will create a new notification profile attached to your CCO account.


3.) Give the new notification a name, delivery method, and delivery interval. Click Continue.


4.) Select the topic type. Options include notifications that are product-centric, alert-centric, or related to bug IDs. For this example, I have chosen product-centric.


5.) Next, select the topic from the tree. In this case, I have selected the 5500 Series Wireless LAN Controller.


6.) Select the sub-topics for which you would like to receive notifications. Note that not all sub-topics can be chosen simultaneously within a single selection; multiple sub-topic definitions can be defined within the same profile however.


7.) Finish the sub-topic selection by specifying any additional filter information as necessary. In this case, I have opted to be notified for any software version released.


8.) The sub-topic configuration is now complete. Select Add Another Topic to add more sub-topics to this notification profile if desired (for instance if some selections were mutually exclusive in step 6 above). When finished, select Finish.


That's it. The new notification profile has been added to your account. It may be in the Pending state until email verification is completed.


Now you can receive important product, alert, field notices, end of sale notices, or bug ID updates as they are released for the products or topics that you care about without having to manually check Cisco's website.

Cheers,
Andrew

2 comments:

  1. I think this feature has some bugs. I have quite a few alerts setup and I rarely get notified of new software. I usually have to find out by word of mouth.

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  2. Steven,
    Are you using the RSS or email method? I have had success with RSS. Email seems to be spotty if you use an address that is not in your CCO profile. However, when I've used an email tied to my CCO profile I receive the alerts.

    Andrew

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