>> You can only download firmware from cisco with a valid CCO account with[color=blue][color=green]
>> telephony in the linked cisco contract(s).[/color]
>
> Not quite. The 7960/7940 8.2 firmware is freely downloadable, assuming
> that's what you've bought.
> [url]http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/sip-ip-phone7960[/url][/color]


Later versions ( up to the current 8.8 ) are available for the asking.
You just got to know who to ask :-)

Upgrading these phones can be tricky, and requires a degree of networking
expertise. You need to be able to set up a TFTP server, and be able to
point the phones to it. You also need to learn the syntax of the various
files the phone uses, since you need to edit these to perform the update.

Also, there can be issues depending on which version of SCCP is on the
phone.
Older versions may require an incremetal update before loading the most
recent.

It's not beyond the competence of most tecchy people, but there is a
learning curve.

There are people who will perform the upgrade for you FOC, if you ask nicely
and pay the return postage.

--
Ron