The 8821 is specifically designed for workers whose roles are in more rigorous, industrial settings. Examples of ideal use cases include nurses and doctors in healthcare, operations and engineering staff in manufacturing, customer service representatives in retail, service staff such as maids in hospitality, and workers on rigs in the oil and chemical industries.

While the 8821 is sleek and lightweight, the design is hardened for users. It is Ingress Protection standard (IP67) rated and is sealed for protection against dust, splash and water. The device is also MIL-STD-810G tested, with a dozen drops onto concrete from heights of up to 5 feet (1.5 m), to help ensure shock resistance and avoid breakage if dropped.

The 8821 enhances security and simplifies configuration management. Stronger encryption is supported for certificate management and policy enablement with the support of Secure Hash Algorithm 2 (SHA-2). Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol (SCEP) eases IT administration by enabling automatic certificate management on the device.

End users will enjoy a larger, higher-resolution color display and a user experience that is common with Cisco IP Phone 8800 Series desk phones. In addition, roaming between access points within the campus will support more seamless voice communications with the 8821's support of Fast Transition (802.11r). This protocol was specifically designed for mobile Voice over IP (VoIP) communications devices within Wi-Fi networks. Bluetooth is supported for the user's choice of third-party wireless headsets and adds freedom by untethering the user from the handset.

The 8821 supports Cisco and/or third-party XML applications such as push-to-talk.