Utilizing AVVID Applications and Software Solutions • Chapter 5 171 can support up to 10,000 users. There is a ten-site maximum that can be networked through the WAN. The admission control for dis- tributed call processing is through H.323 v.2 gatekeepers and dis- tributed call processing allows for transparent alternate routing should a WAN link fail. When using centralized call processing, the CallManager and voice messaging services are located at a central site. Centralized call-processing supports up to 2500 users total and a maximum of three CallManagers. All IP phones must be registered to the same CallManager. The downside to a centralized call processing model is that there is no service if the WAN goes down unless there is a dial backup. However, this drawback can be accounted for by a “thin” CallManager that will be able to reside on many Cisco routers. This thin CallManager will be part of Cisco’s IOS and will provide rudi- mentary routing functionality should the WAN (and, thus, the pri- mary centralized CallManagers) become unavailable. The Development of CallManager The CallManager was developed as a software-based call-processing component of Cisco’s IP Telephony solution. Cisco’s CallManager is central to the AVVID distributed architecture. Cisco’s CallManager versions 2.0 and 2.4 have had been deployed on a limited basis as the support for the product was minimal and did not have a wide breath of integration with the rest of Cisco’s product line. The IP phones at the time, the SP 12+ and the VIP 30, were not at all ele- gant as are current models and gateway support was limited to a DT-24 card installed in a server or analog gateway devices. With the release of CallManager 3.0, we see a newly designed Web browser interface. Moreover, the new CallManager is installed on a Windows 2000 Media Convergence Server (MCS) and is no longer sold as a separate software product. In fact, the current Cisco CallManager software release checks the Basic Input Output System (BIOS) of the MCS to confirm it is truly on the intended plat- form. Also, concurrent with the release of 3.0, Cisco has provided www.syngress.com 94_AVVID_05 1/16/01 12:16 PM Page 171 172 Chapter 5 • Utilizing AVVID Applications and Software Solutions IOS integration with many of its existing routers and core switches (the 2600, the 3600, and the 6500 to name a few), and it has released new IP phones models such as the 7960, the 7940, the 7910, and the conference room speaker phone the 7935. The cur- rent version of CallManager, version 3.06, was released in December of 2000 and came with the ability to manage a cluster of Call Managers in addition to support for Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP). CallManager 2.4 Cisco developed CallManager 2.4 as a software-only application that enabled a telephony network made up of IP terminals, gateways, and voice applications. Released in fall of 1999, CallManager 2.4 runs on a Windows NT platform. Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) is installed to the Cisco CallManager server to provide a Web interface for the Cisco CallManager configuration database . CallManager 3.0 Installed on an MCS, Cisco CallManager 3.0 improves the scala- bility, and availability of the enterprise IP telephony solution. CallManager 3.0 servers can be clustered and administered as one entity, which greatly improve administration. The current release of Call Manager 3.06 supports MGCP, Web Attendant, and a host of gateways not previously supported (the 2600, the 3600, and so on). The MCS-7835 is used to run CallManager 3.0 or uOne 4.1E Corporate Edition. The MCS-7835 supports up to 2500 IP Phones, and a cluster can support up to 10,000 IP Phones (2000 phones on each of five servers). The MCS-7822, is best suited to small and medium-scale organizations with up to 500 phones. It can run CallManager 3.0 and will be able to run additional AVVID applica- tions in the future. www.syngress.com 94_AVVID_05 1/16/01 12:16 PM Page 172 Utilizing AVVID Applications and Software Solutions • Chapter 5 173 The MCS-7835 An MCS 7835 is a high-availability server providing server-grade components and redundant hard drives (RAID though mirroring). It is generally the platform of choice for larger installations with one to many CallManagers where Information Technology Staff wish to keep the call processing separate from the gateways. An example of a combination gateway and call-processing device is an ICS-7750. It is a chassis-based solution that has six blades; the CallManager resides on one and the remaining blades can be used for Unified Messaging or MRPs. The blades hold the digital signaling processor (DSP) resources and the gateway interface cards—examples include Foreign Exchange Office (FXO), Foreign Exchange Station (FXS), E&M (recEive and transMit or ear and mouth), Master File Table Voice/WAN interface cards MFT VWICs. Some managers are not comfortable with a single point of failure on their systems. Therefore, the MCSs are often an excellent choice, since it is easy to cluster CallManagers and provide redundancy with routers (e.g., Hot Standby Routing Protocol (HSRP)) acting as gateways. The following is a list of some of the hardware specifications of the MCS-7835: ■ Pentium III 733MHz ■ 1GB Error Correcting SDRAM ■ Maximum of 2500 IP Phones per server ■ Dual 18.2GB Hot Swap SCSI Hard Drives ■ Hardware RAID Controller ■ Optional 12/24GB DAT Tape Drive ■ Able to run CallManager 3.0 or uOne 4.1E Corporate Edition The MCS-7822 The MCS-7822 does not provide redundancy and is obviously not capable of handling as many callers since its resources are less than that of the MCS-7835. It is an excellent choice for designers www.syngress.com 94_AVVID_05 1/16/01 12:16 PM Page 173 174 Chapter 5 • Utilizing AVVID Applications and Software Solutions wishing to provide cost-effective solutions in a distributed call pro- cessing environment. The MCS-7822 would be located in branch offices while the MCS-7835 and ICS-7750 product lines would exist at head-end locations. The following is a list of some of the hard- ware specifications of the MCS-7822: ■ Pentium III 550MHz ■ 512MB Error Correcting RAM ■ Single 9.1GB SCSI Hard Drive ■ Single power supply ■ Able to run CallManager 3.0(1) ■ Will support additional AVVID Applications in the future IOS CallManager Cisco also has a “skinny” CallManager that can be installed on many gateways, such as the Cisco 3640 Modular Router, to provide minimal functionality should an MCS or an ICS (with the full- fledged CallManager 3.X installed) be unavailable. This is helpful in branch offices where there are not enough users to justify the pur- chase of a full CallManager, even though the users still need to make calls to the PSTN should the primary communications through the corporate WAN fail. Utilizing CallManager CallManager was designed to offer an end-to-end IP Telephony solu- tion. Its distributed deployment offers a spatial redundancy to manage locations as one entity. In other words, in a large company, a cluster of CallManagers (each at a separate location) can easily be administered from any single location. www.syngress.com 94_AVVID_05 1/16/01 12:16 PM Page 174 Utilizing AVVID Applications and Software Solutions • Chapter 5 175 Call Manager Features CallManager can best be described as an integrated suite of voice applications. This collection of applications includes conferencing, manual attendant, WebAttendent, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Auto Attendant, uOne, and Unity. CallManager comes with an extensive array of user and administrator features as well. Many of these features were highlighted in Chapter 4 already, but Table 5.1 offers you a comparison of user features provided in CallManager 2.4 and CallManager 3.0. In addition, Table 5.2 provides a listing of the administrative features offered in CallManager 2.4 and 3.0. For each table, the left-hand columns denote version 2.4 features and the right-hand columns denote the additional features included in version 3.0. For a current listing of Call Manager versions and their user and administrative features visit the following URL: www.cisco.com/ warp/public/cc/pd/nemnsw/callmn/prodlit/callm_ds.htm www.syngress.com Table 5.1 A Listing of User Features in CallManager 2.4 and 3.0 CallManager 2.4 User Features CallManager 3.0 User Features Call pickup group-directed Call pickup group-universal Calling Line Identification (CLID) Calling Party Name Identification CNID Click to dial from Web browser Direct Inward Dial (DID) Direct Outward Dial (DOD) Distinctive ring (internal versus external) Loop key notification, Message Waiting Indication Multi-party conference–Ad-hoc with add-on, Meet-me features Call Detail Records Date/time display format config- urable per phone Device addition through wizards Device downloadable feature Upgrades–Phones, hardware Transcoder resource, hardware Conference bridge resource, VoIP gateway resource Device groups and pools for large DHCP block IP assignment–phones and gateways Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS) Continued 94_AVVID_05 1/16/01 12:16 PM Page 175 176 Chapter 5 • Utilizing AVVID Applications and Software Solutions www.syngress.com Table 5.1 Continued CallManager 2.4 User Features CallManager 3.0 User Features Single directory number, multiple Phones - bridged line appearances User configured speed dial, call for- ward-all by web-access Web browser interface Emergency 911 service H.323 compliant interface to H.323 clients, gateways, and gatekeepers Single point system/device configura- tion Time zone configurable per phone Table 5.2 Listing of Administrator Features in CallManager 2.4 and 3.0 CallManager 2.4 Admin Features CallManager 3.0 Admin Features Call status per line (state, duration, number) Directory dial from phone (3.0(2)) Distinctive ring per phone html help access from phone Paperless phone-display driven QoS statistics at phone Recent Dial list-calls to phone, from phone, auto-dial, edit dial Select specified phone to ring Single button data collaboration on SoftPhone–chat, application sharing Web services access from phone Application discovery and registra- tion to SNMP manager Centralized, replicated configuration database, distributed Web-based management consoles Configurable and default ringer WAV files per phone Database automated change notifi- cation Debug information to common syslog file Device mapping tool–IP address to MAC address JTAPI 1.3 computer telephony inter- face LDAP v3 directory interface (3.0(2)) MGCP support to Cisco VG200 and AS2600 VoIP gateways Native supplementary services sup- port to Cisco H.323 gateways QoS statistics deliver per call, per device Continued 94_AVVID_05 1/16/01 12:16 PM Page 176 Utilizing AVVID Applications and Software Solutions • Chapter 5 177 Configuring the Bulk Administration Tool (BAT) The Bulk Administration Tool (BAT) is an optional application for Cisco CallManager. After opening Cisco CallManager administration, select the Application drop down menu, and choose BAT . If you are administering a large number of phones at your site, you can use the BAT to perform batch add, modify, and delete operations for Cisco IP Phones. This saves a great deal of time over having to man- ually add and configure each phone using Cisco CallManager Administration. With the help of Tool for Auto-Registered Phones Support (TAPS), BAT is capable of inserting a device record when the actual device does not exist. BAT also provides an option that allows you to create dummy MAC addresses. When the phones are ready to configure, administrators need to update the dummy MAC addresses with actual MAC addresses. With BAT, you are able to add up to 10,000 phones and users to the Cisco CallManager application. BAT has three central menu options: Configure, Application, and Help. The Configure menu includes Phone Template, Phones, Users, and Phones/Users as submenu options. The Application menu returns you to the CallManager Administration Window. From the BAT window, the administrator can add, update devices, delete devices, and add users. www.syngress.com Table 5.2 Continued CallManager 2.4 Admin Features CallManager 3.0 Admin Features RDNIS-Redirected DNIS, outbound Single CDR per cluster Sortable component list by device and directory TAPI 2.1 computer telephony inter- face 94_AVVID_05 1/16/01 12:16 PM Page 177 178 Chapter 5 • Utilizing AVVID Applications and Software Solutions WARNING Running the bulk transactions performed by BAT during the day may slow down the CallManager’s performance. To avoid this problem, it is best to run BAT during off-peak hours. Any prolonged disruption in call pro- cessing is likely to lead to frustrated employees. Adding Signaling System #7 (SS7) Using Cisco SC2200 Cisco’s Signaling System 7 (SS7) works with both with dial access applications and H.323 VoIP. The SC2200 Signaling controller is what provides the ability for SS7 protocols to work with the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). An Introduction to Active Voice Active Voice gives us a messaging solution that works along side CallManager to provide a full AVVID solution. Cisco has stated that “Active Voice offers a more complete Unified Messaging solution than uOne, and has decided to replace uOne with Active Voice’s Unity.” Unity is a Unified Messaging server that provides a wide range of messaging capabilities. Cisco acquired the Active Voice Corporation in November 2000. According to Cisco, “the acquisition of Active Voice’s Unity operation represents an important step in the advancement of Cisco’s Architecture for Voice, Video, and Integrated Data (AVVID) and underscores Cisco’s commitment to delivering unified communications capabilities to the industry.” For more detailed information on Active Voice and Unity, please refer to Chapter 6. www.syngress.com 94_AVVID_05 1/16/01 12:16 PM Page 178 Utilizing AVVID Applications and Software Solutions • Chapter 5 179 The Unity Product Line Unity works with Exchange Server 5.5 using LDAP and MAPI. Unity uses Internet Explorer 4.01 and later versions to access the Unity Administrator Pages and Active Assistant pages for subscribers. IIS 4.0 hosts Unity’s Active Server Pages. Microsoft Outlook 97, 98, and 2000 all support Unity’s ViewMail application for subscribers. Other e-mail clients supported by Unity include Outlook Express, IMAP4 clients, POP3 clients, and Exchange’s Web messaging client. Unity’s product line includes: ■ ActiveAssistant ■ ViewMail ■ ActiveFax ActiveAssistant ActiveAssistant is a Web site that you access by using your Web browser. It is a tool that allows users to set up or change their per- sonal settings, such as call screening and message notification. Subscribers can record their own names and personal greetings by using either the Unity conversation or the ActiveAssistant. ActiveAssistant pages contain settings that control how you and your callers interact with Unity by phone. Users can customize Unity and drastically reduce their administrative workload. The side bar menu for ActiveAssistant contains three setting groups: call settings, message settings, and personal settings. The call settings allow you to change your personal greeting and modify your call transfer and screening configurations. The message set- tings you are able to modify include your message notification, mes- sage playback, message addressing, private lists, and color options (to help identify what types of messages are in you in-box). Your name, telephones, directory listings, phone passwords, and lan- guage options are among the personal settings that you can modify within ActiveAssistant. www.syngress.com 94_AVVID_05 1/16/01 12:16 PM Page 179 180 Chapter 5 • Utilizing AVVID Applications and Software Solutions ViewMail When a subscriber listens to a message, the voice message is sent as a message stream from the subscriber’s Exchange home server, either to the Unity server or the subscriber’s desktop from which it can be played using ViewMail. ViewMail allows users to control all e-mail, faxes, and voice mail from a messaging application on their PC, such as Microsoft Outlook. You can send, listen to, and manage voice messages from your Outlook Inbox. When the recipient accesses messages from the desktop by using ViewMail, the messages are streamed from the Unity server. Streaming occurs on demand, regardless of network traffic, to give voice mail the proper sound quality. Without ViewMail, the message is sent as an e-mail with a .WAV attachment instead of being streamed. ViewMail uses a voice message form that works the same way as an Outlook e-mail message form. The ViewMail form also has a Media Master control bar which you use to record and play messages. ActiveFax ActiveFax is the optional fax component of Unity that provides fax service for the Unity server. Active Fax is similar to ViewMail in that users have the ability to control their fax and voice mail messages. Subscribers must have both a Windows NT or Windows 2000 account and an Exchange mailbox in order to receive faxes. ActiveFax provides more fax capabilities in that users can send faxes electronically and can use fax-on-demand. Fax-on-demand gives users the power to send faxes by using their regular telephone. When ActiveFax is installed on a separate server, the server handles only fax messages. These fax messages are routed to the message store on the subscriber’s Exchange home server instead of being saved on the ActiveFax server. When calling or logging on to Unity, subscribers see or hear their fax messages announced. ActiveFax lets subscribers deliver both fax and e-mail messages to any fax machine as well as forward a fax message to another subscriber. When a subscriber does access fax www.syngress.com 94_AVVID_05 1/16/01 12:16 PM Page 180 [...]... IPCC? A: The Cisco IP Contact Center (IPCC) is the combination of contact center solutions and Cisco IP telephony www.syngress.com 94 _AVVID_ 06 1/ 16/ 01 12:10 PM Page 193 Chapter 6 Utilizing Unified Messaging and Active Voice Solutions in this chapter: s Understanding Unified Messaging s What Is Active Voice? s Configuring Active Voice 193 94 _AVVID_ 06 194 1/ 16/ 01 12:10 PM Page 194 Chapter 6 • Utilizing... providing room for growth as customers grow www.syngress.com 94 _AVVID_ 05 1 86 1/ 16/ 01 12: 16 PM Page 1 86 Chapter 5 • Utilizing AVVID Applications and Software Solutions The Video Component of AVVID The video components of AVVID discussed are IP Video Conferencing (IP/VC), and Content Delivery Networks (CDN) What sets the video component of AVVID apart from traditional methods is that it is packeted within... faxes, and listen to voice mail from a PC According to Cisco s Web site at www.ieng.com/warp/public/ 180/prod_plat/uni_com/unified_messaging.html, “Unified messaging offers all the benefits of a truly convergent technology; by bridging telephony and IP networks, Cisco allows users to send, www.syngress.com 94 _AVVID_ 06 1 96 1/ 16/ 01 12:10 PM Page 1 96 Chapter 6 • Utilizing Unified Messaging and Active Voice receive... fast and reliable delivery of information www.syngress.com 94 _AVVID_ 05 192 1/ 16/ 01 12: 16 PM Page 192 Chapter 5 • Utilizing AVVID Applications and Software Solutions WebAttendant is Cisco s solution that replaces the PBX’s traditional manual attendant console The Cisco WebAttendant is a client-server application that enables you to set up any Cisco IP Phone as an attendant console It can be downloaded... moving toward AVVID solutions to merge their phone and computer networks together This centralizes the administration and can also save on long distance phone costs (especially when calling between office locations) Cisco s CallManager makes up and essential part of the AVVID solution by supplying call processing Depending on size, one may choose to www.syngress.com 94 _AVVID_ 05 1/ 16/ 01 12: 16 PM Page 191... functions, WebAttendant is Cisco s solution to replace the PBX’s traditional manual attendant console Traditional manual attendant consoles can either be large phones with bulky attachments or proprietary expensive terminals The Cisco WebAttendant is a client-server application that enables www.syngress.com 94 _AVVID_ 05 188 1/ 16/ 01 12: 16 PM Page 188 Chapter 5 • Utilizing AVVID Applications and Software... you set up For that reason, if you plan to need 4 -64 voice messaging ports for voice mail then the following platform is recommended: s Windows NT hardware capability listing s Dual SCSI hard drives (RAID optional) s CD-ROM drive www.syngress.com 94 _AVVID_ 06 1/ 16/ 01 12:10 PM Page 203 Utilizing Unified Messaging and Active Voice • Chapter 6 s Monitor s 256MB RAM s 300MHz Pentium II processor s Available... NT hardware capability listing www.syngress.com 94 _AVVID_ 06 204 1/ 16/ 01 12:10 PM Page 204 Chapter 6 • Utilizing Unified Messaging and Active Voice s IDE or SCSI hard drive s CD-ROM drive s Monitor s 128MB RAM s 233MHz Pentium II processor s Available ISA slot(s) required s Internal or external modem 33 .6 Kbps or higher s Approved voice board resources Cisco will run Unity on the MCS-7822 or the MCS-7835... with can be used in a dual-switch integration along with Cisco Call Manager Call Manager works because it provides Unity with call information directly from the www.syngress.com 94 _AVVID_ 06 1/ 16/ 01 2 06 12:10 PM Page 2 06 Chapter 6 • Utilizing Unified Messaging and Active Voice TAPI (Microsoft’s Telephony Application Program Interface) service provider in dual-switch integration In addition, Unity does not... Media Manager, Cisco Media Blender, Cisco E-Mail Manager, and Cisco Collaboration Server The Cisco Media Manager is the component that allows companies to link customers the most appropriate and capable individual or resource for their given needs It works in conjunction with The Cisco Collaboration Server intuitively combining human interaction with network resources The Cisco Media Blender combines network-initiated . grow. www.syngress.com 94 _AVVID_ 05 1/ 16/ 01 12: 16 PM Page 185 1 86 Chapter 5 • Utilizing AVVID Applications and Software Solutions The Video Component of AVVID The video components of AVVID discussed are. support to Cisco VG200 and AS 260 0 VoIP gateways Native supplementary services sup- port to Cisco H.323 gateways QoS statistics deliver per call, per device Continued 94 _AVVID_ 05 1/ 16/ 01 12: 16 PM Page. interaction. Components of the Cisco Interaction Suite include the Cisco Media Manager, Cisco Media Blender, Cisco E-Mail Manager, and Cisco Collaboration Server. The Cisco Media Manager is the component