Conferencing problems...please help

[nauman.farooq]

I am using CCM 4.0 and i was having problems conferencing two calls. My setup is as such that i am using G.711 for local extension and G.723 for external extensions. For this i have created two regions for local and external gateway. What happens is that if i make a call from my cisco soft phone and then try to conference with another external call i am unable to do. These external calls are over the internet so using G.711 is not feasible. If i conference internal calls i am able to successfully do this. I found out that i will need to use hardware transcoders to fix this problems since the software conference bridge only allows G.711. Can anybody verify this or if there are alternative solution for this? Also are there any software conference bridges available which i can use to solve this problem.

Thanks

[thisisshanky]

You have to use transcoders which is nothing but DSP Chips on a Cisco router or Catalyst switch configured to perform transcoding.

[nauman.farooq]

Thanks,

any web links or more information on how to configure this?

[nauman.farooq]

Thanks,

any web links or more information on how to configure this?

[thisisshanky]

Use this link to configure transcoding on the gateway and add that gateway as a transcoder in callmanager. Once you define the transcoder, you will need to create a Media resource group with the transcoder (conference bridges and MTP, MOH resources can also be members of the same Media resource group) Then add the group to a Media resource group list (MRGL) and assign the MRGL to device pool of individual phones.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/voicesw/ps556/products_configuration_example09186a0080334294.shtml

[kherzog]

If deploying software conferencing you can set it up without a transcoder config.

Setup REGION:

(as example):R_Conference

The Region: R_Conference will contain all regions and they will be set to g.711

Then all other REGIONS can be set to whatever codec you require, BUT NOTE R_Conference will MUST be set to g.711

Setup DEVICE POOL:

(as example):

Device Pool name: DP_Conference

Region: R_Conference

Media Resource Group List: [set to your defined MRGL]

{other fields not discussed/mentioned}

Setup Software CONFERENCE Bridge:

assign device pool: DP_Conference

This allows the SW bridge to use to DP_conference, this device pool uses the Region setting using g.711 codec. Thus calls from/to regions will hit the R_Confernce Region and bump up the codec to g.711 thus allowing software conferencing for g.711 and g.729 region set devices.

Note you will need to define in your Media Group a MTP if you need to enable supplementary services to calls routed through an H.323v1 gateway.

(as example)

MRG_Conference will contain the selected media resources:

CFB_Conf (CFB) - your SW Conf bridge defined to you server pub/sub

MTP_CCM (MTP) - allows CCM to extend supplementary services such as hold, xfr, park, conferencing

[nauman.farooq]

Hi

i tried out this solution and it works on the local wan. I've tried to use the same technique over the internet and cant seem to be able to get it to work. We are currently using Sonar switches on the other end and using cisco 3660 and quintum on our end. Any ideas why this might not be working?

Thanks

[nauman.farooq]

Maybe if i wrote down the configurations you could figure out what i am missing out.

Region setting for R_Conference:

Default --> G.711

International --> G.711

R_Conference(within this region) --> G.711

Region setting for International:

Default --> G.711

International(within this region) --> G.723

R_Conference --> G.711

Device pool settings:

Device pool name --> DP_Conference

Region --> R_Conference

Media Resource Group List --> MRGL

Conference bridge settings:

Conference Bridge Name --> CFB_CCM

Device pool --> DP_Conference

Media Resource Group Configuration:

Media Resource Group Name --> Intl_MRG

Selected Media Resource --> CFB_CCM(CFB)

--> MTP_CCM(MTP)

Media Resource Group List Configuration:

Media Resource Group List Name --> MRGL

Selected Media Resource Groups --> Intl_MRG

Media Termination Point Configuration:

Media Termination Point Name --> MTP_CCM

Device Pool --> DP_Conference

Phone Settings:

Device Name --> Test_Phone

Device Pool --> DP_Conference

Phone call steps:

1. I make a call to a 18004633339

2. I press the conference button

3. I dial another number 1800xxxxxx

4. I press the start conference button

5. Both the call disconnect

[kherzog]

Looking at the test phone, I see the DP_Conference will force the phone to initate all calls as g.711 to all regions.

Did you check to see if the conference on the local wan is accessing the proper SW CFB? I'm sure you did...On the sever providing the SW CFB, I like using the performance tool:

Programs

>Administration Tools

>>Performance

>>>Console Root

>>>>System Monitor

>>>>>press add icon "+"

>>>>>>Select counters from computer:

\\CCM[server name]

>>>>>>Preformance object:

Cisco CallManager

>>>>>>Select counters from list:

UnicastSoftwareConfResourceActive

UnicastSotwareConfResource...

>>>>>>Add

will be able to view real time if calls are accessing the software bridge

Place test call to test IP phone, press conf, dial another IP phone and press conf to join. If sucessful the counter on the performance tool will show the active resource and other selected field.

If not:

check SW CFB is registered with IP address

stop/start Cisco IP voice media streaming app [if possible depends on your business and running applications/features-don't want to irratate any users]

Reset SW CFB

Reset test phone

Did the conf call work on the LAN and see hit the right CFB, did the call work on WAN, Int?

[kherzog]

Just curious, the gateway that is used for the 1800X dialed numbers, what is the Media Resource Group List set to?

If set to a MRGL without the CFB, won’t be able to access the bridge.

You could test if you have a dial plan that uses the PSTN, change the Media Resources Group List to the one containing the CFB. If you change the media resource group list to the one containing the CFB, and you reset it is INTRUSTIVE (for MGCP), not familiar with what will happen if H.323 I work in a predominate MGCP shop

Disclaimer: Never test or reset that will affect your working / production environment.

[nauman.farooq]

Had to use hardware resources for transcoding in order to get conferencing to work. Conferencing itself is supported by CCM but only for G.711. Transcoding resources were able to change the G.723 and G.729 streams to G.711 in order to get this feature to work. Thanks for all your feedback guys. Any ideas if software transcoders are avaialable to do the job???

[rathish_ram]

software conference can only support G.711 i.e. You need hardware transcoders to do the job.

[rathish_ram]

I had a similar issue.Resolved this issue by checking the Media Termination Point checkbox on the gateway list. This was for the gateway that was the priority 1 transcoder/conferencing resource for the CCM.

[nkariyawasam]

Hi,

I just trying to see what kind of DSP I can used to hardware transcoding between G.723 to other codes. I coundn't find anything in documents that supports G.723 transcoding. What is the hardware you used for this purpose ?

Thanks.,