System Features - Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series - Cisco Smart Business Communication Syste...

SBCS-Expert · ‎11-24-2008

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Overview

The Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series provides system features using Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express (CUCME) solution. Supported system features include: local directory, hunt-groups, call park, conferencing, system speed-dials and MoH. A subset of supplemental features not available in Cisco Configuration Assisant (CCA) but is in the CUCME feature set may be configured using the IOS CLI.

Configuration Guides

Cisco Unified CME Basic Automatic Call Distribution (B-ACD) is a supplementary feature that is currently supported on CLI only.

Prevention of toll fraud on UC500 / CUCME

Out of Band Configuration Guidelines provides guidelines on how to configure advanced UC500 features outside Cisco Configuration Assistant (CCA)

Training & Labs

Firstlook 2008 Lab3 - PBX, Voicemail and AutoAttendant
Firstlook 2008 Lab4 - Advanced feature lab: Configuring Local Directory & Hunt-groups

FAQ

Is there a way to share the phone directory between UC500 across multiple sites? How can I integrate directories between multiple sites?

Directories cannot be shared between sites. If you have a multisite deployment with non-overlaping dialplan (4- or 5-digit to call between sites), then one option, outside the scope of CCA, is to build a directory at each site that includes users from all sites.

The Local Directory will already be populated with the users of the local site, so you can create additional entries for the extensions at the other sites. For example: For a three site network, use either the CUE Web Interface or CLI to add Site 2 (22xx extensions) and Site 3 users (23xx extensions) to the Site 1 directory (21xx extensions). You may add up to 100 directory entries per site. This is an example of the CLI used at Site 1:

telephony-service

directory entry 1 2201 name S2U1

directory entry 2 2202 name S2U2

directory entry 3 2203 name S2U3

directory entry 4 2301 name S3U1

directory entry 5 2302 name S3U2

directory entry 6 2303 name S3U3

What are the call accounting options available on the UC500?

There are various options to export the call accouting info via Call Detail Records (CDRs) in raw format from the UC520:

NOTE This feature is supported with CME7.0 which will be available in an Early Adopter release in the last quarter of 2008. This requires an FTP server application such as FileZilla running on a PC and then using Microsoft Excel to view the .CSV file.

A comparison for all the 3 options can be found here

Options to present call accounting to the end user as reports:

Use 3rd party partners such as ISI or Stonevoice
CME / CUE GUI call history reporting provides limited call records for a set time period today and is not saved
CUE 3.0 Real Time & Historical reporting provides call records for all calls made to the voicemail and auto attendant but not for calls between IP phones or IP phones to PSTN
Once the CDRs in CSV format feature is supported, partners could develop MS Excel macros to provide the information as well.

UC500 does support non forced account or matter codes and these are also present in the CDRs generated.

Does the UC500 / SBCS system support secure signaling & media for IP phone calls?

Yes this is indicated in Table 2 on UC500 data sheet. This is a supplemental feature that is configured by through Cisco Command Line Interface in the Cisco UC500's IOS Software Image running Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express (CME). An overview as well as configuration examples on how to implement this feature can be found here. Modifying configurations outside of CCA should be done by experienced partners that can identify and troubleshoot possible configuration conflicts created between CLI and CCA based commands.

What are the caller-id configuration options for calls made from UC500 to PSTN? Can this be set as the service number instead of Auto Attendant's number or initiator's number?

Caller-id can be configured as a specific number or the initiator's number.

If the PSTN access is offered through a DID connection such as ISDN or SIP, then using CCA, caller-id can be configured by going to Voice > Dial-plan > Direct Inward Dial and checking the caller-id check-box. When configured through CCA, the outgoing caller-id is based on the following rules:
1. If the caller-id check box is selected and the last digits of the extension match that of the DID, then the outbound number would be the DID.

2. If the caller-id check box is selected and the last digits of the extension DONOT match that of the DID, then an error is shown.

3. If caller-id check box is not selected outbound number would be the AA.

4. For any internal extension without DID, outbound number would be AA.

Using the CLI, the caller-id can be set to be the service number instead of Auto Attendant's number or initiator's number. There are two options:

1. Under telephony-service - you set calling-number local (instead of initiator)

2. Use a translation rule on the outbound dial peer (POTS or VOIP depending on PRI / SIP) to translate the calling number from internal extension to a DID number

Software vs. Hardware Conferencing

The UC500 supports two types of conferencing: software and hardware.

Similar to running an application on your computer, Software Conferencing shares resources with everything else on the UC500. Because of this, software conferencing allows you to have up to 3 parties per ad-hoc conference call with a maximum of 8 simultaneous conference calls. Ad-hoc conference calls allow you to add another party to your current phone conversation using the "Confrn" softkey on your Cisco phone.

Hardware Conferencing utilizes special hardware in the UC500 called DSPs (Digital Signal Processors). Part of a DSP's job is to conference multiple streams of audio together. Using these DSPs enables you to have many more users per conference call, and adds Meet-Me conferences which use a pre-configured virtual conference bridge that users can call into. In this mode, you can have up to 8 users per ad-hoc call, and 8 simultaneous conferences or up to 32 users per Meet-Me call, and up to 2 simultaneous Meet-Me sessions.

Note that enabling Hardware Conferencing can limit the number of channels available on a T1 or PRI on certain UC500 models. For more information, see the "Why does hardware conferencing limit available channels on T1/PRI?" note in the PSTN Trunks section of the wiki.

More info on DSP resources in General

Does the UC500 support MeetMe conferencing?

Meetme conferencing is supported outside of CCA using CLI. Meet-Me can only be initiated by an internal IP Phone user. External attendees can join the conference if there are DID numbers mapped to the meet me conference extension or they can be transferred to a Meet-Me conference extension. You can have multiple meet me conferences per UC500 (check limitations above) and each conference is uniquely identified by the meet me conference number. There is no password prompt required to join a meet me conference, the meet me conference initiator can however view a list of attendees on the phone and remove any unauthorized attendees.

The following Application Note describes the exact steps to enable this feature on the UC500:

Configuring Meet-Me Conferencing on the UC500

Is FAX detection supported on UC500?

Fax detection, on UC500, is supported outside of CCA using CLI. Fax detect is on the CCA roadmap. With fax detection, the same DID or FXO line can be used to handle both voice and fax calls. This feature works on FXO, DID, BRI and PRI trunks in the Enbloc mode. In the Enbloc mode, all digits are received at the same time.

Can the MoH file on UC500 be modified?

The music on hold (MoH) on UC500 is played from the music-on-hold.au file in the flash. If customers need to play their own MoH, they can create an audio file and ensure that the it has the following format:

a) 8-bit

b) 8-kHz

c) mono

d) ITU-T A-law or mu-law format

e) .au or .wav file format

Once this file is created, you can upload it to the UC500 by using the drag-n-drop feature on CCA. Once the file is added on UC500, you can use CCA to change the MoH file. This can be done under "Voice Features" tab of the Voice window.

How can I generate a custom MoH file?

Using Audacity version 1.2.6, you can create a custom MoH file for the UC500. You can capture a MOH file using a CD Player or microphone.

Download Audacity from http://audacity.sourceforge.net/. It is available for PC, Mac or Unix.

You will have to modify the preferences of Audacity by selecting:

Edit > Preferences.
Under Audio I/O, select the recording device and Channels to 1 (Mono).
Under Quality, change Default Sample Rate to 8000Hz.
Under File Format, change Uncompressed Export Format to AU (Sun/Next 8 bit u-law). For A-law, select other, AU (Sun/NeXT), then select A-law.

You can now record the audio and use Audacity to edit the file and trim unwanted audio. The volume level of a MOH file cannot be adjusted through Cisco IOS software, so it cannot be changed when the file is loaded into the flash memory of the UC500. To adjust the volume level of a MOH file, rerecord the file, but adjust the volume controls in an audio editor before downloading the file to UC500's flash memory.

Export the audio the audio by selection:

File > Export As AU.
Name the file and save it to a known location.

The file is ready for import.

How is QoS implemented with UC500?

Cisco IP Phones set the DSCP and IP Precedence values. For the RTP audio stream this is set with precedence 5 (dscp EF) and for signaling packets this is set with precedence 3 (dscp cs3). UC500 has a fastethernet interface and so QoS is not required on the WAN interface, however, the router that connects to the carrier network would need to be configured with appropriate QoS parameters.

What are the call recording options for UC500?

Call recording capability is made available with CUE 3.0 which ships with UC500 Software Pack 4.2.7 or later. The call record softkey on Cisco IP Phones requires CME release 4.3 that will be made available with Early Adopter Software Pack 7.0.0. scheduled to be released around July/Aug '08. Note that the CUE 3.0 Live record feature is for the occasional ad hoc recording. If customer needs all calls records due to regulations, third party product such as Telrex or Witness will be required.

Does the UC500 support call center type application?

The UC500 does support a basic call center application using the Basic ACD feature. This is currently supported outside of CCA using CLI - an application note to configure this can be found here

Does the UC500 support collecting statistics using B-ACD call center feature?

Yes this is supported - examples can be found here