Presence features on iPhone/iPad

[MauryJ]

Hello,

We are planning to setup Presence in our organization, which is currently using a CUCM 7.1-based phone system.   Some questions that we have, is what capabilities we'd be able to get for our mobile users -- primarily iPhone/iPad, and a few Blackberry users.   I've seen the Unified Mobile Communicator; from what I've gathered (if we have a Mobility Avantage server) this would allow mobile users to check their office voicemail, and to join in on Meetingplace conferences.   Is that correct or am I completely off-base here?   Also would this also allow mobile users to see video from video conferences?

Thanks for any pointers on this,

Maurice

[benjaminwatt]

I haven't used the Mobility Advantage Server / Mobile Communicator combination, but I'm not sure if the iPhone version of the Mobile Communicator (7.1) shows Presence information, I've never seen any mention of it in the iPhone documentation for it. Somebody else should be able to confirm this or not, certainly the BlackBerry version seems to make use of Presence information.

In general though, Cisco seems to be moving away from this and more towards Cisco Mobile 8.0/8.1 (no Mobility Advantage server needed) on the iPhone which supports making and receiving calls over WiFi on your company network or via a VPN offsite, but doesn't have any MeetingPlace or Presence support. There are indications though that this may come down the line, there are options on the Communications Manager that don't do anything, but reference MP/WebEx and Presence, but the new Cisco Mobile 8.1 release still doesn't support these.

So basically Presence doesn't seem to extend onto the iPhone/iPad just yet as far as I know.

On the MeetingPlace front though, if you're using 8.0 in conjunction with WebEx for the web conferencing, you have the WebEx Meeting Center apps for both iPhone/iPad and BlackBerry, which let others see presentations, hear and talk to participants and exchange chat messages. The iPad version now lets you see video too (but obviously not send it), but there's no support for video via WebEx on the iPhone as of yet. The WebEx apps are really slick though, and have come on leaps and bounds of late.

So, no video on the iPhone or BlackBerry, but the iPad can show it if you're using WebEx.

[miwilusz]

Maurice,

What features are you looking for out of extending presence to iOS devices?  The most common request is for mobile IM.  With Cisco Unified Presence v8.0+ (supported with the CUCM 7.1 you're running), the server supports XMPP client connections.  This allows any third-party XMPP/Jabber client to connect to the CUP server for IM, viewing, and update presence status.  You could use a client like IM+, BeeJiveIM, or OneTeam to achieve this functionality.  If you're just looking for presence bubble on a mobile platform, Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator supports that now, but there is no IM functionality.  Any questions let me know.

-mike