The Cisco MediaSense software is going to End Of Life. The End of Life announcements can be found here: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/customer-collaboration/mediasense/eos-eol-notice-listing.html There will be no new feature developments on the software beyond the 11.5 release. Announcement on Cisco.com : April 5 th , 2017 End of Sale (+ 6months) : October 4 th , 2017 End of SW Maintenance : October 4 th , 2018 End of Software Support (+3 years) : October 31 th , 2020 Recording Conversations is a critical business requirement. Businesses record conversations for various reasons including Compliance, Quality Monitoring, Agent Training, Government Regulations, Analytics, Security, Liability Mitigation and Business Group Certifications. Cisco offers multiple choices for businesses to reach these goals: 1) Calabrio Solutions Plus – Compliance Recording, Workforce Optimization, Workforce Management, Analytics 2) NICE Solutions Plus – Compliance Recording, Workforce Optimization, Workforce Management, Analytics 3) Verint Solutions Plus – Compliance Recording, Workforce Optimization, Workforce Management, Analytics, Financial Turret Recording 4) Cisco Unified Workforce Optimization for Contact Center Express – Compliance Recording, Workforce Optimization, Workforce Management 5) Cisco MediaSense – Compliance Recording. Planned End Of Life. The above solutions provide on-premises solutions to meet the business outcomes. Cisco is not going to provide a Cisco developed recording solution for On Premise deployments beyond the 11.5 release of the Cisco MediaSense software. What options are available for new Contact Center Enterprise Customers? The Cisco SolutionsPlus portfolio offers three options for the Recording Solutions: NICE, Verint and Calabrio The SolutionsPlus ordering guide can be found here: http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/products/collateral/customer-collaboration/unified-contact-center-enterprise/customer-contact-og.pdf What options are available to new Contact Center Express Customers? The Cisco Unified Workforce Optimization for the Cisco Unified Contact Center Express provides a Compliance Recording option. The Data Sheets and Literature can be found here: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/customer-collaboration/unified-workforce-optimization/literature.html What options are available for existing MediaSense Customers? Cisco would like to offer any help to customers who are currently using the Cisco MediaSense software. Cisco MediaSense will continue to be supported till the identified End Of Support in the End Of Life Bulletin. We will also be willing to offer any support needed to move the Customers to a Solutions Plus recording solution. For any questions, please reach out to: Anil Verma (anilve@cisco.com) Product Manager Scenario 1: Using MediaSense for Audio Recording Scenario 1a:Customer using MediaSense as recorder with SolutionsPlus for WFO Potentially affected Solutions: UCCE, PCCE, HCS-CC The Customer can move the recording solution to one provided by the SolutionsPlus vendor: Calabrio NICE Verint Scenario 1b: Customer is using MediaSense in UCCX for recording, no WFO Potentially affected Solutions: UCCX The customer can move to the compliance recording solution of the Cisco Unified Workforce Optimization. Scenario 1c: Customer is using MediaSense as recorder with CUCM Potentially affected Solutions: Remote Expert Mobile, Remote Expert Branch, Jabber Guest, Jabber over MRA, UC The customer can continue to use MediaSense for more time as the solution is fully TAC supported. They can also move the audio recording solution to one provided by the SolutionsPlus vendor if required. There are other third party solutions available for Audio recording on the Cisco Marketplace that can be explored for the particular customer situations: https://marketplace.cisco.com/catalog/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search%5Bq%5D=recording+&search%5Bdeployment_model_category_ids%5D=&search%5Btechnology_category_ids%5D=&search%5Border%5D=relevance&per_page=40&_=1491950677491&ts=1491950678465 Scenario 1d: Customer is using MediaSense as recorder for Branch on ISR Blades Potentially affected Solutions: UC The customer can continue to use MediaSense for more time as the solution is fully TAC supported. MediaSense runs as a VMWare virtual machine on the blades. There are other third party solutions available for Audio recording on the Cisco Marketplace that can be explored for the particular customer situations: https://marketplace.cisco.com/catalog/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search%5Bq%5D=audio+recording&search%5Bcat%5D Scenario 2: Using MediaSense for Video Recording Scenario 2a: Customer is using MediaSense with CUCM for Video Recording Potentially affected Solutions: Remote Expert Mobile, Jabber Guest, UC Video The customer can continue to use MediaSense for more time as the solution is fully TAC supported. There is no other certified solution available. There are other third party solutions available for Video recording on the Cisco Marketplace that can be explored for the particular customer situations: https://marketplace.cisco.com/catalog/search?_=1489700730094&page=1&pagination_page_number=1&per_page=20&search%5Bdeployment_model_category_ids%5D=&search%5Border%5D=relevance&search%5Bpage%5D=2&search%5Bper_page%5D=20&search%5Bq%5D=video+recording&search%5Bshowcase_category_ids%5D=&search%5Btechnology_category_ids%5D=&utf8=%E2%9C%93&ts=1489700731908 Scenario 2b: Customer is using MediaSense with Unity Connection for Video AA & Messaging Potentially affected Solutions: Unity Connection The customer can continue to use MediaSense for more time as the solution is fully TAC supported. There is no other known solution available. Scenario 3: Using MediaSense for Audio/Video Streaming Scenario 3a: Customer using MediaSense as Audio Streaming Resource for CVP Potentially affected Solutions: UCCE, HCS-CC MediaSense 11.5 introduced the Audio Streaming capabilities for CVP as a potential replacement for the Helix solution. Real Networks has arranged for comparable products from alternate suppliers. More information can be found here: http://www.realnetworks.com/products-services/helix Scenario 3b: Customer using MediaSense for Video on Hold and Video in Queue with CVP Potentially affected Solutions: UCCE, HCS-CC, Remote Expert There is no known replacement solution available for Video on Hold or Video in Queue. The customer can continue to use MediaSense for as long as it is TAC supported. An alternative solution for the Video on Hold, is to use Audio on Hold instead. There are potential Video Streaming solutions, such as: https://www.wowza.com/solutions/streaming-types/video-on-demand http://www.dveo.com/Streaming-Video-HTTP-RTSP-Flash-IPTV/HLS-live-streaming-IP-streaming-HTTP-live-flash-streaming-appliance.html https://marketplace.cisco.com/catalog/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search%5Bq%5D=Video+Streaming&search%5Bdeployment_model_category_ids%5D=&search%5Btechnology_category_ids%5D=&search%5Border%5D=relevance&per_page=20&_=1489705639987&ts=1489705640373 These solutions might need work to integrate into a SIP environment. Scenario 3c: Customer is using MediaSense for Video on Hold with CUCM Potentially affected Solutions: UC There is no known replacement solution available for this. The customer can continue to use MediaSense for more time as the solution is fully TAC supported. An alternative solution for the customers is to use Audio on Hold instead. There are potential Video Streaming solutions, such as: https://www.wowza.com/solutions/streaming-types/video-on-demand http://www.dveo.com/Streaming-Video-HTTP-RTSP-Flash-IPTV/HLS-live-streaming-IP-streaming-HTTP-live-flash-streaming-appliance.html https://marketplace.cisco.com/catalog/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search%5Bq%5D=Video+Streaming&search%5Bdeployment_model_category_ids%5D=&search%5Btechnology_category_ids%5D=&search%5Border%5D=relevance&per_page=20&_=1489705639987&ts=1489705640373 These solutions might need work to integrate into a SIP environment Scenario 4: Using MediaSense for Video AA & Messaging with Unity Connection Scenario 4a: Customer is using MediaSense with Unity Connection for Video Auto Attendant Potentially affected Solutions: Unity Connection There is no known replacement solution available. The customer can continue to use MediaSense for while it is fully TAC supported. Scenario 4b: Customer is using MediaSense with Unity Connection for Video Messaging Potentially affected Solutions: Unity Connection There is no known replacement solution available. The customer can continue to use MediaSense for while it is fully TAC supported. Will MediaSense Still be Supported by TAC and Engineering? Yes MediaSense 11.x and 10.x will be supported by Cisco TAC and the Engineering teams will the identified End Of Support in the End Of Life Bulletin Will there be security fixes coming for MediaSense? Yes Security fixes will be supported on the 11.5 release till the identified End Of Software Support in the End Of Life Bulletin. ... View more

The need for Device Independent Solutions Controlling and monitoring your Contact Center via a simple and device free interface has been a big challenge for supervisors and system administrators. The Agents themselves would like to achieve tasks that can be done from any device. The Cisco Contact Centers have rich REST API that are available for any developer to use for create the solutions that are desired. But it has always been a challenge to create solutions that are device independent. Browser based applications are one alternative, but they are a constant challenge to port to various browsers and their versions. With the introduction of Cisco Spark Messaging, we now have an alternative that is truly device independent. Cisco Spark is an always-on secure way to communicate within an organization. It has a single consistent interface across mobile devices and desktops, and can be used to control and manage your appliances in any on-premises contact center Architecture The architecture to deliver the mobile experience for a Cisco on-premises contact center is based on using the Spark Messaging platform on the devices talking to the Contact Center APIs via a Node.JS application in the middle. The Node.JS can be setup in the DMZ so that the on-premises systems do not have to be exposed to the external internet. The Node.JS software can be installed and run on most operating systems and is easy to setup and manage. The javascript files that run in the Node.JS environment are simple text and can be edited using any text editor. Setup NODE.JS You can get more information about Node.JS here https://nodejs.org/en/ The Node.JS software can be installed and run on most operating systems and is easy to setup and manage. The javascript files that run in the Node.JS environment are simple text and can be edited using any text editor. A Node.JS community provides JavaScript libraries in the form of Node Packages to ease deployment and development of scripts. For this step we would need the Node package for Cisco Spark to be able to leverage the Spark APIs. Install the Cisco Spark JavaScript SDK via the NPM The Cisco Spark API can be easily deployed using a Node Package. For details of how to get access to this and deploy, see here: https://www.npmjs.com/package/ciscospark Create a New Room The Spark Messaging platform is based on the concept of rooms that are the way to communicate with a person or an application. The rooms can be controlled by the System administrators and provide a safe and secure way to control the flow of information. For this step in the process, we will create a Spark room that will be the point of communication. Easiest way is to use the API https://api.ciscospark.com/v1/rooms to create a new room. The Spark developer forum allows the creation of rooms directly from their website here: https://developer.ciscospark.com/endpoint-rooms-post.html or create using the following HTTP commands Request {       "title": "AnilMediaSenseTest" <Use your Own> } Response 200 /success {       " id ": "… Room ID…" ,       " title ": "AnilMediaSenseTest" ,       " type ": "group" ,       " isLocked ": false ,       " lastActivity ": "2016-11-28T05:24:34.806Z" ,       " creatorId ": "…Creator ID…" ,       " created ": "2016-11-28T05:24:34.739Z" } Create a New JavaScript I named mine as BasicSparkWriteMessage.js . The code is also available in GitHub at: https://github.com/anilve/CiscoOnPremRESTAccess // First define all the required packages var spark = require('ciscospark'); //Get all the rooms // Max 1000 rooms in the array spark.rooms.list({max: 1000}) .then(function(rooms) {     console.log ('DEBUG: Rooms Found: ', rooms.length );         for (var i = 0 ; i < rooms.items.length ; i++)     {        // Going through the rooms one by one        console.log ('DEBUG: Room: ', rooms.items[i].title);        // Check if you found the room you are looking for                 if ( rooms.items[i].title === 'AnilMediaSenseTest' )        {            // Room found            console.log ('DEBUG: Found Room ' );                         // Now write a message out to this room            return spark.messages.create(            {               text: 'I am running now!',                                 roomId: rooms.items[i].id            });        }     }; }) .then(function(message) {     console.log ('DEBUG: Message Sent'); }) // Catch any errors .catch(function(reason) {     console.log ('ERROR: ', reason);     process.exit(1); }); Execute the Script The script can be run from the command line. It needs your token information to run. The Token is available from the spark developer portal here: https://developer.ciscospark.com/# Use the following command to run the script: CISCOSPARK_ACCESS_TOKEN=<Your Token> node BasicSparkWriteMessage.js The ouput of the script on my computer looks like this spark-store: constructing boundedStorage spark-store: retrieving Credentials:authorization storage: getting binding for `Credentials` memory-store-adapter: returning binding spark-store: retrieving Device:@ storage: getting binding for `Device` memory-store-adapter: returning binding storage: made binding for `Credentials` storage: made binding for `Device` plugin-storage(Device): waiting to init key `@` plugin-storage(Device): initing `@` spark-store: retrieving Device:@ storage: getting binding for `Device` storage: found binding for `Device` memory-store-adapter: reading `authorization` memory-store-adapter: reading `@` plugin-storage(Credentials): waiting to init key `authorization` plugin-storage(Credentials): initing `authorization` spark-store: retrieving Credentials:authorization one flight: attempted to invoke _getBinding while previous invocation still in flight memory-store-adapter: reading `@` memory-store-adapter: reading `authorization` storage(Credentials): no data for `authorization`, continuing storage(Device): no data for `@`, continuing plugin-storage(Device): no data for `@`, continuing plugin-storage(Credentials): no data for `authorization`, continuing DEBUG: Rooms Found:  191 DEBUG: Room:  AnilMediaSenseTest DEBUG: Found Room plugin-storage(Device): waiting to init key `@` plugin-storage(Device): already inited `@` plugin-storage(Credentials): waiting to init key `authorization` plugin-storage(Credentials): already inited `authorization` DEBUG: Message Sent Conclusion Congratulations, you have created your first Node.JS script that was able to connect to the Cisco Spark Messaging system and send a message to a room that you identified. This is the first step in the process. Once you have the basic ability to send messages down, now we can move on to the more complex steps of communicating information between the Spark rooms and the on-premises systems. References Node.JS install and documentation : https://nodejs.org/en/ Cisco Spark Node Manager download: https://www.npmjs.com/package/ciscospark Cisco Spark Developer resources: https://developer.ciscospark.com/# Source Code for Node.JS Scripts : https://github.com/anilve/CiscoOnPremRESTAccess ... View more