cisco CUCM and webex hybrid architecture

[Alex2025]

Hello dear teams,
I want to do a hybrid deployment. The customer has cucm and webex licences. He wants to create a hybrid architecture. I have read several documents but I would like you to clarify the following points if possible:
1. What is hybrid architecture?
2. Is it different from deploying webex calling with a local gateway?
3. Do I need a router for hybrid deployment?
4. Can you provide me with a documentation that explains the expected functionalities and the different configurations to be carried out?

Thank you

[Alex2025]

Hello @sreyesmo ,

Thanks! 

Thank you for your feedback.

What we want is for a user on webex to be able to call a user on webex and vice versa. Also integrate the webex solution with mIcrosoft Teams so that the phones on the cucm can also reach the teams users. I understand from your explanation that the deployment model that will be adapted for us is via a local gateway CUBE.

[sreyesmo]

 hey @Alex2025 ,

By definition a Hybrid architecture would be a deployment where some services are hosted on-premise while other over the cloud. It will depend on your current infrastructure and licensing.

From your questions, I understand that are intending to deploy as per article below:

https://help.webex.com/en-us/article/jr1i3r/Configure-Local-Gateway-on-Cisco-IOS-XE-for-Webex-Calling

There are also possibilities to deploy different services over the cloud that would interact with your on-premise infrastructure.

https://help.webex.com/es-co/article/nm1m8zv/Get-Started-with-Webex-Hybrid-Services

For Webex hybrid Calling for devices, we also have a different solution that can be helpful for you:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/cloudCollaboration/wbxt/hybridservices/hybridcalldevices/wbxhs_m_deployment-guide-for-webex-devices-hybrid-call/wbxhs_m_deployment-guide-for-webex-devices-hybrid-call_chapter_00.html

I think it would make sense to have a live call with you Cisco contacts/account team to explore the different options and which ones fits better on your scenario

Sergio

[Jonathan Schulenberg · Accepted solution]

Hybrid Calling for Webex Devices is a legacy architecture that is being deprecated. I do not recommend considering it for new deployments - and encourage any customer currently using it to migrate to Webex Edge for Devices with Optimized Join Experience if remaining on CUCM for call control. Be careful not to confuse this with the general concept of a hybrid calling architecture, either partially on-premises & cloud or a mixture of vendors, which is absolutely still relevant. A word of caution though: every additional call control platform is another architecture to design for, operate, and support. Fewer is better! To be candid, most customers are so short staffed these days that they struggle to maintain proficiency in one let alone three. And in the United States, every calling platform capable of external calls to/from the PSTN has non-trivial E911 requirements to comply with. Every product - even CUCM & Webex Calling - implement E911 differently so again: fewer is better.

Within the Cisco ecosystem, an individual user/workspace and related endpoint(s), if any, is assigned to CUCM or Webex Calling. You can certainly have a mixture of the two but a given user is on one side of that coin or the other. If you opt for CUCM and the user/workspace has a Cisco Room or Desk series video endpoint, you should leverage Webex Edge for Devices to add Hybrid Calendar and other functionality enabled through Webex Control Hub. The Webex App supports CUCM as well, so you have a single soft client now. The Cisco Call for Microsoft Teams integration is how you tie the two apps together for a user that is assigned to Cisco call control (not Microsoft Phone System).

The Webex Calling Local Gateway approach that @sreyesmo mentioned is how you build a SIP trunk between Webex Calling and other platforms - CUCM or otherwise - using a SIP SBC such as CUBE. You're ultimately responsible for that SBC design/config but it's conceptually possible to support a mixture of CUCM, Webex Calling, and Microsoft Phone System. Cisco publishes interoperability white papers for CUBE as examples to start with. I'm not aware of a complete drop-in config for those three PBX platforms and a SIP ITSP but e164-pattern-maps will likely be the best approach to assign/manage TNs amongst them.

You may also want to review the Cisco Preferred Architecture for Webex Calling, although it's starting to get a little dated, and recent Cisco Live session recordings such as Planning and Designing Successful Cloud Calling Deployments with Webex Calling (BRKCOL-2787) and Successful Migrations from Unified CM to Webex Calling (BRKCOL-2481).