Add a CISCO WEBEX VTC to CH that is registered to a VCS Core (Hybrid)

[Chet Cronin]

I have over 300 CISCO WEBEX Room systems and a few desktop system and need to integrate them to WEBEX via Control Hub. 

Does anyone have a step by step process and what are the pre-regs ? 

I have access to your control hub with Device admin permissions only.  

Any input is greatly appreciated. 

Thank you. 

[John Y]

So, first thing, need to understand if you are truly using VCS or Expressway.  This can be accomplished with Webex Edge for Devices, but you need to be running Expressway proper.  See help article here... https://help.webex.com/en-us/article/cy2l2z/Webex-Edge-for-Devices#id_127572

Igor's post goes into the specifics very well too after you have the supported starting point

John

[Igor Lukic]

Hi @Chet Cronin,

first of all you will need a device registration license in Webex, otherwise you will not be able to register the systems in the Webex cloud.

You can check the current status in Control Hub under Account -> Subscriptions. The licenses are called "Webex Room Systems". Here is an example:

If you do not have any or not sufficient licenses, then you will need to purchase those. How you can purchase them depends on your current subscription model.

In case that you have enough licenses, then you need to download the Webex Device Connector software from Control Hub (Management -> Devices -> Resources)

There you will also find helpful resource regarding the requirements for Cloud Onboarding (e.g. CE9.15.x as a minimum, etc.). In case you are using TMS to manage the systems currently, then you can export a list of all systems and import to the Webex Device Connector.

The Webex Device Connector can be installed on your PC. You will need to be able to reach both the Webex Cloud and all VC systems from the Webex Device Connector in order to onboard the systems.

Here is a good presentation that explains the process (please refer to slide 37 for the VCS/TMS based approach):

https://www.ciscolive.com/c/dam/r/ciscolive/emea/docs/2020/pdf/BRKCOL-2241.pdf

On page 39 you will also find some information about licensing. However, please be aware that the presentation is from 2020, so some of the requirements might have changed.

The Webex Device Connector will create the workspace and device in Control Hub and push the activation token (so that the system can register in the cloud) via xAPI to the endpoint. That's it in a nutshell.

Please also keep in mind that signaling can be routed over a proxy, while media will flow directly to the cloud, except if you use a Video Mesh Node. In that case media would flow to the Video Mesh Node and from the Video Mesh Node to the cloud.

Best regards,

Igor