Configuring CallManager and Unity: A Step-by-Step Guide

Product Description

An indispensable step-by-step configuration guide for IP Telephony professionals 

• Includes step-by-step configuration instructions for CallManager features and Unity administration tasks
• Demonstrates how to deploy devices and implement your dial plan
• Covers Call Admission Control features and class of service
• Examines different subscriber types and how subscribers are added, imported, and managed
• Includes step-by-step instructions for call handling and auto attendant configuration
• Describes how to use Unity and CallManager together to deliver unique features

To properly deploy any type of technology, networking professionals must understand not only the technology but also how to configure and integrate it with other solutions. That’s the key to Configuring CallManager and Unity–it focuses on the configuration issues associated with CallManager and Unity® deployments while ensuring that you understand the technologies behind your deployment.

Configuring CallManager and Unity includes step-by-step guides that system administrators and other networking professionals can use in the field. These step-by-step instructions have been worked out by an author who has both taught and implemented Cisco® solutions in real-world situations, so coverage is comprehensive for both basic and complex implementations. You will find information that will assist in the configuration of CallManager-related tasks, such as device configuration, gateway implementation, and dial-plan creation to name a few. You will also find Unity-related configuration tasks, ranging from the basics, such as holiday and schedule configuration, to more involved tasks, such as Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) networking implementation. In addition to covering Unity and CallManager tasks, this book includes a chapter on leveraging the capabilities of both systems to create integrated solutions, such as a MeetMe conference manager.

Tasks in Configuring CallManager and Unity are organized in the same order you would naturally perform them, and some tasks are cross-referenced with other required tasks for easy reference. You learn not only how to configure CallManager and Unity but also how to create a more feature-rich environment by leveraging CallManager and Unity features. Regardless of your specific needs, you’ll find Configuring CallManager and Unity to be a timesaving tool when performing common or complicated configuration tasks.

This IP communications book is part of the Cisco Press® Networking Technology Series. IP communications titles from Cisco Press help networking professionals understand voice and IP telephony technologies, plan and design converged networks, and implement network solutions for increased productivity.

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Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful Great Information, April 11, 2007 By  stilltrying "Jason" (Carbondale, IL) - See all my reviews This review is from: Configuring CallManager and Unity: A Step-by-Step Guide (Hardcover) This is a great book at giving specifics on how to setup most everything. Although I am on Callmanager 5.0 this book does not cover this version but does provide the underlying foundation on how to configure route patterns, lists, hunt groups and most eveything in 5.0 but i believe 5.0 has added new features and interfaces that this book does not cover. All in all I could not find a CM 5.0 book out there and this one substituted quite well and therefore I give it 5 stars as being pertinent to a new version of call manager. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you?  Report abuse | Permalink  Comment 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful CM Guide, November 8, 2007 By  George R. McManus (Greensboro, NC United States) - See all my reviews    This review is from: Configuring CallManager and Unity: A Step-by-Step Guide (Hardcover) Wish I had found this book sooner - so many Cisco books are for the CCIE or CCIE wanna be ( I confess - I am a wanna be). But in this case I needed a guide to tell me how to administrate the system. This is a very good book for administering Call Manager. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you?  Report abuse | Permalink  Comment 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful Configuring CallManager and Unity: A Step-by-Step Guide, May 22, 2008 By  John Fellenbaum - See all my reviews    This review is from: Configuring CallManager and Unity: A Step-by-Step Guide (Hardcover) Configuring CallManager and Unity: A Step-by-Step Guide by David Bateman published by Cisco Press (ISBN: 1-58705-196-6) covers configuration tasks (in a step by step process) associated with Cisco's CallManager and Unity products. The twelve chapters of the book are broken down into three parts. The first six chapters focus on the configuration tasks involved with the CallManager, while the next five chapters focus on the configuration tasks involved with Unity. The book concludes with a chapter on advanced features within CallManager and Unity. I found this book to be very informative. The author's explanation on the meaning behind the various configuration settings is very succinct. The author does a great job in providing and explaining step by step configuration tasks necessary to implement various features in both CallManager and Unity. I agree with the author that even though the book was written based on CallManager version 4.1 and Unity version 4.04, the book... Read more Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you?  Report abuse | Permalink  Comment

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Praise For Configuring CallManager and Unity: A Step-by-Step Guide

Configuring CallManager and Unity: A Step-by-Step Guide
Reviewer Name: Fouzan M. Pal, Senior Network Security Engineer
Reviewer Certification: CCNA

Configuring CallManager and Unity: A Step-by-Step Guide by David Bateman is perhaps the best book currently out there on this subject. It is over 500 pages and has all the elements of an indispensable book: easy to read, practical in its approach, well organized, and packed with current, useful, and up-to-date information. If you are involved in configuring or maintaining the Cisco CallManager suite of VoIP telephony, you simply cannot do without this book.

As those of us who have been involved with configuring or maintaining the CallManager and Unity system, it is not a trivial task by any means. (I decided to grab this book as a result of an already operational CallManager system that I inherited. I needed get my hands on a practical book that wouldn’t take me for a fluff-ride.) There are a number of interconnected details that need to be worked out. While one can try their luck and make their way through them by accepting defaults settings etc., in order to attain an optimal system that can grow to an enterprise level without resulting in frustrating performance and/or security problems, a somewhat detailed understanding of the system and the parameters associated with it is essential. This book does an excellent job of walking the reader through the configuration of these parameters and providing just the right explanation of the concepts behind them. For example, the author, seemingly well aware of the elements of good technical writing, uses the same type of wording when describing similar concepts. This is a key element of a good technical book since the subject matter of such books can get complicated and it is a good practice to use the same type of wording and similar structure to emphasize the similarity in the topics being covered. The author has used this and other techniques to his advantage when writing this book.

The book is divided into two major sections: one dealing with the CallManager and the other dealing with Unity. Both sections are very well written and references are made to the necessary parts within the sections to emphasize the relationships whenever necessary. Another very important point is that the author has presented the material in the book in generally the same order as one would configure the system. The material is further combined under the same logical groupings as found in the actual application. For a complicated system like the CallManager, this goes a long way in understanding how things tie together in the application and hence helps in getting the "big picture," as well as the details.

As far as suggestions and recommendations go for the author, I would love to see the author write a book on the design of CallManager networks. Just like a good design is critical to the performance of data networks, VoIP networks do not scale well unless backed by a robust design. In fact, performance in voice networks is even more important due to the time sensitive nature of the traffic being carried. A book on the design aspects of VoIP networks would be most welcome. Similarly, installation of CallManager is not covered in this book since that topic can easily take up a book itself. While CallManager installation is usually performed by Cisco itself, a book on this topic would be nice as well.

The need for this book is best described in the words of the author. He writes in the introduction: "While there are many fine Cisco Press books on this technology, I noticed many of my students requesting a task-oriented book... Through the writing process, the book evolved from offering only a step-by-step guide into also offering easy to understand explanations for many of the Cisco IP Telephony concepts and components." While many authors make grand claims about their books, this one holds true to every word of it. The book does exactly as the author claims: it not only presents a very detailed step-by-step approach to configuring the Cisco VoIP solution (which is no doubt a complex and intricate system) but also presents much needed explanations of the steps in a clear, concise manner whenever necessary.

Index

Download - 96 KB -- Index

Table of Contents

Unity Networking Overview

Securing CallManager and Unity Environments

CallManager Security Issues

Unity Security Issues

Summary

Chapter 2Preparing CallManager for Deployment

Configuring CallManager for Maximum Performance

Deactivating Unnecessary Services

Activating CallManager Services

Configuring CallManager’s Enterprise Settings

Removing DNS Dependencies

Defining Enterprise Parameters

Preparing CallManager for Device Registration

Creating CallManager Groups

Defining Date/Time Groups

Configuring Regions

Building Device Pools

Summary

Chapter 3Deploying Devices

Adding Clients

Defining Device Settings

 Using BAT to Add Devices

Adding Phones Using TAPS

Adding Gateways

Adding H.323 Gateways

Adding MGCP Gateways

Adding Inter-Cluster Trunks

Summary

Chapter 4Implementing a Dial Plan

Understanding Call Flow

Understanding Route Groups and Route Lists

Creating Route Groups

Creating Route a List

Understanding Patterns

Creating Basic Route Patterns

Using Pattern Wildcards to Create a Basic Dial Plan

Advanced Dial Plan Components and Behavior

Creating Route Filters

Creating Translation Patterns

Creating CTI Route Points

Adding a Line to a CTI Route Point

Summary

Chapter 5Configuring Class of Service and Call Admission Control

Rights and Restrictions

Understanding Call Search Spaces and Partitions

Creating Calling Search Spaces and Partitions

Applying Calling Search Spaces and Partitions

Implementing Call Admission Control

Configuring CAC for a Distributed Deployment

Configuring CAC for a Centralized Deployment

Special Services Configuration

Special Services Overview

Configuring Special Services Route Patterns

Summary

Chapter 6Configuring CallManager Features and Services

Configuring Features

Creating Call Pickup Groups

Creating Meet-Me Patterns

Creating Call Park Numbers

Creating Forced Authorization Codes

Configuring Client Matter Codes

Configuring Voice Ports and Profiles

Creating Users

Configuring Advanced Services

Implementing Advanced Features

Creating and Managing Media Resources

Configuring Remote Site Failover

SRST Overview

Configuring SRST

Configuring AAR

Exploring CallManager Serviceability

Exploring Alarms

Configuring and Collecting Traces

Exploring CallManager Serviceability Tools

Summary

Part II      Unity Configuration

Chapter 7Unity Predeployment Tasks

Accessing and Navigating Unity Administrator

Integration Verification

CallManager Integration

SIP Integration

Defining System Configuration

Creating Schedules and Holidays

Defining Configuration Settings

Configuring Authentication Settings

Configuring Ports

Configuring System Access and Policies

Defining Account Polices

Configuring Class of Service

Creating and Managing Public Distribution Lists

Creating Public Distribution Lists

Managing PDL Members

Summary

Chapter 8Subscriber Reference

Defining Various Types of Subscribers

Exchange

Domino

Networked Subscribers

Creating Exchange/Domino Subscribers

Creating Subscribers Templates

Creating New Exchange Subscribers

Importing Subscribers

Managing Subscribers

Managing Subscriber Access

Managing Call Transfer and Greetings

Managing Message Access, Notification, and Indication

Conversation Management Settings

Summary

Chapter 9Call Management

Understanding Call Flow

Call Flow Architecture

Call Handler Overview

Creating Basic Call Routing Systems

Creating Call Handlers

Configuring Call Handlers

Configuring Directory Handlers

Configuring Auto Attendant

Creating Advanced Call Routing Systems

Using Interview Handlers

Creating an Audio Text Application

Remotely Managing Call Handlers

Configuring Call Routing

Creating and Configuring a Call Routing Rule

Managing Restriction Tables

Summary

Chapter 10Implementing Unity Networking

Unity Networking Overview

Networking Components

Unity-to-Unity Networking Overview

Unity-to-Legacy Voice-Mail Networking Overview

Unity Networking Configuration

Defining Digital Networking

Defining SMTP Networking

SMTP Networking Components

Unity to Non-Unity Networking Concepts

Defining AMIS Networking

Defining VPIM Networking

Defining Bridge Networking

Summary

Chapter 11Exploring Unity Tools

Using Unity Web-Based Tools

Monitoring

Reports

Using Advanced Tools

Administration Tools

Audio Management Tools

Diagnostic Tools

CUPID

Reporting Tools

Switch Integration Tools

Summary

Part III     Leveraging the Power of CallManager and Unity

Chapter 12Maximizing the Capabilities of Unity and CallManager

Advanced CallManager Features

Configuring MLA

Attendant Console

IPMA

Time of Day Routing

Hunt List

Creating a Line Group

Creating Hunt List

Creating Hunt Pilots

Advanced Unity Features

Enabling Call Queuing

Configuring Destination Call Screening

Unique Solutions

Configuring Unity as a Meet-Me Conference Manager

Directed Call Pickup

Managing Multi-Location Overlapping Extensions

Summary

AppendixAdditional Reference Resources

Additional References

Interesting Reading

Index

Downloadable Sample Chapter

Download - 2.7 MB -- Chapter 3: Deploying Devices

Errata

Download the errata