Discovery Lab 8

Discovery 8: Configure and Verify Endpoint

Basic Configuration Elements
This discovery lab teaches the basic configuration elements that are common to
endpoints in Cisco Unified Communications Manager.
The figure shows some of the key endpoint configuration elements that are
available from the System menu in the Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Administration tool. This discovery lab discusses and configures some of these
key endpoint configuration elements. This list is not an all-inclusive list but
mainly identifies the basic elements. Some configuration elements can be
assigned to the endpoint and some elements are assigned indirectly through a
device pool.

The following are examples of elements that are assigned through a device pool:

Cisco Unified Communications Manager Group (known as the Cisco Unified

CM Group)

Regions

Date/Time Group

Configuration elements can be optional or mandatory. Some mandatory

elements have defaults that are predefined and administrators can use these
defaults in basic scenarios. The security profile is an example of a mandatory
element.
 A security profile must be applied to all phones that are configured in Cisco
Unified Communications Manager Administration. The administrator can use
existing security profiles, which have disabled security.

Discovery Task 1: Configure a Phone NTP Reference

This discovery task configures the phone NTP reference and describes when and
where it would be used.

Complete these steps to configure an NTP reference that can be used with SIP IP
phones:

In Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration, navigate to System >

Phone NTP Reference and click Add New.

In the Phone NTP Reference Information section, configure the following NTP server
settings:

IP Address: 10.1.1.5

Description: NTP Server
 Mode: Unicast

Documentation

IP Address: Enter the IP address of the NTP server that the SIP phone should
use to get its date and time.

Description: Enter a description for the phone NTP reference. Cisco Unified
Communications Manager Administration automatically propagates the
information in the IP Address field to the Description field, but it can be
edited.

Mode: From the drop down list box, choose the mode for the phone NTP
reference. The values available are as follows:

Directed Broadcast: This mode is the default NTP mode. In this mode,
the phone accesses date and time information from any NTP server but
gives the listed NTP servers (first = primary, second = secondary)
priority. For example, if the phone configuration has A as the primary
NTP server and B as the secondary or backup NTP server, the phone
uses the broadcast packets (derived the date and time) from NTP
server A. If NTP server A is not broadcasting, the phone accesses date
and time information from NTP server B. If neither NTP server is
broadcasting, the phone accesses date and time information from any
other NTP server. If no other NTP server is broadcasting, the phone will
derive the date and time from the Cisco Unified Communications
Manager 200 OK response to the register message.

Unicast: In this mode, the phone will send an NTP query packet to that
particular NTP server. If the phone does not receive a response, the
phone will access date and time information from any other NTP
server.

Multicast: This mode works in a similar way to broadcast, except the

NTP messages from the server are not sent to all destinations
(broadcast), but to a group of destinations (multicast). This mode
requires multicast routing configuration in the IP network.

Anycast: This mode also requires multicast routing configuration in the

IP network. This mode works in a similar way to unicast. Instead of
 sending the NTP query packet to a particular NTP server as a unicast,
the phone will send to a multicast destination. There is usually a
primary server listening for the NTP traffic. A secondary server will
automatically receive the traffic when the primary server fails. The
primary and secondary servers can be reachable anywhere in the
multicast network.

Click Save.

Documentation

Phone NTP references can be configured in Cisco Unified Communications

Manager Administration to ensure that a SIP phone obtains its date and time
from an NTP server. If no NTP server is reachable, the SIP phone uses the date
header in the 200 OK response to the register message for the date and time.
SCCP phones obtain time information within SCCP messages.

After the phone NTP reference has been added to Cisco Unified Communications
Manager Administration, it must be added to a date and time group. Priorities of
the phone NTP references can be configured in the date and time group. The
date and time group configuration is referenced from a device pool, and the
device pool is assigned to a device at the Device Configuration page.

Note: Cisco Unified Communications Manager cannot be configured as phone NTP

references.

Discovery Task 2: Verify the Date and Time Group Configuration

This discovery task describes and verifies the date and time group configuration
for the default CMLocal group.
 Complete these steps to document the default CMLocal Date/Time Group:

To verify the date and time group configuration, navigate to System > Date/Time
Group and click Find. Choose CMLocal as the Date/Time Group and record the
following information:

Time Zone: _______________________________ 

Separator: ________________________________ 

Date Format: ______________________________ 

Time Format: ______________________________ 

Click Add Phone NTP References, select the previously defined NTP reference, and
click Add Selected.

Save the Date/Time Group.

Documentation
 Use date and time groups to define time zones for the various devices that are
connected to Cisco Unified Communications Manager. Each device exists as a
member of only one device pool. The device pool has only one assigned date
and time group.

When Cisco Unified Communications Manager is installed, a default date and

time group is automatically configured that is named CMLocal. CMLocal
synchronizes to the active date and time of the operating system on the server
where Cisco Unified Communications Manager is installed. After installing Cisco
Unified Communications Manager, the settings for CMLocal can be changed.

Note: CMLocal resets to the operating system date and time whenever the Cisco
Unified Communications Manager is restarted or when the Cisco Unified
Communications Manager software is upgraded to a new release. Do not change the
name of CMLocal.

The following fields appear in the Date/Time Group Configuration window:

Group Name: Enter the name that is assigned to the new date and time
group.

Time Zone: Select the time zone for the date and time group that is being
added by choosing it from the drop down list box.

Separator: Choose the separator character to use between the date fields.

Date Format: Choose the date format for the date that displays on the IP
phones.

Time Format: Choose a 12-hour or 24-hour time format.

Selected Phone NTP References: The entries are listed from the highest
priority to the lowest priority. To ensure that a SIP phone receives its date and
time configuration from an NTP server, add the phone NTP references to the
date and time group. To add a phone NTP reference to the date and time
group, perform the following tasks:

Click Add Phone NTP References. Find the phone NTP references that
need to be added. Only phone NTP references that exist in the Cisco
Unified Communications Manager database are displayed.
 After the search results display, check the check boxes for the phone
NTP references or click Select All.

Click Add Selected.

Discovery Task 3: Verify a Cisco Unified Communications Manager Group

This discovery task configures and describes the Cisco Unified Communications
Manager Group configuration element.

Complete these steps to create a new Cisco Unified Communication Manager

Group:

In Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration, navigate to System >

Cisco Unified CM Group and click Find.

Click the Copy icon next to the name Default from the list that is displayed.

In the name field, enter HQ CMG and check the Auto-Registration Cisco Unified

Communications Manager Group check box.
Note: In a production environment, you will see more than one Cisco Unified
Communications Manager server listed.

Click Save.

In the Related Links drop down list, choose Back To Find/List and click Go.

Verify that the Auto-Registration Cisco Unified CM Group field is set to True for HQ-
CMG.

Documentation

A Cisco Unified Communications Manager Group specifies a prioritized list of up

to three Cisco Unified Communications Managers. The first Cisco Unified
Communications Manager in the list serves as the primary Cisco Unified
Communications Manager for that group, and the other members of the group
serve as secondary and tertiary (backup) Cisco Unified Communications
Manager servers.

Each device pool has one Cisco Unified Communications Manager Group that is
assigned to it. When a device registers, it attempts to connect to the primary
(first) Cisco Unified Communications Manager in the group that is assigned to its
device pool. If the primary Cisco Unified Communications Manager is not
available, the device tries to connect to the next Cisco Unified Communications
Manager that is listed in the group, and so on.

Cisco Unified Communications Manager Groups provide the following important

features for the Cisco Unified Communications System:

Redundancy: This feature allows the administrator to designate primary and

backup Cisco Unified Communications Manager servers for each group.

Call processing load balancing: This feature allows the administrator to

distribute the control of devices across multiple Cisco Unified
Communications Manager servers.

For most systems, there is a need for multiple groups. A single Cisco Unified
Communications Manager can be assigned to multiple groups to achieve better
load distribution and redundancy.
Discovery Task 4: Configure Regions

This discovery task describes and configures the regions configuration.

Complete these steps to change the default region:

To verify the current Region configuration, navigate to System > Region Information
> Region, click Find, and then choose the Default region.

In the name field, change the name from Default to HQ Region and click Save.

Verify that the Max Audio Bit Rate field is set to 64 kbps (G.722, G.711).

Click Save.

Documentation

Regions are used to specify the maximum bandwidth that is used per audio or
video call within a region and between regions. The configured audio codec
determines the type of compression and hence the maximum amount of
bandwidth that is used per audio call. The video call bandwidth is the sum of the
audio and video bandwidth of the video call.
Discovery Task 5: Configure Locations

This discovery task configures and describes the locations configuration.

Complete these steps to configure the HQ location:

To create a new location, navigate to System > Location Info > Location and
click Find.

Click Add New and enter the following information in the window that appears:

Name: HQ Location

Audio Bandwidth: Unlimited

Video Bandwidth: 384 kbps

Immersive Bandwidth: 6144 kbps

Click Save.

Documentation
 Use locations to implement CAC in a centralized call-processing system. The
administrator can use CAC to regulate audio quality and video availability by
limiting the amount of bandwidth that is available for audio and video calls
within a location (for intralocation calls) and along the path between two
locations (for interlocation calls). Intralocation bandwidth limits can be
configured by clicking the Show Advanced link.

Each location is assigned a name. The location name will be assigned to devices
such as IP phones. It is helpful if the names follow some meaningful structure
such as Branch1 or Central Site.

In a centralized call-processing system, a single Cisco Unified Communications

Manager cluster provides call processing for all locations on the IP telephony
network. The Cisco Unified Communications Manager cluster usually resides at
the main (or central) location, along with other devices such as phones and
gateways. The remote locations contain additional devices, but no Cisco Unified
Communications Manager. IP WAN links connect the remote locations to the
main location.

Note: If CAC is not used to limit the audio and video bandwidth on IP WAN links; an
unlimited number of calls can be active on that link at the same time. This situation
can cause the quality of all audio and video calls to degrade as the link becomes
oversubscribed.

Discovery Task 6: Configure Device Pools

This discovery task describes and configures the device pool configuration.
 Complete these steps to create a new device pool:

To configure a new device pool that uses the new Cisco Unified Communications
Manager Group, navigate to System > Device Pool and click Find.

Click Add New.

In the window that appears, enter the following information:

Device Pool Name: HQ DP

Cisco Unified Communications Manager Group: HQ CMG

Calling Search Space for Auto-registration: PSTN_css

Date/Time Group: CMLocal (use the date, time, and time zone of the Cisco
Unified Communications Manager server)

Region: HQ Region

Location: HQ Location

Leave all other settings at their default

Click Save. Then click Reset and OK.

Documentation

Device pools define sets of common characteristics for devices. The device pool
structure supports the separation of user and location information. The device
pool contains only device- and location-related information. The Common
Device Configuration window records all the user-oriented information, such as
the type of softkey template that is used and locale information. Ensure that
each device is associated with a device pool and with a common device
configuration for user-oriented information.

To create a new device pool, these minimal mandatory components must be

created, or default settings will be used where applicable:

Cisco Unified Communications Manager Group

Date/Time Group

Region

Softkey Template

SRST reference

The device pool combines all of the individual configuration settings that have
been created into a single entity. This element can then be assigned to individual
devices, such as IP phones. This process will configure these devices with most
of the configuration elements that they need to operate efficiently in the IP
telephony network.

Discovery Lab Complete