Troubleshooting Media Master in Cisco Unity Connection 10.x

The Media Master allows you to make and play recordings, either with a phone or with your computer microphone and speakers. The Media Master appears on each page in Cisco Unity Connection Administration on which recordings can be made, and also appears in Cisco Unity Connection ViewMail for Microsoft Outlook 8.0 and in the Messaging Assistant. (The Media Master is not used in Cisco ViewMail for Microsoft Outlook or in the Web Inbox in Unity Connection.)

See the following sections:

Media Master Does Not Display or Function Correctly in Unity Connection Applications

The Media Master may not display or function correctly depending on the operating system and/or browser software installed on the client workstation. Consider the following issues:

  • Confirm that the browser configuration is correct. See the “Configuring a Web Browser to Access the Cisco PCA in Cisco Unity Connection 10.x” section in the “Setting Up Access to the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant in Cisco Unity Connection 10.x” chapter of the User Workstation Setup Guide for Cisco Unity Connection, Release 10.x for information on how to set up web browsers on each user workstation to use the Cisco PCA and the web tools. The guide is available at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/user_setup/guide/10xcucuwsx/10xcucuws010.html#pgfId-1049474.
  • Confirm that the version combinations of Unity Connection and the software installed on user workstations is supported. See the Compatibility Matrix: Cisco Unity Connection and the Software on User Workstations, available at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/compatibility/matrix/cucclientmtx.html.
  • Some security and VPN software that is installed on the user workstations can cause problems for the Media Master applet. In particular, software that offers personal firewalls can be problematic. If this is the case, work with the software vendor to determine a configuration that allows the Media Master applet to contact the Unity Connection server, or disable or remove the conflicting security and VPN software from the user client workstation.
  • If end users experience the browser being unresponsive or crashing when they navigate to a Cisco PCA page that contains the Media Master (for example, a voice message in the Messaging Inbox web tool in Unity Connection 9.0 or a greeting page in the Messaging Assistant web tool), it is likely that an error has been detected by the Java Runtime Environment (JRE).
  • If end users experience problem in loading Media Master applet with MAC OS X for Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 6 and later, then you need to install Java7u6MAC port plugin.

Do the following tasks in the order presented to resolve the issue:

1. Determine whether the most recent Java version is installed on the workstation by going to http://www.java.com/en/download/help/testvm.xml?ff3. This page automatically tests which Java version is installed and let you know whether there is a more current version available.

2. If the most recent Java version is not yet installed, download and install it from http://www.java.com. If the problem is still not resolved, continue with Task 3.

3. Uninstall all versions of Java that are installed on the user workstation, then reinstall the most recent Java version from http://www.java.com.

For known Java-related issues with Internet Explorer, more information can be found at http://www.java.com/en/download/help/iecrash.xml.

See the applicable sections below for information on known browser issues:

Apple Safari

Apple Safari users are prompted to open a download site to obtain the Java plugin installer the first time that they browse to a Cisco Personal Communications Assistant (PCA) page that should contain the Media Master. After the desired version is downloaded and installed, users may have to sign out of the Cisco PCA, and close and restart the browser software for the plugin to load properly.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Microsoft Internet Explorer users are prompted to install the Java plugin the first time that they browse to a Cisco Personal Communications Assistant (PCA) page that should contain the Media Master. Users must have local rights to their workstation in order for the Java plugin to install properly. In addition, the user might have to restart the browser for the newly installed plugin to load. If users choose not to install the Java plugin, they see a message in place of the Media Master stating that support for “application/x-java-applet” is disabled, and pages containing the Media Master pop up one or more alert messages.

Because the Media Master is a Java Applet, and because all Internet Explorer plugins are wrapped into an ActiveX control, users must configure their browsers to download and run ActiveX controls to support automatic plugin installation and to ensure that the Media Master works correctly.

Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox users are prompted to open a download site to obtain the Java plugin installer the first time that they browse to a Cisco Personal Communications Assistant (PCA) page that should contain the Media Master. After the desired version is downloaded and installed, users may have to sign out of the Cisco PCA, and close and restart the browser software for the plugin to load properly.

For users who use Mozilla Firefox on Red Hat Linux workstations, the J2SE software uses the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) driver to access system sound devices and control playback and recording functionality. Depending on the sound card, playback and recording capabilities may be limited.

Using the Phone Device for Playback and Recording in Media Master

The Media Master supports using the phone as a playback and recording device. The phone device is always available to users. Users can configure the phone device by selecting “Playback & Recording” from the Options menu on the Media Master. From the Playback & Recording Options window, users can configure the active phone number for the phone device (the default value is the primary Unity Connection extension of the user).

The phone device sends requests over the network to the Unity Connection server to call the active phone number. When the phone answers, the phone device proceeds with either playing back or recording the voice recording. The call can fail for these reasons:

  • Either no active phone number value is defined, or it is defined incorrectly.
  • The phone system to which the user is assigned does not have any TRAP ports enabled.
  • All TRAP-capable ports on the phone system are busy.
  • No phone system is designated to handle TRAP connections.
  • Security settings or software prevent the Media Master from contacting the Unity Connection server.

Note that using the phone device is the primary way to listen to or to record secure messages, and to review voice recordings in formats that are not supported by the Media Master local device.

Problems with the Phone Device Ringing the Phone for Playback or Recording of a Voice Message

Use the troubleshooting information in this section if the phone device either does not ring the phone, or rings the phone only once for playback or recording of voice messages:

  • Phone numbers of different lengths are configured on the phone system, causing the phone system to wait for additional digits— If your site uses phone numbers that vary in length (for example, some users have five-digit numbers and others have four-digit numbers) this can cause a slight delay of approximately two seconds before the call is connected.

The reason for the delay is that the phone system waits to determine that the entire phone number has been dialed before it connects the call.

  • The phone number dialed by the Media Master is not the expected number —Confirm that the active phone number specified in the Media Master is correct. To do this, check the Active Phone Number value for the Primary Extension or Other Number in the Playback & Recording Options window for the Media Master.
  • The Media Master software is not updated after a Cisco Unity Connection server upgrade —If the Media Master software is not updated, this is usually caused by the Java plugin not reloading the Media Master files from Cisco Unity Connection, and instead using the locally-cached versions of the files. If this happens, you can manually update the Media Master software. Do the To Update the Media Master Software.
  • No phone system is designated to handle TRAP connections —By default, the first phone system that is integrated with Unity Connection is designated to handle TRAP connections for the Media Master. If this phone system is replaced by another integration, the new phone system might not be designated to handle TRAP connections.

When a phone system is not designated to handle TRAP connections, the following error appears.

Could not establish a phone conversation.
The server reports the following:
Code: 26
Description: Cannot find a switch to route the call

Follow the steps in the To Designate a Phone System to Handle TRAP Connections section.

To Update the Media Master Software

Step 1blank.gif Close all browser windows.

Step 2blank.gif Depending on your operating system, do one of the following:

  • For Windows 2000 and later, start the Java control panel by selecting Start > Settings > Control Panel > Java.
  • For Red Hat Linux and Mac OSX, start the Java control panel found in $JAVA_HOME\bin\ControlPanel.

Step 3blank.gif On the General page, under Temporary Internet Files, select Delete Files.

This clears the cached files. The Media Master resource files are downloaded the next time you visit a Cisco PCA or Cisco Unity Connection Administration page that contains the Media Master.

 

To Designate a Phone System to Handle TRAP Connections

Step 1blank.gif In Cisco Unity Connection Administration, expand Telephony Integrations, then select Phone System.

Step 2blank.gif On the Search Phone Systems page, select the name of the phone system that you want to handle TRAP connections.

Step 3blank.gif On the Phone System Basics page, check the Default TRAP Switch check box and select Save.

 

Problems Opening a File in the Media Master When Saved on a Workstation

When you attempt to use a previously recorded WAV file (for example, an announcement that was recorded earlier) rather than making a new recording using a phone or a computer microphone, the Media Master may display the following error message:

Could not load audio recording from file. The file is either not an audio file, a supported audio format, or is corrupted.

This error occurs when the WAV file was recorded in the G.729a audio format.

To resolve this problem, do one of the following:

  • Convert the WAV file to another audio format (for example, convert it to the G.711 audio format).
  • Use a WAV file that is recorded in a supported audio format other than G.729a.
  • Make the recording using a phone or a computer microphone.

Note that when Unity Connection is configured to record in the G.729a audio format, the Media Master functions correctly for recording and playing recordings using a phone or a computer microphone.