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Contents
This chapter provides information about an annunciator, which is an SCCP device that uses the Cisco IP Voice Media Streaming Application service, enables Cisco Unified Communications Manager to play prerecorded announcements (.wav files) and tones to Cisco Unified IP Phones, gateways, and other configurable devices. The annunciator, which works with Cisco Unified Communications Manager Multilevel Precedence and Preemption, enables Cisco Unified Communications Manager to alert callers as to why the call fails. Annunciator can also play tones for some transferred calls and some conferences.
An annunciator, an SCCP device that uses the Cisco IP Voice Media Streaming Application service, enables Cisco Unified Communications Manager to play prerecorded announcements (.wav files) and tones to Cisco Unified IP Phones, gateways, and other configurable devices. The annunciator, which works with Cisco Unified Communications Manager Multilevel Precedence and Preemption, enables Cisco Unified Communications Manager to alert callers as to why the call fails. Annunciator can also play tones for some transferred calls and some conferences.
In conjunction with Cisco Unified Communications Manager, the annunciator device provides multiple, one-way, RTP stream connections to devices, such as Cisco Unified IP Phones and gateways.
To automatically add an annunciator to the Cisco Unified Communications Manager database, you must activate the Cisco IP Voice Media Streaming Application service on the server.
The annunciator provided by the Cisco IP Voice Media Streaming Application service supports both IPv4 and IPv6 audio media connections. The annunciator is configured automatically in dual mode when the platform is configured for IPv6 and the IPv6 enterprise parameter is enabled. The annunciator supports only IPv4 for the TCP control channel. The annunciator supports secure media SRTP connections to both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.
Note | When you add a server, the annunciator device automatically gets added for the new server. It will remain inactive until the Cisco IP Voice Media Streaming Application service is activated for the new server. |
Cisco Unified Communications Manager uses SCCP messages to establish a RTP stream connection between the annunciator and the device. The annunciator plays the announcement or tone to support the following conditions:
Announcement-Devices configured for Cisco Multilevel Precedence and Preemption
Barge tone-Before a participant joins an ad hoc conference
Ring back tone-When you transfer a call over the PSTN through an IOS gateway
Annunciator plays the tone because the gateway cannot play the tone when the call is active.
Ring back tone-When you transfer calls over an H.323 intercluster trunk
Ring back tone-When you transfer calls to the SIP client from a phone that is running SCCP
Tip | For specific information about supported announcements and tones, see the Supported Tones and Announcements. |
Before the announcement/tone plays, the annunciator reads the following information from the annunciator.xml file in the Cisco Unified Communications Manager database:
The TypeAnnouncements database table, which is read into memory cache to identify each announcement or tone that the annunciator supports.
The user locale identifier for the phone, which is added to the database if you install the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Locale Installer.
The network locale identifier for the phone or gateway, which is added to the database if you install the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Locale Installer.
The device settings
The user-configured service parameters
Cisco Unified Communications Manager 8.6(1) and later enhances the Cisco IP Voice Media Streaming application service to support Secure Real-Time Protocol (SRTP); therefore, when the Cisco Unified Communications Manageris enabled for security, the annunciator registers with the Cisco Unified Communications Manager as an SRTP capable device. If the receiving device is also SRTP capable, the announcements are encrypted before streaming to the receiving device.
When the Cisco Unified Communications Manager is configured in a secure deployment environment (the Cluster Security Mode enterprise parameter is set to mixed mode), Cisco Unified IP Phones, voice gateways, and other secure capable endpoints are set to encrypted mode. The media streaming between the devices is done through SRTP. When calls are secure, a locked icon displays on the Cisco Unified IP Phone, indicating that the call is protected for both signaling and the media.
When the secured annunciator plays an announcement, the Cisco Unified IP Phone that receives the announcement displays a locked icon. When the secured annunciator plays a ringback tone, such as in the case of a caller performing a blind transfer over a SIP or H.323 intercluster trunk, the Cisco Unified IP Phone to be transferred displays the locked icon while the annunciator plays the ringback tone to it.
Annunciator devices are automatically enabled for security when the enterprise parameter Cluster Security Mode is set to 1 (mixed mode).
The following examples provide scenarios that describe how the locked icon displays when secured and non-secured announcements are inserted to the calls.
The following example describes an encrypted announcement for a precedence call.
User 4000 dials 99 3000 to reach user 3000. The Cisco Unified Communications Manager configured a translation pattern of 99.XXXX to enable users to dial a prefix of 99 to initiate an MLPP Flash Override call.
Cisco Unified Communications Manager dials user 3000 and user 3000 answers the call. Prior to answering the call, user 3000 was on an MLPP Flash call. When user 3000 answered the call, the busy trigger limit was reached.
The media between user 4000 and user 3000 is set up with SRTP; therefore, the secure locked icon displays on the phones for user 4000 and 3000.
User 2000 dials 88 3000 to call user 3000. Cisco Unified Communications Manager configured a translation pattern of 88.XXXX to enable users to dial a prefix of 88 to initiate an MLPP Flash Override call.
Because user 3000 has reached the call busy trigger limit and all of the calls have equal (Flash) or higher (Flash Override) precedence levels, Cisco Unified Communications Manager rejects the call from user 2000 with an MLPP-BPA announcement. Because both the user device and the announcement are encrypted, the announcement plays by using SRTP. The locked icon displays on the IP phone of user 2000.
The following example describes an unencrypted announcement for a precedence call. In this example, the device for user 2000 is unencrypted (non-secure). Therefore, the MLPP-BPA announcements is played to the user by using RTP and no secure locked icon displays on the IP phone.
User 3000 dials 77 2000 to reach user 2000. Cisco Unified Communications Manager configured a translation pattern of 77.XXXX to enable users to dial a prefix of 77 to initiate an MLPP Immediate call.
Cisco Unified Communications Manager dials user 2000 and user 2000 answers the call. Prior to answering the call, user 2000 was on an MLPP Priority call. When user 2000 answered the call, the busy trigger limit was reached.
The media between user 3000 and user 2000 is set up with SRTP; therefore, the locked icon displays on the phones for user 3000 and user 2000.
User 1000 dials 66 2000 to call user 2000. Cisco Unified Communications Manager configured a translation pattern of 66.XXXX to enable users to dial the prefix 66 to initiate an MLPP Flash call.
Because user 2000 has reached the call busy trigger limit and all of the calls have equal (Priority) or higher (Immediate) precedence levels, Cisco Unified Communications Manager rejects the call from user 1000 with an MLPP-BPA announcement. Because user 2000 is using an unencrypted (non-secure) device, the announcement plays by using RTP and no locked icon displays on the IP phone.
The following example describes an unencrypted announcement for a precedence call when the security mode of the Annunciator is overridden. The Make Annunciator Non-secure when Cluster Security is Mixed service parameter, an advanced service parameter for the Cisco Unified IP Voice Media Streaming App, can override the security mode of the Annunciator. If this parameter is set to True, the unencrypted announcement is played to the caller even though the calling device is SRTP capable.
User 3000 dials 77 2000 to reach user 2000. Cisco Unified Communications Manager configured a translation pattern of 77.XXXX to enable users to dial a prefix of 77 to initiate an MLPP Immediate call.
Cisco Unified Communications Manager dials user 2000 and user 2000 answers the call. Prior to answering the call, user 2000 was on an MLPP Priority call. When user 2000 answered the call, the busy trigger limit was reached.
The media between user 3000 and user 2000 is set up with SRTP; therefore, the locked icon displays on the phones for user 3000 and user 2000.
User 1000 dials 66 2000 to call user 2000. Cisco Unified Communications Manager configured a translation pattern of 66.XXXX to enable users to dial the prefix 66 to initiate an MLPP Flash call.
Because user 2000 has reached the call busy trigger limit and all of the calls have equal (Priority) or higher (Immediate) precedence levels, Cisco Unified Communications Manager rejects the call from user 1000 with an MLPP-BPA announcement. The Annunciator is unencrypted (non-secure) because the advanced service parameter was used to override the security mode of the cluster system. The announcement plays by using RTP even though the device for user 1000 is SRTP capable. No locked icon displays on the IP phone of user 1000.
The following example describes an encrypted announcement for a call to a number that does not exist. When you dial a number that does not exist in the Cisco Unified Communications Manager database, you receive a VCA announcement. If your IP phone is SRTP capable, the announcement is encrypted.
User 2000 dials the number 9999. This number does not exist in the Cisco Unified Communications Manager database; therefore, there is no routing path for the pattern.
Cisco Unified Communications Manager plays the VCA announcement to user 2000. Because both the Annunciator and the IP phone for user 2000 are capable of SRTP, the VCA announcement is encrypted and the locked icon displays on the phone.
Consider the following information before you plan your annunciator configuration. Use this information in conjunction with the Annunciator System Requirements and Limitations.
For a single annunciator, Cisco Unified Communications Manager sets the default to 48 simultaneous streams, as indicated in the annunciator service parameter for streaming values.
You can change the default to best suit your network. For example, a 100-MB Network/NIC card can support 48 annunciator streams, while a 10-MB NIC card supports up to 24 annunciator streams. The exact number of annunciator streams that are available depends on the factors, such as the speed of the processor and network loading.
If the annunciator runs on a standalone server where the Cisco Unified Communications Manager service does not run, the annunciator can support up to 255 simultaneous announcement streams.
If the standalone server has dual CPU and a high-performance disk system, the annunciator can support up to 400 simultaneous announcement streams.
Consider the following formula to determine the approximate number of annunciators that you need for your system. This formula assumes that the server can handle the default number of streams (48); you can substitute the default number for the number of streams that your server supports.
n/number of annunciator devices that your server supports
where:
n represents the number of devices that require annunciator support
Tip | If a remainder exists in the quotient, consider adding another server to support an additional annunciator device. To perform this task, activate the Cisco IP Voice Media Streaming Application service on another server and update the configuration of the device, if you do not want to use the default settings. |
The following system requirements and limitations apply to annunciator devices:
For one annunciator device, activate only one Cisco IP Voice Media Streaming Application service in the cluster. To configure additional annunciators, you must activate the Cisco IP Voice Media Streaming Application service on additional Cisco Unified Computing System servers or on Cisco-approved, third-party servers where Cisco Unified Communications Manager is installed in the cluster.
Caution | Cisco strongly recommends that you do not activate the Cisco IP Voice Media Streaming Application service on a Cisco Unified Communications Manager with a high call-processing load. |
Each annunciator belongs to a device pool.
Each annunciator can support G.711 a-law, G.711 mu-law, wideband, and G.729 codec formats.
For information on the number of streams that are available for use, see the Plan Annunciator Configuration.
To manage the media resources, you can add the annunciator to a Media Resource Group, and likewise, a Media Resource List.
When you update the annunciator, the changes automatically occur when the annunciator becomes idle, when no active announcements are played.
Cisco Unified Communications Manager provides annunciator resource support to a conference bridge under the following circumstances:
If the media resource group list that contains the annunciator is assigned to the device pool where the conference bridge exists.
If the annunciator is configured as the default media resource, which makes it available to all devices in the cluster.
Cisco Unified Communications Manager does not provide annunciator resource support for a conference bridge if the media resource group list is assigned directly to the device that controls the conference.
Cisco Unified Communications Manager automatically provides a set of recorded annunciator announcements when you activate the Cisco IP Media Streaming Application service. No configuration exists to customize these announcements or to add new announcements.
Annunciator announcements, which comprise one or two wav files, support localization if you have installed the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Locale Installer and configured the locale settings for the Cisco Unified IP Phone or, if applicable, the device pool. Each announcement plays in its entirety.
Cisco Unified Communications Manager supports only one announcement per conference. During a conference, if the system requests a new announcement while another announcement currently plays, the new announcement preempts the other announcement.
Annunciator supports the announcements in Table 21-2.
Condition |
Announcement |
---|---|
An equal or higher precedence call is in progress. |
Equal or higher precedence calls have prevented the completion of your call. Please hang up and try again. This is a recording. |
A precedence access limitation exists. |
Precedence access limitation has prevented the completion of your call. Please hang up and try again. This is a recording. |
Someone attempted an unauthorized precedence level. |
The precedence used is not authorized for your line. Please use an authorized precedence or ask your operator for assistance. This is a recording. |
The call appears busy, or the administrator did not configure the directory number for call waiting or preemption. |
The number you have dialed is busy and not equipped for call waiting or preemption. Please hang up and try again. This is a recording. |
The system cannot complete the call. |
Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please consult your directory and call again or ask your operator for assistance. This is a recording. |
A service interruption occurred. |
A service disruption has prevented the completion of your call. In case of emergency call your operator. This is a recording. |
To find which media resource groups include an annunciator device, choose Dependency Records from the Related Links drop-down list box and click Go. The Dependency Records Summary window displays information about media resource groups that use the annunciator device. To find out more information about the media resource group, click the media resource group, and the Dependency Records Details window displays. If the dependency records are not enabled for the system, the dependency records summary window displays a message.
Performance Monitor counters for annunciator allow you to monitor the number of streams that are used, the streams that are currently active, the total number of streams that are available for use, the number of failed annunciator streams, the current connections to the Cisco Unified Communications Manager, and the total number of times a disconnection occurred from the Cisco Unified Communications Manager. When an annunciator stream is allocated or de-allocated, the performance monitor counter updates the statistic. For more information about performance monitor counters, see the Cisco Unified Serviceability Administration Guide.
Cisco Unified Communications Manager writes all errors for the annunciator to the Event Viewer. In Cisco Unified Communications Manager Serviceability, you can set traces for the Cisco IP Voice Media Streaming Application service; to troubleshoot most issues, you must choose the Significant or Detailed option for the service, not the Error option. Reset trace level to the Error option after you troubleshoot the issue.
Cisco Unified Communications Manager generates registration and connection alarms for annunciator in Cisco Unified Serviceability. For more information on alarms, see the Cisco Unified Serviceability Administration Guide.
If you need technical assistance, use the Real-Time Monitoring Tool to retrieve the cms/sdi trace log files before you contact your Cisco Partner or the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC).