Location Awareness Overview
![]() Important |
Meraki Access Points support for Location Awareness is applicable only from Release 12.5(1)SU6 onwards and Release 14SU1 onwards. |
Location Awareness allows administrators to determine the physical location from which a phone connects to the company network. For wireless networks, you can view the wireless access point infrastructure, and which mobile devices currently associate to those access points. For wired networks, you can view the Ethernet switch infrastructure and see which devices are currently connected to those switches. This allows you to determine the building, floor, and cube from which a call was placed.
![]() Note |
Currently, wired phones do not support Location Awareness. |
You can view your network infrastructure from
window.This feature updates the Unified Communications Manager database dynamically with the following information:
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Network infrastructure devices such as switches and wireless access points, including IP addresses, hostnames, and BSSID info (where applicable) for each infrastructure device.
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Associated endpoints for each infrastructure device, including:
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For wireless networks, the list of devices that are currently associated to a wireless access point.
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For wired networks, the list of devices and device types that are currently connected to an ethernet switch.
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Cisco Emergency Responder Integration
Location Awareness helps integrated applications such as Cisco Emergency Responder to determine the physical location of a user who places an emergency call. When Location Awareness is enabled, Cisco Emergency Responder learns of a new device to infrastructure association within minutes of a mobile device associating with a new wireless access point, or a desk phone being connected to a new ethernet switch.
When Cisco Emergency Responder first starts up, it queries the Unified Communications Manager Database for the current device to network infrastructure associations. Every two minutes following, the Cisco Emergency Responder checks for updates to the existing associations. As a result, even if a mobile caller places an emergency call while in a roaming situation, Cisco Emergency Responder can quickly determine the physical location of the caller and send emergency services to the appropriate building, floor, or cube.
Wireless Network Updates
To enable Location Awareness for your wireless infrastructure, you can configure Unified Communications Manager to synchronize with a Cisco Wireless LAN Controller. You can synchronize Unified Communications Manager with up to fifty controllers. During the synchronization process, Unified Communications Manager updates its database with the access point infrastructure that the controller manages. In Cisco Unified CM Administration, you can view the status for your wireless access points, including the list of mobile clients that are associated to each access point.
As mobile clients roam between access points, SIP and SCCP signaling from the endpoint communicates the new device to access point association to Unified Communications Manager, which updates its database. Cisco Emergency Responder also learns of the new association by querying the Unified Communications Manager database every few minutes for new endpoints that have changed their association. As a result, if a mobile client places an emergency call, Cisco Emergency Responder has accurate information on the physical location of the user whom placed the call.
If you have a regular synchronization schedule for your Wireless Access Point controllers, Unified Communications Manager adds and updates access points from the database dynamically following each synchronization.
Using Bulk Administration to insert Access Points
If you are using a third-party wireless access point controller, or if you want to export your access points from Cisco Prime Infrastructure, you can use the Bulk Administration Tool to bulk insert your wireless access point infrastructure from a CSV file into the Unified Communications Manager database. Following the bulk insert, the next location update from the mobile device updates the database with the current access point association.
However, Bulk Administration does not allow you to update your access point infrastructure dynamically as new access points get added to your wireless network. If a mobile call gets placed through an access point that was added after the bulk insert, that access point will not have a record in the database, Unified Communications Manager will not be able to match the BSSID of the new access point, and will mark the infrastructure for the wireless device as UNIDENTIFIED AP.
For detailed information on the Bulk Administration Tool, refer to the "Manage Infrastructure Devices" chapter of the Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager.
Wired Network Updates
No configuration is required to enable Location Awareness for your wired infrastructure–the feature is enabled automatically.
As your wired phones register, signaling between the phone and Cisco Unified Communications Manager updates the database dynamically with the switch infrastructure. You can view details on your company's switch infrastructure in Cisco Unified CM Administration, including the list of phones that are connected to a specific switch.
Unlike mobile devices, wired devices do not typically roam from one switch to another. If a phone does get moved, such as could happen if a worker switches desks within a company, the database gets updated with the new switch information after the phone re-registers from the new location. In Cisco Unified Communications Manager, the new switch displays the moved phone as a connected endpoint.
If a switch gets deprecated and removed from the network infrastructure, that switch remains visible within Cisco Unified Communications Manager. To remove the old switch from the infrastructure view, you must deactivate the switch from the Access Point and Switch Configuration window.
Supported Endpoints for Location Awareness
The following endpoints support tracking via Location Awareness:
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Cisco Uniifed Wireless IP Phone 7925G
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Cisco Unified Wireless IP Phone 7925G-EX
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Cisco Unified Wireless IP Phone 7926G
These endpoints provide upstream infrastructure information, such as BSSID, through Station Info messages to Cisco Unified Communications Manager. Cisco Emergency Responder uses AXL Change Notifications to track these devices through the associated access point.
For device tracking to work, wireless access points must be defined in Cisco Unified Communications Manager. You can do this by syncing a wireless access point controller or using Bulk Administration to import wireless access point infrastructure.