Cisco H.323 Multizone Enhancements


Release	Modification
12.0(7)T	This feature was introduced.
12.1(5)T	Support for the Cisco AS5800 universal access server was added.
12.1(5)XM2	This feature was implemented on the Cisco AS5350 and Cisco AS5400.
12.2(2)XB1	This feature was implemented on the Cisco AS5850.
12.2(11)T	This feature was integrated into Cisco IOS Release 12.2(11)T and support was added for the Cisco AS5350, Cisco AS5400, and Cisco AS5850 platforms.

This feature module describes the Cisco H.323 Multizone Enhancements functionality and new features. It includes information on the benefits of the new features, supported platforms, related documents, and so forth.

Feature Overview

This feature enables the Cisco gateway to provide information to the gatekeeper with the use of additional fields in the RAS (registration, admission, and status) messages.

Previously, the source gateway attempted to set up a call to a destination IP address as provided by the gatekeeper in an Admission Confirm (ACF) message. If the gatekeeper was unable to resolve the destination E.164 phone number to an IP address, the incoming call was terminated.

This version of the H.323 software adds support to allow a gatekeeper to provide additional destination information and modify the destinationInfo field in the ACF. The gateway will include the canMapAlias associated destination information in setting up the call to the destination gateway.

In conjunction with the canMapAlias functionality, this version includes support for the gatekeeper to indicate to the gateway that the call should be destined to a new E.164 number. The gatekeeper indicates this by sending an Admission Confirm message with an IP address of 0.0.0.0 in the destCallSignalAddress field and the new destination E.164 phone number in the destinationInfo field.

The gateway receiving such an ACF will fall back to routing the call based on this new E.164 address and performing a re-lookup of the gateway's configured dial plan. This might result in the call being routed back to the PSTN or to an H.323 endpoint.

Benefits

With this version of the software, the gatekeeper no longer terminates a call if it is unable to resolve the destination E.164 phone number to an IP address. In addition, the gatekeeper indicates to the gateway that the call should be destined to a new E.164 number.

Restrictions

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Modifying the destination address to a new E.164 address to alter the call to a new destination is not supported by Cisco's gatekeepers.

Related Documents

Supported Platforms

These enhancements are available on Cisco platforms that support H.323 gateway functionality. This includes:

Table 1 Cisco IOS Release and Platform Support for this Feature
Platform	12.0(7)T	12.1(5)T	12.1(5)XM2	12.2(2)XB1	12.2(11)T
Cisco 2600	X	X	Not supported	Not supported	X
Cisco 3600	X	X	Not supported	Not supported	X
Cisco MC3810	X	X	Not supported	Not supported	X
Cisco AS5300	X	X	Not supported	Not supported	X
Cisco AS5350	Not supported	Not supported	X	X	X
Cisco AS5400	Not supported	Not supported	X	X	X
Cisco AS5800	Not supported	X	Not supported	Not supported	X
Cisco AS5850	Not supported	Not supported	Not supported	X	X
Cisco 7200	X	X	Not supported	Not supported	X

Cisco IOS software is packaged in feature sets that support specific platforms. To get updated information regarding platform support for this feature, access Cisco Feature Navigator. Cisco Feature Navigator dynamically updates the list of supported platforms as new platform support is added for the feature.

Cisco Feature Navigator is a web-based tool that enables you to determine which Cisco IOS software images support a specific set of features and which features are supported in a specific Cisco IOS image. You can search by feature or release. Under the release section, you can compare releases side by side to display both the features unique to each software release and the features in common.

To access Cisco Feature Navigator, you must have an account on Cisco.com. If you have forgotten or lost your account information, send a blank e-mail to cco-locksmith@cisco.com. An automatic check will verify that your e-mail address is registered with Cisco.com. If the check is successful, account details with a new random password will be e-mailed to you. Qualified users can establish an account on Cisco.com by following the directions at http://www.cisco.com/register.

Cisco Feature Navigator is updated regularly when major Cisco IOS software releases and technology releases occur. For the most current information, go to the Cisco Feature Navigator home page at the following URL:

Platform support for particular Cisco IOS software releases is dependent on the availability of the software images for those platforms. Software images for some platforms may be deferred, delayed, or changed without prior notice. For updated information about platform support and availability of software images for each Cisco IOS software release, refer to the online release notes or, if supported, Cisco Feature Navigator.

Supported Standards, MIBs, and RFCs

This feature adds support for the following ITU-T standards: H.323 Annex E and H.323 Annex G.

To obtain lists of MIBs supported by platform and Cisco IOS release and to download MIB modules, go to the Cisco MIB web site on Cisco Connection Online (CCO) at http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/netmgmt/cmtk/mibs.shtml.

Prerequisites

The Cisco AS5350 and Cisco AS5400 do not support the Mica Modem Card, Microcom Modem Card, or VoIP Feature Card. Voice and modem functions are provided by the Universal Port Dial Feature card running SPE firmware. See the Cisco AS5350 Universal Gateway Card Installation Guide and the Cisco AS5400 Universal Gateway Card Installation Guide for more information. All references to the Cisco AS5300 in this document apply to the Cisco AS5350 and Cisco AS5400 platforms with the following exceptions:

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Use the Universal Port Dial Feature Card instead of the Mica or Microcom modem cards.

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Establish a working IP network. For more information about configuring IP, refer to the "IP Overview," "Configuring IP Addressing," and "Configuring IP Services" chapters in the Cisco IOS Release 12.0 Network Protocols Configuration Guide, Part 1.

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Install the appropriate voice network module and voice interface card for your Cisco router. For more information about the physical characteristics of the voice network module, or how to install it, refer to the installation documentation, Voice Network Module and Voice Interface Card Configuration Note, that came with your voice network module.

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Configure Voice over IP. For more information about configuring Voice over IP, refer to the documents listed in the "Related Documents" section.

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Configure H.323 gatekeepers, gateways, and proxies as needed. For more information about configuring these H.323 components, refer to the documents listed in the "Related Documents" section.

Configuration Tasks

Command Reference

Glossary

canMapAlias—If set to TRUE indicates that if the resulting ACF contains destinationInfo, destExtraCallInfo and/or remoteExtensionAddress fields, the endpoint can copy this information to the destinationAddress, destExtraCallInfo and remoteExtensionAddress fields of the SETUP message respectively. If the gatekeeper replaces addressing information from the ARQ and the canMapAlias is FALSE then the gatekeeper should reject the ARQ.

E.164—The international public telecommunications numbering plan. A standard set by ITU-T that addresses telephone numbers.

endpoint—A H.323 terminal or gateway. An endpoint can call and be called. It generates and/or terminates the information stream.

gatekeeper—A gatekeeper maintains a registry of devices in the multimedia network. The devices register with the gatekeeper at startup, and request admission to a call from the gatekeeper.

The gatekeeper is a H.323 entity on the LAN that provides address translation and control access to the LAN for H.323 terminals and gateways. The gatekeeper may provide other services to the H.323 terminals and gateways, such as bandwidth management and locating gateways.

gateway—A gateway allows H.323 terminals to communicate with non-H.323 terminals by converting protocols. A gateway is the point at which a circuit-switched call is encoded and repackaged into IP packets.

A H.323 gateway is an endpoint on the LAN that provides real-time, two-way communications between H.323 terminals on the LAN and other ITU-T terminals in the WAN, or to another H.323 gateway.

H.323—An International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T) standard that describes packet-based video, audio, and data conferencing. H.323 is an umbrella standard that describes the architecture of the conferencing system, and refers to a set of other standards (H.245, H.225.0, and Q.931) to describe its actual protocol.

PSTN—Public switched telephone network. PSTN refers to the local telephone company.

RAS—Registration, admission, and status protocol. This is the protocol that is used between endpoints and the gatekeeper to perform management functions.

VoIP—Voice over IP. The ability to carry normal telephone-style voice over an IP-based internet with POTS-like functionality, reliability, and voice quality. VoIP is a blanket term that generally refers to Cisco's standards based (H.323, and so forth) approach to IP voice traffic.

zone—A collection of all terminals (tx), gateways (GW), and Multipoint Control Units (MCU) managed by a single Gatekeeper (GK). A Zone includes at least one terminal, and might or might not include gateways or MCUs. A Zone has only one gatekeeper. A zone may be independent of LAN topology and may be comprised of multiple LAN segments that are connected using routers or other devices.

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