Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Cisco CallManager and Interoperability

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Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Cisco CallManager and Interoperability

What if I can't find the exact configuration of what I have deployed in the field?

How does Cisco decide which gateway will be put into a Cisco CallManager application note?

What if I have a different release of a PBX than what you have in the application note?

Why does Cisco care about interoperability?

I found a problem with my legacy PBX, can Cisco help me to get the PBX vendor to fix the issue?

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Cisco CallManager and Interoperability

What if I can't find the exact configuration of what I have deployed in the field?

If you cannot find your configuration listed in the application notes, you may be able to use other application notes to replicate your configuration. Here are some tips:

•PBX product families should have similar results. For example,

–The PBXs in the Nortel Meridian 1 family should have similar results. The Nortel Meridian 1 Option 11C will have similar configurations as the Nortel Meridian 1 Option 61C and Nortel Meridian 1 Option 81C.

–The PBXs in the Avaya Definity G3 family should be similar. The versions VSI, R, CSI and SI should have similar configurations.

–The PBXs in the Siemens 300 family also should have similar configuration results. This family includes the 330, 340 and 370.

•Gateways configurations should be similar if the gateways are Cisco IOS based and have the same protocol (for example, MGCP, H.323 or SIP). For example, a Cisco 2801 gateway should have similar configurations to the 3845 when used with the Cisco CallManager.

For example, if you have the following MGCP configuration deployed:

Nortel Meridian 1 Option 61C using a Cisco 2801 IOS Gateway with T1

but you only find application notes with the following configurations (assume both are MGCP):

•Application note #1: Nortel Meridian 1 Option 11C using a Cisco 6608 non-IOS Gateway with T1

•Application note #2: Avaya Definity G3 R using an Cisco 3745 IOS Gateway with T1

You can cut and paste the configurations from the two existing application notes to learn how to set up the configuration you have in the field, as follows:

•Use the Nortel Meridian 1 Option 11C configurations from application note #1. The PBXs are in the same product family and the configurations should be similar. You cannot use the Cisco 6608 Gateway configurations as they are non-IOS.

•Use the gateway configurations on application note #2 as it is also a Cisco IOS gateway with MGCP. You cannot use the Avaya configurations as it is a different PBX vendor.

How does Cisco decide which gateway will be put into a Cisco CallManager application note?

Unfortunately, there are so many different gateways, releases of gateways and versions of Cisco CallManager and the PBXs that we could never test them all. Therefore, we choose one or two versions of gateways for each set of application notes we release. Please see question number one for what do to if you do not see an application note with the gateway you need.

What if I have a different release of a PBX than what you have in the application note?

Different PBX releases will have different capabilities. For example, not all legacy PBXs come with QSIG as a default. Your customer may have to upgrade their legacy PBX to get QSIG and their calling features to interoperate.

On the other hand, typically, if our application note is a lower release, the results should be similar to a higher release. For example if Caller ID worked on the lower level release, the Caller ID should continue to work on the higher level release.

Why does Cisco care about interoperability?

Cisco realizes that, for many companies, migrating to IP Communications overnight is not always in their best interest financially or otherwise. Therefore, we understand that until the migration is complete, our customers may have multiple systems from multiple vendors. By documenting how the systems interoperate, our customers will not only have an understanding of what end-user features work between systems, but also they will have a smoother installation and migration process.

I found a problem with my legacy PBX, can Cisco help me to get the PBX vendor to fix the issue?

The best and fastest way to solve interoperability issues that deal with another vendor's PBX is to have the customer, rather than Cisco, engage and work with their PBX vendor to resolve the problem.