Introduction

Cisco Conference Connection is an IP-based, voice conferencing solution that uses Voice over IP (VoIP) technology. To do this, Cisco Conference Connection interacts with several other key Cisco IP Telephony components, including Cisco CallManager.

The following topics in this chapter provide you with an understanding of Cisco Conference Connection and its interaction with other key components of the Voice over IP (VoIP) network.

Cisco IP Telephony Components

The Cisco IP Telephony solution provides the components required to design, deploy, and run Cisco voice processing applications. These components are depicted in the following illustration.

As depicted in this illustration, a Cisco IP Telephony system is built from four main components.

Gateway—connects the enterprise IP telephony network to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and to other private telephone systems such as Public Branch Exchange (PBX).
Cisco CallManager—provides the features required to implement IP phones, manage gateways, and enable Cisco Conference Connection.
Cisco Conference Connection—contains the application engine that runs the Cisco Conference Connection application.
Cisco IP Telephony Directory—stores configuration information and Cisco Conference Connection application scripts in a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory. The subdirectory that stores Cisco Conference Connection scripts is called the repository.

Gateway

The gateway component of the Cisco IP Telephony solution integrates Voice over IP (VoIP) network resources with the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). All voice gateways provide an Ethernet interface for connecting to the VoIP network and various voice interface cards to connect to telephony interfaces.

Skinny Client Control Protocol—A Cisco protocol used for communication between the gateway and the Cisco CallManager
H.323—A public standard that allows the interconnection of telephony and other media devices over TCP/IP networks
Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP)—A public standard that simplifies gateway configuration (compared to H.323), and that allows for advanced features, such as redundancy

Cisco CallManager

Cisco CallManager provides the features for which organizations have traditionally employed PBX systems, and uses open standards, such as TCP/IP, H.323, and MGCP. Because of its open architecture Cisco CallManager allows easy deployment of robust voice applications and the integration of telephony systems with intranet applications.

Cisco CallManager provides the basic services required for IP phones, such as mapping IP addresses to specific devices and extensions, and for managing Cisco Access gateways. Cisco CallManager supports Cisco Customer Response Applications (CRA) by providing services through the Java Telephony Application Programming Interface (JTAPI).

Cisco CallManager Administrator is implemented as a series of web pages on the Cisco CallManager server. You use the Cisco CallManager Administrator to administer and configure features for Cisco CallManager, such as adding users and configuring CTI route points and CTI ports.

Cisco Conference Connection Server

The Cisco Conference Connection Server executes the Cisco Conference Connection application. You deploy the Cisco Conference Connection on a separate server.

The Cisco Conference Connection Server uses JTAPI to request and receive services from Cisco CallManager. The Cisco Conference Connection Server is implemented as a Windows service comprised of multiple components.

The server includes six components: JTAPI, Call Control, Conference Mixer, Scheduling Engine plus Web Interface, Scheduling Database (Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE)), and the Conference Director.

Cisco IP Telephony Directory

The Cisco IP Telephony system uses an LDAP directory for storing Cisco Conference Connection application scripts, user profile information, and network-specific configuration information. Application scripts are stored in a subdirectory of the Cisco IP Telephony Directory called the repository. Storing application scripts and configuration information in an LDAP directory allows you to load application scripts on any application engine in the network. The repository keeps one backup version of each script for recovery purposes. You can revert to the previous version if necessary.

The Cisco IP Telephony system includes a default LDAP directory, which stores application configuration information for Cisco CallManager and the application framework. (The default directory is established as part of the Cisco CallManager installation and configuration.) You can use the default directory to manage your user profiles.

Overview of Cisco Conference Connection

The Cisco Conference Connection works with Cisco CallManager and lets you join conferences and add and view conferences through the Web Interface.

The Conference Director (also known as the Application Engine) provides the following functionality:

Answers a call
Plays a Welcome prompt:

Welcome to Conference Connection

Plays Main Menu prompts:

To join a conference enter the conference ID, followed by the # key.
Make sure you call during the time the conference is scheduled. Enter the conference ID, followed by the # key.
Contact the conference organizer for the conference ID. Or enter the conference ID followed by the # key.
Stay on the line to be connected to an operator, or to start over, press the * key.
If this is correct, press the # key. To re-enter the conference ID, press 1, otherwise press * for help.
Consult your conference organizer for the correct conference ID, and be sure to call during the time the conference is scheduled.

When the caller has confirmed the conference ID, the system transfers the caller to the scheduled conference and plays an ascending tone or prompt.
When the caller leaves a conference, the system plays a descending tone or prompt.

Cisco Conference Connection Features

The Cisco Conference Connection voice conferencing solution lets you easily add and join conferences, as well as view current, scheduled, or past conferences.

The Cisco Conference Connection Web Interface for a system administrator is shown in the following picture.

Feature	Description
Add a conference	You can add new conferences, and change and delete conferences that you scheduled through the Cisco Conference Connection Web Interface.
Join a conference	You can call directly into a conference, or you can join a conference via the services button on your Cisco IP Phone 7960/7940.
View conferences in progress	You can view and search for current conferences and conferences that you scheduled through the Cisco Conference Connection Web Interface.
View scheduled conferences	You can view and search for the scheduled conferences through the Cisco Conference Connection Web Interface.
View past conferences	You can view and search for past conferences through the Cisco Conference Connection Web Interface.
View user list	You can view a list of users through the Cisco Conference Connection Web Interface. This list is refreshed from Cisco CallManager.
Perform administrative tasks and run reports	You can administer users and licenses, delete a group of past conferences, and run reports through the Cisco Conference Connection Web Interface.

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