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Table of Contents

Release Notes for Cisco Emergency Responder 1.1
Documentation Roadmap
Important Notes
Troubleshooting ALI Data Uploads
Documentation Errata
Cisco Emergency Responder Known Problems
Obtaining Documentation
Obtaining Technical Assistance

Release Notes for Cisco Emergency Responder 1.1


Updated August 6, 2003

These release notes describe the known problems for Cisco Emergency Responder version 1.1.

These release notes provide the following information:

Documentation Roadmap

Use these publications to learn how to install and use CER. All CER documents are available online at:

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/voice/respond/index.htm

Important Notes

This section includes important information that did not get included in the CER manuals:

Table 1   Supported Media Convergence Server Platforms

Component  MCS-7835-1266  MCS-7825-1133 

Processor

Intel Pentium III, 1.266 GHz

Intel Pentium III, 1.133 GHz

Cache

512-KB Level 2 ECC cache

256-KB Level 2 ECC cache

Memory

1-GB 133-MHz Registered ECC SDRAM

1-GB 133-MHz Registered ECC SDRAM

Network Connectivity

Two Fast Ethernet NIC Embedded 10/100 Wake On LAN (WOL).

Two Fast Ethernet NIC Embedded 10/100 Wake On LAN (WOL).

Storage

  • Dual 18.2-GB Ultra3 SCSI hot-plug drives
  • Integrated Smart Array 5i Controller (Ultra3 SCSI)
  • Single 40-GB Ultra ATA/100 7200 RPM non-hot-plug drive
  • Integrated Ultra ATA/100 Controller Module

Floppy Drive

1.44-MB diskette drive

1.44-MB diskette drive

CD-ROM Drive

24X Max IDE CD-ROM Drive

Removable CD-ROM/Diskette drive assembly

Power Supply

Hot-plug redundant 400-watt power supply

180-watt PFC Power Supply

Video

Integrated ATI Rage XL Video Controller with 8MB Video Memory

Integrated ATI Rage XL Video Controller with 4 MB video memory

Backup Drive

Optional 20/40-GB DAT (digital audio tape) hot-plug drive

Not available

If you add devices to the CER user in Cisco CallManager, you can force CER to recreate the provider using any of these techniques:

If you are sharing a line between an analog phone and an IP phone, and you define the analog phone manually, calls from the shared phone number might be routed based on the manual definition even if the call is from the IP phone. This will occur if the IP phone cannot be located by any CER group in the cluster.

Troubleshooting ALI Data Uploads

Periodically, you must export your ALI data and submit it to your service provider. The ALI data is used to route emergency calls from your network to the correct PSAP, and provide the PSAP with information about the location of the emergency call.

CER lets you export the ALI data in a variety of NENA formats. Ask your service provider which format you should use.

During the upload process, you might find that some ALI data records did not upload correctly. Your service provider should be able to provide you with a list of errors, or you might see these when using your service provider's data upload software. You must fix any mistaken records and resubmit the ALI data export file. To fix the records, you might need to manually edit the records in error.

These sections describe the general procedure for fixing ALI data records, and explain how to edit the various types of NENA formatted files:

Fixing ALI Data Records

If you receive data errors when uploading ALI records to your service provider, use this procedure to correct the errors.

Before You Begin

Obtain NENA Doc 02-010, Recommended Formats and Protocols for Data Exchange, from NENA or your service provider. This document explains the various NENA formats in detail.

Procedure

Step 1   Look through the error reports to determine the problems you encountered. Using the CER GUI, change the fields that were in error for the ERL/ALI records that failed. For example, if the Street Suffix was an unacceptable abbreviation, change it to an acceptable one. Save all of your changes.

Step 2   Export the ALI data again (see the online help).

Step 3   If any of the records in error were new, you must change the database function for the records. Because CER has already exported these records, CER will label them as updates rather than new insertions. However, because these records failed on upload, the service provider's database will view them as new.

Open the ALI export file in a text editor and change the function code for the records that you are fixing. Use an editor that will not add formatting or other extra characters. See these sections for details about editing the files:

Step 4   Submit the edited file to your service provider.



Editing NENA 2.0 and 2.1 File Formats

The NENA 2.0 and 2.1 file formats have these characteristics:

Use NENA Doc 02-010, Recommended Formats and Protocols for Data Exchange, to determine the byte location and length of each field. When you edit the file, ensure that you are not lengthening the records. Delete any extra spaces that get added. If the length of an item is less than the length of a field, pad the field with blanks. Depending on the field, padding might be on the right or the left.

The file contains one header and one trailer record. The ALI data records are contained between these records.

Table 2 describes the fields you are most likely to edit. You should use the CER GUI to change the other fields.

Table 2   NENA 2.0 and 2.1 Common Fields

Field  Description 

Function Code

Location: Byte 1.

Length: 1 character.

Description: The database function for the record. One of:

  • I—Insert new ALI record
  • C—Change existing record. You must have successfully uploaded the record once before you can use C. If you are correcting a record that has never been successfully uploaded, change the C to an I.
  • D—Delete the record. CER only generates a deletion record once, in the export file created after you deleted the ALI from the CER configuration. If you need to regenerate the record, cut and paste it from the previous export file (and adjust the record count), or recreate the ALI in CER, save it, export the data, then delete the ALI and export the data again.

Cycle Counter (sequence number)

Location: Byte 62 to 67.

Length: 6 characters.

Description: The sequence number of the file you are submitting to the service provider (for example, 1, 2, etc.) The number is right-aligned with leading spaces. Your service provider might ignore this field.

Record count

Location: Byte 62 to 70 in the trailer record.

Length: 9 characters.

Description: The total number of records in the file you are submitting to the service provider (for example, 1, 2, etc.) The number is right-aligned with leading spaces.

Editing NENA 3.0 File Formats

The NENA 3.0 file format has these characteristics:

Use NENA Doc 02-010, Recommended Formats and Protocols for Data Exchange, to determine tag name and values for each field. Ensure that your values do not exceed the maximum length for the field. You do not need to pad fields with extra blanks.

The file contains one header and one trailer record. The ALI data records are contained between these records.

Table 2 describes the fields you are most likely to edit. You should use the CER GUI to change the other fields.

Table 3   NENA 3.0 Common Fields

Field  Description 

Function Code

Tag: FOC.

Description: The database function for the record. One of:

  • I—Insert new ALI record (FOCI)
  • C—Change existing record (FOCC). You must have successfully uploaded the record once before you can use C. If you are correcting a record that has never been successfully uploaded, change the C to an I.
  • D—Delete the record (FOCD). CER only generates a deletion record once, in the export file created after you deleted the ALI from the CER configuration. If you need to regenerate the record, cut and paste it from the previous export file (and adjust the record count), or recreate the ALI in CER, save it, export the data, then delete the ALI and export the data again.

Cycle Counter (sequence number)

Tag: CYC.

Description: The sequence number of the file you are submitting to the service provider (for example, CYC1, CYC2, etc.) Your service provider might ignore this field.

Record count

Tag: REC in the header and trailer records.

Description: The total number of records in the file you are submitting to the service provider (for example, REC1, REC2, etc.)

Documentation Errata

This section lists mistaken information in the printed version of the Cisco Emergency Responder Administration Guide. Some of these errors have been corrected in the CER online help and on the cisco.com web site:

Cisco Emergency Responder Known Problems

Known problems are unexpected behaviors or defects in the product. They are graded according to severity level. These release notes contain information about some of the known problems that you might encounter.

You can search for additional known problems on the Cisco bug tracking system tool, called Bug Toolkit. To access Bug Toolkit, enter http://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/Support/Bugtool/launch_bugtool.pl in your web browser.

Table 4 describes restrictions or other known issues for using CER 1.1.

Table 4   Cisco Emergency Responder Known Problems

Bug ID  Summary  Explanation 

CSCdu76987

Domain user can log into CER with an invalid password.

If you install Service Pack 2 on Windows 2000 Server, a domain user identified in one of the CER user groups can log into CER using an invalid password if the domain user's password is blank.

To avoid this problem, ensure that all domain users added to CER groups have non-null passwords.

CSCdw04143

IIS (inetinfo) can crash if there are more than 500 IP Softphones.

IP Softphones advertise themselves to CER on a periodic basis. If more than 500 IP Softphones happen to advertise themselves at the same time, inetinfo (IIS) does not handle this many requests gracefully and shows some erratic behavior.

We recommend you do not have more than 500 IP Softphones per CER group. If you run into this problem, restart IIS and the CER Admin server.

CSCdw04518

Change of switch families does not discover ports.

If you add a switch to the CER configuration, then reuse that switch's IP address for a switch of a different model, CER cannot discover the ports on the new switch. For example, if you add 10.10.10.12 to CER for a Catalyst 3500, then reassign 10.10.10.12 to a Catalyst 6000, CER cannot discover the ports on the Catalyst 6000.

To avoid this problem, if you reassign an IP address to a different switch model, remove the switch from the CER configuration, then add it back to the CER configuration. This allows CER to identify the changed switch model.

CSCdw05627

If the LDAP directory is unavailable when an emergency call is made, no call history records are generated.

CER saves call history information in the Cisco CallManager LDAP directory. Therefore, if the directory is unavailable, call history information for emergency calls made during the LDAP down-time is lost.

CSCdw10852

Gigabit Ethernet ports are not supported.

CER does not allow you to configure Gigabit Ethernet ports. Any phone directly attached to a Gigabit Ethernet port is not tracked.

CSCdw23712

Issues when transferring a call to the emergency number.

If you transfer a caller to the emergency call number (such as 911), the call is successfully transferred to the PSAP. However, there are some limitations to this:

  • The call is routed to the PSAP based on the ERL for your phone, not the caller's phone. Thus, the call might be routed to the wrong PSAP.
  • The PSAP receives callback information for your phone extension, not the extension of the caller who you transferred.
  • The notification sent to onsite alert personnel contains information about your phone, not the caller's phone.

CSCin02233

Unexpected behavior when moving a phone used with Extension Mobility

If you move a phone that is used with Extension Mobility (that is, so that users can log into the phone and receive calls to their own phone number), emergency calls might be misdirected if the phone moves between Cisco CallManager clusters that are supported by different CER groups.

For example, you move phone X from one CER group ABC to group DEF, but the phone still homes to the Cisco CallManager supported by group ABC. A user logs into the phone with extension Y and makes an emergency call. The call is routed using the wrong ERL in CER group DEF.

After CER performs a phone tracking process in group ABC, extension Y will show up as an unlocated phone in CER group DEF's GUI, with nothing listed in the remote server field. Now, if an emergency call is made from extension Y, it is routed based on Y's ERL in CER group ABC. This behavior is the result of MAC addresses not being transferred across inter-cluster links.

To avoid these problems, run a full switch-port and phone update process on both CER server groups, or wait for the incremental phone tracking process to run on both CER server groups.

CSCin02253

Misdirected emergency calls when using Extension Mobility and shared lines.

If you are using Extension Mobility on a phone, emergency calls might get misdirected if the user makes an emergency call before CER has run an incremental phone tracking process.

For example, you have two phones, X and Y, that use the same extension, 2000. A user logs into phone X to get extension 3000, and makes an emergency call before CER runs phone tracking. CER still sees phone X as having extension 2000, and matches the ERL based on this information (thus, routing the call based on the ERL assigned to phone Y). During the next phone tracking process, CER recognizes the new extension on phone X.

Obtaining Documentation

The following sections explain how to obtain documentation from Cisco Systems.

World Wide Web

You can access the most current Cisco documentation on the World Wide Web at the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com

Translated documentation is available at the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com/public/countries_languages.shtml

Documentation CD-ROM

Cisco documentation and additional literature are available in a Cisco Documentation CD-ROM package, which is shipped with your product. The Documentation CD-ROM is updated monthly and may be more current than printed documentation. The CD-ROM package is available as a single unit or through an annual subscription.

Ordering Documentation

Cisco documentation is available in the following ways:

http://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/order/order_root.pl

http://www.cisco.com/go/subscription

Documentation Feedback

If you are reading Cisco product documentation on Cisco.com, you can submit technical comments electronically. Click Leave Feedback at the bottom of the Cisco Documentation home page. After you complete the form, print it out and fax it to Cisco at 408 527-0730.

You can e-mail your comments to bug-doc@cisco.com.

To submit your comments by mail, use the response card behind the front cover of your document, or write to the following address:

Cisco Systems
Attn: Document Resource Connection
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, CA 95134-9883

We appreciate your comments.

Obtaining Technical Assistance

Cisco provides Cisco.com as a starting point for all technical assistance. Customers and partners can obtain documentation, troubleshooting tips, and sample configurations from online tools by using the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) Web Site. Cisco.com registered users have complete access to the technical support resources on the Cisco TAC Web Site.

Cisco.com

Cisco.com is the foundation of a suite of interactive, networked services that provides immediate, open access to Cisco information, networking solutions, services, programs, and resources at any time, from anywhere in the world.

Cisco.com is a highly integrated Internet application and a powerful, easy-to-use tool that provides a broad range of features and services to help you to

You can self-register on Cisco.com to obtain customized information and service. To access Cisco.com, go to the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com

Technical Assistance Center

The Cisco TAC is available to all customers who need technical assistance with a Cisco product, technology, or solution. Two types of support are available through the Cisco TAC: the Cisco TAC Web Site and the Cisco TAC Escalation Center.

Inquiries to Cisco TAC are categorized according to the urgency of the issue:

Which Cisco TAC resource you choose is based on the priority of the problem and the conditions of service contracts, when applicable.

Cisco TAC Web Site

The Cisco TAC Web Site allows you to resolve P3 and P4 issues yourself, saving both cost and time. The site provides around-the-clock access to online tools, knowledge bases, and software. To access the Cisco TAC Web Site, go to the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com/tac

All customers, partners, and resellers who have a valid Cisco services contract have complete access to the technical support resources on the Cisco TAC Web Site. The Cisco TAC Web Site requires a Cisco.com login ID and password. If you have a valid service contract but do not have a login ID or password, go to the following URL to register:

http://www.cisco.com/register/

If you cannot resolve your technical issues by using the Cisco TAC Web Site, and you are a Cisco.com registered user, you can open a case online by using the TAC Case Open tool at the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com/tac/caseopen

If you have Internet access, it is recommended that you open P3 and P4 cases through the Cisco TAC Web Site.

Cisco TAC Escalation Center

The Cisco TAC Escalation Center addresses issues that are classified as priority level 1 or priority level 2; these classifications are assigned when severe network degradation significantly impacts business operations. When you contact the TAC Escalation Center with a P1 or P2 problem, a Cisco TAC engineer will automatically open a case.

To obtain a directory of toll-free Cisco TAC telephone numbers for your country, go to the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/687/Directory/DirTAC.shtml

Before calling, please check with your network operations center to determine the level of Cisco support services to which your company is entitled; for example, SMARTnet, SMARTnet Onsite, or Network Supported Accounts (NSA). In addition, please have available your service agreement number and your product serial number.

This document is to be used in conjunction with the documents listed in the "Documentation Roadmap" section.


Copyright © 2002, Cisco Systems, Inc.
All rights reserved.


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Posted: Wed Aug 6 16:11:44 PDT 2003
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