Cisco® Unified Communications Manager is the heart of Cisco Collaboration services, enabling session and call control for video, voice, messaging, mobility, instant messaging (IM), and presence.
Product Overview
In this post-PC era where users bring their own devices (BYOD) to the work place, today’s organization is challenged in unprecedented ways. These changes in work styles and the ever-increasing need for collaboration require organizations to have an integrated productivity solution that enables users to communicate from anywhere, using any device, on any network in a cost-effective, reliable, and secure manner. With more than 200,000 customers worldwide and more than 60 million Cisco IP Phones and tens of millions of soft clients deployed, Cisco Unified Communications Manager (UCM) is the industry leader in enterprise call and session management platforms. It delivers people-centric user and administrative experiences while supporting the full range of collaboration services including video, voice, IM and presence, messaging, and mobility on Cisco as well as third-party devices.
New with Cisco Unified Communications Manager Version 10.0
Cisco Unified Communications Manager Version 10.0 builds on the many capabilities of previous versions by:
● Providing smooth experiences for end users and system administrators: It enables network-based call recording for any device, including Jabber® clients; allows remote devices to connect without creating a VPN; provides integrated administration, serviceability, and user options and preferences for Instant Messaging and Presence (IM&P); and supports standards-based Single Sign-On (SSO) for administrative users.
● Offering new capabilities such as agent-selected video on hold and caller-specific audio on hold for contact centers, and a powerful new user-oriented application programming interface (API) as well as enhancements to existing APIs for developers.
● Assuring the most efficient use of valuable human and network resources by simplifying the installation, upgrade, and platform migration process; automating dial-plan replication; end-user self-provisioning and self-care; and more efficient use of videoconferencing resources and enhancements to network bandwidth management.
● Removing management complexity with automated, accelerated provisioning and simplified, real-time monitoring and troubleshooting: Comprehensive management is now included with every Cisco Unified Communications Manager installation. Cisco Prime™ Collaboration Standard, a fully web-enabled management application, is included with all Cisco Unified Workspace Licensing and Cisco User Connect Licensing for Cisco Unified Communications. Cisco Prime Collaboration Advanced offers additional automation, deeper diagnostic capabilities, and long-term reporting.
Table 1 lists major features in Cisco Unified Communications Manager Version 10.0.
Table 1. High-Level Features in Cisco Unified Communications Manager 10.0
Feature |
Benefits |
SSO |
● SSO enables system administrators to work on different clusters and different applications without repeatedly responding to challenges for their username and password.
● Security Access Markup Language (SAML) enables integration with various commercial identity providers.
|
Network-based call recording |
● This feature enables call recording without regard to device capabilities or location, including mobility calls using Single Number Reach or Extend and Connect.
● This feature automatically selects the best point at which to replicate audio media: Cisco Unified Border Element (UBE), Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) voice gateway, or Cisco device.
● It integrates with Cisco MediaSense and other commercial call recording servers, in centralized or distributed deployments.
|
Remote access |
● Session-based firewall traversal limits exposure of enterprise and personal data by enabling remote devices to connect without establishing a VPN.
● It works with Cisco Collaboration Edge Architecture and selects Cisco devices to optimize audio and video media paths for economical, large-scale deployment.
|
IM&P |
● Unified administration of IM&P and voice and video call-control users reduces time and effort to add, change, and verify user configuration.
● Common administration of IM&P and other nodes within a cluster simplifies installation, node configuration, and backup and restore.
● Integrated serviceability allows easy navigation and supports a single client for the Real-Time Monitoring Tool (RTMT).
● A common portal makes it easy forend users to manage theiroptions and preferences for IM&P together with voice and video.
● Increased flexibility in Active Directory (AD) integration makes it easier to migrate from other IM&P services.
|
IPv6 |
● IPv6 offers an expanded portfolio of IPv6-capable endpoints that will be compatible with future versions.
● It enables video- and presentation-sharing capability for IPv6 endpoints.
● It reduces the need for Media Termination Points (MTPs) to provide IPv4-to-IPv6 interworking for announcements and music on hold.
● Server-based MTP can provide IPv4-to-IPv6 interworking for audio.
|
Contact center |
● Agent-selected video on hold supports a rich, interactive experience for users of premium contact center services.
● Video awareness for Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) enables a broader opportunity to match video-capable callers and agents.
● Caller-specific music on hold makes it possible to preserve the source selection most appropriate for the caller as a call is transferred from Interactive Voice Response (IVR) to an agent or subsequently from agent to agent.
|
Mobility and Extend and Connect |
● These features restore and maintain connections with remote clients and controlled devices for improved end-user experience.
● Additional enterprise features for mobile clients and support for concurrent use of mobility and Extend and Connect amplify end-user control.
● Self-provisioning and self-care make it easy for administrators to offer these capabilities to all users.
|
Developer APIs |
● A powerful, standards-based, new API makes it easy to develop new applications to manage user-based settings consistently for multiple devices.
● Comprehensive change notification keeps Administrative XML (AXL) applications synchronized with Cisco UCM.
|
Global dial-plan replication |
● Numeric patterns configured in one cluster are automatically distributed among all communicating clusters, reducing administrative effort.
● Common service with intercluster Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) distribution eases setup.
|
Self-provisioning and self-care |
● Provisioning templates enable administrators to define user configuration once and apply it automatically to new users discovered through directory integration.
● End users can complete the provisioning process without administrative assistance, configuring their personal devices through an application orIntel Virtualization Technology (IVT) interaction.
● A new self-care interface makes it easy for end users to manage their options and preferences for all devices.
|
Videoconferencing |
● Integration with Cisco TelePresence Conductor enables shared use of common videoconferencing resources for ad hoc and rendezvous conferencing across multiple clusters, increasing usage and lowering unit costs.
● A new data channel for videoconferences enables enhanced information exchange and control capabilities for conference participants.
● Endpoint-based three-way videoconferencing expands the resource pool while protecting the user experience from music on hold.
|
Network bandwidth accounting |
● Improved Call Admission Control for Extension Mobility across clusters protects call quality for visiting users.
● Video promotion reduces inefficient use of network bandwidth and dynamically enables Cisco Telepresence video quality for Cisco Desktop Collaboration Experience (DX600) Series desktop video endpoints participating in Cisco Telepresence video calls.
|
Cisco Prime Collaboration deployment |
● This feature automates multiversion software upgrades and physical-to-virtual platform migrations with ease and simplicity for administrators.
● Cisco Prime Collaboration automates and simplifies installations, IP address and hostname changes, file distribution, and notification.
● It enables you to realize the benefits of upgrading without the challenges.
|
Cisco Prime Collaboration Provisioning Standard |
● This solution provides a single interface for a single cluster for call control, messaging, presence, and video.
● Administrator audit log and order trackingpromote accountability,network security, and operational control, and theyfacilitate troubleshooting.
● Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) integration for user changes helps ensure consistency among systems.
● Batch provisioning (single cluster only)increases operating efficiencies and reduces costs with scheduled scripts and templates that let an operator rapidly and consistently add or modify a large number of users or a large number of endpoints ordevice profiles (and the corresponding configuration settings).
|
Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Standard |
● This solution provides a web-enabled single interface for fault monitoring for core Cisco Unified Communications and video components.
● Email notification of alarms alerts operators even if they are not viewing the management system, reducing downtime and helping ensure that critical alarms are not missed.
● Pre-canned and customizable performance metrics dashboards display short-term trends for core unified communications components and provide visibility into critical performance metrics for reduced troubleshooting time and effort.
● The ability to search components within a unified communications cluster and view them in real time allows you to customize searches and find the status of components quickly.
● Custom performance alerts based on user-configurable thresholds facilitate proactive notification of problems.
|
For More Information
For more information about Cisco Unified Communications Manager, please visit http://www.cisco.com/go/unifiedcm or contact your local Cisco account representative.