angryciscoguy

While SRST has it’s place, it limits are easily found. A while back Cisco introduced a new feature to CME that allows it to perform SRST functions with the added features that CME provides. I recently tried this configuration out myself and was pleasantly pleased in it’s performance. Check out the details for yourself here:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucme/admin/configuration/guide/cmesrst.html#wp1015579

I chose to use the setup where the CME “learns” the config of the phones similar to how normal SRST works. A “gotcha” with this (that got me… >:8 grrr)  was the restriction that you dont save your IOS configuration while in fallback mode. And yes, it is documented… The reason for this is due to the way CME-as-SRST handles it’s ephones and ephone-dn’s. In a normal SRST setup you will nto see these in the config, however in the CME-as-SRST setup you will, but only during fallback. If you save the config you are essentially staticly configuring those phones and the system can no longer learn the configuration during the next fallback. The symtoms present themselves as phones that seem to revert to old configuration when fallback is operational. The fix is to delete all the learned ephones and ephone-dn’s while the system in not in fallback mode and then “write mem”.

Cisco DMS (Digital Media System) is a suite of applications that provide video content in several different formats. This includes pushing content to digital signs (video displays) such as those that you see in lobbies of hotels and businesses. Additionally it manages content that is pushed to web clients (think Youtube for corporate). The topology is fairly easy. The main physical components that make up DMS are:

• DMM – Digital Media Manager
• DME – Digital Media Encoder
• DMP – Digital Media Player
• VP – Video Portal

To understand how all these pieces work with each other, it is important to look first at the DMM. Read the rest of this entry »

At times it is not necessary for voicemail boxes or advaced auto-attendant features on a remote gateway that is serving a small office. This is especially true for remote non DID (ie FXO trunked) SRST gateways that are only active a small amount of time. Instead of adding a AIM-CUE or NM-CUE voicemail module in the gateway, basic auto attendant features can be provided right in IOS. Read the rest of this entry »

How many times have you wished you could see the screen of the phone of the user you were supporting remotely. Check these guys out. They have a neat product for assisting with remote support to Cisco IPPhones. They have a couple of other neat tools as well.

http://www.voipintegration.com/software.html

Many admins spend a great deal of money on management software for the sole reason of getting config backups on a regular basis from their Cisco IOS devices. With this simple setup, you can automate this directly from your device. You can send the config to any number of destinations. Read the rest of this entry »

Many of late are using GNS3 to simulate their lab. But many others are still using hardware the ole fashion’d way. A big part of getting a good lab setup is simulating the infrastructure. In most of the IE tracks, having a frame-relay network in place for simulating the connections between sites is a must. QOS, FRTS, etc. To do this you will need to have hardware in place to provide this infrastructure.

There are many options here. The easiest way to start is with a router that has several serial interfaces. I suggest a 2522 router as you can pick those up cheap. It has 8 serial ports. Otherwise, a nm capable router (26xx/36xx/etc) with a nm-4a/s or nm-4t is also a good start. (Need larger use a nm-8a/s or nm-8t) The big difference between the “a/s” and “t” version is the speed at which they clock. The “a/s” is limited to 128k connections and the “t” is at 2mb. Read the rest of this entry »

This is a start to a blog that i hope will be a funny yet technically fullfilling blog around Cisco technologies. I bring to the table over 10years of working in IT and the experience, attitude, and techi’ness associated. In my day job I primarily work with Cisco Voice (UC) technologies, but I also do a good bit of R/S and Security. Along with this, I am working on the LAB portion of the Cisco Voice IE certification. I hope to log some of that process on this page beween ofcourse some of the main content.