Awesome short video by Cisco to illustrate the capabilities of their Video Collaboration portfolio.

An Extension Mobility User is defined via a Device Profile. The Device Profile configuration page is found under the Device->Device Settings Menu in CUCM.

Before we start to configure the Device Profile, its best to gather a few key details. Details such as DN, username, Device Profile naming standard, Button Template, Softkey Template, Full Name of user, will they have Voicemail, what type of calling access will they have, eg. International, National etc.

Once we have these details we can go ahead and start to configure the Device Profile.

1. Navigate to the Device Profiles Search Page (Device->Device Settings->Device Profiles)
2. Click the Add New Button
3. Select the Phone Type the User will use. In this case I have selected 8945 Phone Type.
4. Select the Device Protocol. I use SIP Protocol these days, but check what is the standard signalling     protocol used in your organisation.
5. After Click Next, we are presented with the Full Device Profile Configuration page. Here is where we complete all required details as per the information we gathered in our preparation stage. I’ll quickly run through some of the main fields populated.

Device Profile Name: Enter the standardised Device Profile name used in the Telephony System. I always use the dp_username format. (dp=device profile)

Description: Again check the naming standard of the Telephony System. I find a good practice is to enter the Full Name – DN (eg. Ben Morgan – 4404). This way when searching Device Profiles we can quickly identify the Full Name and what their extension number is without clicking into the Device Profile page.

User Hold MOH Audio Source: Mainly keep this to NONE. As the device profile will inherit its setting from upper layers. User Hold MOH is activated when a user presses the ‘Hold’ Button on the phone.

User Locale: I consider this to be Important. Default is set to NONE. So this inherits from upper levels such as the System Parameters. However if the User Locale is changed and is different to that of the Phone Locale (Device Page) the Logging on and Logging off process is prolonged. This is because the Telephony System has to download a new locale to the phone/device profile each time it is logged on/off. This can be very frustrating for users.

Phone Button Template: Depending on the user requirements, you would have already setup an array of different Button Templates, find the correct layout for this user. If you cannot find a layout, you will need to go back and create a new Button Template. For the 8945 phone, some common Button Templates I configure include 1L:2SD:1DND, 1L:3SD, 1L:3BLF , 1L:2BLF:1DND, 2L:1PRIVACY:1BLF.

L = Line (DN)
SD = Speed Dial (User can change Speed Dial Numbers through the ucmuser webpage
BLF = Busy Lamp Field
DND = Do Not Disturb
PRIVACY = Turn on/off Privacy when using Shared Lines.

Softkey Template: Select the required Softkey Template. Again you would already created custom Softkey Templates, now it’s just a matter of selecting one.

Privacy: Set to Default by Default. If you select ‘On’ the User’s shared line will be private, as in no other device configured with the same shared DN will be able to see who the user is talking to nor barge into the conversation. Set to ‘Off’ allows other devices using the same DN to see who is on the phone and also barge into the call.

There are a few DND options, most devices keep these to defaults, but you have the option to just have the phone flash, just beep once, or go directly to VM without notifying the user. These are more specific to the user requirements.

Click ‘SAVE’

6. After the Device Profile page refreshes, navigate to the top right corner of the windows and drop the Related Links Menu down and select ‘Subscribe/Unsubscribe Services’. Click Go
7. The Subscribe Services Window Appears. (Make sure Popups are allowed). Select the Extension Mobility Service. Commonly when configuring this server, you would have called it ‘Extension Mobility’ or perhaps ‘EM’.
8. Click Next, then click Subscribe.
9. Save then close the popup window. This returns you to the Device Profile page. Now click SAVE again.

This brings us to the Directory Number (DN) Configuration.

Once the Device Profile page refreshes, you will a new section to the left containing the Button Layout you selected. The first link is always your Line. You will see “Line [1] – Add a new DN”. Click on this link.

1. Enter the Directory Number then press the TAB key or click into a white/null space on the screen. The DN page will refresh.
2. Select the appropriate Partition for the DN. Again press the TAB key or click into the white/null space. At this point the system will attempt to identify if there is an existing DN in the configured Partition. If there is, the system will return partially completed fields. If the DN does not exist the screen refreshes and you can continue to complete required fields.
3. Now we can go ahead and complete the required fields for the DN page. I’ll run through a few key fields.

Description: Just like the Device Profile Description fields, I like to enter the user’s Full Name – DN (eg. Ben Morgan – 4404)

Alerting Name: This field displays on the Calling Phone when this DN is called. Eg. Phone A calls Phone B. User A will then see the Alerting Field of Phone B being displayed on Phone A.

I normally enter in the Full Name only. No DN necessary as the system will automatically displays the DN

Voice Mail Profile: Select the appropriate Voice Mail Profile (this would have already been configured on the System). This field effectively enables the Messages Button on the phone and allows call diversion direct to Voicemail.

Calling Search Space: Enter the requirement CSS. Generally the Line CSS will be the BLOCK CSS and the Device CSS will be the ALLOW/PERMIT CSS.

Call Forward and Pickup Settings Section: I normally check all the Voice Mail boxes (except of course the Forward All check box). Along with this I also select the required Calling Search Space on the right.

Users can at any time log into the ucmuser webpage and make changes to these call forward settings.

No Answer Ring Duration (Seconds): The system default is 12 seconds, so that’s approximately 3 full ring sequences. I find most users like this to be around the 20second mark, allowing 5 full rings.

Call Pickup Group: Select the appropriate Call Pickup Group (if any). Audio and/or visual alerts for Call Pickup Groups are configured on the Call Pickup Configuration Page.

Display (Caller ID): Enter the Full Name of the user only, no DN. This field allows for Caller ID, so the Called Device knows who is attempting to contact it.

Line Text Label: Enter the Full Name – DN. (eg Ben Morgan – 4404). This field displays on the users phone next to the first button. This essentially identifies the Line.

External Phone Mask: Try to enter a global phone mask (eg 024755XXXX) The XXXX is be replaced by the extension dynamically when calls are placed.

There more fields such as call recording, call forward display information, multiple call waiting/busy these are specific to the user requirements, so I won’t go into these.

4. Click SAVE
5. The DN page will refresh. Now scroll back down to the bottom of the page and you will find a new section called ‘Users Associated with Line’. Click the Associate End User, a search box appears, find the required user for this DN and check the box, then click ‘Add Selected’.

Essentially this filed allows Cisco Presence client (Jabber) to update presence information when this user is on a call.

At this point we have complete the requirements on the Device Profile page and the DN page. Lets move to the End User Configuration page.

End User Configuration Page

1. Navigate to the End User Configuration Page (User Management ->End User)
2. Find and select the required user. Remember this user has been sync’d via LDAP.
3. If this user is to use Jabber, select the required UC Profile and click ‘Enable User for Unified CM IM and Presence’
4. CTI Controlled Device Profile: Add the Device Profile we just created. This allows the user to control their own Device Profile. This is required if the user is to log into EM and also use Jabber with Deskphone Control.
5. Controlled Profiles: Add the Device Profile we just created. This allows this user to again log into EM. If the user has multiple profiles, we can order the preference in which the EM profiles are displayed to the user at EM Login time.
6. Default Profile: Select the users Default Device Profile. Typically there is only one available.
7. Subscribe Calling Search Space: Select the required CSS. This allows the user to view the presence status for BLF fields and BLF Directory on the phone.
8. Click SAVE
9. The End User page will refresh. Now scroll down to the Directory Number Associations. Select the User’s primary Extension. This is a mandatory requirement for Voice Mail functionality. If you do not complete this field, Voice Mail will not work.
10. Groups: Enter the User into the required groups. Typically I add the user to the following.
a. Standard CCM End Users – This allows access to the ucmuser webpage.
b. Standard CTI Enabled – This allows the user to control their Device Profile.
c. Standard CTI Allow Control of Phones supporting ConnectedXfer and conf – this allows CTI           control of 9900 series phones
d. Standard CTI Allow Control of Phones supporting rollover mode – This combined with [c] allows CTI Control of 9900 Series phones.
11. Click SAVE.

At this point the user is now ready to log into their Phone and start working. Of course you will need to configure Voicemail in Unity Connection. I haven’t included this as part of this blog, purely because of its length.

When making calls out the PSTN, the expected behaviour to hear ringback. Ringback is sent to the calling party when the ALERTING Message is received.

You may find in some cases the Telco doesn’t send the ALERTING with Progress Indicator of 8. Therefore when a caller makes a call to the PSTN, the caller does not hear ringback before the call is answered.

The solution is to add the command progress_ind commands and set to digit 8

Dial-peer voice X pots
progress_ind alert enable 8
progress_ind progress enable 8
progress_ind connect enable 8

When calling inbound from the PSTN into any CUCM registered IP Phone, the ISDN cause code of 80B1 – quality of service unavailable was displaying in the debug isdn q931 output.

The CUCM shows not activity coming through from the H323 Gateway at the Branch.

I found the Router had been Call Fallback Active configured with some prob config on the dial-peers going to CUCM Servers.

Once I removed the Call Fallback active cmd, the voice calls were successful.

HOSTNAME(Config)# no call fallback active