Create Managed IP Phones from Existing (Polycom) SIP Stations

If your CIC system has existing unmanaged Polycom phones (SIP stations), Genesys recommends that you convert them to managed IP phones. Then, you no longer need to maintain Polycom phone configuration (.cfg) files.

Before beginning these procedures, configure the network for managed IP phones. Genesys also recommends that you Create Individual Managed IP Phones for Test Purposes and ensure that you are satisfied with your testing first.

Add the SIP Phone Information Update server parameter

The SIP Phone Information Update server parameter allows the CIC system to populate the Manufacturer and Model automatically for a Polycom phone (SIP station) in Interaction Administrator. Set the SIP Phone Information Update server parameter to a value of 1, yes, or true. When the phones reboot, Telephony Services derives the model and manufacturer information from the User-Agent strings in the registration message and updates the DS attributes dynamically for the corresponding SIP Station. All Polycom phones send this information each time they register, meaning that the data populates in Interaction Administrator as each phone re-registers with the CIC server. The system uses this data when you run Managed IP Phone Assistant to convert to managed IP phones and associated SIP stations.

For the SIP Phone Information Update server parameter to take effect, reboot the phones. It takes time for all of the phones to re-register with the server, so ensure that you check to see that the values populated before proceeding.

Update a common .cfg file to include sec.tagSerialNo="1" configuration parameter

Update the Polycom phone configuration files in the root directory of the TFTP or FTP server to include the sec.tagSerialNo="1" configuration parameter. This action allows the CIC system to populate the MAC Address automatically for a Polycom phone (SIP station) in Interaction Administrator. Choose a common file such as xic.cfg (when using files that the ININ IP Phone Configurator generated), or the sip.cfg file. When you update the .cfg file and reboot the phones, Telephony Services derives the MAC address from the User-Agent strings in the registration message and update the configuration dynamically for the corresponding SIP Station.  All Polycom phones send this information each time they register, meaning that the data populates in Interaction Administrator as each phone re-registers with the CIC server. The system uses this data when you run Managed IP Phone Assistant to convert to managed IP phones and associated SIP stations.

For the .cfg file updates to take effect, reboot the phones. It takes time for all of the phones to re-register with the server, so ensure that you check to see that the values populated before proceeding.

Create managed IP phones from existing SIP stations using Managed IP Phone Assistant

Use the Migrate option in the Managed IP Phone Assistant to create managed IP phones and associated SIP stations from existing (Polycom phone) SIP stations. In this procedure, a sample SIP Workstation IP335 station migrates to a new managed IP phone and associated station.

To create managed IP phones from existing SIP stations

1. Before you begin, ensure that you know the location of the Polycom phone/SIP station configuration files (.cfg), as the Managed IP Phone Assistant asks for this information. The .cfg file location is typically the root directory of your TFTP server, either a local directory path or a network share. Ensure that it is accessible from the computer where you plan to run the Managed IP Phone Assistant.

2. Click the Managed IP Phones container and then click Managed IP Phone Assistant.

   Note:

   Run the Managed IP Phone Assistant after business hours

   

   The Managed IP Phone Assistant Welcome page appears.

   

3. If you are running Managed IP Phone Assistant after business hours, click Yes to proceed past the warning message.

   

   The Add Managed IP Phones page appears.

   

4. Click Create managed IP phones by migrating existing stations to phones on a per manufacturer basis. The Select Manufacturer page appears.

   

5. Choose the manufacturer of the stations to migrate. Currently Polycom is the only supported manufacturer. If you selected Polycom on the previous page, the Select Default Model page appears.

   

6. In the list box, click the default phone model to use when the system cannot derive the model from the stations on the phones that you are migrating.

   For example, SIP stations associated with a Polycom configuration file may not have a manufacturer or model set in Interaction Administrator. By selecting the default model, the Managed IP Phone Assistant knows what settings to use for the migration. In this example, the default model selected is an IP335.

   Note:

   If you set the SIP Phone Information Update server parameter as described in an earlier section, selecting the default model on this page is unimportant. The reason is that the server parameter ensures that each phone populates appropriately for manufacturer and model in Interaction Administrator.

   The New Phone Naming page appears.

   

7. Specify a format string that indicates the name for the assistant to use for the migration item. The assistant creates an associated SIP station with the same name. There are two different substitution strings that you can use alone or with a format string to create phone names.

   Phone name format: Name of the first private station display name added to the migration item. Use a format string to define the phone's name when created. Use one or more substitution strings with a format string, so that every phone created has a meaningful and unique name.

   There are two different substitution strings:

   • $FirstPrivateStation$: Name of the first private station display name as defined in the reg.x.displayName attribute found in the SIP phone's .cfg file added to the migration item.

   • $MAC$: MAC address of the phone that you are migrating.

   By default, the assistant uses the $FirstPrivateStation$ substitution string. You can use a substitution string separately, in combination with the other substitution string, in combination with a format string, or use it alone. For example:

   • $FirstPrivateStation$

   • $MAC$

   • $FirstPrivateStation$-$MAC$-SecondFloor

   • SecondFloorPhone Using just text, the assistant appends the text with _1, _2, and so on after naming the first IP phone and associated SIP station.

   If a single format string of ManagedPhone is used without a substitution string, then all new phone names created would be named ManagedPhone_1, ManagedPhone_2, etc. If the substitution string $MAC$ is used together with the format string of ManagedPhone, such as ManagedPhone - $MAC$, then the MAC address for each phone would be substituted in the new name, i.e., ManagedPhone - 0004f2008100.

   Note:

   The substitution strings are case-sensitive. For example, if Phone - $mac$ is specified, $mac$ will not resolve to the MAC address. The string must be entered as Phone - $MAC$ for proper MAC address resolution.

   Sample phone name: Indicates how the phone name format field resolves.

8. Click Show Available Substitution Strings to view the substitution strings. The Phone Configuration File Directory page appears.

   

   Type the directory or click Browse to select the directory where the existing IP phone configuration (.cfg) files are. The .cfg file is typically the root directory of your TFTP server, either a local directory path or a network share. Ensure that it is accessible from the computer where you plan to run the Managed IP Phone Assistant. In this example, the location is D:\I3\IC\TFTPRoot.

   The Managed IP Phone Assistant searches this directory for .cfg files and displays a list of files found on the Select the Items to Migrate page. The assistant uses the settings in the selected .cfg files to create managed IP phone objects.

   For the assistant to recognize a phone configuration file, the file must:

   • Use the XXXXXXXXXXXX.cfg format, where XXXXXXXXXXXX is a 12-character alpha-numeric MAC address.

   • Contain an APPLICATION XML element at the root that has a CONFIG_FILES XML attribute that specifies the other phone configuration files.

   Each .cfg file that meets these criteria displays as a selectable item to migrate. The assistant needs read access to the phone configuration directory specified. For more information, click Help (?).

9. Click Next. The Select the Items to Migrate page appears.

   

   Select the items to migrate by clicking the items in the Available list and then clicking Add to move them to the Selected list. The items displayed in the Available list are the Polycom configuration files that the assistant found in the directory specified on the Phone Configuration File Directory page.

10. Select at least one item and then click Next. The Build Migration Items page appears.

    

    This page shows that the migration process is going to begin building migration items, and it lists the number of migration items included in the process. In this example, there is just one migration item.

11. Click Next. After the building the migration items, the Current State of Migration Items page appears.

    

    The number of items with errors, warnings, or no errors or warnings appear.

    Items with errors: The assistant cannot create a managed IP phone from these items. Click the Show Item Details button and review the Build History tab to aid in resolving the error.

    Items with warnings: These items are candidates for migration at the current state, and the assistant may be able to create a managed IP phone from these items.

    Items with no errors or warnings: These items are good candidates for migration at the current state, and the assistant will most likely be able to create a managed IP phone from these items.

    Note:

    Genesys strongly recommends that you click Show Item Details to review the migration item details. Item details include information about the new managed phone created for the selected migration item, and information about error and warnings listed for that migration item.

12. Click Next. The Backup Directory Services page appears.

    

    Genesys strongly recommends that you complete a Directory Services backup. This step is the final step in the migration process before the Managed IP Phone Assistant starts creating the managed IP phones based on the migration items.

13. Click Backup Directory Services to do the backup.The Directory Services backup can take several minutes. There is a timeout set at 40 minutes. If the timeout is reached, the assistant displays The CIC server was unable to perform a backup of Directory Services. Either click Try Again to attempt another backup, or click Continue without making a backup.

    When the backup is complete, the page displays the location of the backup file, for example, D:\I3\IC\Backup\RegistryBackup_16-8-2011-458037. Take note of this location.

    This is the last page before the migration process starts. To learn more about what happens during the migration process, click Help (?).

    A confirmation message appears.

    

14. Click Yes to start the migration process. When the migration process is complete, the Migration Results page appears.

    

    This page displays the number of managed IP phones created in the migration process and indicates whether warning or errors occurred.

15. Click Show Detailed Migration Results to view each step taken during the migration for each migration item.

    

    If errors and warnings occurred, you can see at what point they occurred and why. Depending on the migration results, the system might ask you to reload the phones; or you can make changes to individual IP phones in the Managed IP Phone container after the assistant completes and reload the phones then. For more information, click Help (?).

    The Managed IP Phone Assistant process is now complete.

16. Click Finish to exit the assistant. The new managed IP phones appear in the Managed IP Phones container.

    

    Notice that the new managed IP phone in this example has a status of Not registered. On the phone's next SIP registration, this status changes to Up-to-date.

    As part of creating managed IP phones, the system creates associated SIP station appearances on those IP phones, of the type Managed Workstation or Managed Stand-alone Phone. You can view them in the Stations container.

    

Complete the provisioning process

CIC provisioning of managed IP phones connects the managed IP phones and downloads their configurations from the CIC server. The goal for CIC managed IP phone provisioning is to automate it as much as possible so that it requires no user participation.

If you followed the instructions to configure the network and create managed IP phones from existing (Polycom) SIP stations using Managed IP Phone Assistant, automated provisioning occurs once you set up and reboot the phones.

When a managed IP phone contacts the provisioning subsystem, the provisioning subsystem matches the phone's computer name or MAC address with an existing managed IP phone configuration, and serves the configuration to the device without any extra steps.

Manual provisioning

Manual provisioning of some or all managed IP phones is necessary when:

• The CIC system has no DHCP server or it cannot access the DHCP server.

• Some Polycom phones are in remote locations.

Typically, an administrator with required permissions does the manual provisioning through the phone's provisioning IVR. In some cases (for example, remote locations), users do the manual provisioning. Do manual provisioning on each managed phone's configuration.