Cisco Unified

Collaboration
Project
Unified
Collaboration
System Architecture
Architectural Overview
The PA for Enterprise Collaboration and Webex Hybrid Services provides end-to-end
collaboration targeted for deployments where a collaboration solution based on Cisco
Unified Communications Manager deployed. This architecture incorporates high
availability for critical applications. The consistent user experience provided by the
overall architecture facilitates quick user adoption. Additionally, the architecture
supports an advanced set of collaboration services that extend to mobile workers,
partners, and customers through the following key services:

• Voice and video communications

• Messaging
• Meetings that incorporate high-definition video, web conferencing, and content
sharing capabilities
• Services for mobile and remote workers
 UC Endpoints in Enterprise

Cisco Webex Services

UC Application in Enterprise Office 365 Services
Expressway Hybrid
Active Directory Connector
DMZ

IMP CUCM
Expressway C Expressway E

internet

CUC Webex Video Mesh

Edge UC Applications Cisco Webex CVI

Core UC Application
Webex Device Cisco Voice Gateway
Connector CUBE
Unified
Collaboration
System
Applications
Components
Components of the Cisco Preferred Architecture for Enterprise Collaboration

Module Component(s) Purpose

Call Control Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) Call control provides registration, call processing, resource management and instant
Cisco Unified Communications Manager IM and Presence Service messaging and presence for users and endpoints. It also encompasses remote site
Cisco Integrated Services Router (ISR) survivability for remote offices.

Collaboration Edge Cisco Expressway-C Collaboration Edge provides remote registration services, external communications,
Cisco Expressway-E and interoperability.
Cisco Integrated Services Router (ISR)
Cisco Aggregation Services Routers (ASR)

Voice Messaging Cisco Unity Connection Cisco Unity Connection provides unified messaging and voicemail services.

Collaboration Management Services Cisco Webex Cloud-Connected Unified Communications Cisco Webex Cloud-Connected Unified Communications (CCUC) is a suite of cloud
services providing centralized administrative services within Webex Control Hub for
on-premises collaboration applications. Services enabled with CUCC include system
health checks and analytics.

Security All components Security incorporates a compilation of security features ranging from those enabled
by default to those recommended for deployment. Some example features include
unauthorized access protection, toll-fraud protection, certificate generation and
management, and provisioning and enabling encryption for all the components in this
solution.

Bandwidth Management Network infrastructure and products from all chapters of this document Bandwidth management incorporates an end-to-end QoS architecture, call admission
control, and video rate adaptation and resiliency mechanisms to provide the best
possible user experience for deploying pervasive video over managed and
unmanaged networks.

Sizing Products from all chapters of this document Sizing for all modules that are covered in this document, as well as a virtual machine
Quote Collab Tool placement example using the Quote Collab Tool.
Components of the Preferred Architecture for Cisco Webex Hybrid Services
Module Component Description

Collaboration Endpoints Cisco IP Phones, Cisco Video Endpoints and Room Devices, and Enable real-time message, meeting, and voice/video communications for
Cisco Webex Teams users

Webex Core Services Cisco Webex Control Hub Web portal that enables provisioning and management of enterprise
Webex Teams users and services; registration of endpoints, clients, and
Expressway-C Connector Host to Webex; and Expressway Connector
upgrades

Cisco Webex Messaging Provides persistent messaging and content sharing in 1:1 and group-
based spaces

Cisco Webex Meetings Provides audio/video meetings, with content sharing and web
conferencing capabilities for meetings

Cisco Expressway-C Connector Host Management Connector Enables connectors hosted on Expressway-C to be managed by the
Webex Control Hub

Cisco Webex Hybrid Directory Service Cisco Directory Connector Provides directory synchronization between Microsoft Active Directory
and Webex

Microsoft Active Directory Provides the full list of corporate resources and users and their attributes

Cisco Webex Hybrid Calendar Service Cisco Expressway-C Connector Host Calendar Connector Provides integration between the enterprise calendaring application and
Webex

Microsoft Exchange Provides corporate calendaring services

Cisco Webex Video Mesh Cisco Webex Video Mesh Node Provides on-premises media processing capabilities for Webex. This
includes voice, video, and desktop sharing for on-premises and cloud
registered devices.

Cisco Webex Hybrid Call Service Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) Provides endpoint registration, call processing, and media resource
management

Cisco Expressway-C Connector Host Call Connector Provides integration between on-premises call processing services and
Webex

Cisco Expressway-C and Expressway-E Enables interoperability and firewall traversal with Webex
Virtualization
Virtualizing multiple applications and
consolidating them on physical servers lowers
cost, minimizes rack space, lowers power
requirements, and simplifies deployment and
management. Virtualization also accommodates
redeploying hardware and scaling software
applications as organizational needs change.

Cisco Business Edition 7000 (BE7000)

The Cisco BE7000 is built on a modified virtualized
UCS that ships ready-for-use with a pre-installed
virtualization hypervisor and application
installation files. The specifications of the BE7000
appliance accommodates deployments of 1000
phones or more (multiple appliances usually
required). The Cisco BE7000 solution offers
premium voice, video, messaging, instant
messaging, and presence, and contact center
features on a single, integrated platform. For more
information about the Cisco BE7000
Cisco Unified Communications on the Cisco
Unified Computing System (UCS)
Cisco Collaboration applications define
requirements for compatibility, minimum hardware
specifications and virtual machine (VM)
placement, with example bills of materials
provided for various deployment sizes.
Enterprise Collaboration Core Applications
In the Preferred Architecture for Enterprise Collaboration, the following
virtualized applications are deployed on multiple Cisco UCS servers to
provide hardware and software redundancy:

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager IM and Presence Service
• Cisco Unity Connection
• Cisco Expressway, consisting of Expressway-C and Expressway-E

Webex Core Services

• Cisco Webex Control Hub

• Cisco Webex Messaging

• Cisco Webex Meetings
• Cisco Expressway-C Connector Host Management Connector
• Cisco Webex Video Mesh
CISCO COLLABORATION ENDPOINTS
Product Description

•Mobile: Application with cloud-based integrated voice/video meeting, calling,

•Cisco Webex Teams for Android messaging, and content sharing for mobile devices, personal
•Cisco Webex Teams for iPhone and iPad computers, and web browsers.
•Desktop:
•Cisco Webex Teams for Mac
•Cisco Webex Teams for Windows
•Web browser:
•Cisco Webex Teams web client

Cisco IP Phone 8800 and 7800 Series General office use, multiple-line audio and video phones

Cisco Webex Desk Pro Personal Telepresence endpoint for the desktop

Cisco Webex Room Kit Series TelePresence multipurpose and integrator room endpoints

Cisco Webex Room Series TelePresence multipurpose and integrator room endpoints with built-in
single or dual screens

Cisco Webex Board All-in-one presentation, white board, and audio/video multipurpose
room endpoint
Role of Unified CM

Cisco Unified CM is the central call control component in any Cisco

collaboration deployment. Unified CM provides foundation services including
call control, endpoint registration, endpoint configuration, call admission
control, codec negotiation, trunk protocol translation, and CTI. Unified CM is
the central point of administration and provisioning. All SIP trunks to other
components – including conferencing media resources, gateways, and other
components – are terminated on Unified CM so that Unified CM can
orchestrate access to all of those components. Call routing is controlled by
the dial plan configuration applied to Unified CM.

Role of IM and Presence Service

The Cisco Unified CM IM and Presence Service provides on-premises instant

messaging and presence. It uses standards-based XMPP and also supports SIP
for interoperability with SIP IM providers. Cisco Unified CM IM and Presence
Service is an on-premises solution. The other Cisco instant messaging and
presence service, Cisco WebEx Messenger, is a cloud-based service and is not
covered in this document.
Unified CM and IM and Presence Service Clustering
Unified CM supports the concept of clustering. The Unified CM architecture enables a
group of server nodes to work together as a single call processing entity. This grouping of
server nodes is known as a cluster.

There are two types of Cisco Unified CM nodes: publisher and subscriber.

Unified CM publisher
The publisher is a required server node in all clusters. There can be only one
publisher per cluster. This server node contains the cluster configuration, and it
provides the database services to all other subscribers in the cluster. In this design, the
Unified CM publisher is a dedicated node; it does not handle TFTP requests, endpoint
registration, or call processing.

Unified CM subscriber
Subscriber nodes subscribe to the publisher to obtain a copy of the database
information. Subscriber nodes include, for example, the Unified CM TFTP nodes and
the Unified CM call processing subscriber nodes.

Cisco IM and Presence nodes have the same clustering concept. The first IM and
Presence node is the IM and Presence publisher. The other IM and Presence nodes are the
IM and Presence subscribers, and they obtain a copy of their database from the IM and
Presence publisher. The IM and Presence publisher communicates with the Unified CM
publisher and most of the IM and Presence configuration is done through the Unified CM
publisher (for instance, the Unified CM users, the UC services available to presence users,
and the service activation). Hence, all IM and Presence nodes, including the IM and
Presence publisher, are considered subscribers of the larger Unified CM and IM and
Presence Service cluster.
Integration with Apple Push Notification Service (APNs)
When integrating a deployment of Unified CM and Unified CM IM and Presence Service with Apple
Push Notification service (APNs), you can use Apple's cloud-bases Push Notification service to push
notifications for voice and video calls and instant messages to Cisco jabber or Webex for iPad and
iPhone clients that are running in the background. Cisco jabber or Webex clients on start-up register
with Unified CM either directly when on the corporate network or through Cisco Expressway using
mobile and remote access (MRA) when connecting from outside the corporate network. As long as
the Cisco jabber or Webex client is running in foreground mode, call and IM notifications are received
directly from Unified CM or Unified CM IM and Presence Service. As soon as the Cisco jabber or
Webex client transitions to suspended mode (background), this direct method of receiving
notifications transitions to Apple Push Notifications. Cisco jabber or Webex clients in the background
are activated as soon as an Apple Push Notification is received by Apple iOS. Cisco jabber or Webex
then re-activates direct communication with Unified CM and Unified CM IM and Presence Service.
With this mechanism Cisco jabber or Webex does not need to constantly poll for events such as
incoming IM messages or call events. This leads to better battery lifetime and improved user
experience.
Figure shows the overall architecture of the integration with APNs. Each application running on an
Apple iOS platform registers with APNs to be able to receive notifications via APNs and receives a
device and application specific device token. Notification providers intending to send notifications
via APNs register with APNs; and when they send a notification to a device, they need to present the
device token uniquely identifying the target device and application.
Unified Messaging with Cisco Unity Connection
Cisco Unity Connection enables unified messaging for the Cisco Preferred Architecture for
Enterprise Collaboration.
Core Components
The core architecture contains these elements:
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM)
Cisco Unity Connection
Microsoft Active Directory

Key Benefits
Users can access the voicemail system and retrieve their voice messages by using:
Cisco Unified IP Phones, TelePresence endpoints, Jabber, and mobile devices

Role of Unity Connection

In a centralized messaging deployment, Unity Connection provides users with the ability to store and
retrieve voicemails. Typically calls forwarded to Unity Connection are direct calls or are due to a
called extension that is either busy or unanswered. Message Waiting Indicator (MWI) is displayed on
the endpoint for any new messages stored for the user. With each call, the following call information is
typically passed between the phone system and Unity Connection:
• The extension of the called party
• The extension of the calling party (for internal calls) or the phone number of the calling party (if it is
an external call and the phone system supports caller ID)
• The reason for the forward (the extension is busy, does not answer, or is set to forward all calls)