Cisco Collaboration Meeting Rooms (CMR) Hybrid Release Notes (TMS 14.4 - WebEx Meeting Center WBS29)
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Table of Contents
Cisco Collaboration Meeting Rooms (CMR) Hybrid Release Notes
Required Products for Cisco CMR Hybrid
Ordering and Deploying CMR Hybrid
CMR Hybrid Deployment Playbook
Important Configuration Notes for VCS Expressway
Cisco Expressway-E and Cisco VCS Expressway X8.1 and X8.2 Encryption Issue and Workarounds
Cisco WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook Requirements
Scheduling WebEx Meetings for Another Host
Cisco Smart Scheduler Requirements
Endpoint Compatibility for Features
WebEx Meeting Center Requirements
WebEx Meeting Center Video Requirements
WebEx Meeting Center for Windows - Minimum system requirements
WebEx Meeting Center for Mac - Minimum system requirements
Supported Screen Resolutions for Presentation Sharing
Support for Recurring Meetings
Cisco CMR Hybrid Meeting Experience
Ending the Meeting at the Scheduled End Time
Extending the Meeting Beyond the Scheduled End Time
What’s Not Supported in Cisco CMR Hybrid
Cisco Collaboration Meeting Rooms (CMR) Hybrid
Release Notes
Contents
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Cisco WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook Requirements
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What’s New in this Release
This section describes new and changed information in Cisco Collaboration Meeting Rooms (CMR) Hybrid (formerly called WebEx Enabled TelePresence), beginning with Update 3:
New in Update 3
This release of CMR Hybrid features improvements to the meeting experience and a new Unified CM-centric deployment model.
The following new features require TMS 14.4 or later:
- Allow Early Join introduces the ability for TelePresence participants to join a meeting up to 5 minutes before the scheduled start time.
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For best results, enable TMS to dynamically increase ports for a meeting above the number selected at the time it was scheduled.
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- Resource Availability Check on Extension introduces a new global setting to control how meetings extend beyond their scheduled end time: Administrative Tools > Configuration > Conference Settings > Resource Availability Check on Extension.
This setting works in conjunction with Extend Conference Mode and applies to Automatic Best Effort or Endpoint Prompt.
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- TelePresence Server with CMR Hybrid: The dial out sequence on conference start has changed so that the WebEx participant is the last one to be connected.
- WebEx option key requirement removed: Enabling WebEx in Cisco TMS no longer requires an option key.
New Unified CM-centric deployment model that requires Cisco Unified CM 9.1.2 or 10.5 or later:
- Bridges are trunked to Unified CM (with Early Offer enabled)
- Endpoints are registered to Unified CM
- Unified CM provides call registration and routing of voice and video between all connected endpoints.
- Simplified deployment and cheaper licensing model using Expressway x8.1 or later
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Bug Fixes
The following bugs are fixed in this release:
- CSCui45636 - Grouped endpoint does not dial out to TSP audio provider, due to lack of video resources.
- CSCul48708 - Original invitees are automatically added to a forwarded meeting invitation in Outlook.
- CSCuf31410 - Cannot add TelePresence to recurring WebEx-only meeting scheduled with WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook.
Known Issues
The following are known issues in this release:
- WebEx presentation quality is reduced by TelePresence. The WebEx cloud reduces the maximum resolution and frame rate supported between TelePresence and WebEx to XGA/15.
This is due to the following factors:
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- Quality of TelePresence Reduced by WebEx Participants. Video and audio from WebEx participants can be poor due to uncontrolled environments where poor lighting conditions and background noise can make seeing and hearing that participant difficult.
Ask important participants to attend from a TelePresence room or make sure ahead of time that they have set up their WebEx PC or Mobile client for best results:
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Notes for Existing Customers
Existing CMR Hybrid customers are not required to change to the new Unified CM-centric deployment model. If upgrading to Unified CM 9.1.2 or 10.5 or later, customers can trunk their bridges directly to Unified CM with no changes in configuration on VCS Control or VCS Expressway. Unified CM 10.5 or later is highly recommended.
Required Products for Cisco CMR Hybrid
This section lists the specific products required for Cisco CMR Hybrid.
In Table 1 below, each product and the specific version required are provided.
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*Customers can deploy either MCU or TS or both. At least one MCU or TS must be deployed for
Cisco CMR Hybrid to work.**Required for scheduling with Cisco WebEx Smart Scheduler.
***Required for scheduling with Cisco WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook.
Ordering and Deploying CMR Hybrid
Please work with an approved partner or your Cisco account team to order and deploy CMR Hybrid.
To order and deploy CMR Hybrid, follow these steps:
Step 1
Step 2
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Step 3
CMR Hybrid Deployment Playbook
A comprehensive, step-by-step guide for partners deploying CMR Hybrid is available in the CMR Hybrid Community:
https://communities.cisco.com/docs/DOC-54037.
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Important Configuration Notes for VCS Expressway
- VCS Expressway must be assigned a static IP address.
- Firewall must have port 5061 open to allow access to Expressway.
If this port is not configured correctly, calls will not take place correctly.
Cisco Expressway-E and Cisco VCS Expressway X8.1 and X8.2 Encryption Issue and Workarounds
There is an issue with the Encrypt on Behalf feature in Cisco Expressway-E and VCS Expressway X8.1 and X8.2 when using Static NAT. Because Expressway-E and VCS Expressway X8.1 or X8.2 use the Ethernet 2 IP address for the media part in SDP, the media part of calls will fail. (Caveat ID: CSCum90139). Customers using Static NAT on their VCS Expressways running X7.2.2 are recommended to upgrade to release X7.2.3 to avoid the OpenSSL Heartbleed vulnerability in X7.2.2.
If you are using Static NAT on VCS Expressway X8.1 or X8.2, Cisco recommends one of the following workarounds:
- Downgrade VCS Expressway to X7.2.2.
- Reconfigure Expressway-E or VCS Expressway X8.1 or X8.2 to not use Static NAT.
- Use Expressway-C or VCS Control to Encrypt on Behalf instead of Expressway-E or VCS Expressway.
To use Expressway-C or VCS Control to encrypt on behalf, do the following:
Step 1
Step 2
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Cisco WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook Requirements
The following section provides the requirements for meeting organizers to schedule meetings using the WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook.
WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook requires one of the following Microsoft Outlook versions:
Known Issues
- Scheduling with Microsoft Outlook for Mac is not supported at this time. Mac users can schedule meetings using Smart Scheduler or TMS.
- Scheduling using the Outlook plug-in provided with another version of the WebEx Productivity Tools is not supported when the WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook is installed. Only one plug-in can be installed and used on a single computer.
- The WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook works with WebEx Meeting Center only. WebEx Meetings is not supported at this time.
For information about scheduling WebEx-enabled TelePresence meetings with the WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook, see the Scheduling with the WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook Quick Reference Guide provided by Cisco.
Scheduling WebEx Meetings for Another Host
The WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook allows a WebEx user to assign a delegate to schedule or edit meetings on their behalf.
For example, if you need to host WebEx meetings on a regular basis, you can give your assistant permission to schedule meetings for you.
After being given permission, your delegate can schedule, edit, cancel, and start meetings for you.
To assign a delegate to schedule meetings for you, you must do both of the following:
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For details on how to assign a delegate to schedule meetings for you and how to schedule meetings for another host, refer to the following chapters in the WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook User Guide provided by Cisco:
- Chapter 3, “Assigning a Delegate to Schedule WebEx Meetings for You”
- Chapter 4, “Scheduling for Another Host”
This information is also available in the online help for the WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook in Microsoft Outlook.
Cisco Smart Scheduler Requirements
The following section provides the requirements for meeting organizers to schedule meetings using Cisco Smart Scheduler.
Smart Scheduler requires one of the following browsers:
- Internet Explorer - version 9 or later
- Mozilla Firefox - version 15 or later
- Safari - version 6.0.2 or later
- Chrome - version 24 or later
For information about scheduling WebEx-enabled TelePresence meetings with Cisco Smart Scheduler, see the Cisco WebEx and TelePresence Scheduling with Smart Scheduler Quick Reference Guide provided by Cisco.
Notes About Unified CM
If Unified CM is used, it cannot not be in the SIP signaling path of TS or MCU for CMR Hybrid meetings. The SIP signaling path between MCU/TS and the WebEx cloud must only pass through VCS Control and Expressway.
If PSTN access is required for audio, the outbound audio call from MCU may traverse the Unified CM. Endpoints may be registered to Unified CM and traverse a Unified CM-VCS SIP trunk when dialing into TS/MCU that is registered to VCS Control.
Endpoint Compatibility for Features
- Any standard SIP and H.323 video device registered to VCS or Unified CM can be part of the meeting as long as it can connect to either the MCU or the TelePresence Server. For details, refer to the release notes for MCU and TelePresence Server.
- One-Button-to-Push (OBTP) and Automatic Connect are the supported dialing methods (Conference Types) that TMS uses to connect endpoints to a meeting. With OBTP, participants join the meeting using a button on the endpoint. With Automatic Connect, TMS automatically dials and connects endpoints at the start of the meeting.
Table 2 TMS Conference Types Supported by Cisco TelePresence Endpoints
SX-20, EX, MX, or C-series endpoints registered to Unified CM
Jabber, Jabber Video, WebEx Meeting Center and Mobile Clients
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WebEx Meeting Center Requirements
This section provides the requirements for WebEx Meeting Center:
- WebEx Meeting Center Video Requirements
- WebEx Meeting Center for Windows - Minimum system requirements
- WebEx Meeting Center for Mac - Minimum system requirements
- Supported Screen Resolutions for Presentation Sharing
- Mobile Client Support
WebEx Meeting Center Video Requirements
- HD camera recommended
- To send or receive video with a resolution of 720p (HD resolution), ensure that your system meets the following minimum requirements.
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- To send or receive video with a resolution of 360p (SD resolution), ensure that your system meets the following minimum requirements.
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WebEx Meeting Center for Windows - Minimum system requirements
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Supported Screen Resolutions for Presentation Sharing
To utilize the full screen while presenting, Cisco recommends setting your computer to a 4:3 aspect ratio screen resolution. The following screen resolutions are recommended:
Mobile Client Support
iOS and Android WebEx Mobile clients release 5.0 now support TelePresence-enabled WebEx meetings. They can receive and send video, and they can display the content shared by TelePresence, Windows and Mac WebEx participants, but they cannot share content in TelePresence-enabled WebEx meetings.
BlackBerry clients can join on audio, but cannot send or receive video or display or content share.
* Sending and receiving video with the BlackBerry 10 mobile client is not supported.
Mobile Client Downloads
Cisco WebEx Meetings for iOS is available in the iTunes store.
Cisco WebEx Meetings for Android is available in the Google Play store.
Cisco WebEx Meetings for Blackberry is available in the Blackberry World store.
Support for Recurring Meetings
Recurring WebEx-enabled meetings are supported with the following exceptions:
- Cisco Smart Scheduler does not support making changes to a single instance of a recurring meeting.
- WebEx cannot be added to single instance of a non-WebEx-enabled recurring meeting.
- WebEx cannot be removed from a single instance of a WebEx-enabled recurring meeting.
- Rescheduling the time of a single instance of a recurring WebEx-enabled meeting is not supported.
- Deleting an instance of a recurring WebEx-enabled meeting is not supported.
- Removing rooms from a single instance of a recurring meeting is supported using Cisco TMS only.
Cisco CMR Hybrid Features
One-Button-to-Push and Auto Connect conference types supported.
- Scheduling Meetings Using the Smart Scheduler UI
- Scheduling Meetings Using the WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook
- WebEx Audio via SIP or PSTN
- TSP Audio via PSTN
- WebEx Account Single Sign On (SSO)
- Two-way Video and Content Share
- Scheduling Using WebEx Scheduling Mailbox
Using any mail client that supports Microsoft Exchange, invite TelePresence rooms and a specific WebEx scheduling email address to create a CMR Hybrid meeting.
Cisco CMR Hybrid Meeting Experience
This section provides a basic overview of the end user experience of the following:
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Starting the Meeting
The meeting is started the following way:
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During the Meeting
During the meeting, participants have the following experience:
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- In the WebEx Meeting Center, all TelePresence endpoints are displayed as one WebEx participant called “TelePresence systems” both in the Participant List and when a TelePresence user is the active speaker.
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Figure 1 “TelePresence systems” in Full Screen View
- TelePresence users share a presentation by simply plugging in their computer to the display cable of the endpoint and (if required) pressing a presentation button to start content sharing to TelePresence and WebEx.
- WebEx users share a presentation by taking the ball and then selecting the content to present. If the WebEx site does not allow WebEx participants to take the presenter ball, then the WebEx host must pass the ball to the WebEx participant.
- The WebEx host may mute all or individual WebEx participants, however it is not possible for the host to mute the TelePresence participants.
- When a WebEx participant who joined via audio speaks, the video of the last active WebEx participant who has video turned on is displayed instead of a silhouette image.
- The link bandwidth between MCU/TS and WebEx is set by the WebEx client with the lowest bandwidth. The bandwidth of the link can go up as soon as the WebEx client with the poorest bandwidth leaves the meeting. For example, if a WebEx client that joins the meeting is only capable of 360p, the maximum bandwidth for all WebEx participants will be 360p. When that participant leaves the meeting, if all other participants are capable of a higher bandwidth, like 720p, the bandwidth will go up for all participants.
- TelePresence Server, by default, sends video in the ActivePresence screen layout, which displays the active speaker in a full screen pane with additional participants appearing in up to six equally sized overlaid panes at the bottom of the screen (up to four panes for 2 and 4 screen endpoints). In full screen mode in WebEx, WebEx participants appear in equally sized panes below the TelePresence video at the bottom of the window.
Ending the Meeting
Behavior of how a meeting ends depends on the following four factors:
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Ending the Meeting at the Scheduled End Time
The meeting ends at the scheduled end time under any of the following circumstances:
- The WebEx host leaves the meeting at or before the scheduled end time of the meeting and they choose to end the meeting for all participants.*
- The meeting organizer, when scheduling the meeting in TMS, did not set the meeting to extend.
- The TelePresence portion of the meeting ends if there are not enough video ports available to extend the TelePresence portion of the meeting.
- The TelePresence portion of the meeting ends if Extend Conference Mode in TMS is not set to enable extension of the meeting.
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Extending the Meeting Beyond the Scheduled End Time
The meeting extends beyond the scheduled end time under any of the following circumstances:
- The TelePresence meeting extends if the meeting organizer, when scheduling the meeting in TMS, sets the meeting to extend and there are resources available to extend the meeting.
- The TelePresence meeting extends if Resource Availability Check on Extension is enabled in TMS, in conjunction with Extend Conference Mode set to Automatic Best Effort or Endpoint Prompt and must only be used with the Conference Type: No Connect or One Button To Push.
- The WebEx meeting extends if the host stays in the meeting after the scheduled end time of the meeting.
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Caveats
The following are known issues in CMR Hybrid:
- Symptom: MCU/TelePresence Server displays random WebEx characters during CMR Hybrid meeting. Random user ID string displayed as username of TelePresence Server/MCU.
- Conditions: MCU/TelePresence Server registered to Unified CM 10.5.1.
- Workaround: Register MCU/TelePresence Server to VCS instead of Unified CM.
- Additional Information: WebEx implemented the addition of the "display name" of "Cisco WebEx meeting" in the Contact header of 200 Ok response to the INVITE. VCS B2BUA only supports "display name" in the To header of 200ok. B2BUA filters out "Display name" in the Contact and will not pass through PAI and RPID it received. As the workaround, Cisco configures the CUSP from the WebEx cloud side to insert a Display name “Cisco WebEx Meeting” in the To header in 200 Ok before 200 Ok is forwarded to the VCS on the customer’s premises.
- Symptom: User cannot add WebEx to or remove WebEx from an instance of a recurring TelePresence meeting.
- Conditions: Meeting organizer schedules recurring TelePresence meeting. Meeting organizer attempts to add WebEx to or remove WebEx from an instance of the recurring meeting.
- Workaround: None.
- Additional Information: For complete details on how recurring meetings are supported, see Support for Recurring Meetings.
- Symptom: Original invitees are automatically added to a forwarded meeting invitation in Outlook.
- Conditions: Schedule a WebEx-enabled TelePresence meeting using the WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook in Microsoft Outlook 2007 or 2010 and include one or more invitees. Close the meeting and later reopen it in Outlook and click Forward. Result: The “To:” field of the meeting invitation to be forwarded contains one or more of the original invitees.
- Workaround: Replace original invitees in meeting invitation to be forwarded with the invitees you want to add.
- Fixed: WebEx WBS29.6
- Symptom: Grouped endpoint does not dial out to TSP audio provider, due to lack of video resources.
- Conditions: In TMS, when the Auto Connect reservation type is selected and port limits are set on TelePresence Server, if a meeting is scheduled with no One-Button-to-Push or call-in participants, the audio call from TelePresence Server to the TSP audio provider will never connect.
- Workaround: Meeting organizer must manually add a video port (call-in participant) to the meeting (using the WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook, Smart Scheduler or TMS).
- Fixed: TelePresence Server 3.1.1
- Symptom: Error message is displayed indicating that you cannot book meetings in the past.
- Conditions: Schedule a recurring WebEx-only meeting using the WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook. After at least one meeting has taken place, edit the meeting using the WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook and add some telepresence rooms or allow additional participants to join using video devices and then click Save.
- Workaround: Delete current recurring meeting, then reschedule a new recurring meeting with all new participants added.
- Further Problem Description: Adding TelePresence to a recurring meeting after the first meeting occurrence is not supported.
- For details on the support for recurring meetings in CMR Hybrid, refer to Support for Recurring Meetings.
- Fixed: TMS 14.4
For a complete list of caveats for the individual hardware components in Cisco CMR Hybrid, refer to the release notes for each on Cisco.com.
What’s Not Supported in Cisco CMR Hybrid
The following are not supported in the Cisco CMR Hybrid solution:
The Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch (CTMS) is not a supported conferencing component for Cisco CMR Hybrid meetings. Customers who must use CTMS, must continue to use Cisco TelePresence WebEx OneTouch 1.0 for combined WebEx and TelePresence meetings.
Existing TelePresence WebEx OneTouch 1.0 customers who want to use CMR Hybrid will have to migrate from CTS-Manager and CTMS to TMS and TelePresence Server and/or MCU. Contact Cisco for more information.
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