Table Of Contents
Diagnosing Problems with Cisco Unified Personal Communicator
How to Get Support from the Correct Party
How to Use Diagnostic Tools
Capturing Detailed Logs for Application Problems
Capturing Logs Automatically When the Application Crashes
Using the TAC Case Collection Tool to Diagnose Problems
How to Capture Call Statistics
Capturing Call Statistics for Audio and Video Problems
Events That Cause Call Statistics Collection
Call Statistics Refresh Rate and Log Format
Statistics for Calls Involving IP Phones
Audio Call Statistics Field Information
Video Call Statistics Field Information
Capturing Server Connection Status Information
Diagnosing Problems with Cisco Unified Personal Communicator
April 2010
•
How to Get Support from the Correct Party
•How to Get Support from the Correct Party
•How to Capture Call Statistics
How to Get Support from the Correct Party
Cisco Unified Personal Communicator runs on an operating system (Windows or Mac OS) and the network. Sometimes, security settings on the operating system or network affect the behavior of Cisco Unified Personal Communicator. Some symptoms may be:
•Cisco Unified Personal Communicator status remains offline
•Cisco Unified Personal Communicator crashes
•Cisco Unified Personal Communicator receives one-way audio
To quickly resolve the problem, you require technical support from the correct party. For example, support from a firewall/network team instead of the Cisco Unified Personal Communicator application team; or you may require support from Microsoft instead of Cisco.
Here are some tips to determine if the problem is in the application or on the operating system or network.
Scenario 1: Some users are having problems with Cisco Unified Personal Communicator, but not all, we can determine it is not an application problem. You should seek help from OS or network personnel.
Scenario 2: Cisco Unified Personal Communicator works on the local network (LAN), but has problems on VPN.
Symptoms may include but are not limited to: Cisco Unified Personal Communicator does not display correct status; Cisco Unified Personal Communicator has one-way audio.
This is not Cisco Unified Personal Communicator application problem. Please refer to network port usage document (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cupc/7_0/english/release/notes/ol15710.html#wp39407 ) and seek help from VPN personnel.
How to Use Diagnostic Tools
•Capturing Detailed Logs for Application Problems
•Capturing Logs Automatically When the Application Crashes
•Using the TAC Case Collection Tool to Diagnose Problems
Capturing Detailed Logs for Application Problems
By default, detailed logging is not enabled, and logs are collected at the information level (3). Sometimes you need detailed log files to troubleshoot problems with Cisco Unified Personal Communicator. Detailed logs have the following characteristics:
•Apply only to the client computer on which Cisco Unified Personal Communicator is running when enabled by the user.
•Are collected at the verbose level (5).
•Remain enabled until the user changes the setting.
Restrictions
Caution Ask users to enable detailed logging only when you try to resolve a specific issue. Detailed logging causes degraded performance, especially in less powerful computers. Instruct users to disable detailed logging when your troubleshooting activities are completed.
Procedure
Step 1 Ask the user to do the following:
•Choose Help > Enable Detailed Logging to enable detailed logging.
•If possible, restart Cisco Unified Personal Communicator to clear the logs and to put the application in a known state. If the problem is intermittent or unexpected, do not restart the application.
•Recreate the problem, if possible.
•Choose Help > Create Problem Report, then send the report to you.
Step 2 Send the .zip file to the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) representative, if requested.
Capturing Logs Automatically When the Application Crashes
If Cisco Unified Personal Communicator crashes unexpectedly, the Problem Reporting Tool, or Problem Reporting Assistant on Mac OS, automatically collects installation, application, and client computer system information. The problem reporting tool also creates a dump file.
Before You Begin
Users who move from one computer to another must generate the problem report on the computer on which the problem occurred so that the correct logs are attached. Log files do not move with a user from computer to computer.
Procedure
Step 1 Ask the user to do the following:
•Follow the instructions in the user guide to capture the log file.
•Email the .zip file to you.
Step 2 Send the .zip file to the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) representative, if requested.
Troubleshooting Tips
•If a blue screen failure occurs, the problem reporting tool does not generate an application crash dump, even if the cause of the blue screen is an interoperability issue between Cisco Unified Personal Communicator and the operating system.
•The tool uses the GMT time zone for date stamps.
Using the TAC Case Collection Tool to Diagnose Problems
You can use the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) Case Collection tool to interactively diagnose common problems involving hardware, configuration, and performance issues with solutions provided by Cisco TAC engineers.
Restriction
This tool is available only to registered Cisco.com users with a Cisco service contract.
Procedure
Step 1 Log in to Cisco.com.
Step 2 Click Support, click the Tools & Resources link, then click TAC Case Collection.
Step 3 Select a technology or product area to begin troubleshooting.
For example, if you select Voice, you access a knowledge base for voice-over-data networks and IP telephony, including the following topics:
•Voice applications, Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Cisco Unity Connection, and so on
•Voice quality (with diagnostic sound samples)
•Voice gateways
•Other voice-related issues
For details, click the TAC Case Collection link at the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/support/tsd_most_requested_tools.html
How to Capture Call Statistics
•Capturing Call Statistics for Audio and Video Problems
•Capturing Server Connection Status Information
Capturing Call Statistics for Audio and Video Problems
Cisco Unified Personal Communicator provides call statistics to help you diagnose and resolve audio and video quality issues. The application generates audio call statistics information. Video call statistics information is generated only when a call is escalated to video or originated with video. Statistics are generated when a call is streaming (active) but not when the call is held.
When detailed logging is enabled, call statistics are logged on all significant call events. At the end of each call, call statistics information is saved to the log file.
•If the user has the Call Statistics window open, information is logged in abbreviated form on a consistent basis for as long as the window is opened, providing data that you can plot over time to track trends.
•If the user clicks Save to Log, the application dumps a full version of the statistics to the log file in a tabular format.
Procedure
Step 1 Ask users to follow the user guide instructions to enable detailed logging, capture log files, and send the log through the Problem Reporting Tool, or Problem Reporting Assistant on Mac OS.
Step 2 Send this information to the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) representative, if requested.
Related Topics
•Events That Cause Call Statistics Collection
•Call Statistics Refresh Rate and Log Format
•Statistics for Calls Involving IP Phones
•Audio Call Statistics Field Information
•Video Call Statistics Field Information
Events That Cause Call Statistics Collection
Call statistics are collected when the following significant events occur:
•When a call is suspended or held, video is paused, or audio is muted
•When a call ends, that is, a user hangs up or the call is otherwise terminated
•Shortly after a call is established, that is, 5 to 10 seconds
•Shortly after any media renegotiation, for example, when video is added or when a call is held and resumed
•When an I-frame is requested
•When a significant stream error occurs
Related Topics
•Call Statistics Refresh Rate and Log Format
Call Statistics Refresh Rate and Log Format
Call statistics are saved to the log under the following conditions:
•Call statistics are saved to the log in full format whenever one of the significant call events occur, including the end of a call. Therefore, each call has at least one full dump in table format of the calls statistics in the log.
•Call statistics are saved to the log in abbreviated format for each Audio RTCP Receiver Report that is sent or received (about every five seconds). Because the Audio RTCP Receiver Report triggers the log capture, the log contains data from all RTCP reports: audio and video, send and receive, and incoming and outgoing.
•If the user has the Call Statistics window open, statistics are refreshed once a second. These statistics are shown in the window and are also saved to the log in abbreviated format (short, comma-delimited form).
Note Because the statistics that come from RTCP reports occur about every 5 seconds, the statistics in the Call Statistics window might not change once a second even though the check for new statistics occurs every second. Other statistics, such as some of those for video, change each second.
Statistics for Calls Involving IP Phones
Many IP phones, including Cisco Unified IP Phones, do not support sending RTP Control Protocol (RTCP) reports. Therefore, for calls involving these phones, RTCP-derived statistics are not available and display as 0 in the call statistics.
Related Topics
•Audio Call Statistics Field Information
•Video Call Statistics Field Information
Audio Call Statistics Field Information
Table 1-1 describes the fields on the Call Statistics dialog box.
The Transmit column shows statistics on outgoing data and local information. The Receive column shows statistics on incoming data and remote information.
Table 1-1 Audio Call Statistics (Transmitted and Received)
Field
|
Description
|
Codec
|
Current audio codec
|
Bitrate
|
Current audio bit rate of the codec in kbps
|
Total Packets
|
Number of audio packets
|
Packets Lost
|
Number of packets lost
|
Average Jitter
|
Interarrival jitter in milliseconds
|
Maximum Jitter
|
Maximum observed jitter in milliseconds
|
Total Bytes
|
Number of bytes sent and received
|
The following RTCP-derived statistics display as 0 when RTCP reports are not available:
•Received Total Packets
•Received Packets Lost
•Received Total Bytes
•Transmitted Average Jitter
•Transmitted Maximum Jitter
If you make Cisco Unified Personal Communicator-to-Cisco Unified Personal Communicator calls, RTCP reports are available for both clients, and all fields are populated.
Video Call Statistics Field Information
Table 1-2 describes the video fields on the Call Statistics dialog box. For audio-only calls, the fields display zero or --. If Cisco Unified Personal Communicator is only sending or only receiving video, half the values are zero or --.
The Transmit column shows statistics on outgoing data and local information. The Receive column shows statistics on incoming data and remote information.
Table 1-2 Video Call Statistics (Transmitted and Received)
Field
|
Description
|
Codec
|
Current video codec
|
Bitrate
|
Current video bit rate in kbps
|
Resolution
|
Reported resolution (CIF, QVGA, and so forth)
|
Total Packets
|
Number of video packets
|
Packets Lost
|
Number of packets lost
|
Average Jitter
|
Interarrival jitter in milliseconds
|
Maximum Jitter
|
Maximum observed jitter in milliseconds
|
Frame Rate
|
Current frame rate in frames per second (fps)
|
Total Frames
|
Total frames sent and received
|
Total Partial Frames
|
Number of partial frames
|
Partial Frame Lost
|
Number of partial frames lost
|
Total I-Frame Requests
|
Number of I-frames requested
|
Total Frame Errors
|
Number of frame errors
|
Total Bytes
|
Number of bytes sent and received
|
The following RTCP-derived statistics display as 0 when RTCP reports are not available:
•Received Total Packets
•Received Packets Lost
•Transmitted Average Jitter
•Transmitted Maximum Jitter
If you make Cisco Unified Personal Communicator-to-Cisco Unified Personal Communicator calls, RTCP reports are available for both clients, and all fields are populated.
Capturing Server Connection Status Information
The server health window (Help > Show Server Health on Windows and Help > Show System Diagnostics on Mac OS) provides the following information:
•Client configuration information such as server addresses, protocols used to connect to servers, user IDs, and other server-specific configuration information.
•Status of the connected state of the server that is updated in real time, as follows:
–For LDAP and web conferencing servers such as Cisco Unified MeetingPlace or Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Express, that do not maintain constant connections to Cisco Unified Personal Communicator, the status shows the result of the most recent interaction. No polling or heartbeat mechanism is implemented.
–When Cisco Unified Personal Communicator starts, the application checks the connection to the web conferencing server and shows the connection status as successful in the server health window, even though the user might have entered invalid user credentials. User credentials are checked when the user starts the web conferencing session from within Cisco Unified Personal Communicator. If the credentials are invalid, a message displays in the server health window.
Procedure
Step 1 Ask users to follow the troubleshooting instructions in the user guide to access the server health window (Help > Show Server Health on Windows and Help > Show System Diagnostics on Mac OS) and to provide that information to you.
Note Status transitions are logged and provided in the problem reporting tool. Users do not need to note this information or provide it with the .zip file.
Step 2 Provide the information to the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) representative, if requested.
Related Topics
•How to Resolve Login and Network Connection Problems, page 2-16
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