Simplifying the Experience: Scheduling and Management for Cisco TelePresence Meetings
The Cisco TelePresence™ meeting solution combines audio, video, and interactive elements to create the feeling of being "in person" with participants in remote locations. Critical to this experience is Cisco TelePresence Manager, which makes it easy to set up and launch calls. The Cisco TelePresence Manager software application enables this simplicity by intelligently automating many scheduling and conferencing tasks, so users can focus on the meeting, not the technology, and communicate as naturally and effectively as they would face to face.
Administrators can use Cisco TelePresence Manager to monitor meetings and get reports on meetings and system usage. The application also helps IT managers by offering data to justify the investment and reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) by integrating with existing infrastructure.
Product Overview
Cisco TelePresence Manager is essential for delivering the full value of a Cisco TelePresence meeting solution. It collects information about Cisco TelePresence systems from Cisco® Unified Communications Manager and associates those systems to their physical location as defined in Microsoft Active Directory and enterprise groupware.
It also automatically collects information about multipoint capabilities, and allocates those resources when needed, allowing you to schedule both point-to-point and multipoint Cisco TelePresence meetings from your Microsoft Outlook or IBM Lotus Notes calendar. That schedule is automatically sent to the Cisco TelePresence systems involved in the call. You can launch your Cisco TelePresence meeting with the push of a button, by simply selecting your meeting from the list of meetings shown on the Cisco Unified IP Phone in the meeting room.
Applications
The Cisco TelePresence meeting solution is useful for large group meetings as well as small groups or one-on-one conversations. By integrating with both enterprise groupware and Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Cisco TelePresence Manager delivers ease of use, both in scheduling and in launching calls with just the push of a button on the phone (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Cisco TelePresence Manager
Features and Benefits
Cisco TelePresence Manager offers the following key features and benefits:
• Easy scheduling: You can schedule meetings using your enterprise groupware (Microsoft Outlook or IBM Lotus Notes) and have that meeting posted to the display of the Cisco Unified IP Phone in the meeting room, minimizing user training and support.
• "One button to push" to launch calls: You select your scheduled call, whether point-to-point or multipoint, from the display on the phone in the meeting room to launch calls (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Meetings Posted on Cisco Unified IP Phone 7970G Display for One-Button-to-Push Call Launch
• Enterprise groupware compatibility: Cisco TelePresence Manager synchronizes with Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino to collect information for Cisco TelePresence meetings.
• Application programming interface (API) for scheduling integration: Cisco TelePresence Manager supports an API to allow taking meeting information from unsupported calendaring and scheduling applications to create one-button-to-push call launch.
• Web-based user interface: The user interface provides easy administration without a desktop-loaded client. Simple views allow you to monitor Cisco TelePresence rooms, scheduled meetings, and system-level information.
• Reporting dashboard: Cisco TelePresence Manager provides a dashboard to keep track of your meeting metric, room usage, and deployment usage for easy return-on-investment (ROI) reporting. The Cisco TelePresence System Manager (CTS-MAN) web user interface allows you to capture some important statistics from the meeting participants as well, such as the purpose of the meeting, benefits of the Cisco TelePresence room, etc. A built-in API offers you the capability to pull this data into a reporting application of your choice.
• Multipoint support and resource allocation: Cisco TelePresence Manager, when used in conjunction with the Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch, automatically schedules the necessary multipoint resources to support the scheduled request.
• Intelligent multipoint selection: Cisco TelePresence Manager searches through all the available Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switches and selects the one that will provide the best Cisco TelePresence experience for you based on your geographical location.
• Automatic schedule synchronization: Cisco TelePresence Manager automatically synchronizes all meetings when new Cisco TelePresence rooms come online. It also resynchronizes with groupware whenever it loses connectivity because of a network or hardware problem.
• Intercompany scheduling: Cisco TelePresence Manager provides a process to schedule intercompany meetings using your existing groupware integration for one-button-to-push call launch.
• Transparent scheduling interface: Cisco TelePresence Manager requires no client software or plug-ins in order to schedule and automatically launch calls. Instead it acts as a room-scheduling proxy and receives and processes all meeting invitations sent and received to Cisco TelePresence rooms (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Schedule a Cisco TelePresence Meeting as You Would Schedule Any Other Meeting
• Conference correction process: Cisco TelePresence Manager supports an automated email notification process to get clarification if any is needed to launch the call or to confirm the Cisco TelePresence meeting. A link is provided to log into the Cisco TelePresence Manager web interface to update information.
• Device discovery: Cisco TelePresence Manager connects with Cisco Unified Communications Manager to discover information about the Cisco TelePresence systems installed. This information includes device name, MAC address, IP address, directory number, room name, and IP phone associated with the Cisco TelePresence system. Cisco TelePresence Manager also receives the current registration state of both the Cisco TelePresence endpoint and its associated IP phone for diagnostics.
• Modular architecture: Cisco TelePresence Manager simplifies future extensions and support for additional devices and other groupware scheduling applications.
• Investment protection: Cisco TelePresence Manager uses existing network and communications infrastructure for a faster ROI.
Product Architecture
Cisco TelePresence Manager uses the same platform infrastructure as Cisco Unified Communications Manager, following its appliance model principles. Its administrative user interface is a single software entity that provides access to a web-based GUI for initial setup and installation. Information retrieval takes place through standard interfaces such as XML, Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), computer telephony integration (CTI), and Web-Based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV).
Cisco TelePresence Manager is a software application loaded on a Cisco MCS 7845 Media Convergence Server and runs as a standalone application. It cannot be deployed co-resident with any other Cisco application on that hardware.
Product Specifications
Table 1 gives specifications and Table 2 gives system requirements of the Cisco TelePresence Manager.
Table 1. Product Specifications
Specifications
Description
Product compatibility
Cisco MCS 7845-I2 Media Convergence Servers
Software compatibility
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0
Protocols
HTTP, HTTPS, Administrative XML (AXL)/SOAP, Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), and CTI
Connectivity
IP
Reliability and availability
High availability through Cisco 7835 Media Convergence Server platform
Table 2. System Requirements
Specifications
Description
Groupware connectivity
• Microsoft Exchange Server: 2003 (\Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition) and 2007 (on Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition SP2 [64 bit])
• Microsoft Outlook Client: 2003 and 2007
• IBM Domino Server: 8.0 and 7.0.0 (Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition)
• IBM Lotus Notes Client: 8.0, 7.0.0, and 6.5.0
Cisco Unified Communications Manager version
Cisco Unified Communications Manager 6.1.3 or later
One Cisco media convergence server is required per Cisco TelePresence Manager implementation
Cisco MCS 7845-I2 Media Convergence Server
MCS-7845-I2-CTS2
One integration is required per Cisco TelePresence Manager Implementation
Cisco TelePresence Manager Integration for MS Exchange
LIC-CTS-MAN-MS
Cisco TelePresence Manager Integration for IBM Domino
LIC-CTS-MAN-IBM
License required. Based on number of Cisco TelePresence systems under management.
Cisco TelePresence Manager Device License: 10 units
LIC-CTS-MAN-10
Cisco TelePresence Manager Device License: 50 units
LIC-CTS-MAN-50
Cisco TelePresence Manager Device License:100 units
LIC-CTS-MAN-100
Service and Support
Cisco and our partners provide a broad portfolio of intelligent, personalized services and support that can help you realize the full value of your Cisco TelePresence investment by increasing business agility and network availability. This portfolio of services accelerates business innovation through a network-based collaboration platform that enables businesses to collaborate anywhere, anytime. For more information about these services, visit: www.cisco.com/go/telepresenceservices.
For More Information
For more information about the Cisco TelePresence Manager, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/telepresence or contact your local Cisco account representative or authorized Cisco Authorized Technology Provider (ATP) partner.
