Cisco IP Communicator 8.6
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Cisco® Unified Communications Solutions unify voice, video, data, and mobile applications on fixed and mobile networks, enabling easy collaboration every time, from any workspace.
Product Overview
Cisco IP Communicator (Figure 1) is a Microsoft Windows-based soft-phone application that brings your work telephone to your personal computer. It is easy to deploy and includes some of the latest technology and advancements available for IP communications today. This application gives computers the features of IP phones, enabling high-quality voice calls on the road, in the office, or from wherever you have access to the corporate network.
Cisco IP Communicator is designed for users who require a supplemental telephone when they are away from their desk phone, traveling, or telecommuting. When using Cisco IP Communicator remotely, you are not just taking your office phone with you, you continue to have access to the same familiar phone and video telephony services that you have in the office. This advantage boosts business collaboration and responsiveness and helps organizations keep pace with today’s mobile business environment.
Features and Benefits
Cisco IP Communicator is intuitively designed and easy to use, and it delivers convenient access to a broad range of features:
● Eight line keys: These keys provide telephone lines and direct access to telephony features.
● Five soft keys: These keys dynamically give you call-feature options.
● Messages: This key gives you direct access to your voicemail messages.
● Directories: Cisco IP Communicator identifies incoming calls and messages and categorizes them on the screen, allowing you to return calls quickly and effectively using direct dial-back capability. The corporate directory integrates with the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol Version 3 (LDAPv3) standard directory.
● Settings: This key allows you to select from a large number of ringer sounds and background images.
● Services: Cisco IP Communicator allows you to quickly access diverse information such as weather, stocks, quote of the day, or any other web-based information. The phone uses XML to provide a portal to an ever-growing world of features and information.
● Help: The online Help feature gives you information about the phone keys, buttons, and features.
Table 1 lists features and benefits of Cisco IP Communicator.
Table 1. Features and Benefits
| Feature |
Benefit |
| Cisco IP Communicator Modes |
|
| Headset mode |
In this mode, Cisco IP Communicator offers the highest-quality voice communications capabilities. |
| Handset mode |
Cisco IP Communicator interoperates with third-party USB telephony handsets. |
| Speakerphone mode |
Cisco IP Communicator converts a computer into a full-duplex hands-free speakerphone. |
| Call Features |
|
| Call recording |
The solution offers an efficient way to record calls with Cisco Unified Communications Manager 6.1(3) or later. |
| Multiple lines and directory numbers |
Cisco IP Communicator can handle multiple calls. |
| Configurable speed dials |
You can make calls to often-used numbers very quickly. |
| Calling name and number display |
You can see who is calling before answering a call. |
| Call waiting |
The application alerts you when another call is waiting and you are on an existing call. |
| Call forward |
You can have all of your phone calls forwarded to another number. |
| Call transfer |
You can transfer a phone call to another number. |
| Three-way-calling (conference) |
You can talk with more than one person at the same time. |
| Call park |
You can place a call on hold and then pick it up from any other Cisco Unified Communications Manager endpoint. |
| Call pickup |
You can pick up a call placed to a group. |
| Redial |
You can quickly call the last dialed number. |
| Hold |
You can place the current call on hold. |
| Barge |
You can interrupt a call that is currently taking place. |
| Callback |
You can have a call made as soon as a line becomes free. |
| Extension mobility |
You can use any phone when travelling to a different office. |
| Message-waiting indicator (MWI) |
The application alerts you immediately when you have voicemail messages waiting to be read. |
| iDivert |
You can have your calls diverted to your voicemail. |
| Meet-Me conferencing |
You can start an impromptu audio conference with other Cisco Communications Manager endpoints. |
| Group pickup |
You can pick up a call when it is set up as part of a group. |
| Do not disturb |
You can stop incoming calls when ringing would be disruptive. |
| Mobility soft key |
You can hand off calls transparently to another number (for example, a cell phone). |
| E.164 dialing |
You have easy access to international numbers by prefixing with a “+” and the country code. |
| Contact Center Features |
|
| Silent monitoring |
Contact Center Supervisors can observe call center agents call activity without the agent or customer being aware. |
| Agent greeting |
You can play a prerecorded message to both an agent and the customer when a contact center call is in session. |
| Whisper announcement |
You can play a prerecorded announcement message that a customer cannot hear to an agent. |
| Audio Features |
|
| High-quality audio |
Audio codecs include G.722 wideband, G.711a, G711ų, iLBCm G.729a, G.729ab, G.729b (Skinny Client Control Protocol [SCCP] only), and Internet Speech Audio Codec (iSAC) support. |
| Audio tuning wizard |
You can choose whether to listen to calls through a headset, through the computer speakers, or through a handset. |
| Audio statistics tracking and analysis |
You can diagnose any call-quality problems by looking up adaptive jitter buffer, acoustic echo cancellation, noise suppression, voice activity detection, packet-loss concealment, automatic gain control, Microsoft Windows generic quality-of-service (GQoS) support, and IP Precedence (differentiated services code point [DSCP]) audio priority. |
| Additional Cisco IP Communicator Features |
|
| Ring tones |
You can select from more than 24 ring tones. |
| Flexible protocol choices |
The application supports both Cisco SCCP and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). |
| VPN support |
The application supports both Cisco VPN 5.0.07.0290 and Cisco AnyConnect™ 3.0.1047. |
| Signaling authentication through Transport Layer Security (TLS) |
TLS provides secure Cisco IP Communicator voice traffic. |
| USB Human Interface Device (HID) support |
Support of HID is based on telephony device page (0x0B) and supporting keypad, hook-switch, and mute functions. A list of vendors that have verified their devices for use with Cisco IP Communicator through the Cisco Technology Developer Program is available at http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/ctdp/Search.pl. These devices have passed lab testing and met interoperability criteria, helping ensure that Cisco product specifications have been reached. For more guidance on headsets and handsets for Cisco IP Communicator, please visit http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/voicesw/ps5475/prod_bulletin0900aecd800f4564.html. |
| PC-Based Control of Cisco IP Communicator |
|
| Drag-and-drop dialing |
You can drag a phone number from another application and drop it into Cisco IP Communicator to initiate a call. |
| Copy-and-paste dialing |
You can copy a phone number from another application and drop it into Cisco IP Communicator to initiate a call. |
| Alphanumeric translation |
You can use the keyboard to enter letters for phone numbers and they will be translated into numbers (for example, 600-MOVIES). |
| Nonintrusive call notification |
A notification will appear on your screen when an incoming call arrives. You can ignore the notification or answer the call from the notification. |
| Keyboard shortcuts |
You can quickly perform common actions with shortcuts from the keyboard (for example, press the ESCAPE key to hang up a call). |
| Non MAC-address based device names |
For Cisco Unified Communications Manager 6.1(3) or later, device names are not based on MAC addresses, so refreshing your PC is easier. |
| Multilanguage support |
The following languages are supported: Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Danish, Dutch, English (U.S.), French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. |
| Multiple display options |
You can choose from three different display options for Cisco IP Communicator (Figure 2). |
| Video |
|
| Cisco Unified Video Advantage Release 2.1 or later for desktop video calls |
Cisco IP Communicator turns audio calls into audio and video calls. Note: This feature is not available for Windows 7 or 64-bit operating systems. |
| Network Features |
|
| Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) and HTTP |
You can update software using Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) or HTTP. |
| Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) |
Network parameters can be providioned through DHCP. |
| Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) for VLAN traversal |
Cisco ASA intercepts and authenticates Cisco IP Communicator traffic before it reaches Cisco Unified Communications Manager by forcing all soft-client media to proxy through the Cisco ASA, helping ensure a single, secure point of entry into the voice VLAN from the data VLAN. |
Note: * Refer to the release notes for desktop application and web browser compatibility.
System Requirements
Recommendations for minimum requirements are based on Cisco UC Integration for Cisco IP Communicator running on a system that is running only applications and services that are part of the base operating system image. Administrators should account for other applications on the workstation to determine whether the system configuration - the CPU speed and RAM, in particular - can perform adequately with other applications that could affect application performance running concurrently on the PC.
Table 2 lists system requirements.
Table 2. System Requirements
| Platform |
Description |
| Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express |
● Releases 8.6(1) or later 8.6(0)
● Releases 8.5(1) or later 8.5(0)
● Release 6.1(3) with the Cisco Options Package file to create the Cisco Unified Client Services Framework device type
● Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express 4.1 (nonsecured SCCP only)
● Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express 7.1 (nonsecured SCCP only)
|
| VPN requirements |
● Cisco VPN 5.0.07.0290 or Cisco AnyConnect 3.0.1047
|
| Operating system |
● Microsoft Windows Operating System: Windows XP SP3, 32-bit, or Vista SP2 (Ultimate, Enterprise, or Business), 32-bit or 64-bit*; or Windows 7.0 (Pro, Enterprise, or Ultimate), 32-bit or 64-bit*
* The integration runs as a 32-bit application in 64-bit editions of Windows |
| Cisco Unified Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST) |
● Release 7.1 with Cisco IOS® Software Release 12.4(24)T with Cisco Unified Communications Manager Release 7.1(2)
|
| Cisco ASA (for VLAN traversal) |
● Cisco ASA Version 8.2.4 or later
|
Table 3 lists hardware requirements for running Cisco IP Communicator.
Table 3. Hardware Requirements for Cisco IP Communicator
| Item |
Minimum Requirement |
| Memory |
1 GB |
| Available disk space before the application is started |
350 MB |
| Available disk space |
1 GB |
Table 4 lists tested audio devices.
Table 4. Tested Audio Devices
| ClearOne |
● Chat 50 USB
|
| Polycom |
● XC100 Speakerphone USB
|
| Jabra |
● GN8110 USB
● GN8120 USB
● GN2100
● GN2000
● GN9350
● GN5390
|
| Plantronics |
● The Blackwire USB wired headset family
● The Savi Office Dect Wireless headset system family
● The Vpro UC Bluetooth headset system with Bluetooth dongle family
● The CS 50/60 USB Wireless headset system family
● The DA 45 USB adapter family for use with Plantronics H-Top headsets
● The Calisto USB handset and speakerphone family
Note: The listed headset families are included with the exception of the - M versions. |
Ordering Information
Table 5 provides ordering information for Cisco UC Integration™ for Microsoft Lync.
This product is part of Cisco Unified Workspace Licensing, which is the recommended way to license this product. Please visit http://www.cisco.com/go/workspace_licensing for more information.
Table 5. Ordering Information for Cisco IP Communicator
| Product Name |
Part Number |
| Cisco IP Communicator 8.6 top level part number - $0 |
IPCOMM86-SW |
| Cisco IP Communicator configurable license (order one per end user) - $90 |
IPCOMM86-LIC |
Please refer to the Cisco Unified Communications Applications Ordering Guide for additional details about Cisco Unified Communications part numbers and prices.
To place an order, visit the Cisco Ordering Home Page. To download software, visit the Cisco Software Center.
Cisco Unified Communications Services
Cisco Unified Communications Services allow you to accelerate cost savings and productivity gains associated with deploying a secure, resilient Cisco Unified Communications Solution. Delivered by Cisco and our certified partners, our portfolio of services is based on proven methodologies for unifying voice, video, data, and mobile applications on fixed and mobile networks. Our unique lifecycle approach to services can enhance your technology experience to accelerate true business advantage.
For More Information
For more information about the Cisco IP Communicator, visit http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/voicesw/ps5475/index.html or contact your local Cisco account representative.
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