UCCX Version Release 10.5 Field Communication

Introduction

This document describes additional information about some of the changes in Cisco Unified Contact Center Express (UCCX) Release 10.5 in order to raise awareness of important points on how a UCCX Release 10.5 system is designed, installed, and upgraded. UCCX Release 10.5 was recently released and contains many new features, bug fixes, and serviceability improvements. Information on these new features will be published with Release 10.5.

Note: For more information, refer to the UCCX Version 10.5 Release Field Communication discussion on the Cisco Support Community.

New and Updated Information

Linux-to-Linux-Only Upgrade

UCCX Release 10.5 does not support Windows-to-Linux upgrades. Any release from Release 7.0(2)ES3 and earlier cannot be upgraded in a single step to UCCX Release 10.5. Windows UCCX installations must first be upgraded to the latest service update (SU) on Release 8.5(1) to the most recent SU on Release 9.0(2) or to the most recent SU on Release 10.0(1). You can then upgrade that release to UCCX Release 10.5. As of July 10, 2014, interim Releases for Windows-to-Linux upgrade to UCCX Release 10.5 are 8.5(1)SU4, 9.0(2)SU1, and 10.0(1)SU1.

Refer to Cisco Unified Contact Center Express (Cisco Unified CCX) Software and Hardware Compatability Guide for the latest information on UCCX upgrade compatability.

Installation and Upgrade Scenarios

You might encounter these installation and upgrade scenarios when you install or upgrade UCCX.

Note: UCCX Release 10.5 checks in order to verify DNS and a domain name is configured on the UCCX cluster before you upgrade. If the DNS or domain name is not configured, a message displays and you are not allowed to upgrade.

You design a new UCCX Release 10.5 installation and install UCCX as a virtual machine (VM) with the Cisco-provided Open Virtualization Format (OVF) template for UCCX Release 10.5 based on the guidelines in this document.

You upgrade to UCCX from Release 8.5(1)SU4, 9.0(2)SU1, or 10.0(1)SU1 that runs in a virtual environment to Release 10.5. Follow the standard Linux-to-Linux upgrade procedures located in the UCCX Release 8.5 documentation for this upgrade. Pre-upgrade checks are added in order to allow Linux-to-Linux upgrades only from these releases:

• 8.5(1)SU4 or later on the 8.5 train
• 9.0(2)SU1 or later on the 9.0 train
• 10.0(1)SU or later on the 10.0 train
• Any ES on top of the above versions

You upgrade UCCX from Release 8.5(1)SU4 or 9.0(2)SU1 that runs on physical servers to Release 10.5.

1. Mitigate a Release 8.5(1)SU4 or 9.0(2)SU1 system to VMs as outlined in the Virtualization for Cisco Unified Contact Center Express documentation for migration from the Media Convergence Server (MCS) to the Unified Computing System (UCS).
2. Upgrade a Release 8.5(1)SU4 or 9.0(2)SU1 system that runs as a VM to Release 10.5 with the Linux-to-Linux upgrade procedures defined in the UCCX Release 8.5 or 9.0 documentation.

You upgrade UCCX from Release 7.0(2) to Release 10.5.

1. Upgrade the UCCX installation to Release 7.0(2)ES3.
2. Use the Product Upgrade Tool (PUT) in order to back up the Windows UCCX data on an enterprise secure FTP (SFTP) server.
3. Build a new VM with the Cisco-provided (OVF) template and install UCCX Release 8.5(1)SU4 or 9.0(2)SU2.
4. Complete the Windows-to-Linux upgrade restore phase in order to restore the Windows UCCX data into the new Release 8.5(1)SU4 or 9.0(2)SU2 VM and verify functionality.
5. Upgrade the virtualized Release 8.5(1) or 9.0(2) system to UCCX Release 10.5 with the Linux-to-Linux upgrade procedure found in the Release 8.5 or 9.0 documentation.

UCOS Release 10.0 and Refresh Upgrade

UCCX Release 10.5 runs on the Unified Collaboration Operating System (UCOS) Release 10.0. Older releases of UCCX run on UCOS versions before Release 10.0. UCOS Release 10.0 is based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Release 6, 64-bit and includes these items:

• Java Development Kit (JDK) Release1.7, Update 41
• Tomcat Release 7.0.41
• Python Release 2.6
• Informix Database Release 11.7

As a result of the UCOS Release 10.0 migration in UCCX Release 10.5, a Refresh Upgrade is required in order to upgrade from a version of UCCX older than Release 10.5 to UCCX 10.5. Refresh upgrades require additional downtime and pre-installation tasks. Find instructions and expectations when you upgrade to UCCX Release 10.5 through the Refresh Upgrade process in the installation documentation.

UCCX Release 10.5 also supported Prime Collaboration Deployment (PCD) Release 10.5. You can use PCD in order to conduct these operations against a UCCX Release 10.5 cluster:

• Single Node and High Availability Installations
• Linux to Linux and Refresh Upgrades
• Switch Versions
• IP Address and Hostname Changes
• Sever Restarts

With the migration of UCCX to UCOS Release 10.0, you can change the UCCX hostname more easily. Cluster Manager (a process within the UCOS) has a remote notification mechanism that automatically notifies other nodes in a cluster of a hostname change.

When you change the hostname on a UCCX high availability (HA) cluster, the command utils uccx modify remote_hostname is not required. It is highly recommended that you follow the exact instructions for hostname modification. These instructions are found in the UCCX Administration Guide.

UCCX, as part of the Unified Collaboration Release 10.5 solution, now supports IPv6 addressing. IPv6, either in Dual Stack (IPv4/IPv6) mode or IPv6) is supported on UCCX, CUCM, and IP phones, but is not supported on SocialMiner or MediaSense. Follow the instructions in order to configure UCCX, CUCM, and IP phones for IPv6 addressing in the appropriate Administrator Guides.

Repository Size Increase

In UCCX Release 10.5, the respository database (db_cra_repository) used in order to store metadata about documents, prompts, scripts and grammars, has increased from 10mb to 40mb. This allows administrators to store a larger number of scripts, prompts, documents and grammars and allow customers that face storage restrictions to further upload these items.

See UCCX Respository Restrictions for more information about UCCX respository size restrictions.

Virtual Template (OVF) Changes and Partition Alignment

The changes made to the UCCX OVF and partition alignment error detection made in the UCCX Release 10.0(1) release still apply to the 10.5 Release. For more information on these items, see the UCCX Version 10.0 Pre-release Field Communication.

Additional +E.164 Support

In UCCX Release 10.0, +E.164 support is added for many configuration items within UCCX that includes Triggers, Agent Directory Numbers (when you use Finesse only) and in many of the Script Editor steps. UCCX Release 10.5 further extends +E.164 support and includes these items:

• Call Control Group / CTI Port Directory Numbers (DNs) and associated configuration
• Trigger / CTI Route Point Advanced Settings
• Outbound contact phone numbers in Outbound Campaign Contact Lists

Cisco Finesse for UCCX

Finesse Agent Desktop in UCCX Release 10.5 has many new features. See these descriptions of the features:

Outbound Dialer

In UCCX Release 10.5, Finesse is enhanced in order to support all three Outbound Dialer modes supported in UCCX Release 10.5 and includes:

• Direct Preview
• Predictive Agent
• Progressive Agent

Client OS and Browser Support

In UCCX Release 10.5, Finesse clients can run on Windows 8.1 and Internet Explorer 11.0 can be used in order to access the Finesse desktop. Client OS/browser support for UCCX Release 10.5 is as follows:

Operating System	Browser
Windows 8.1	Internet Explorer 11.0 Firefox (Version 24 or Later)
Windows 7	Internet Explorer 9.0 Internet Explorer 11.0 Firefox (Version 24 or Later)
Mac OS X	Firefox (Version 24 or Later)

Multi-line and Extension Mobility Support

Finesse now supports the configuration of multiple lines on agent phones when UCCX is configured for multiline. You can configure one or more secondary lines on an agent phone. However, the Finesse server blocks any events received from the Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) server about call activity on an agent's secondary line. These events are not published to the Finesse clients, which means information about calls handled on an agent's secondary line does not appear in the Finesse desktop.

For example: If Agent A uses his or her secondary line in order to call Agent B (on Agent B's primary extension), the call does not appear on Agent A's desktop. Because Agent B received the call on his or her primary extension, the call does appear on Agent B's desktop. In a UCCX deployment, Agent A's extension appears on Agent B's desktop in the format 'PrimaryExtension.SecondaryExtension'.

Finesse in UCCX Release 10.5 officially supports the Extension Mobility feature. No functional changes were required in Finesse to support this feature, however extensive testing was performed in order to verify that extension mobility is compatible with Finesse in UCCX.

Multisession Web Chat

Significant enhancements have been made to the UCCX Web Chat feature in UCCX Release 10.5 and SocialMiner 10.5. Web Chat continues to be a feature licensed under the Premium license package only, requires Cisco SocialMiner for integration, and many of the new chat features are applicable to Finesse deployments only.

New chat features in UCCX 10.5 include:

• Multisession Chat - Administrators can now determine the number of chat sessions (1 - 5) the agent handles at a single time. The administrator can also determine if the agent should be offered a voice call while on an active chat with a customer. This compliments the existing parameter that determines if an agent is offered a chat while on a voice call. This option is only available if the Finesse is used by the chat agent.
• Chat Widget (Web Form) Enhancements - The system administrator can now configure a logo URL that is displayed on the chat form and also a wait message that is displayed to the customer when the customer initiates a chat session and the chat is being routed to an agent, the join time-out message, and the error message. Each of these messages is configurable in the widget builder within UCCX and implemented via changes to the resulting HTML form. This option is available for Finesse and non-Finess deployments.
• Predefined Responses - Within the Cisco UCCX Administration interface, an administrator can configure predefined responses available to all chat agents. Agents can then quickly pick from the list of predefined responses and send them to the customer over an active chat session. A maximum of 10 pre-defined responses can be configured. This option is only available when Finesse is used by the chat agent.
• Agent Alias - Within the RmCm -> Resources section of the Cisco Unified CCX Administration, administrators can configure an agent alias for each agent. This alias is used instead of the agent ID when an agent chats with a customer. This option is only available when Finesse is used by the chat agent.
• Live Data Reporting - New Live Data reports are available in UCCX Release 10.5 to report on Web Chat statistics. A 'Chat Agent Statistics Report' and a 'Chat CSQ Summary Report' are available via Live Data. This option is available in Finesse and non-Finesse deployments but Live Data gadgets are only available for view within Cisco Unified Intelligence Center (CUIC) or on the Finesse Agent and Supervisor Desktops.

Outbound Enhancements

UCCX Release 10.5 adds two new outbound dialer types to the existing three outbound dialer types across agent-based and Interactive Voice Response (IVR)-based dialing modes. Agent-based predicitve and progressive campaigns can only be used when Cisco Finesse is activated.

Dialing Mode	Dialing Type	Release Available
IVR	Progressive	8.5+
IVR	Predictive	8.5+
Agent	Preview	8.0+
Agent	Progressive	10.5+
Agent	Predictive	10.5+

Agent-based predictive and progressive campaigns dial contacts and transfer these contacts to reserved agents based on the Call Progress Analysis (CPA) result returned by the gateway.

Agent-based predictive and progressive campaigns, with the use of CPA, automatically detect live voice, answer machine, SIT tone and fax/model calls and can react accordingly, prevents a call to be placed from an agent device that results in something other than live voice.

These two new dial modes do not use Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) resources in order to place outbound calls, as Agent-based preview does, and only connects a call via CUCM to an agent phone when necessary (live voice or answer machine is detected).

The difference between Agent-based predictive and progressive campaigns is the same as IVR-based predictive and progressive campaigns:

• Predictive - Uses a predictive algorithm in order to determine the optimal Lines Per Agent (Agent-based) or Lines Per Port (IVR-based).
• Progressive - Uses an administratively configured value as the Lines Per Agent (Agent-based) or Lines Per Port (IVR-based) value.

Administrators have the option, on a per-campaign basis, to define the treatment of Agent-based outbound calls that result in:

• A call answered by an answering machine.
• A previously Reserved agent that is being no longer available to handle the live voice contact (abandon)

In these two cases, the administrator can configure a UCCX Trigger DN to which to route the call or to drop the call.

Agent-based predictive and progressive campaigns are licensed by an additional license on top of UCCX Premium licensing packages. This license (similar to the Outbound IVR License introduced in UCCX Release 8.5) determines the maximum number of agents that can concurrently process (in Talking or Work state) agent-based predictive and progressive calls and also the maximum number of ports used for IVR-based outbound calls (as was done in UCCX Release 8.5) and transfers from Agent-based predictive and progressive campaigns that result in a transfer to an IVR script.

In outbound call, the agent has the option to schedule a callback at the time requested by the customer (+/- callback time limit). The agent can also cancel a scheduled callback that has been scheduled previously during the call.

UCCX Live Data and Historical Reports have been enhanced to report on Agent-based predictive and progressive campaigns.

Historical Reports - Added to compliment current Agent Direct Preview Outbound Reports, Historical Reports include these items:

• Agent Outbound Campaign Summary Report
• Agent Outbound CCDR Report
• Agent Outbound Half Hourly Report
• Outbound Agent Detail Performance Report

Live Data Reports - Include statistics on all Agent-based Outbound types (Direct Preview, Predictive and Progressive):

• Since Midnight Agent Outbound Team Summary Report
• Short and Long Term Average Agent Outbound Team Summary Report

Retirement of Other UCCX Features

Cisco Agent Desktop Browser Edition

Cisco Agent Desktop Browser edition has been discontinued and removed from the UCCX 10.5(1) release.