Information About SCCP SRST
Cisco Unified SRST provides Cisco Unified CM with fallback support for Cisco Unified IP phones that are attached to a Cisco router on your local network. Cisco Unified SRST enables routers to provide call-handling support for Cisco Unified IP phones when they lose connection to remote primary, secondary, or tertiary Cisco Unified CM installations or when the WAN connection is down.
Cisco Unified CM supports Cisco Unified IP phones at remote sites attached to Cisco multiservice routers across the WAN. Prior to Cisco Unified SRST, when the WAN connection between a router and the Cisco Unified CM failed or when connectivity with Cisco Unified CM was lost for some reason, Cisco Unified IP phones on the network became unusable for the duration of the failure. Cisco Unified SRST overcomes this problem and ensures that the Cisco Unified IP phones offer continuous (although minimal) service by providing call-handling support for Cisco Unified IP phones directly from the Cisco Unified SRST router. The system automatically detects a failure and uses Simple Network Auto Provisioning (SNAP) technology to autoconfigure the branch office router to provide call processing for Cisco Unified IP phones that are registered with the router. When the WAN link or connection to the primary Cisco Unified CM is restored, call handling reverts back to the primary Cisco Unified CM.
When Cisco Unified IP phones lose contact with primary, secondary, and tertiary Cisco Unified CM, they must establish a connection to a local Cisco Unified SRST router to sustain the call-processing capability necessary to place and receive calls. The Cisco Unified IP phone retains the IP address of the local Cisco Unified SRST router as a default router in the Network Configuration area of the Settings menu. The Settings menu supports a maximum of five default router entries; however, Cisco Unified CM accommodates a maximum of three entries. When a secondary Cisco Unified CM is not available on the network, the local Cisco Unified SRST Router's IP address is retained as the standby connection for Cisco Unified CM during normal operation.
Note
Cisco Unified CM fallback mode telephone service is available only to those Cisco Unified IP phones that are supported by a Cisco Unified SRST router. Other Cisco Unified IP phones on the network remain out of service until they re-establish a connection with their primary, secondary, or tertiary Cisco Unified CM.
Typically, it takes three times the keepalive period for a phone to discover that its connection to Cisco Unified CM has failed. The default keepalive period is 30 seconds. If the phone has an active standby connection established with a Cisco Unified SRST router, the fallback process takes 10 to 20 seconds after connection with Cisco Unified CM is lost. An active standby connection to a Cisco Unified SRST router exists only if the phone has the location of a single Cisco Unified CM in its Unified Communications Manager list. Otherwise, the phone activates a standby connection to its secondary Cisco Unified CM.
Note
The time it takes for a Cisco Unified IP Phone to fallback to the SRST router can vary depending on the phone type. Phones such as the Cisco 7902, Cisco 7905, and Cisco 7912 can take approximately 2.5 minutes to fallback to SRST mode.
If a Cisco Unified IP phone has multiple Cisco Unified CM in its Cisco Unified CM list, it progresses through its list of secondary and tertiary Cisco Unified CM before attempting to connect with its local Cisco Unified SRST router. Therefore, the time that passes before the Cisco Unified IP phone eventually establishes a connection with the Cisco Unified SRST router increases with each attempt to contact to a Cisco Unified CM. Assuming that each attempt to connect to a Cisco Unified CM takes about 1 minute, the Cisco Unified IP phone in question could remain offline for 3 minutes or more following a WAN link failure.
Note
During a WAN connection failure, when Cisco Unified SRST is enabled, Cisco Unified IP phones display a message informing you that they are operating in Cisco Unified CM fallback mode. For example, the Cisco Unified IP Phone 7960G and Cisco Unified IP Phone 7940G display a "CM Fallback Service Operating" message, and the Cisco Unified IP Phone 7910 displays a "CM Fallback Service" message when operating in Cisco Unified CM fallback mode. When the Cisco Unified CM is restored, the message goes away and full Cisco Unified IP phone functionality is restored.
While in Cisco Unified CM fallback mode, Cisco Unified IP phones periodically attempt to re-establish a connection with Cisco Unified CM at the central office. Generally, the default time that Cisco Unified IP phones wait before attempting to re-establish a connection to a remote Cisco Unified CM is 120 seconds. The time can be changed in Cisco Unified CM; see the "Device Pool Configuration Settings" chapter in the appropriate Cisco Unified CM Administration Guide. A manual reboot can immediately reconnect Cisco Unified IP phones to Cisco Unified CM.
When a connection is re-established with Cisco Unified CM, Cisco Unified IP phones automatically cancel their registration with the Cisco Unified SRST Router. However, if a WAN link is unstable, Cisco Unified IP phones can bounce between Cisco Unified CM and Cisco Unified SRST. A Cisco Unified IP phone cannot re-establish a connection with the primary Cisco Unified CM at the central office if it is currently engaged in an active call.
Cisco Unified SRST supports the following call combinations:
- SCCP phone to SCCP phone
- SCCP phone to PSTN/router voice-port
- SCCP phone to WAN VoIP using SIP or H.323
- SIP phone to SIP phone
- SIP phone to PSTN / router voice-port
- SIP phone to Skinny Client Control Protocol (SCCP) phone
- SIP phone to WAN VoIP using SIP
Figure 1-1 shows a branch office with several Cisco Unified IP phones connected to a Cisco Unified SRST router. The router provides connections to both a WAN link and the PSTN. Typically, the Cisco Unified IP phones connect to their primary Cisco Unified Communications Manager at the central office via the WAN link. When the WAN connection is down, the Cisco Unified IP phones use the Cisco Unified SRST router as a fallback for their primary Cisco Unified Communications Manager. The branch office Cisco Unified IP phones are connected to the PSTN through the Cisco Unified SRST router and are able to make and receive off-net calls.
Figure 1-1 Branch Office Cisco Unifed IP Phones Connected to a Remote Central Cisco Unified Communications Manage Operating in SRST Mode
On H.323 gateways for SCCP SRST, when the WAN link fails, active calls from Cisco Unified IP phones to the PSTN are not maintained by default. Call preservation may work with the no h225 timeout keepalive command.
Under default configuration, the H.323 gateway maintains a keepalive signal with Cisco Unified Communications Manager and terminates H.323-to-PSTN calls if the keepalive signal fails, for example, if the WAN link fails. To disable this behavior and help preserve existing calls from local Cisco Unified IP phones, you can use the no h225 timeout keepalive command. Disabling the keepalive mechanism only affects calls that will be torn down as a result of the loss of the H.225 keepalive signal. For information regarding disconnecting a call when an inactive condition is detected, see the Media Inactive Call Detection document.
If You Have Cisco Communications Manager V3.3 or Later Versions
If you have Cisco Communications Manager V3.3 or later versions, you must create an SRST reference and apply it to a device pool. An SRST reference is the IP address of the Cisco Unified SRST Router.
Step 1
Create an SRST reference.
a.
From any page in Cisco Unified Communications Manager, click System and SRST.
b.
On the Find and List SRST References page, click Add a New SRST Reference.
c.
On the SRST Reference Configuration page, enter a name in the SRST Reference Name field and the IP address of the Cisco SRST router in the IP Address field.
d.
Click Insert.
Step 2
Apply the SRST reference or the default gateway to one or more device pools.
a.
From any page in Cisco Unified Communications Manager, click System and Device Pool.
b.
On the Device Pool Configuration page, click on the required device pool icon.
c.
On the Device Pool Configuration page, choose an SRST reference or “Use Default Gateway” from the SRST Reference field’s menu.
If You Have Cisco Unified Communications Manager Version Prior to V3.3
If you have firmware versions that enable Cisco Unified SRST by default, no additional configuration is required on Cisco Unified Communications Manager to support Cisco Unified SRST. If your firmware versions disable Cisco Unified SRST by default, you must enable Cisco Unified SRST for each phone configuration.
Step 1
Go to the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Phone Configuration page.
a.
From any page in Cisco Unified Communications Manager, click Device and Phone.
b.
In the Find and List Phones page, click Find.
c.
After a list of phones appears, click on the required device name.
d.
The Phone Configuration appears.
Step 2
In the Phone Configuration page, go to the Product Specific Configuration section at the end of the page, choose Enabled from the Cisco Unified SRST field’s menu, and click Update.
Step 3
Go to the Phone Configuration page for the next phone and choose Enabled from the Cisco Unified SRST field’s menu by repeating Step 1
and Step 2.