Cisco Cisco TelePresence MCU 4510 Document
Background
Cisco TelePresence MCU Deployment Guide
Page 6 of 32
Background
MCU overview
An MCU is predominantly used to connect SIP or H.323 based single-screen endpoints into virtual
meeting rooms.
meeting rooms.
The number of ports on the MCU limits the total number of concurrent participants. The number of
ports is dependent on the model of MCU/number of blades in the Cisco MSE 8000, the licenses they
have applied to them and the mode in which they are running.
ports is dependent on the model of MCU/number of blades in the Cisco MSE 8000, the licenses they
have applied to them and the mode in which they are running.
See the Cisco website for more detail on the MCU models.
Conference initiation
Conferences can be initiated on an MCU in a number of ways detailed below; however, not all of them
are available in every deployment.
are available in every deployment.
Note: A resource used for scheduled conferences should not be also used for ad hoc conferences in
order to guarantee port availability for scheduled calls. Therefore Cisco recommends that MCUs used
for scheduled conferences are never used for ad hoc calls and separate MCUs are provided for ad
hoc conferencing.
order to guarantee port availability for scheduled calls. Therefore Cisco recommends that MCUs used
for scheduled conferences are never used for ad hoc calls and separate MCUs are provided for ad
hoc conferencing.
Scheduled conferences
Scheduled conferences are pre-booked conferences with a start and end time and a pre-defined set of
participants. MCU scheduled conferences are booked via TMS, either using TMS directly or via an
integration point such as Microsoft Exchange.
participants. MCU scheduled conferences are booked via TMS, either using TMS directly or via an
integration point such as Microsoft Exchange.
Non-scheduled conferences
There are various means of creating or joining an ad hoc MCU conference. These methods are not
supported on MCUs that TMS uses for scheduled calls, and some methods are only supported when
the MCU is deployed in a certain way, as detailed below.
supported on MCUs that TMS uses for scheduled calls, and some methods are only supported when
the MCU is deployed in a certain way, as detailed below.
The MCU auto attendant
The MCU auto attendant is an interactive menu that is displayed when users dial the MCU
’s auto
attendant number. It can be used to create a new conference or to join one of the existing ones. More
than one auto attendant can be configured, each with a unique dial-in number.
than one auto attendant can be configured, each with a unique dial-in number.
Note: The auto attendant is not supported when the MCU is deployed on Unified CM or when using
Conductor.
Conductor.
Dynamic escalation conferences
There are two mechanisms that support the ability to escalate from a point-to-point call to a multipoint
call hosted on an MCU. Multiway is the VCS based mechanism that can only be initiated by endpoints
that support Multiway. Unified CM also supports a mechanism that requires the endpoint to support
the conference button in order to escalate the call.
call hosted on an MCU. Multiway is the VCS based mechanism that can only be initiated by endpoints
that support Multiway. Unified CM also supports a mechanism that requires the endpoint to support
the conference button in order to escalate the call.
Multiway escalation is only supported when using an ad hoc MCU registered to VCS. Conductor does
not fully support all Multiway features. Similarly, escalation using the Unified CM method must be to an
MCU configured as a media resource on Unified CM.
not fully support all Multiway features. Similarly, escalation using the Unified CM method must be to an
MCU configured as a media resource on Unified CM.