Cisco Cisco TelePresence MCU 4510 Installation Guide
Background
Background
MCU overview
An MCU is predominantly used to connect SIP or H.323 based single-screen endpoints into virtual meeting
rooms.
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.
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.
available in every deployment.
Note: A resource used for scheduled conferences should not also be used for non-scheduled conferences to
guarantee port availability for scheduled calls. Therefore we recommend that MCUs used for scheduled
conferences are never used for non-scheduled calls and separate MCUs are provided for non-scheduled
conferencing.
guarantee port availability for scheduled calls. Therefore we recommend that MCUs used for scheduled
conferences are never used for non-scheduled calls and separate MCUs are provided for non-scheduled
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 Cisco TMS, either using Cisco TMS directly or via
an integration point such as Microsoft Exchange.
participants. MCU scheduled conferences are booked via Cisco TMS, either using Cisco TMS directly or via
an integration point such as Microsoft Exchange.
Non-scheduled conferences
There are various means of creating or joining a non-scheduled MCU conference. These methods are not
supported on MCUs that Cisco 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 Cisco 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 MCUs auto attendant
number. It can be used to create a new conference or to join one that already exists. More than one auto
attendant can be configured, each with a unique dial-in number.
number. It can be used to create a new conference or to join one that already exists. More 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 used as a media resource with Unified CM or
when using TelePresence Conductor.
when using TelePresence Conductor.
Dynamic escalation conferences
When an MCU is registered to Cisco VCS the Multiway mechanism can be used, however it can only be
initiated by endpoints that support Multiway. When an MCU is used as a media resource with Unified CM
initiated by endpoints that support Multiway. When an MCU is used as a media resource with Unified CM
Cisco TelePresence MCU Deployment Guide 4.4
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Background