Cisco Basic Paging InformaCast Virtual Appliance Installation and User Guide

InformaCast Virtual Appliance Basic Paging®
Installation and User Guide for a Cisco® Unified Communications Manager
Environment 
October 9, 2013
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InformaCast Virtual Appliance Basic Paging 
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Last Updated: October 9, 2013
Contents
InformaCast Virtual Appliance Basic Paging Overview
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
Intended Audience
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
A Note on Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
A Note on Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
A Note on Usage
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Where to Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Troubleshooting
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
Installing InformaCast
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
Prepare your Multicast Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
Integrate Communications Manager
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Install InformaCast Virtual Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-34
Start InformaCast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-45
Log into InformaCast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-48
Change the Administrator’s Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-53
View Your License Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-54
Configuring InformaCast
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Configure Your InformaCast Server(s)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Verify that your Network is Configured for Multicast . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
Update JTAPI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
Using InformaCast
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Configure Recipient Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Configure Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-27
Manage SIP Functionality
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-30
Manage DialCast Functionality
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-67
Send a Broadcast
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-72
Cancel a Broadcast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-73
Administering InformaCast
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
Manage InformaCast Backups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
Manage Phone Updates
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
Configure SNMP Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
Configure Session Timeout
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-16
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Upgrading InformaCast from Basic to Advanced
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
Note the Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
Upgrade InformaCast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Enter Your New License Key
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1
Troubleshooting
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
Multicast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
Log Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12
Log into InformaCast Virtual Appliance’s Interfaces
. . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12
Start/Stop/Restart InformaCast and Reboot the InformaCast Virtual Machine
VMware Tools
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-30
Authentication
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-30
Phone Discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-31
Broadcasts
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-32
Upgrading InformaCast Virtual Appliance
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-33
Upgrading from Basic to Advanced InformaCast
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-33
8-18
Further Discussion
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-1
Determine the Busy State of a Phone with JTAPI’s Device State Server 9-1
Advanced Matching for Recipient Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4
Release Notes
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-1
What’s New in InformaCast 8.5.1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-1
New Caveats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2
What’s New in InformaCast 8.4.a
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2
What’s New in InformaCast 8.3.a
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-4
What’s New in InformaCast 8.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-5
What’s New in InformaCast 8.2.a
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-6
What’s New in InformaCast 8.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-6
What’s New in InformaCast 8.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-6
What’s New in InformaCast 8.0.2
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-9
What’s New in InformaCast 8.0.1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-10
What’s New in InformaCast 8.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11
What’s New in InformaCast 7.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-15
What’s New in InformaCast 7.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-17
What’s New in InformaCast 6.1.1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-20
What’s New in InformaCast 6.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-20
What’s New in InformaCast 6.0.1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-21
What’s New in InformaCast 6.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-22
What’s New in InformaCast 5.1.1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-24
What’s New in InformaCast 5.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-24
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What’s New in InformaCast 5.0.4
What’s New in InformaCast 5.0.3
What’s New in InformaCast 5.0.2
What’s New in InformaCast 5.0
What's New in InformaCast 4.2.1
What's New in InformaCast 4.2
What's New in InformaCast 4.1.1
What's New in InformaCast 4.1
What's New in InformaCast 4.0
What's New in InformaCast 3.2
What's New in InformaCast 3.1
What's New in InformaCast 3.0
What's New in InformaCast 2.1
What's New in InformaCast 2.0
What's New in InformaCast 1.3
What's New in InformaCast 1.2.3
What's New in InformaCast 1.2
What's New in InformaCast 1.1
Acknowledgments
Glossary
Index
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-25
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-26
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-27
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-28
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-30
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-31
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-32
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-34
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-34
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-34
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-35
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-36
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-37
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-37
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-38
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-39
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-1
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1
InformaCast Virtual Appliance Basic Paging Overview
For virtualized environments, InformaCast Virtual Appliance Basic Paging (InformaCast or Basic
InformaCast) is Singlewire Software’s IP telephony broadcast system that allows you to send a live
audio stream to Cisco IP phones. InformaCast is designed to get messages quickly to large groups of
people; when these messages are sent through InformaCast, they are called broadcasts.
Intended Audience
This guide is written with two audiences in mind, the administrators and users of InformaCast. There
are three versions of this guide: one for installations using Basic Paging, one for installations using
Advanced Notification in conjunction with Cisco’s Unified Communications Manager, and one for
installations using Advanced Notification in conjunction with a Hybrid Runtime Environment (HRE).
Please make sure you have the right version by looking at the cover page, or by looking at the
environment type printed at the bottom of every page.
When you install InformaCast in a Communications Manager environment, you should:
•
Be familiar with Communications Manager administration
•
Have multicast and networking knowledge
Prerequisites
InformaCast has the following system prerequisites:
•
Meet the hardware requirements as defined in this user guide (see “Hardware Requirements” on
page 1-2)
•
Use of one of the following supported browsers: Firefox 15, Chrome 18, or Internet Explorer 9
•
Enable and configure multicast routing for all network segments between InformaCast and its
phones
•
Configure a static IP address on the InformaCast virtual appliance
•
Install and maintain Cisco Unified Communications Manager server (including Business Edition
6000); the following versions are supported: 8.5, 8.6, 9.0, 9.1, 9.12, and 10.0
•
Enable web access on any Cisco IP phones working with InformaCast
•
Enable SNMP on all servers in a Communications Manager cluster
•
Run the AXL service on at least one server in the Communications Manager cluster
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Tip
•
Run the CTIManager service on at least one node that’s also running the CallManager service. The
CTIManager service can run on up to eight nodes in a cluster, and you should use more than one
node with this service for redundancy.
•
Know how to: obtain access to the command-line interface (bash prompt) of your InformaCast
server, perform basic UNIX commands, and use vi for editing files
Singlewire recommends a screen resolution of at least 1024x768.
Hardware Requirements
You should deploy InformaCast on hardware supported by VMware ESXi 4.0 - 5.1 because it provides
the lowest overhead of the VMware products (other VMware products such as VMware Player,
VMware Workstation, or VMware Server will work for lab or demonstration purposes). VMware ESXi
is available free of charge from vmware.com. If VMware is new to you, you may find these resources
useful:
•
Learn more about what benefits VMware can provide your organization
•
How to install VMware ESXi
If you are unsure whether your server hardware supports VMware, check the VMware ESXi
compatibility list.
InformaCast requires:
•
4Gb of memory
•
A dedicated virtual CPU (vCPU)-the InformaCast operating system and application are 32-bit, and
may run on 32- or 64-bit CPUs. The CPU speed requirements are defined as follows:
–
For IP phone deployments, InformaCast does not have a minimum CPU speed requirement;
regardless of the number of phones, InformaCast will scale to meet the need. In general, faster
CPU means faster phone activation time.
–
For Singlewire Desktop Notification System machines or IP speakers in excess of 1,000
endpoints, contact Singlewire for the most current recommendations.
•
A single virtual NIC configured for bridging, not NAT; InformaCast will not work through NAT'd
network connections
•
80Gb disk, which can be either local disk or SAN-attached disk (the SAN may be of any type
supported by VMware)
As a virtual machine (VM), InformaCast may be run co-resident with other Cisco UC virtual machines
on a VMware ESX host (a solution that is supported by Cisco’s TAC), as long as you don't modify the
InformaCast OVA configuration or oversubscribe the host CPU or memory. It is possible to run more
virtual machines than the VMware host physically supports (i.e. oversubscription), but this will
adversely affect audio quality and phone activation performance. In order to avoid oversubscribing your
VMware host, please make sure the following is true:
•
The sum of all vCPUs does not exceed the number of cores on the VMware host
•
The sum of memory needed by all VMs does not exceed the amount of physical RAM on the
VMware host
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•
The InformaCast VM is run in thick disk mode
A Note on Licensing
InformaCast’s functionality is based on its license, and depending on the license you have, you will be
able to access all of InformaCast’s functionality or only parts of it. Basic InformaCast functionality
includes the ability to send live audio broadcasts to up to 50 phones by dialing a number on your Cisco
IP phone. Advanced InformaCast functionality includes the ability to send a number of different types of
broadcasts (e.g. live audio, pre-recorded audio, pre-recorded audio and text, etc.) using your Cisco IP
phone’s interface and/or InformaCast’s web interface, interact with InformaCast’s plugins (e.g. conduct
conference calls, trigger contact closures, post to Facebook and Twitter, send broadcasts to email
addresses, etc.), customize scripts that can be attached to broadcasts, and receive confirmation when
broadcasts are sent, among other features.
Note
Upgrading from Basic to Advanced InformaCast is easily accomplished through the Try or Buy icons
or by contacting Singlewire to obtain a license for a switch in functionality. Downgrading from
Advanced InformaCast back to Basic is accomplished by clicking the Stop Advanced Notification
Trial button on InformaCast’s Manage License Key page (Admin | Manage License Key). This will
cause InformaCast to reboot, as will any future change in InformaCast functionality or license type.
In addition to Basic and Advanced functionality, InformaCast can also be obtained with a basic, trial,
demonstration, subscription, or purchased license. The basic license applies only to Basic InformaCast
functionality and exists in perpetuity. The rest of the licenses apply only to Advanced InformaCast and
can be obtained through Singlewire Software.
The trial license is included with your initial copy of InformaCast and allows you to try Advanced
InformaCast for free for 60 days. If you downgrade to Basic InformaCast before your trial period ends,
you can elect resume your trial for the remaining period (e.g. obtain Basic InformaCast, upgrade to
Advanced InformaCast through the trial, use Advanced InformaCast for 30 days, downgrade to Basic
InformaCast, and upgrade to Advanced InformaCast through the trial for the remaining 60 days).
When your trial period ends, you can elect to go back to Basic InformaCast or you can contact
Singlewire to obtain a demonstration, subscription, or purchased license.
The demonstration license allows you to try Advanced InformaCast for a set period of time. Because
it ends on a certain date, you cannot downgrade to Basic InformaCast and then resume Advanced
InformaCast on the demo license past its expiration date (e.g. you cannot obtain Basic InformaCast,
upgrade to Advanced InformaCast through the trial, obtain a demonstration license of Advanced
InformaCast that is valid for two weeks, downgrade to Basic InformaCast after one week, and resume
using Advanced InformaCast three weeks later).
The subscription license allows you to purchase Advanced InformaCast without the hassle of a
long-term contract; however, you must install InformaCast on an Internet-accessible server.
The purchased license allows you to purchase InformaCast and own it outright for a longer period of
time. Both subscription and purchased licenses come with access to Singlewire’s Support team and free
software upgrades.
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Caution
If you upgrade from Basic to Advanced InformaCast through either the trial, demonstration,
subscription or purchased licenses and you decide to return to Basic functionality, all additional
information entered during your Advanced phase will not be saved (e.g. when you revert to Basic from
Advanced, any information you entered after you upgraded initially—dialing configurations, users,
recipient groups, etc.—will not be available once you downgrade to Basic InformaCast). If you choose
to upgrade back to Advanced InformaCast, that information will reappear; however, any new
information you entered after you reverted to Basic functionality will be unavailable.
Warning
If you are moving from Basic InformaCast to Advanced InformaCast (and you have previously had
Advanced InformaCast), InformaCast will be restarted with the installation of this new license. Please
plan your upgrades accordingly.
A Note on Illustrations
The web-based administrative interface to InformaCast is dynamic; it changes with the kind of
environment (Basic or Advanced) as well as the permitted capabilities of the person logged into the
administrative webpages. Therefore, the screenshots displayed in this guide may not exactly match what
you see on your system. However, as specific points are covered in the instructions, the salient interface
elements will be shown.
A Note on Usage
Specific fonts are used to represent specific kinds of information in this guide. The fonts and their
meaning are listed here:
•
Bold fonts indicate the name of a button, text field, or other element with which you interact and
any text that you must enter.
•
Italic fonts indicate the name of an area or section on one of InformaCast’s pages.
•
Angled brackets enclose text that varies with your specific environment, i.e. http://<Your IP
Address> means that you would enter your specific IP address instead of the brackets and what
they enclose.
•
Blue, underlined text indicates a hyperlink.
•
U n d e r l i n e d t e x t indicates a tooltip in the InformaCast user interface. Hover your mouse
over the tooltip to see an explanation of the underlined text.
There are several kinds of notification boxes used in this guide:
•
Tip. These offer advice or “best practices.”
•
Note. These contain additional information, usually relevant in special cases.
•
Caution. These contain information about a procedure that may reduce the performance of your
system.
•
Warning. These contain information about a procedure that can impair or disable your system.
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Where to Start
If you have a specific task in mind, peruse the “Contents” to locate the instructions for that task.
Additionally, the index that starts on page 13-1 can help you locate desired information.
InformaCast has multiple user interfaces:
Note
•
Start page
•
InformaCast web interface
•
Toolbox
•
Virtual machine administrative web interface (Webmin)
•
Command line interface (CLI)
The initial login credentials for all interfaces are admin (login) and changeMe (password).
Start Page
The Singlewire Start page is accessible through a web browser addressed with the IP address of your
Virtual Appliance server, and it contains links to your applications’ user interfaces, the Toolbox, and
Webmin.
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Web Interface
The webpages you’ll use to administer InformaCast are comprised of navigational icons at the top,
which also house dropdown menus, and an administration pane whose contents change with what
you’re doing. The icons and their options also change with the access permissions you have in
InformaCast.
Depending on your access level, you’ll have access to:
•
Home. InformaCast’s homepage, complete with RSS news feed.
•
Messages. The message administration page.
•
Recipients. The recipient group administration page, allowing you to create and manage recipient
groups.
•
Admin. The configuration overview page, allowing you to view scheduled updates and backups;
manage the license key; and set up the system, network, and broadcast parameters, along with
DialCasts.
•
Help. InformaCast’s help pages, allowing you access to various aspects of the online help system.
Three additional icons (Try, Buy, and Learn) allow you to try Advanced InformaCast through a 60-day
free trial, upgrade to Advanced InformaCast through a purchased or subscription license, or learn more
about the features of Advanced InformaCast.
Note
While in Basic InformaCast, you will see a number of menu items that are grayed out, and you will not
be able to access them. These menu items are only available when you have Advanced InformaCast.
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Toolbox
The Toolbox is designed to be an inclusive destination for application-level accessories. Here, you can
access the License Manager to see all of your Singlewire applications’ licenses, review the functionality
they encompass, and update those licenses with newer versions. Or, you can use the Migration
Managers to migrate from a Windows platform to the Virtual Appliance. The “InformaCast Virtual
Appliance Administration Guide” has more information on Toolbox functionality.
Virtual Machine Administrative Web Interface (Webmin)
The virtual machine administrative web interface is used for administering the underlying operating
system of the virtual machine, e.g. configuring the network interface, stopping and starting InformaCast
and shutting down the virtual machine.
Command Line Interface
The command line interface is a text-based interface used for support issues and some configuration
procedures (e.g. those that require manual editing of files or the running of scripts). The command line
interface uses the bash command line shell, and can be accessed via a virtual machine console window
or over the network through the use of an SSH (Secure Shell) client.
Note
Rudimentary knowledge of bash is required to use the command line interface. If files are to be edited
on the virtual machine itself, knowledge of the vi text editor is also required. If you are not familiar with
the vi editor, you can optionally transfer files that need to be modified to another machine, edit them
there, and then transfer the modified file back to the InformaCast virtual machine. The transfer process
can be achieved via an SCP (Secure Copy) client, such as PSCP on Windows. PuTTY, available as a free
download (http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html) contains all the
necessary tools for transferring files.
Troubleshooting
If you’ve followed the instructions in this guide and are still having trouble getting InformaCast to
work, “Troubleshooting” on page 8-1 may help you figure out what’s wrong. You may also find a useful
answer in “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)” on page 7-1.
Getting Help
Your first line of support is the Help icon. Clicking it takes you to the online help system. Accessing
its dropdown menu allows you to access:
Note
•
The online help system
•
Its FAQ section
•
Its Troubleshooting section
•
InformaCast’s Support page
If you do not have an active network connection to the Internet, not all of the content on InformaCast’s
Support or Welcome pages will be available.
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InformaCast’s Support page (Help | Support) is where you can access all of the previously listed
online help links as well as the Calling Terminal Diagnostics page, InformaCast’s Performance,
Summary, and SIP logs, and a PDF of this guide.
Technical Support
For information on obtaining documentation, obtaining support, providing documentation feedback,
security guidelines, and also recommended aliases and general Cisco documents, see the monthly
What’s New in Cisco Product Documentation, which also lists all new and revised Cisco technical
documentation, at: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/general/whatsnew/whatsnew.html
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It is expected that this application will be installed and configured by an ESXi administrator who is well
versed in Communications Manager, as many of the concepts involved require familiarity with VMware
ESXi and Communications Manager, and it will be necessary to configure both as part of the
installation process.
The general steps to install InformaCast are:
•
Prepare your multicast environment
•
Configure Communications Manager for use with InformaCast
•
Install InformaCast Virtual Appliance on your ESXi server
•
Start InformaCast
•
Log into InformaCast
•
Change the administrator’s password
•
Enter your license key
Prepare your Multicast Environment
Note
Please follow these next recommendations before configuring InformaCast. Your InformaCast
environment will be more stable and configuration will proceed more smoothly.
You must enable multicast across your network in order for your recipients to receive the audio portion
of InformaCast broadcasts.
Caution
Just because music on hold works on your phones does not mean that it is using multicast. Music on
hold can be used with either unicast or multicast.
Multicast is communication between a single sender and multiple receivers on a network. InformaCast
has no special requirements for how multicast is enabled, and you should use your network vendor’s
best practices and design considerations. Multicast is typically routed with Protocol Independent
Multicast (PIM) that is deployed in either sparse or dense mode. InformaCast will work with either
mode.
For WAN links where your circuit provider will not route your multicast, you can configure GRE
tunnels, which carry your multicast traffic from the location where the InformaCast server is located
to its recipients. The only traffic that needs to traverse these GRE tunnels is the multicast traffic you
might want to route. The tunnels do not need to create a full mesh between sites; they only need to be
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configured from the hub location to the spoke location(s). Please see the following link for details:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk828/technologies_configuration_example09186a00801a5aa2.s
html
For recipients to receive the audio portion of InformaCast broadcasts, they make requests using
Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP). While most networks default to IGMPv2, newer
recipients may use IGMPv3. If newer recipients are being deployed, be sure to enable the newer
protocol version on network devices.
Network design and multicast configuration is outside the scope for which Singlewire can provide
support. It is recommended that you work with your network vendor or partner. The following table
provides guides and resources for more information on configuring multicast on your network.
Resource
Description
Quick Start Guide
Cisco IP Multicast Quick Start Configuration that provides
concise configuration examples
Design Guides
Cisco Design Zone for IP Multicast for access to the AVVID
SRND for Multicast Design
Multicast Troubleshooting
Cisco IP Multicast Troubleshooting Guide
IGMP Snooping
Cisco CGMP and IGMP Snooping documentation
GRE Tunnels
Cisco Multicast over a GRE Tunnel (for when a WAN carrier will
not route multicast)
Protocol Analyzer
Wireshark download link, which can be used to view network
traffic for troubleshooting
If you have a Cisco network, you can work with the Cisco TAC or locate a local Cisco Partner. The
following table provides Cisco resources for configuration help.
Resource
Description
Support Home
Cisco Troubleshooting Homepage
Phone or Email
Cisco TAC Telephone Numbers
Open Case Online
Cisco TAC Case Creation Tool
Partner Locator
Locate a Cisco Partner to contract for network consulting
Integrate Communications Manager
Before you can begin using InformaCast in a telephony environment, you must configure your version
of Communications Manager.
Note
The pictures in the following sections illustrate Cisco Unified Communications Manager v7.x; however,
the steps are consistent between versions of Communications Manager. Discrepancies are noted where
they occur.
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Warning
If you fail to configure Communications Manager in Basic InformaCast, upgrading to Advanced
InformaCast and then configuring Communications Manager before downgrading to Basic
InformaCast will require you to perform all the steps in this section again.
Configure Communications Manager SNMP
InformaCast uses SNMP to gather phone information from Communications Manager.
Enable SNMP on Communications Manager Cluster Nodes
You must enable SNMP on Communications Manager cluster nodes that will function with
InformaCast.
Step 1
Open a web browser and log into the administration interface of the Communications Manager server
(the address will be similar to https://<Communications Manager IP Address>/CCMAdmin). The
Cisco Unified CM Administration page appears.
Step 2
Select Cisco Unified Serviceability from the Navigation dropdown menu and click the Go button.
The Cisco Unified Serviceability page appears.
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Step 3
Go to Tools | Service Activation. The Service Activation page appears.
Note
Step 4
If you have more than one server, you’ll have to select your server from the Server dropdown
menu and click the Go button. The Service Activation page for that server will then appear.
Ensure the following services’ checkboxes are selected: Cisco CallManager, Cisco TFTP, Cisco
CTIManager, Cisco AXL Web Service, and Cisco CallManager SNMP Service.
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Note
Cisco CallManager SNMP Service, Cisco AXL Web Service, and Cisco CTIManager
must be enabled on your Communications Manager cluster.
Step 5
Click the Save button to save your changes.
Step 6
Click the OK button if you receive a message about activating/deactivating services.
Step 7
Verify that the SNMP service is running by going to Tools | Control Center - Feature Services. The
Cisco CallManager SNMP Service should say it is Activated. If not, click the green arrow in the top
left hand corner to start the service.
Create an InformaCast SNMP Community String
Follow these steps to create an InformaCast SNMP community string.
Step 1
Go to SNMP | V1/V2c | Community String. The SNMP Community String Configuration page
appears.
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Step 2
Select your server from the Server dropdown menu and click the Find button. The SNMP Community
String Configuration page refreshes.
Step 3
Click the Add New button to create a new community string. The SNMP Community String
Configuration page refreshes again.
Step 4
Enter InformaCast into the Community String Name field. You will need to remember this name
when you edit InformaCast’s SNMP configuration in “Configure Your Default Communications
Manager Cluster” on page 3-3.
Step 5
Select ReadOnly from the Access Privileges dropdown menu.
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Step 6
Select the Apply to All Nodes checkbox, if possible.
Step 7
Click the Save button. If you are prompted to restart the SNMP service, click the OK button.
Set the Default Codec to G.711
InformaCast requires that audio streams be in G.711 µLaw format. Because most Communications
Manager deployments use G.729 across the WAN, you need to create a region for InformaCast that will
always use G.711 for all calls to all other regions.
Step 1
Select Cisco Unified CM Administration from the Navigation dropdown menu and click the Go
button. The Cisco Unified CM Administration page appears.
Step 2
Go to System | Region. The Find and List Regions page appears.
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Note
If you are using Communications Manager 9.0 or later, you will go to System | Region
Information | Region instead of System | Region.
Step 3
Click the Add New button. The Region Configuration page appears.
Step 4
Enter InformaCast in the Name field and click the Save button. The Region Configuration page
refreshes.
Step 5
Select InformaCast from the Regions area (as well as any other phone regions where broadcasting
phones are located).
Step 6
Select G.711 from the Audio Codec dropdown menu.
Step 7
Select the None radio button in the Video Call Bandwidth area.
Step 8
Click the Save button.
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Note
Once changes have been saved, verify that all phone regions are associated to the InformaCast
region and using the G.711 audio codec. This will ensure that InformaCast can communicate
with the phones in these regions.
Create a Device Pool for the InformaCast Region
Subsequent sections will walk you through creating devices on Communications Manager. In order to
have those devices use the newly created G.711 µLaw region for InformaCast, you must first create a
device pool for InformaCast.
Step 1
Go to System | Device Pool. The Find and List Device Pools page appears.
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Step 2
Click the Add New button. The Device Pool Configuration page appears.
Step 3
Enter InformaCast in the Device Pool Name field.
Step 4
Select InformaCast from the Region dropdown menu. This refers to the region you created in “Set
the Default Codec to G.711” on page 2-7.
Step 5
Select/enter appropriate values for any required fields, which are marked with asterisks (*).
Step 6
Click the Save button.
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Create an InformaCast Route Partition
Partitions can be seen as a collection of directory numbers, allowing you to assign and group route
points for easier administration of the services that certain phones can reach.
Step 1
Go to Call Routing | Class of Control | Partition. The Find and List Partitions page appears.
Step 2
Click the Add New button. The Partition Configuration page appears.
Step 3
Enter InformaCast in the Name field and click the Save button.
Note
Make sure to add this partition to the calling search space your phones use or they will not be
able to reach InformaCast’s route points.
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Create Route Points
You must configure a CTI route point for InformaCast’s use if you want to use InformaCast’s DialCast
functionality. DialCasts allow you to trigger an InformaCast broadcast by calling this route point, which
is configured to send a specific message to predetermined recipient groups when a call is received.
InformaCast can support multiple CTI route points as long as they are created in Communications
Manager and associated to the InformaCast application user.
Tip
Instead of creating a CTI route point for every number you need for DialCasts, you could also add
multiple lines to a single CTI route point. Another option would be to use wild card patterns to match
a range numbers.
Note
DialCast also supports DNs that are associated with SIP trunks that enable InformaCast to receive SIP
calls. Please see “Manage SIP Functionality” on page 4-30 for more information. If you are planning
on using SIP to facilitate DialCast functionality, you can skip this section.
Step 1
Go to Device | CTI Route Point. The Find and List CTI Route Points page appears.
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Step 2
Click the Add New button. The CTI Route Point Configuration page appears.
Step 3
Enter InformaCast in the Device Name field.
Step 4
Enter InformaCast in the Description field.
Tip
Step 5
If you are adding multiple route points, use variations of InformaCast for the Device Name
and Description fields, e.g. InformaCast1, InformaCast2, etc.
Select InformaCast from the Device Pool dropdown menu.
Note
The device pool must use a region that will allow a G.711 µLaw call to phones that will record
voice messages.
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Step 6
Click the Save button. The CTI Route Point Configuration page refreshes.
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Step 7
Click the Line [1] - Add a new DN link. The Directory Number Configuration page appears.
Step 8
Enter a DN in the Directory Number field. This is the number your users will use to initiate a
DialCast.
Step 9
Select InformaCast from the Route Partition dropdown menu.
Step 10
Enter InformaCast in the Display (Internal Caller ID) and ASCII Display (Internal Caller ID)
fields.
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Step 11
Click the Save button.
Note
Add the InformaCast partition to your organization’s calling search space that the phones are
using or you will not be able to dial these extensions from your phones.
Create a Calling Search Space
InformaCast places a call to your Cisco IP phone to record the audio that will be broadcast. This is a
phone call just like any other call. You must ensure that your Communications Manager’s calling search
space allows calls to your SIP trunk or all the partitions within which your Cisco IP phone directory
numbers are located.
Step 1
Go to Call Routing | Class of Control | Calling Search Space. The Find and List Calling Search
Spaces page appears.
Step 2
Click the Add New button. The Calling Search Space Configuration page appears.
Step 3
Enter InformaCast in the Name field.
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Step 4
Select the partitions for the phones that will record a voice stream or in which your SIP trunk resides
(do not add the voicemail platform) from the Available Partitions area and move them into the Selected
Partitions area using the down arrow.
Step 5
Click the Save button.
Create CTI Ports
Use the following steps to create CTI ports for InformaCast.
Step 1
Go to Device | Phone. The Find and List Phones page appears.
Step 2
Click the Add New button. The Add a New Phone page appears.
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Step 3
Select CTI Port from the Phone Type dropdown menu and click the Next button. The Phone
Configuration page appears.
Step 4
Enter an appropriate name in the Device Name field for the new CTI port. For example, using the
entry “InformaCast,” will be consistent with the configuration example in “Prepare your Multicast
Environment” on page 2-1. As you add ports, you can simply append a number to this name, for
example: InformaCast2, InformaCast3, etc.
Step 5
Enter a description in the Description field. Communications Manager will default to the name of the
port. If you want more detail, you could set this to InformaCast Recording Port.
Step 6
Select InformaCast from the Device Pool dropdown menu.
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Note
Step 7
The device pool must use a region that will allow a G.711 µLaw call to phones that will record
voice messages.
Select InformaCast from the Calling Search Space dropdown menu. This calling search space must
allow calls to the partitions in which phones reside from which a user might want to record an
InformaCast message. Calling search spaces are unable to detect when voicemail answers a phone. If a
phone extension is called with the expectation that the person answering will dictate a message,
InformaCast will end up broadcasting the voicemail prompt until the broadcast is canceled.
Note
In Communications Manager 10 and later, the Owner ID field is required. Select the
Anonymous/Public Shared Space radio button above the Owner ID field, which will
remove the required setting.
Step 8
Select Cisco CTI Port - Standard SCCP Non-Secure Profile from the Device Security Profile
dropdown menu.
Step 9
Click the Save button. A warning dialog box appears.
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Step 10
Click the OK button if you are prompted to restart the CTI ports. The Phone Configuration page
refreshes, and you are given the opportunity to create a Directory Number (DN) for the new port.
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Step 11
Click the Line[1] - Add an New DN link. The Directory Number Configuration page appears.
Step 12
Enter a value in the Directory Number field that will not be used for any other purpose at your
organization, and which is not within a direct-inward-dialing range. Nothing will call this number. It’s
purely for InformaCast's use when placing calls.
Step 13
Select InformaCast from the Route Partition dropdown menu.
Step 14
Enter InformaCast in the Display (Internal Caller ID) field.
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Step 15
Enter InformaCast in the ASCII Display (Internal Caller ID) field. This will cause “from
InformaCast” to display on phones when they are called by InformaCast to record audio, which
provides a better user experience.
Step 16
Click the Save button to add the directory number.
Step 17
Repeat Steps 1 through 16 as many times as needed to create the number of CTI ports that you need
(minimum two).
Create an InformaCast AXL User Group/Access Control Group
To avoid the security risks of allowing multiple users access to the administrative credentials of
Communications Manager for AXL request authentication, create a group that has only the Standard
AXL API Access role.
Note
Step 1
If you are using Communications Manager 9.0 or later, AXL user groups have been renamed to access
control groups, the Find and List User Groups page has been renamed to Find and List Access Control
Groups, and the navigation to that page has changed to User Management | User Settings | Access
Control Group instead of User Management | User Group. Because of this name change, the User
Group Configuration page has been renamed to the Access Control Group Configuration page.
However, all the rest of the steps in this section remain the same. Only the way to access the Find and
List Access Control Groups page and its naming convention have changed.
Go to User Management | User Group. The Find and List User Groups page appears.
Note
If you are using Communications Manager 9.0 or later, go to User Management | User
Settings | Access Control Group. The Find and List Access Control Groups page then
appears.
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Step 2
Click the Add New button. The User Group Configuration page appears.
Step 3
Enter InformaCast AXL User Group in the Name field and click the Save button. The User Group
Configuration page refreshes.
Step 4
Make sure Back to Find/List is selected in the Related Links dropdown menu and click the Go
button. The Find and List User Groups page appears.
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Step 5
Click the Find button. The Find and List User Groups page refreshes and you should see your new
user group.
Step 6
Click the i icon in the Roles column next to your new user group. The User Group Configuration page
appears.
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Step 7
Click the Assign Role to Group button. The Find and List Roles window appears.
Step 8
Click the Find button. The Find and List Roles window refreshes.
Step 9
Select the Standard AXL API Access checkbox and click the Add Selected button. The User Group
Configuration page refreshes.
Step 10
Click the Save button.
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Create the Application User for InformaCast Broadcasts
InformaCast needs an application user set in Communications Manager so that it can establish a CTI
connection and gain access to the telephony features Communications Manager offers (e.g. making
phone calls, receiving calls on route points, using JTAPI to determine the busy status of a phone, etc.).
You also need an application user for AXL phone data requests. Those requests must include the
credentials for a user who has been granted access to the AXL API. Several roles need to be associated
with your application user:
•
Enable CTI Application Use. Enables the basic level of communication between InformaCast
and Communications Manager.
•
Standard AXL API Access. Allows you to have a separate set of credentials for AXL request
authentication, protecting your superuser administrative credentials from exposure.
•
Standard CTI Allow Control of Phones Supporting Connected Xfer and Conf. Allows JTAPI
to determine the busy status of a phone, communicating to InformaCast whether to skip it in a
broadcast (for phones that support the connected transfer and conference feature).
•
Standard CTI Allow Control of Phones Supporting Rollover Mode. Allows JTAPI to
determine the busy status of a phone, communicating to InformaCast whether to skip it in a
broadcast (for phones that support rollover mode).
Tip
Make a note of the username and password for the user you create, as you will need to enter them on
InformaCast’s Edit Telephony Configuration page (see “Configure Your Default Communications
Manager Cluster” on page 3-3).
Step 1
Go to User Management | Application User. The Find and List Application Users page appears.
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Step 2
Click the Add New button. The Application User Configuration page appears.
Step 3
Enter an appropriate user ID in the User ID field, e.g. InformaCast.
Note it here: _______________________
Step 4
Enter a password into the User Password field, and enter it again in the Confirm Password field.
Note it here: _______________________
You will need to remember the user ID and password values because you will enter them into
InformaCast’s own Edit Telephony Configuration page once you install InformaCast.
Step 5
Select the InformaCast route points and CTI ports (created in “Create Route Points” on page 2-12 and
“Create CTI Ports” on page 2-17) in the Device Information area and move them to the Controlled Devices
area using the down arrow.
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Step 6
Scroll down to the Permissions Information area on the Application User Configuration page and click the
Add to User Group button. The Find and List User Groups window appears.
Note
If you are using Communications Manager 9.0 or later, the naming change from user groups to
access control groups (see “Create an InformaCast AXL User Group/Access Control Group”
on page 2-22) means that you will now click the Add to Access Control Group button instead
of the Add to User Group button. Clicking the Add to Access Control Group button will
open the Find and List Access Control Groups pop-up window.
Step 7
Click the Find button. The Find and List User Groups window refreshes with a list of user groups.
Step 8
Select the Standard CTI Enabled, InformaCast AXL User Group, Standard CTI Allow Control
of Phones supporting Connected Xfer and conf, and Standard CTI Allow Control of Phones
supporting Rollover Mode checkboxes and click the Add Selected button. You will be returned to
the Application User Configuration page.
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Note
If you are using Communications Manager v7.1 or earlier, the Standard CTI Allow Control
of Phones supporting Connected Xfer and conf and Standard CTI Allow Control of
Phones supporting Rollover Mode checkboxes do not exist.
Step 9
Verify the InformaCast user has been added to the correct groups by scrolling down to the Permissions
Information area and viewing the user in the Groups field.
Step 10
Click the Save button to save your changes.
Enable Web Access for Cisco IP Phones
You must enable web access for all phones to which InformaCast will broadcast. The following steps
describe how to enable web access for phones individually and en masse.
Enable Web Access for Individual Phones
Use the following steps to enable web access for individual phones.
Step 1
Go to Device | Phone. The Find and List Phone page appears.
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Step 2
Click the Find button to display all phones of which Communications Manager knows or use the filter
fields at the top of the page to narrow your list of phone results before clicking the Find button. The
Find and List Phone page refreshes.
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Step 3
Click the Device Name link of the phone in which you want to enable web access. The Phone
Configuration page for that phone appears.
Step 4
Scroll down to the Product Specific Configuration Layout area.
Step 5
Select Enabled from the Web Access dropdown menu.
Step 6
Click the Save button.
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Note
You will have to reset your phones to make these changes permanent. However, you will also
have to reset your phones in “Configure Your Default Communications Manager Cluster” on
page 3-3. If you have a lot of phones, this process can be time-consuming. If you only want to
reset your phones once, wait to do so until after configuring your default Communications
Manager cluster.
Enable Web Access for Multiple Phones
Use the following steps to enable web access for multiple phones by changing their profiles.
Note
The following steps will only work for later versions of Communications Manager 7.x and newer. Use
the Bulk Administration Tool (BAT) if you are using earlier versions of Communications Manager.
Step 1
Go to Device | Device Settings | Common Phone Profile. The Find and List Common Phone
Profiles page appears.
Step 2
Click the Find button to display all the phone profiles of which Communications Manager knows or
use the filter fields at the top of the page to narrow your list of profile results before clicking the Find
button. The Find and List Common Phone Profiles page refreshes.
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Step 3
Click the Name link of the profile in which you want to enable web access. Make sure you select the
profile that applies to the phones where web access needs to be enabled. The Common Phone Profile
Configuration page for that phone appears.
Step 4
Scroll down to the Product Specific Configuration Layout area.
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Step 5
Select Enabled from the Web Access dropdown menu.
Step 6
Click the Save button.
Note
You will have to reset your phones to make these changes permanent. However, you will also
have to reset your phones in “Configure Your Default Communications Manager Cluster” on
page 3-3. If you have a lot of phones, this process can be time-consuming. If you only want to
reset your phones once, wait to do so until after configuring your default Communications
Manager cluster.
Install InformaCast Virtual Appliance
When installing InformaCast on the Virtual Appliance:
Note
Step 1
•
Basic installations are limited to one InformaCast server per cluster; however, Advanced
installations can be run with multiple InformaCast servers per cluster (contact Singlewire Sales for
details)
•
Neither Cisco nor Singlewire supports combining both Basic and Advanced InformaCast servers
in the same Communications Manager cluster
Singlewire supports InformaCast Virtual Appliance on the VMware ESXi 4.0 and later platform. This
platform is managed through the vSphere client. This section describes how to import InformaCast
Virtual Appliance using the vSphere client. Your client can be downloaded from your VMware server.
Download the OVA file from the Singlewire website or Cisco’s website.
Note
If you are using InformaCast on the Communications Manager Business Edition 6000, you will
be supplied with a DVD in a package with an OVA on it (physical media).
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Step 2
Open and log into the vSphere client. The vSphere Client window appears.
Step 3
Go to File | Deploy OVF Template. The Deploy OVF Template dialog box appears.
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Step 4
Click the Deploy from File radio button and click its Browse button. The Open dialog box appears.
Step 5
Navigate to where you saved the Singlewire-InformaCast-VM.ova file (or to the OVA file on the
supplied DVD), select it, and click the Open button.
Step 6
Click the Next button. The Deploy OVF Template dialog box refreshes.
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Step 7
Click the Next button. The Deploy OVF Template dialog box refreshes.
Step 8
Click the Next button. The Deploy OVF Template dialog box refreshes.
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Step 9
Select the datastore on which the new virtual machine will reside and click the Next button. The
Deploy OVF template dialog box refreshes.
Step 10
Click the Finish button. InformaCast Virtual Appliance will begin importing.
When it’s finished, click the Close button.
Step 11
Click the Inventory icon (
) on the vSphere Client window. The vSphere Client window refreshes.
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Step 12
Select your virtual machine (by default, this is Singlewire InformaCast VM).
Step 13
Go to Inventory | Virtual Machine | Open Console. The Singlewire InformaCast VM console
window appears.
Step 14
Click the green arrow button (
) to turn on the virtual machine. The Singlewire InformaCast VM
console window begins booting the virtual machine.
Note
Depending on the hardware resources available to InformaCast Virtual Appliance, it will likely
boot in less than a minute.
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When InformaCast Virtual Appliance is done booting, it will acquire an IP address using DHCP (if
there is a DHCP server available). The acquired DHCP address can be seen in the console.
Note
Singlewire recommends that you configure a static IP address for InformaCast. For specifics
on IP addresses and packet routing, please see your network administrator.
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SwiftStart will then start automatically, and you will see the End User License Agreement (EULA) page.
Note
SwiftStart will only automatically start on the initial boot of InformaCast Virtual Appliance.
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Step 15
Click the I Agree button to accept the EULA.
If you have DHCP enabled on your network, you will see the following picture:
You will be able to choose between the Use DHCP Parameters or Enter Manually radio buttons:
•
Clicking the Submit button with the Use DHCP Parameters radio button selected will allow
SwiftStart to make static the IP address it has detected, pull the relevant network configuration
information from this IP address, and configure your network to work with InformaCast. Skip to
Step 17 on page 2-44.
•
Clicking the Submit button with the Enter Manually radio button selected will allow you to enter
an IP address manually. Continue with the following steps.
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If you do not have DHCP enabled on your network, you will see the following picture:
Enter a routable IP address on your network that’s not currently in use, a valid netmask for that IP
address, its default gateway, the IP address(es) of a DNS server(s) on your network, and click the
Submit button.
Clicking the Submit button will allow SwiftStart to make the IP address you’ve entered static, use the
network configuration information you’ve entered about this IP address, and configure your network
to work with InformaCast.
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When your network configuration is successful, the Network Configuration page will refresh with a
statement confirming the success.
Step 16
Click the Finish button. The SwiftStart window appears with a note about starting InformaCast.
Step 17
Click the OK button and close your open console window.
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Start InformaCast
Note
If you completed all of the SwiftStart steps in “Install InformaCast Virtual Appliance” on page 2-34,
InformaCast will have already been started for you and you can skip this section.
If you didn’t complete all of the SwiftStart steps in “Install InformaCast Virtual Appliance” on
page 2-34, InformaCast will not yet be started. Once you initially start InformaCast (and there are no
startup problems), it will automatically start when the virtual machine is started.
Note
Step 1
To avoid complications, make sure InformaCast’s IP address has been statically configured before
starting InformaCast for the first time.
Open a web browser, enter the IP address of your InformaCast Virtual Appliance server, and press the
Enter key. The Singlewire Start page appears.
Tip
The Singlewire Start page allows you to easily access all of your Singlewire applications’ user
interfaces along with application- and system-level management tools. You may find it helpful
to keep this tab/window open during the time that you’re working with Singlewire applications.
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Step 2
Note
Step 3
Click the Access System Management Tools with Webmin link. A separate tab/window opens to
the Login to Webmin page.
You may have to accept a warning from your web browser about the security of this page’s content.
Enter your login credentials and click the Login button. By default, your username is admin and your
password is changeMe. The Webmin homepage appears.
The Webmin homepage displays versioning information and statistics about the Virtual Appliance.
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Step 4
Go to System | Bootup and Shutdown. The Bootup and Shutdown page appears.
Step 5
Scroll down the list of actions until you come to singlewireInformaCast. Click its link. The Edit
Action page appears.
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Step 6
Click the Start Now button. It will take a minute or so for InformaCast to start. From now on,
InformaCast will start automatically when the virtual machine boots.
Log into InformaCast
Once InformaCast is started, you can log into it and begin configuring it from the web interface. You
will start by logging into the InformaCast Virtual Appliance, which will open the Singlewire Start page,
where links to your applications’ user interfaces, the Toolbox, and Webmin are housed.
Step 1
Open a web browser, enter the IP address of your InformaCast Virtual Appliance server, and press the
Enter key. The Singlewire Start page appears.
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Tip
Step 2
The Singlewire Start page allows you to easily access all of your Singlewire applications’ user
interfaces along with application- and system-level management tools. You may find it helpful
to keep this tab/window open during the time that you’re working with Singlewire applications.
Click the InformaCast link. A separate tab/windows opens to InformaCast’s Startup page. If this is
the first time you’ve logged into InformaCast, and depending on your system, there may be a delay of
several minutes while InformaCast initializes.
Note
If you are using Internet Explorer to access InformaCast, you will receive an error, “There is a
problem with this website’s security certificate.” Since InformaCast, like Communications
Manager, is a locally-installed server rather than a global, public Internet site, there is no
practical way for web browsers to recognize its encryption certificate as safe. To permanently
bypass this error, install the self-signed SSL certificate present on your InformaCast server. See
the question on page 7-1 for details on installing this certificate.
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Once InformaCast initializes, you will be presented with InformaCast’s Login page.
Step 3
Enter admin in the Login field. The Login field is case sensitive.
Step 4
Enter changeMe in the Password field. The Password field is also case sensitive.
Note
These are your default credentials. “Change the Administrator’s Password” on page 2-53 will
show you how to change your credentials, which will make your InformaCast installation more
secure.
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Step 5
Click the Log In button. If the machine on which InformaCast is installed has Internet access, the
Getting Started Form page appears.
Note
Completing this form is required in order to access InformaCast’s functionality.
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If the machine on which InformaCast is installed does not have Internet access, you will see
InformaCast’s homepage. Skip the rest of this section and continue with “Change the Administrator’s
Password” on page 2-53.
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Step 6
Fill out the form and click the Get Started button. The InformaCast Welcome page appears.
Change the Administrator’s Password
In this phase of the installation procedure, you will change your administrator password. InformaCast
ships with a default administrative user, admin, so that you can log in and configure the system. In this
section, you will change it so that other people familiar with InformaCast won’t have complete access
to your configuration.
Warning
If you change your password in Basic InformaCast, upgrade to Advanced InformaCast, then
downgrade to Basic InformaCast, your password will revert to your original Basic InformaCast
password.
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Step 1
Go to Admin | Change Password. The Change Password page appears.
Step 2
Enter the current password in the Current Password field.
Step 3
Enter your new password in the New Password and Confirm Password fields. Choose a password
that you will be able to remember (or record it in a secure location).
Step 4
Click the Update button.
Note
If the passwords you entered in the New Password and Confirm Password fields do not
match or if you entered the wrong password, you will be prompted to try again.
You have now established a new password that you will use (along with the admin username) to log into
InformaCast.
View Your License Key
Your InformaCast license key (Admin | Manage License Key) contains your designated functionality
for InformaCast (e.g. Basic vs. Advanced, the number of phones to which you can broadcast, trial vs.
demonstration vs. subscription vs. purchased, etc.). For a further discussion of how licensing works in
InformaCast, see “A Note on Licensing” on page 1-3.
Note
Once you have exceeded the number of phones allowed by your license, you will receive a warning that
you’ve attempted to broadcast to more phones than are allowed by your license key, causing some
phones to be skipped. Consult the InformaCast Performance log (Help | Support) to see the phones
that have been skipped and contact your Singlewire salesperson about obtaining a larger license. You
can also retry your broadcast with a smaller group of phones. Your license limits you to 50 phones. If
you want to broadcast to more than 50 phones (i.e. 100 phones), you can send out one broadcast to 50
phones and a second broadcast to the next 50 phones.
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To optimize your installation, several aspects of the InformaCast software must be customized.
Complete all of the steps in the following sections:
•
“Configure Your InformaCast Server(s)” on page 3-2
•
“Verify that your Network is Configured for Multicast” on page 3-14
•
“Update JTAPI” on page 3-14
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Configure Your InformaCast Server(s)
When you click the Admin icon, you will be brought to the Overview page. On this page, you can view
various statistics associated with the configuration of InformaCast, such as how long the current
session of InformaCast has been running, your version of InformaCast, and the configuration of your
backups and phone updates.
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Configure Your Default Communications Manager Cluster
Follow these steps to set up the configuration of your default Communications Manager cluster. These
steps should be performed by your Communications Manager administrator.
Step 1
Go to Admin | Telephony | CUCM Cluster. The CUCM Cluster page appears.
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Step 2
Click the Edit button next to Default Configuration. The Edit Telephony Configuration page for that
cluster opens.
Step 3
Change name of your cluster (if necessary) in the Communications Manager Cluster Description
field.
Step 4
Enter the username of the application user that you created earlier into the Communications
Manager Application User field (see Step 3 on page 2-27).
Step 5
Enter the password of the application user that you created earlier into the Communications
Manager Application Password field (see Step 4 on page 2-27).
Step 6
Enter the application user password a second time into the Confirm Application Password field.
Step 7
Decide if you will use your application user or AXL user’s credentials. By default, the Use Application
User for AXL checkbox is selected, meaning that your application user credentials are used when
building InformaCast’s phone cache. Deselecting this checkbox means that your AXL credentials will
be used instead.
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Tip
Using your AXL credentials means that potentially more people have administrative access to
Communications Manager, which may pose a security risk. To close this potential security hole,
your Communications Manager Administrator should grant AXL API access to the application
user and tell your InformaCast administrator what the credentials are. The InformaCast
administrator then only knows the application user credentials and does not have administrative
access to Communications Manager.
Note
Different fields will appear on this page depending on whether the Use Application User for
AXL checkbox is selected.
For application user credentials, leave the Use Application User for AXL checkbox selected and skip
to Step 8 on page 3-5.
For AXL credentials:
Step a.
Deselect the Use Application User for AXL checkbox.
Step b.
Enter the Communications Manager administrator’s username in the Communications
Manager AXL User field.
Note
This is the same username you use to access the Communications Manager
Administrator interface, often CCMAdministrator for Communications Manager 7.x
through 9.x.
The username and password of the administrative login to the Communications Manager
server are required for gathering phone information to enable broadcast messages.
Step c.
Enter the Communications Manager administrator’s password in the Communications
Manager AXL Password field.
Note
Step d.
Step 8
This is the same password you use to access the Communications Manager
Administrator interface.
Enter the Communications Manager administrator’s password a second time in the Confirm
AXL Password field. The password is entered twice to double-check for typing errors since
its value is masked.
Enter your AXL IP address(es) in the AXL IP Address(es) field. Separate addresses with commas. If
you leave this field blank, InformaCast will attempt to find a server running the AXL service among
those servers running the CallManager service.
Tip
You can find which cluster members are running the AXL service by logging into your
Communications Manager, selecting Cisco Unified Serviceability from the Navigation
dropdown menu, and going to Tools | Service Activation. Scroll down the Service Activation
page to see whether the Cisco AXL Web Service checkbox is selected.
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Step 9
Enter the IP address of the Communications Manager server(s) in the Communications Manager IP
Address(es) field, which will be used when establishing a CTI (JTAPI) connection with
Communications Manager. You can enter any and all Communications Managers running the CTI
Manager service. Use the numeric IP addresses rather than DNS names.
When InformaCast needs to interact with the Communications Manager, it will use this address. If you
have a cluster of servers for redundancy and failover, you can list all of their addresses, separated by
commas. InformaCast will use the first one when it is available, and will automatically try the next ones
if it cannot reach the primary server.
Caution
InformaCast Basic Paging requires that your version of Communications Manager be 8.5 or newer.
After completing the fields on the Edit Telephony Configuration page and clicking the Update button,
InformaCast will determine your version of Communications Manager based on what you entered in
the Communications Manager IP Address(es) field. If you have Communications Manager 8.5 or
newer, you can continue using InformaCast Basic Paging. If you have a version of Communications
Manager prior to 8.5, you will be redirected to a new page where you can decide between the following
options: click the Try icon and start your 60-day free trial of InformaCast Advanced Notification or
click the Buy icon to obtain a demonstration, subscription, or purchased license for InformaCast
Advanced Notification.
Step 10
Enter the appropriate name in the SNMP Community Name field. You made a note of this name
when you configured your Communications Manager’s SNMP in “Create an InformaCast SNMP
Community String” on page 2-5.
Step 11
Enter the SNMP community name a second time into the Confirm SNMP Community Name field.
The community name is entered twice to double-check for typing errors since its value is masked.
Step 12
Highlight and copy the URL shown in the XML Push Authentication area.
Step 13
Open a new web browser window and log into the administration interface of the Communications
Manager server. The Cisco Unified CM Administration page appears.
Tip
You will be going back and forth between InformaCast and Communications Manager. It is
helpful to have separate web browser windows/tabs open.
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Step 14
Warning
Go to System | Enterprise Parameters. The Enterprise Parameters Configuration page appears.
In order for the Communications Manager server to be able to respond rapidly enough to all the phones
that are participating in a broadcast, you need to direct it to InformaCast's built-in authentication
service. Failure to complete Steps 14 through 21 will result in unreliable broadcast behavior. Also,
extension mobility will prevent phones from receiving broadcasts when users have logged into them
unless you follow this process.
Note
Once you make this change, InformaCast must be running when any XML push application is
used, because the phones will query the InformaCast authentication server.
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Step 15
Scroll down the page to the Phone URL Parameters area.
Step 16
Make a note of the URL in the URL Authentication field. You may need this in Step 20.
_____________________________
Step 17
Step 18
Paste the URL you copied from InformaCast’s XML Authentication area into the URL Authentication
field. This will usually be in the format: 
http://<InformaCast Server IP Address>:8081/InformaCast/phone/auth.
Note
Use the exact value InformaCast displays on the Edit Telephony Configuration page. The details
of the value will vary between installations, which is why InformaCast displays the correct, local
information for you. Also, the URL is case sensitive, so make sure that the I and C in the word
InformaCast are capitalized.
Note
If you’re using Communications Manager v8.x or later, you’ll need to paste the URL you copied
from InformaCast’s XML Authentication area into the Secured Authentication URL field in
the Secured Phone URL Parameters area as well.
Click the Save button on the Communication Manager’s Enterprise Parameters Configuration page.
Note
You must reboot your phones for the new authentication URL to take affect.
Step 19
Go back to your InformaCast window.
Step 20
If the original value of the URL Authentication field (noted in Step 16) was not the standard Cisco
authentication, enter this value into InformaCast’s Next Authentication URL field on the Edit
Telephony Configuration page.
This will tell InformaCast to delegate any authentication requests that aren’t its own responsibility to
your special authentication page. The normal behavior, which you get when this field is left blank, is to
delegate them to Cisco’s standard authentication page.
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Step 21
Click the Update button. You will be redirected to the CUCM Cluster page.
Step 22
Click the Note: You must refresh the Recipient Group list before attempting to send a broadcast
link. You will be redirected to the Edit Recipient Groups page.
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Step 23
Click the Update button to refresh InformaCast’s information pertaining to recipient groups. You will
be redirected to the Discover Recipient Groups page.
Step 24
Click the Update button again. You will be redirected to the Edit Recipient Groups page that will now
have a note that recipient group members have been updated.
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Edit Your Primary Cluster
Once you’ve configured your default Communications Manager cluster in InformaCast, you may need
to edit its information.
Step 1
Go to Admin | Telephony | CUCM Clusters. The CUCM Clusters page appears.
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Step 2
Click the Edit button next to the Communications Manager configuration you’d like to change. The
Edit Telephony Configuration page for that cluster opens.
Step 3
Edit the information for that cluster.
Step 4
Click the Update button.
Note
You will need to ensure your cluster’s configuration matches that which you have set up in
Communications Manager.
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Enable Audio Broadcast Support
If your InformaCast license includes audio broadcast capability, you’ll need to set up your audio
parameters.
Step 1
Go to Admin | Broadcast Parameters. The Broadcast Parameters page appears.
Step 2
Verify that there is an entry in the Starting Multicast IP Address and Ending Multicast IP Address
fields. This is the address that InformaCast will use to send IP multicast packets when broadcasting
audio messages to IP phones. You will need to ensure that your network is configured to treat this
address as a multicast address, and that your switches mark traffic to this address from the InformaCast
server as having the highest priority.
Note
The multicast IP address needs to be a valid IP multicast address, not your subnet’s IP broadcast
address. The default address InformaCast provides usually works; don’t change it unless you
have checked with your network administrator.
Alternatively, you can enter a range of IP addresses in the Starting Multicast IP Address and Ending
Multicast IP Address fields, which will cause InformaCast to cycle through this range of addresses,
using the next address in the range for each broadcast. You will need to ensure that your network is
configured to treat each address in this range as a multicast address and that your switches mark traffic
to this address range from the InformaCast server as having the highest priority.
Note
Step 3
Click the http://www.iana.org/assignments/multicast-addresses/multicast-addresses link for
information on how multicast addresses are assigned.
Click the Update button to save your changes.
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Verify that your Network is Configured for Multicast
You must enable multicast across your network in order for your recipients to receive the audio portion
of InformaCast broadcasts.
Caution
Just because music on hold works on your phones does not mean that it is using multicast. Music on
hold can be used with either unicast or multicast.
Network design and multicast configuration is outside the scope for which Singlewire can provide
support. It is recommended that you work with your network vendor or partner. See “Prepare your
Multicast Environment” on page 2-1 for available resources on configuring multicast.
Update JTAPI
Once basic functionality has been confirmed, you need to update the JTAPI library used by
InformaCast to the same version used by your Communications Manager server.
Step 1
Open a web browser, enter the IP address of your InformaCast Virtual Appliance server, and press the
Enter key. The Singlewire Start page appears.
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Step 2
Note
Step 3
Click the Access System Management Tools with Webmin link. A separate tab/window opens to
the Login to Webmin page.
You may have to accept a warning from your web browser about the security of this page’s content.
Enter your login credentials and click the Login button. By default, your username is admin and your
password is changeMe. The Webmin homepage appears.
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Step 4
Go to System | Bootup and Shutdown. The Bootup and Shutdown page appears.
Step 5
Scroll down the list of actions until you come to singlewireInformaCast. Click its link. The Edit
Action page appears.
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Step 6
Click the Stop Now button. It will take a minute or so for InformaCast to stop.
Note
Leave this window open. You will come back to it.
Step 7
Use an SSH client (Singlewire recommends PuTTY:
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html) to access InformaCast’s
command line interface.
Step 8
Open PuTTY. The PuTTY Configuration window appears.
Step 9
Enter InformaCast’s IP address in the Host Name (or IP address) field.
Step 10
Leave the Port field at its default of 22.
Step 11
Click the SSH radio button.
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Step 12
Click the Open button. The command-line interface for InformaCast appears.
Step 13
Enter admin at the prompt and press Enter.
Step 14
Enter changeMe at the prompt and press Enter. The command-line interface refreshes, showing you
that you’re logged in.
Step 15
Enter updateJTAPI at the prompt and press Enter.
Step 16
Enter exit at the prompt and press Enter.
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Step 17
Go back to your Stop Action page and click the Return to action link. The Edit Action page appears.
Step 18
Click the Start Now button. It will take a minute or so for InformaCast to start.
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4
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At its core, InformaCast’s main purpose is to send broadcasts out to recipients. InformaCast allows you
to configure recipient groups, send a broadcast, cancel a broadcast, and configure SIP and/or DialCast
functionality.
Configure Recipient Groups
If you’d like to be able to send messages to smaller groups of recipients (rather than all the recipients
in your system), you must set up appropriate recipient groups within InformaCast. If you have a
relatively small number of recipients, from a few to a few hundred, you can simply select the recipients
you want included as members. If you have a large (or very dynamic) number of recipients, you can
select multiple existing recipient groups and combine them into one larger group and/or construct
matching rules that specify the members of a recipient group.
Once you’ve added recipients by selecting multiple existing recipient groups and/or constructing rules,
you can also create exclusions, which allow recipients that had been included in a recipient group by a
certain rule or through a recipient group to now be excluded.
Note
By default, InformaCast initially creates an “(All Recipients)” group, which contains all the recipients
that can be discovered.
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Add a Recipient Group
Use the following steps to add a recipient group.
Step 1
Go to Recipients | Edit Recipient Groups. The Edit Recipient Groups page appears. This page
shows the number of phones for each group.
Step 2
Click the Add button. The Add Recipient Group page appears.
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Step 3
Enter the name of your group in the Name field. This name is what users will select when configuring
DialCast messages, so make it as self-explanatory as possible.
Step 4
Optionally, enter a name for a recipient group tag in the Tags field, which will create a new tag.
Recipient group tags allow you finer control over the display results for recipient groups.
Note
You can also create recipient group tags by going to Recipients | Edit Tags (see “Configure
Recipient Group Tags” on page 4-24). Existing tags will appear in the Add a Tag dropdown
menu on the Add Recipient Group page.
Decide whether you will add members to the group by selecting individual recipients, selecting existing
recipient groups, or making rules:
•
If you have chosen to select recipients, continue with Step 2 in “Create a Recipient Group by
Selecting Individual Recipients” on page 4-3.
•
If you have chosen to select existing recipient groups, continue with Step 2 in “Create a Recipient
Group by Selecting Multiple, Existing Recipient Groups” on page 4-6.
•
If you have chosen to make rules, continue with Step 2 in “Create a Recipient Group Using Rules”
on page 4-8.
Create a Recipient Group by Selecting Individual Recipients
Use these steps to add members to a recipient group by selecting the individual recipients to appear
within it.
Step 1
Complete the steps in “Add a Recipient Group” on page 4-2.
Step 2
Select the Individually checkbox on the Add Recipient Group page and click its Edit button. The
Select Individual Recipients pop-up window appears.
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Tip
Step 3
Click the down arrow next to a recipient to see its parameters.
Filter your list by entering text in the Filter field. This text will be matched to values of the following
constraints, which can be held by your recipient:
Matching Parameter
Description
Communications Manager Calling Search
Space
Phones that match the specified search space.a
Communications Manager Cluster Name
Phones that match the specified Communications
Manager cluster name.
Communications Manager Device Pool
Phones that match the specified pool.
Communications Manager Device Type
Phones that match the specified model, as
reported by the Communications Manager server.
Description
Recipients that match the supplied description
value. This is often a useful grouping tool because
you have control over the description of the
recipients in your system, so you can set up your
descriptions in ways that facilitate grouping.
The text you enter will be compared against the
Device Description entries of phones registered
with your Communications Manager server.
Directory Numbers
Phones that match the supplied phone number(s)
assigned to them in the Communications
Manager Server.
IP Address
Recipients that match the supplied subnet
boundaries.
InformaCast Device Type
Recipients that match in their functionality as an
IP phone.
Location
Recipients that match the supplied location value.
Name
Recipients that match the supplied name. Like the
Description parameter, you have control over
names, so they may useful for grouping, but
should be concise.
Partition Names
Phones that match the supplied dial plan partition
assigned to each directory number, a.k.a. phone
number, assigned to an IP phone in
Communications Manager.
a. Warning: If your site is using extension mobility, bear in mind that the calling search space, and even
the directory number, assigned to a phone can change when a user logs in. Because of this, you should
avoid using Communications Manager Calling Search Space as the criterion for setting up any
recipient groups that are supposed to reflect geographic (rather than personnel) divisions. For such
geographic divisions, IP Address is likely a better choice when extension mobility is a factor.
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Step 4
Double-click the recipients you want to include in your group to move them from the Available Recipients
area to the Selected Recipients area. You can also click on a recipient and click the Add link to move it from
the Available Recipients area to the Selected Recipients area.
Step 5
Click the Submit button to save your selection(s). The Add Recipient Group page now shows the
recipient(s) you selected.
Step 6
Click the Update button if you are done creating your recipient group. Your recipient group is added
to InformaCast.
Tip
At any point, you can click the View button to list the recipients included in your recipient
group. Within the View Recipients pop-up window that appears, you can click the down arrow
next to a recipient and view its details.
If you would like to further refine your recipient group, continue with “Create a Recipient Group by
Selecting Multiple, Existing Recipient Groups” on page 4-6 and/or “Create a Recipient Group Using
Rules” on page 4-8.
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Create a Recipient Group by Selecting Multiple, Existing Recipient Groups
Use the following steps to create a recipient group that includes the members of existing recipient
groups.
Note
If you further refine your recipient group by using rules, the rules will also apply to the existing recipient
groups you select in this section.
Step 1
Complete the steps in “Add a Recipient Group” on page 4-2.
Step 2
Select the Filter with Recipient Groups checkbox and click its Edit button. The Filter with Recipient
Groups pop-up window appears.
Step 3
Filter the results of your existing recipient groups by entering partial or full recipient group names in
the Filter field or by selecting a particular recipient group tag from the Select a Tag dropdown menu.
Note
Step 4
The filter value is case-sensitive and applied to both the recipient group name and tag. If the
recipient group tag matches the filter value, the recipient group will show up in the match list
(e.g. a filter value of AAA will match tags aaa or AAA). Also, if the recipient group name
contains the filter value, the recipient group will show up in the match list (e.g. a filter value of
phone will match the names Phones, phone, PHONE, All phones, etc.).
Double-click the existing recipient groups you want to include in your group to move them from the
Available Groups area to the Selected Groups area. You can also click on a recipient group and click the
Add link to move it from the Available Groups area to the Selected Groups area.
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Step 5
Click the Submit button to save your selection(s). The Add Recipient Group page now shows the
recipient(s) you selected.
Step 6
Click the Update button if you are done creating your recipient group. Your recipient group is added
to InformaCast.
Tip
At any point, you can click the View button to list the recipients included in your recipient
group. Within the View Recipients pop-up window that appears, you can click the down arrow
next to a recipient and view its details.
If you would like to further refine your recipient group, continue with “Create a Recipient Group by
Selecting Individual Recipients” on page 4-3, “Create a Recipient Group Using Rules” on page 4-8,
and/or “Add Exclusions to a Recipient Group” on page 4-11.
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Create a Recipient Group Using Rules
Use the steps in the following section to add members to a recipient group by creating rules that the
recipients must follow in order to be included. The rules can be general or extremely specific.
Note
Rules added in this section will also affect recipients added through selecting existing recipient groups
(as described in “Create a Recipient Group by Selecting Multiple, Existing Recipient Groups” on
page 4-6).
Step 1
Complete the steps in “Add a Recipient Group” on page 4-2.
Step 2
Select the Filter with Rules checkbox. The Add Recipient Group page refreshes.
Tip
Adjust your browser window so the rule elements all fit on a single line.
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Note
Step 3
The AND, OR, and Logical Expression radio buttons control which rules will be applied to
your recipients. AND means that your recipients have to match every rule you specify. OR
means that your recipients must match at least one specified rule. Logical Expression means
that your recipients must match a combination of specified rules based on the number in the
first column of the Rules table and the words “and” and “or.” For example, (1 or 2) and not (3
and 4 and not 5).
Select a parameter from the first dropdown menu just underneath the Filter with Rules heading.
(Initially, this dropdown menu has the selection InformaCast Device Type.) The parameters you can
select are described in the following table:
Matching Parameter
Description
Communications Manager Calling Search
Space
Phones that match (or don’t match) the specified
search space.a
Communications Manager Cluster Name
Phones that match (or don’t match) the specified
Communications Manager cluster name.
Communications Manager Device Pool
Phones that match (or don’t match) the specified
pool.
Communications Manager Device Type
Phones that match (or don’t match) the specified
model, as reported by the Communications
Manager server.
If you choose Equal as your constraint, you get a
dropdown menu with human-oriented model
names. Otherwise, you will see the underlying
numeric code number assigned by Cisco.
Can Display Text
Recipients that match (or don’t match) in their
ability to display text. Recipients that can display
text are typically IP phones.b
Description
Recipients that match (or don’t match) the
supplied description value. This is often a useful
grouping tool because you have control over the
description of the recipients in your system, so
you can set up your descriptions in ways that
facilitate grouping.
The text you enter will be compared against the
Device Description entries of phones registered
with your Communications Manager server Any
recipients whose descriptions match with the rule
you’ve specified will be considered part of the
recipient group.
Directory Numbers
Phones that match (or don’t match) the supplied
phone number(s) assigned to them in the
Communications Manager Server.b
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Matching Parameter
Description
IP Address
Recipients that match (or don’t match) the
supplied subnet boundaries. When choosing this
parameter, you are given a new Comparison Type
choice, Belong to Subnet, which allows you to
enter a subnet mask like 172.17.30.0/8. See
“Subnet Matching” on page 9-4 for more
information about this approach.
InformaCast Device Type
Recipients that match (or don’t match) in their
functionality as an IP phone.
Location
Recipients that match (or don’t match) the
supplied location value.
MAC Address
Recipients that match (or don’t match) the
supplied network hardware address of the
recipient, which is guaranteed to be unique across
your network.
Name
Recipients that match (or don’t match) the
supplied name. Like the Description parameter,
you have control over names, so they may useful
for grouping, but should be concise.
Partition Names
Phones that match (or don’t match) the supplied
dial plan partition assigned to each directory
number, a.k.a. phone number, assigned to an IP
phone in Communications Manager.
Profile Description
Phones that match (or don’t match) the
Communications Manager’s user device profile
description. Phones that are using extension
mobility or a profile when logged out are eligible
to be filtered in this way. This option is only
available when using Communications Manager
v6 or later.
a. Warning: If your site is using extension mobility, bear in mind that the calling search space, and even
the directory number, assigned to a phone can change when a user logs in. Because of this, you should
avoid using Communications Manager Calling Search Space as the criterion for setting up any
recipient groups that are supposed to reflect geographic (rather than personnel) divisions. For such
geographic divisions, IP Address is likely a better choice when extension mobility is a factor.
b. The recipient must be currently registered for this parameter to match. InformaCast has no information
about the detailed features of unregistered recipients.
Step 4
Select Does or Does Not from the second dropdown menu.
Step 5
Select the matching constraint from the third dropdown menu, which has context-sensitive choices. For
example, if you select IP Address as the rule parameter to match, a choice of Belong to Subnet will
appear as a matching relationship choice; this choice is not available for other matching parameters.
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Note
If you select the Match Expression relationship, InformaCast expects a regular expression in
the last field. See “Regular Expressions and Recipient Groups” on page 9-5 for a description
of regular expressions.
Step 6
Enter the criteria to be matched in the next field. (If you selected the Equal relationship, the criteria
element may facilitate your selection by changing from a field to a dropdown menu.)
Step 7
Select Ignore Case or Case Sensitive from the last dropdown menu to further refine your recipients.
Step 8
Click the Add button to add your rule. Automatically, another rule line shows up.
Step 9
Decide if your rule is sufficient as it stands or follow Steps 3 through 8 to add another rule.
Tip
Step 10
If you want to remove a rule, click the Remove button to the right of the rule’s definition.
Click the Update button if you are done creating your recipient group. Your recipient group is added
to InformaCast.
Tip
At any point, you can click the View button to list the recipients included in your recipient
group. Within the View Recipients pop-up window that appears, you can click the down arrow
next to a recipient and view its details.
If you would like to further refine your recipient group, continue with “Create a Recipient Group by
Selecting Individual Recipients” on page 4-3, “Create a Recipient Group by Selecting Multiple, Existing
Recipient Groups” on page 4-6, and/or “Add Exclusions to a Recipient Group” on page 4-11.
Add Exclusions to a Recipient Group
Use the steps in the following section to add exclusions to a recipient group, which allow recipients that
had been included in a recipient group by a certain rule or through a recipient group to now be
excluded.
Step 1
Complete the steps in “Add a Recipient Group” on page 4-2.
Step 2
Complete the steps in either “Create a Recipient Group by Selecting Multiple, Existing Recipient
Groups” on page 4-6 or “Create a Recipient Group Using Rules” on page 4-8 (or both).
Note
The Exclusions checkbox is only available if you select multiple existing recipient groups or
create rules.
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You’ll be viewing the Add Recipient Group page.
Step 3
Select the Exclusions checkbox and click its Edit button. The Exclude Recipients pop-up window
appears.
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Step 4
Filter your list by entering text in the Filter field. This text will be matched to values of the following
constraints, which can be held by your recipient:
Matching Parameter
Description
Communications Manager Calling Search
Space
Phones that match the specified search space.a
Communications Manager Cluster Name
Phones that match the specified Communications
Manager cluster name.
Communications Manager Device Pool
Phones that match the specified pool.
Communications Manager Device Type
Phones that match the specified model, as
reported by the Communications Manager server.
Description
Recipients that match the supplied description
value. This is often a useful grouping tool because
you have control over the description of the
recipients in your system, so you can set up your
descriptions in ways that facilitate grouping.
The text you enter will be compared against the
Device Description entries of phones registered
with your Communications Manager server
Directory Numbers
Phones that match the supplied phone number(s)
assigned to them in the Communications
Manager Server.
IP Address
Recipients that match the supplied subnet
boundaries.
InformaCast Device Type
Recipients that match in their functionality as an
IP phone.
Location
Recipients that match the supplied location value.
Name
Recipients that match the supplied name. Like the
Description parameter, you have control over
names, so they may useful for grouping, but
should be concise.
Partition Names
Phones that match the supplied dial plan partition
assigned to each directory number, a.k.a. phone
number, assigned to an IP phone in
Communications Manager.
a. Warning: If your site is using extension mobility, bear in mind that the calling search space, and even
the directory number, assigned to a phone can change when a user logs in. Because of this, you should
avoid using Communications Manager Calling Search Space as the criterion for setting up any
recipient groups that are supposed to reflect geographic (rather than personnel) divisions. For such
geographic divisions, IP Address is likely a better choice when extension mobility is a factor.
Step 5
Double-click the recipients you want to exclude from your group to move them from the Available
Recipients area to the Selected Recipients area. You can also click on a recipient and click the Add link to
move it from the Available Recipients area to the Selected Recipients area.
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Step 6
Click the Submit button to apply your selection(s). The Add Recipient Group page now shows the
recipient(s) you selected.
Step 7
Click the Update button if you are done creating your recipient group. Your recipient group is added
to InformaCast.
Tip
At any point, you can click the View button to list the recipients included in your recipient
group. Within the View Recipients pop-up window that appears, you can click the down arrow
next to a recipient and view its details.
If you would like to further refine your recipient group, continue with “Create a Recipient Group by
Selecting Individual Recipients” on page 4-3, “Create a Recipient Group by Selecting Multiple, Existing
Recipient Groups” on page 4-6 and/or “Create a Recipient Group Using Rules” on page 4-8.
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Edit a Recipient Group
After you have added recipient groups to InformaCast, you may need to edit their information.
Step 1
Go to Recipients | Edit Recipient Groups. The Edit Recipient Groups page appears.
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Step 2
Click the Edit button next to the recipient group you’d like to edit. The Edit Recipient Group page
appears.
Step 3
Make your desired changes. See “Create a Recipient Group by Selecting Individual Recipients” on
page 4-3, “Create a Recipient Group by Selecting Multiple, Existing Recipient Groups” on page 4-6,
“Create a Recipient Group Using Rules” on page 4-8, or “Add Exclusions to a Recipient Group” on
page 4-11 for more information on recipient group creation.
Step 4
Click the Update button when you are finished.
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View Recipients in a Recipient Group
Once you have created a recipient group, you may want to review the recipients you’ve included.
Step 1
Go to Recipients | Edit Recipient Groups. The Edit Recipient Groups page appears.
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Step 2
Click the Edit button of the recipient group you want to edit. The Edit Recipient Group page appears.
Step 3
Click the View button to list the recipients included in your recipient group. The View Recipients
pop-up window appears.
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Step 4
Click the down arrow next to a recipient to view its details. The Target Details pop-up window appears.
Step 5
Click the OK buttons in the Target Details and View Recipients pop-up windows to close them.
Step 6
Click the Cancel button to go back to the Edit Recipient Groups page or click the Update button to
save any changes you’ve made.
Copy a Recipient Group
When creating new recipient groups, you may want to start from a pre-existing recipient group that is
close to the configuration you’d like for your new recipient group and make small changes from there.
Step 1
Go to Recipients | Edit Recipient Groups. The Edit Recipient Groups page appears.
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Step 2
Click the Copy button next to the recipient group you’d like to copy. The Add Recipient Group page
appears.
Note
The Name field will automatically populate with the original recipient group’s name and
“copy” appended to it.
Step 3
Make your desired changes. See “Create a Recipient Group by Selecting Individual Recipients” on
page 4-3, “Create a Recipient Group by Selecting Multiple, Existing Recipient Groups” on page 4-6,
“Create a Recipient Group Using Rules” on page 4-8, or “Add Exclusions to a Recipient Group” on
page 4-11 for more information on recipient group creation.
Step 4
Click the Update button when you are finished.
Remove Defunct Phones from Recipient Groups
Defunct phones are recipients that are no longer available to Communications Manager when the
regular polling interval occurs. Recipients can become defunct if they lose power and/or are
accidentally unplugged. A large number of defunct phones can degrade InformaCast’s performance,
and they should be removed.
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When phones become defunct, they will display as “Defunct” in your list of recipients on the Add/Edit
Recipient Group page (see picture).
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Step 1
Remove defunct phones by clicking the Recipients icon or going to Recipients | Edit Recipient
Groups. The Edit Recipient Groups page appears.
Step 2
Click the Show All button near the top of the page. The Defunct Phones window appears.
Step 3
Click the Remove button. Your defunct phones are removed from any recipient group to which they
had been manually included or excluded.
Note
Recipient groups using rules do not recognize defunct phones as viable recipients for inclusion
in recipient groups.
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Delete a Recipient Group
As your needs change, you may want to delete unused recipient groups from the system.
Step 1
Go to Recipients | Edit Recipient Groups. The Edit Recipient Groups page appears.
Step 2
Click the Delete button next to the recipient group you’d like to delete. The Delete Recipient Group
page appears.
Step 3
Click the Delete button again. Your recipient group is removed.
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Configure Recipient Group Tags
Recipient group tags allow you finer control over the display results for recipient groups.
Add a Recipient Group Tag
Before you can filter recipient groups through tags, you need to add them to InformaCast.
Step 1
Go to Recipients | Edit Tags. The Edit Tags page appears.
Step 2
Enter a name for your tag in the New Tag(s) field. Separate multiple tag names with a comma.
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Step 3
Click the Add button. Your tag(s) will appear in the table on the Edit Tags page. When you assign your
tags to recipient groups, the number of recipient groups assigned to that tag will also appear in the table.
Edit a Recipient Group Tag
Once you’ve added recipient group tags, you may need to edit their names.
Step 1
Go to Recipients | Edit Tags. The Edit Tags page appears.
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Step 2
Click the Edit button next to the tag you’d like to change. The Edit Recipient Group Tag page appears.
Step 3
Make your changes.
Step 4
Click the Update button. Your changes are saved.
Delete a Recipient Group Tag
As your needs change, you may want to delete existing tags from InformaCast.
Step 1
Go to Recipients | Edit Tags. The Edit Tags page appears.
Step 2
Click the Delete button next to the recipient group you want to delete.
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Step 3
Click the OK button to accept the warning. Your tag is deleted.
Configure Messages
Messages are the basis of any InformaCast broadcast. A message predefines the characteristics of the
broadcast.
A message can be composed of text, audio, or both; however, with Basic InformaCast functionality, you
only have access to Live Audio broadcasts. In these messages, the audio is not recorded at all; it is
streamed to recipient groups in real time when the message is broadcast. These broadcasts will skip any
phones that are in use when the broadcast occurs, wait until all recipients capable of playing audio are
ready to play the broadcast, play the broadcast at the volume at which the phone is set when the
broadcast occurs, and if there are simultaneous broadcasts attempted, will play the first broadcast first
(the second broadcast will be bumped) With Advanced InformaCast, you’d have access to all the
messages described in the following table.
Message Type
Description
Text
These messages appear on the phone’s display and in a pop-up window
on Desktop Notification System machines.
Text and Pre-recorded
Audio
These messages have the same display features as Text messages, but
add an audible component.
Text and Live Audio
These messages are the combination of a Text message (whose content
is predetermined, although it may be dynamic) with Live Audio that is
streamed to recipient groups in real time when the message is broadcast.
Text and Ad-hoc Audio
These messages are the combination of a Text message (whose content
is predetermined, although it may be dynamic) with an Ad-hoc Audio
message, whose content is determined when the message is broadcast.
Ad-hoc broadcasts are sent immediately after the audio is recorded.
They are used to rapidly respond to unpredictable events.
Pre-Recorded Audio
These messages are audio only and are sent to the specified combination
of phones, IP speakers, and Desktop Notification System machines.
These messages have no display component; they do not affect the
display of the phone (other than a small animation showing incoming
stream activity, and the illumination of the Mute and Speaker lights
during the audio broadcast).
Live Audio
In these messages, the audio is not recorded at all; it is streamed to
recipient groups in real time when the message is broadcast.
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Message Type
Description
Ad-hoc Audio
These messages are a form of Audio message in which the audio is not
recorded in advance; instead, it is recorded each time the message is
sent. Ad-hoc broadcasts are sent immediately after the audio is
recorded. They are used to rapidly respond to unpredictable events.
Talk and Listen
Talk and Listen messages allow any phone in a recipient group to speak,
in real time (“live”), to all the other phones receiving the broadcast by
pressing a Talk softkey. Other listeners can respond by pressing the
Talk softkey on their own phones.
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Click the Messages icon or go to Messages | Send or Edit Messages. The Send or Edit Messages
page appears.
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Note
With Basic InformaCast functionality, you can view all of the potential InformaCast messages, but you
cannot configure any of them unless you have Advanced InformaCast functionality. Contact Singlewire
to obtain an Advanced InformaCast license, which is available as a free trial or for purchase, and gain
access to all of InformaCast's functionality.
Aside from viewing potential InformaCast messages, you can also view active broadcasts by clicking
the View button (only visible on the Send or Edit Messages page when there is an active broadcast)
and cancel any ongoing broadcasts (see “Cancel a Broadcast” on page 4-73).
Manage SIP Functionality
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is supported by a growing number of PBXs and telephony devices,
and provides InformaCast with the capability to receive SIP calls, allowing other SIP devices to locate
and call InformaCast. InformaCast’s SIP functionality provides these important features:
Note
•
Access control. Controls the devices from which InformaCast will accept SIP packets.
•
Authentication of incoming requests. Allows incoming SIP requests to be authenticated using
digest authentication.
•
Secure signalling. Enables the exchange of SIP messages in a secure fashion by using the
Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol.
•
Authentication challenges. Enables InformaCast to respond to authentication challenges issued
by other SIP devices when sending a request.
Configuring SIP functionality allows you to access DialCast functionality without the use of route
points configured in Communications Manager—although you can still use Communications Manager
if you wish—by using SIP/SIP devices to communicate with InformaCast.
In order to configure SIP functionality, you will need to configure a SIP trunk and InformaCast’s SIP
pages.
Configure a SIP Trunk
If you would rather use SIP for telephony communication with InformaCast instead of
Communications Manager’s route points in combination with CTI or JTAPI, you need create a SIP
trunk, which has three basic components: a SIP trunk security profile, a SIP trunk, and a route pattern.
Note
The following sections should be used with Communications Manager 7.0 and later.
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Create a SIP Trunk Security Profile
A SIP trunk security profile specifies things such as the transport protocol to be used, whether digest
authentication should be performed, etc.
Note
The pictures in the following sections illustrate Cisco Unified Communications Manager v7.x; however,
the steps are consistent between versions of Communications Manager. Discrepancies are noted where
they occur.
Step 1
Open a web browser and log into the administration interface of the Communications Manager server
(the address will be similar to https://<Communications Manager IP Address>/CCMAdmin). The
Cisco Unified CM Administration page appears.
Step 2
Go to System | Security Profile | SIP Trunk Security Profile. The Find and List SIP Trunk Security
Profiles page appears.
Note
If you are using Communications Manager 9.0 or later, you will go to System | Security | SIP
Trunk Security Profile instead of System | Security Profile | SIP Trunk Security Profile.
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Step 3
Click the Find button. The Find and List SIP Trunk Security Profiles page refreshes with a list of SIP
trunk security profiles.
Step 4
Click the Copy icon in the row of your default profile, Non Secure SIP Trunk Profile. The SIP Trunk
Security Profile Configuration page appears.
Step 5
Enter a unique name for your SIP trunk security profile in the Name field, e.g. InformaCast.
Step 6
Enter a description of your SIP trunk security profile in the Description field.
Step 7
Select Non Secure from the Device Security Mode dropdown menu.
Note
If you would like to use the TLS protocol with your environment, create the SIP trunk as
directed here and also follow the steps in “Manage SIP Certificates to Facilitate TLS Protocol”
on page 4-49.
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Once you select a Device Security mode, the Incoming and Outgoing Transport Type fields will
automatically fill with information.
Step 8
Select either TCP or UDP from the Outgoing Transport Type dropdown menu.
Step 9
Leave the Incoming Port field as 5060.
Note
Step 10
Changing this port number necessitates you changing it on the InformaCast Virtual Appliance’s firewall
as well to allow inbound traffic on the new port.
Click the Save button.
Create a SIP Trunk
Use the following steps to create a SIP trunk that uses the security profile you just created.
Step 1
Go to Device | Trunk. The Find and List Trunks page appears.
Step 2
Click the Add New button. The Trunk Configuration page appears.
Step 3
Select SIP Trunk from the Trunk Type dropdown menu.
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Step 4
Ensure that SIP appears as the Device Protocol dropdown menu selection.
Step 5
Leave the Trunk Service Type dropdown menu at its default of None(Default).
Step 6
Click the Next button. The Trunk Configuration page refreshes.
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Step 7
Enter a name for your SIP trunk in the Device Name field, e.g. InformaCast.
Step 8
Select the device pool you created in “Create a Device Pool for the InformaCast Region” on page 2-9
from the Device Pool dropdown menu.
Step 9
Scroll down to the Inbound Calls area and select the calling search space you created in “Create a Calling
Search Space” on page 2-16 from the Calling Search Space dropdown menu.
Step 10
Scroll down to the SIP Information area and enter the IP address of your InformaCast server in the
Destination Address field.
Step 11
Ensure that the value in the Destination Port field is the same as listed in Step 9 on page 4-33.
Note
Changing this port number necessitates you changing it on the InformaCast Virtual Appliance’s firewall
as well to allow inbound traffic on the new port.
Step 12
Select the SIP trunk security profile that you created in “Create a SIP Trunk Security Profile” on
page 4-31 from the SIP Trunk Security Profile dropdown menu.
Step 13
Select Standard SIP Profile from the SIP Profile dropdown menu.
Step 14
Click the Save button.
Create a Route Pattern
Use the following steps to create a route pattern that uses the SIP trunk you created in “Create a SIP
Trunk” on page 4-33. In your route pattern, specify a range of DNs that, when called, use the SIP trunk.
Another option would be to use wild card patterns to match a range numbers.
Step 1
Go to Call Routing | Route/Hunt | Route Pattern. The Find and List Route Patterns page appears.
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Step 2
Click the Add New button. The Route Pattern Configuration page appears.
Step 3
Enter a route pattern in the Route Pattern field, e.g. 12345.
Step 4
Select the route partition you created in “Create an InformaCast Route Partition” on page 2-11 from
the Route Partition dropdown menu.
Step 5
Enter a description of your route pattern in the Description field.
Step 6
Select the SIP trunk you created in “Create a SIP Trunk” on page 4-33 from the Gateway/Route List
dropdown menu.
Step 7
Select the Route This Pattern radio button.
Step 8
Click the Save button.
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Allow/Disable SIP Access to InformaCast
SIP access permits you to either allow or deny incoming SIP calls. The all-or-nothing scope of these
buttons can be tuned by adding exceptions that counteract their setting. For example, when all
incoming SIP calls are denied, exceptions serve to allow calls to be answered from those hosts specified
by them. On the other hand, when all incoming SIP calls are allowed, exceptions serve to reject calls
from those hosts specified by them.
SIP is processed through InformaCast in the following manner: a SIP client sends an INVITE message
to a SIP peer when it wants to start or modify a call with that peer. A Via header containing the host’s
address is added to the request when the client sends the INVITE message. As the message is routed
to its destination, additional Via headers are added at each hop. When the message arrives at its final
destination, one or more Via headers are present in the request. Via headers are used by SIP to ensure
that responses are routed back to the caller through the same hosts that participated in sending the
request. InformaCast uses the host in the top Via header when determining if the INVITE should be
accepted or denied. The top Via header represents the last host that handled the request before it
reached InformaCast.
Note
Step 1
Changes made to SIP access take effect immediately and do not require a restart of InformaCast.
Go to Admin | SIP | SIP Access. The SIP Access page appears.
Note
Step 2
By default, SIP access is denied.
Select the Allow radio button to allow SIP calls to be answered.
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Step 3
Click the Add button to add exceptions to the SIP calls that are allowed. The Add SIP Access
Exception page appears.
Step 4
Enter the IP address or fully qualified domain name of the host you want to exclude from SIP access
in the Host field.
Tip
When defining exceptions, make sure to specify the host that directly sends the INVITE
request to InformaCast. This may be a SIP proxy server if proxies stand between InformaCast
and the calling host.
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Step 5
Click the Add button. The SIP Access page appears with your new exception noted.
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Note
Step 6
Tip
If you had elected to deny SIP access by selecting the Deny radio button, you can still allow
some SIP access by adding exceptions, as was illustrated in Step 5. In that case, your SIP Access
page would appear as follows:
Click the Update button to save your changes.
Click the Restore button to return InformaCast to its default settings.
Enable SIP Authentication for InformaCast
Note
This section is optional depending on the security of your environment.
SIP authentication allows you to enable or disable digest authentication of incoming SIP requests. SIP
authentication works in the following manner: SIP provides a stateless, challenge-based mechanism for
authentication that is based on authentication in HTTP. Any time that a SIP device receives a request
(with the exception of ACK messages or the CANCEL method), it may challenge the initiator of the
request to provide assurance of its identity. Once the originator has been identified, the recipient of the
request should ascertain whether or not this user is authorized to make the request in question.
InformaCast responds with an UNAUTHORIZED (401) HTTP status when a request either does not
contain an Authorization header or uses an Authorization header containing invalid data. The response
sent to the peer contains a WWWAuthenticate header specifying the SIP realm for which credentials
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must be provided. The peer must send another request containing a valid Authorization header before
InformaCast will accept it. The header must use the same credentials that are given on this page and
the same SIP realm.
Step 1
Open a web browser and log into the administration interface of the Communications Manager server
(the address will be similar to https://<Communications Manager IP Address>/CCMAdmin). The
Cisco Unified CM Administration page appears.
Step 2
Go to User Management | SIP Realm. The Find and List SIP Realms page appears.
Step 3
Click the Find button. The Find and List SIP Realms page appears with a list of your configured SIP
realms OR, if you have no SIP realms set up, it will display no records.
If you have a SIP realm you’d like to use, select it and make note of the values that appear in the
following fields on the SIP Realm Configuration page:
•
Realm
•
User
•
Digest Credentials
Skip to Step 10 on page 4-43.
If you have no realms set up, continue with the following steps.
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Step 4
Click the Add New button. The SIP Realm Configuration page appears.
Step 5
Enter InformaCast in the Realm field.
Step 6
Enter sipuser in the User field.
Step 7
Enter changeMe in the Digest Credentials field.
Step 8
Enter changeMe in the Confirm Digest Credentials field.
Step 9
Click the Save button.
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Step 10
Open a web browser, enter the IP address of your InformaCast Virtual Appliance server, and press the
Enter key. The Singlewire Start page appears.
Step 11
Click the InformaCast link. A separate tab/window opens to the InformaCast Login page.
Note
You may have to accept a warning from your web browser about the security of this page’s content.
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Step 12
Enter your credentials and click the Log In button. The InformaCast homepage appears.
Step 13
Go to Admin | SIP | SIP Authentication. The SIP Authentication page appears.
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Note
Step 14
By default, SIP authentication is disabled.
Select the Authenticate Incoming Requests checkbox to enable SIP authentication.
Note
The fields on this page come pre-filled. You only need to edit them if you want to change them.
By default, the realm is named InformaCast, the authentication username is sipuser, and the
authentication password is changeMe.
Step 15
Ensure that the values in the Realm, Authentication Username, Authentication Password, and
Confirm Authentication Password fields match the values you made note of/entered on the SIP
Realm Configuration page of Communications Manager (i.e. Realm, User, Digest Credentials, and
Confirm Digest Credentials, respectively).
Step 16
Select the length of time InformaCast should allow for a single authentication request from the Nonce
Duration dropdown menu.
Note
Step 17
The nonce value is used by the digest authentication scheme to provide additional security.
Clients making requests will use it until it is deemed by InformaCast to be stale.
Click the Update button to save your changes.
Enable Digest Authentication with SIP User Credentials
Note
This section is optional depending on the security of your environment.
SIP peers may challenge InformaCast to provide valid credentials for its SIP realm when registering or
terminating a SIP call. Lack of valid credentials for a challenging realm means that requests to it will be
rejected. You should enter valid credentials for each SIP realm where you expect InformaCast to be
challenged.
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Add SIP User Credentials
Use the following steps to add SIP user credentials to InformaCast.
Step 1
Go to Admin | SIP | SIP User Credentials. The SIP User Credentials page appears.
Step 2
Click the Add button. The Add SIP User Credentials page appears.
Step 3
Enter the name of your SIP peer’s SIP realm in the Realm field.
Step 4
Enter the username associated with the SIP peer’s SIP realm in the User field.
Step 5
Enter the password of the username associated with the SIP peer’s SIP realm in the Password and
Confirm Password fields.
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Step 6
Click the Add button.
Edit SIP User Credentials
Once you have added SIP user credentials to InformaCast, you may want to edit their information.
Step 1
Go to Admin | SIP | SIP User Credentials. The SIP User Credentials page appears.
Step 2
Click the Edit button next to the user credentials you want to modify. The Edit SIP User Credentials
page appears.
Step 3
Make your desired changes.
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Step 4
Click the Update button to save your changes.
Delete SIP User Credentials
As your needs change, you may want to remove SIP user credentials from InformaCast.
Step 1
Go to Admin | SIP | SIP User Credentials. The SIP User Credentials page appears.
Step 2
Click the Delete button next to the SIP user credentials you want to delete. The Delete SIP User
Credentials page appears.
Step 3
Click the Delete button. Your SIP user credentials are removed.
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Manage SIP Certificates to Facilitate TLS Protocol
Note
This section is optional depending on the security of your environment.
The TLS protocol is used by SIP to provide secure signalling between SIP endpoints. Using TLS
between two SIP hosts first requires the sending host to make a TCP connection with other host. Once
the TCP connection has been made, the two hosts must agree upon an encryption protocol and cipher
suite to be used when exchanging encrypted data with each other. Next, the two hosts must prove to
each other that they are who they represent themselves to be. This process involves each host passing
its identity certificate to the other host, thereby proving its trustworthiness since a copy of that
certificate already resides in the other host’s cache of trusted certificates. Once these steps have been
successfully completed, the two hosts are ready to exchange SIP requests and responses between
themselves over a secure channel.
It is essential that the InformaCast certificate be downloaded and installed at each host that expects to
use TLS as its SIP transport protocol with InformaCast. It is also essential that a certificate from each
of those same hosts be uploaded to InformaCast. You will also need to modify it and its security profile
to use TLS.
When InformaCast is first installed, the key store only contains an RSA self-signed certificate for
InformaCast. The InformaCast key store file is named keystore.jks (typically located in
/usr/local/singlewire/InformaCast/web/WEB-INF/sip) and uses changeMe for its password. Each
certificate in the certificate cache has an alias assigned to it. The alias is assigned when the certificate is
uploaded and is set to be equal to the lowercase value of the common name in the certificate’s subject
line (i.e. CN=...).
View the InformaCast SIP Certificate
Use the following steps to view the SIP certificate for InformaCast.
Step 1
Go to Admin | SIP | SIP Certificates. The SIP Certificates page appears.
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Note
InformaCast installs with its own SIP certificate.
Step 2
Click the View button. The SIP Certificates page refreshes.
Step 3
Click the Done button to return to the SIP Certificates page.
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Install the InformaCast SIP Certificate on a SIP Device
To use the TLS protocol between Communications Manager and InformaCast, you will need to be
using a SIP trunk for SIP configuration and install InformaCast’s SIP certificate on all nodes in the
Communications Manager group used by the trunk’s device pool.
Step 1
Go to Admin | SIP | SIP Certificates. The SIP Certificates page appears.
Step 2
Click the Download button. The File Download dialog box appears.
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Step 3
Click the Save button. The Save As dialog box appears.
Step 4
Select a location accessible to your Communications Manager server(s) and click the Save button.
Note
Step 5
Leave this window open. You will come back to it.
Open a web browser and log into the administration interface of the Communications Manager server
(the address will be similar to https://<Communications Manager IP Address>/CCMAdmin). The
Cisco Unified CM Administration page appears.
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Step 6
Select Cisco Unified OS Administration from the Navigation dropdown menu and click the Go
button. The Cisco Unified Operating System Administration page appears.
Step 7
Enter your Operating System Administration username and password in the Username and Password
fields, respectively, and click the Login button. The Cisco Unified Operating System Administration
page refreshes.
Step 8
Go to Security | Certificate Management. The Certificate List page appears.
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Step 9
Click the Upload Certificate button. The Upload Certificate window appears.
Step 10
Select CallManager-trust from the Certificate Name dropdown menu.
Step 11
Click the Browse button. The Choose File to Upload dialog box appears.
Step 12
Navigate to where you saved the InformaCast.pem file, select it, and click the Open button.
Step 13
Click the Upload File button on the Upload Certificate window.
Step 14
Click the Close button to close this window.
Step 15
Perform these steps for each Communications Manager server used by the SIP trunk.
Note
TLS certificates are regenerated whenever Communications Manager is installed. So, if the
server is restored from backup, these steps may need to be followed again. Also, InformaCast
certificates are regenerated whenever InformaCast is installed or its IP address is changed, so
this process will need to be followed again if InformaCast is re-installed or its IP address is
changed.
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Modify the SIP Trunk’s Security Profile to Use TLS
If your SIP trunk security profile was not previously configured to use TLS, you’ll need to modify it so
that it does.
Step 1
Select Cisco Unified CM Administration from the Navigation menu and click the Go button. The
Cisco Unified CM Administration page appears.
Step 2
Enter your administrative username and password in the Username and Password fields, respectively,
and click the Login button. The Cisco Unified CM Administration page refreshes.
Step 3
Go to System | Security Profile | SIP Trunk Security Profile. The Find and List SIP Trunk Security
Profiles page appears.
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Note
If you are using Communications Manager 9.0 or later, you will go to System | Security | SIP
Trunk Security Profile instead of System | Security Profile | SIP Trunk Security Profile.
Step 4
Click the Find button. The Find and List SIP Trunk Security Profiles page refreshes with a list of SIP
trunk security profiles.
Step 5
Click the Name link for your SIP trunk security profile (you created this in “Create a SIP Trunk
Security Profile” on page 4-31). The SIP Trunk Security Profile Configuration page appears.
Step 6
Select Encrypted from the Device Security Mode dropdown menu.
Step 7
Select TLS from the Outgoing Transport Type dropdown menu.
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Step 8
Enter InformaCast-<x.x.x.x> in the X.509 Subject Name field, where <x.x.x.x> should be replaced
with the IP address section of the common name assigned to InformaCast. This information can be
found by viewing the SIP certificate.
Step 9
Enter 5061 in the Incoming Port field.
Step 10
Click the Save button.
Modify the SIP Trunk to Use TLS
If your SIP trunk was not previously configured to use TLS, you’ll need to modify it so that it does.
Note
Step 1
Make sure to reset your SIP trunk when you finish these steps so that the changes take effect.
Go to Device | Trunk. The Find and List Trunks page appears.
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Step 2
Click the Find button. The Find and List Trunks page refreshes.
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Step 3
Click the Name link for your SIP trunk. The Trunk Configuration page appears.
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Step 4
Scroll down to the SIP Information area and enter 5061 in the Destination Port field.
Step 5
Click the Save button.
Step 6
Click the Reset button.
Install SIP Device Certificates on InformaCast
To use the TLS protocol between a SIP device and InformaCast, you will need to install InformaCast’s
SIP certificate on the SIP device.
Step 1
Select Cisco Unified OS Administration from the Navigation dropdown menu and click the Go
button. The Cisco Unified Operating System Administration page appears.
Step 2
Enter your Operating System Administration username and password in the Username and Password
fields, respectively, and click the Login button. The Cisco Unified Operating System Administration
page refreshes.
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Step 3
Go to Security | Certificate Management. The Certificate List page appears.
Step 4
Click the Find button. The Certificate List page refreshes.
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Step 5
Click the CallManager.pem link in the .PEM File column. The Certificate Configuration page
appears.
Step 6
Click the Download button. The File Download dialog box appears.
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Step 7
Click the Save button. The Save As dialog box appears.
Step 8
Select a location accessible to your InformaCast server and click the Save button.
Note
Perform Steps 1 through 8 for each Communications Manager server that will communicating
to InformaCast.
Step 9
Go back to your InformaCast window.
Step 10
Go to Admin | SIP | SIP Certificates. The SIP Certificates page appears.
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Step 11
Click the Upload button. The Upload SIP Certificate page appears.
Step 12
Click the Browse button. The Choose File to Upload dialog box appears.
Step 13
Navigate to where you saved your CallManager.pem file, select it, and click the Open button.
Step 14
Click the Upload button.
Step 15
Perform Steps 11 through 14 for each CallManager.pem file you downloaded.
Note
Any changes made to InformaCast’s certificate cache, including uploads and deletions, require
a SIP restart before they take effect.
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Step 16
Go to Admin | SIP | Restart SIP. The Restart SIP page appears.
Step 17
Click the Restart button. It may take a few moments for SIP to restart.
Caution
Restarting SIP causes all SIP calls to be dropped, i.e. any callers interacting with the DialCast IVR will
have their calls dropped. Broadcasts using SIP calls will also be impacted by a restart. Live broadcasts
using SIP calls will be stopped.
Manage the SIP Stack
InformaCast uses the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SIP stack to provide it
with basic SIP functionality. The SIP stack provides InformaCast with fundamental low-level SIP
functionality such as transaction handling, dialogs, utilities for SIP headers, maintenance of SIP timers,
etc.
Tip
The logs generated for the SIP stack (SIP Stack Log and SIP Stack Debug Log) are accessible through
the Support page (Help | Support).
Caution
Caution should be exercised when enabling detailed logging in the SIP stack because of the large size
of the log files it produces and the degradation of stack performance due to extensive logging. Detailed
logging is intended to be used only when troubleshooting SIP problems and should not be enabled for
any longer than necessary. Two log files are generated in the InformaCast logs directory:
sipStackDebug.log and sipStackServer.log.
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Step 1
Go to Admin | SIP | SIP Stack. The SIP Stack page appears.
Note
Most values on this page should not ever need to be changed. The values most likely to be changed are
the SIP port numbers and the detailed logging checkbox. For more information about the
fields/dropdown menus, see “Manage the SIP Stack” in the “InformaCast Virtual Appliance
Installation and User Guide.” If you make any changes, click the Update button or click the Restore
button to return to your default settings.

Changing the port numbers necessitates you changing them on the InformaCast Virtual Appliance’s
firewall as well to allow inbound traffic on the new port.
Caution
You’ll need to restart SIP. Restarting SIP causes all SIP calls to be dropped, i.e. any callers interacting
with the DialCast IVR will have their calls dropped. Broadcasts using SIP calls will also be impacted by
a restart. Live broadcasts using SIP calls will be stopped.
Restart SIP
Changes to the SIP stack or certificates require a restart before they take effect. Other SIP changes,
such as changes to access and authentication, take effect as soon as they are made.
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Caution
Restarting SIP causes all SIP calls to be dropped, i.e. any callers interacting with the DialCast IVR will
have their calls dropped. Broadcasts using SIP calls will also be impacted by a restart. Live broadcasts
using SIP calls will be stopped.
Step 1
Go to Admin | SIP | Restart SIP. The Restart SIP page appears.
Step 2
Click the Restart button. It may take a few moments for SIP to restart.
Manage DialCast Functionality
InformaCast’s DialCast functionality allows you to dial a route point or SIP number to trigger an
InformaCast broadcast. InformaCast is notified for each route point and SIP call it receives. The
configured dialing pattern that matches the dialed DN determines which InformaCast message should
be sent and which recipient groups should receive it.
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Add a Broadcast Dialing Configuration
Dialing patterns determine which recipient group will be used based on the number that is dialed.
Step 1
Go to Admin | DialCast | Dialing Configurations. The Dialing Configurations page appears.
Step 2
Click the Add button. The Add Broadcast Dialing Configuration page appears.
Step 3
Enter a dialing pattern (e.g. 8811) for a route point monitored by InformaCast in the Dialing Pattern
field. This is the same route point you created in “Create Route Points” on page 2-12. You will need to
add at least one dialing pattern configuration for each route point line monitored by InformaCast.
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Tip
It is possible to use * or #, when setting up a dial pattern, but you must add \ before the
character so that InformaCast doesn’t treat it as a wildcard. For example, **1 would have a dial
pattern of \*\*1.
Step 4
Select a recipient group or groups from the Select Recipient Groups field.
Step 5
Click the Add button to save your current dialing pattern configuration.
Edit a Broadcast Dialing Configuration
Once you have added dialing configurations, you may need to modify them.
Step 1
Go to Admin | DialCast | Dialing Configurations. The Dialing Configurations page appears.
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Step 2
Click the Edit button next to the dialing configuration you want to change. The Edit Broadcast Dialing
Configuration page appears.
Step 3
Make your changes.
Step 4
Click the Update button.
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Delete a Broadcast Dialing Configuration
As your needs change, you may want to delete older dialing configurations from InformaCast.
Step 1
Go to Admin | DialCast | Dialing Configurations. The Dialing Configurations page appears.
Step 2
Click the Delete button next to the dialing configuration you want to delete. The Delete Broadcast
Dialing Configuration page appears.
Step 3
Click the Delete button. Your broadcast dialing configuration is deleted.
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Send a Broadcast
Tip
Before you can send a broadcast, you must have DialCasts configured (see “Manage DialCast
Functionality” on page 4-67) as well as either route points (see “Create Route Points” on page 2-12) or
a SIP trunk (see “Configure a SIP Trunk” on page 4-30).
With Basic InformaCast functionality, you only have the ability to send Live Audio messages as
broadcasts. With Advanced InformaCast functionality, there are eight types of messages that can be
grouped into four separate broadcast categories:
Note
•
Text, Text and Pre-recorded Audio, and Pre-recorded Audio messages
•
Text and Live Audio and Live Audio messages
•
Text and Ad-hoc Audio and Ad-hoc Audio messages
•
Talk and Listen messages
For more information on Advanced InformaCast functionality, please contact Singlewire Software.
To send a Live Audio broadcast, dial a directory number on your Cisco IP phone that corresponds to
a broadcast dialing configuration (see “Add a Broadcast Dialing Configuration” on page 4-68), which
is tied to either a route point (see “Create Route Points” on page 2-12) or a SIP trunk (see “Configure
a SIP Trunk” on page 4-30) in Communications Manager. The call will be processed, and as soon as all
the recipients specified in your broadcast dialing configuration have been activated (minus the phones
already in use), you will be broadcasting live.
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Cancel a Broadcast
Once you have sent a broadcast, you may need to cancel it.
Step 1
Go to Messages | Send or Edit Messages. The Send or Edit Messages page appears with a note at
the top of the page that, “InformaCast is currently broadcasting.”
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Step 2
Click the View button to see a list of ongoing broadcasts. The Current Active Broadcasts page appears.
This list offers you the ability to end any of the active broadcasts. This is particularly useful if, for
example, an attempt to capture audio has been accidentally directed to a voicemail system.
Step 3
Click the End button of the broadcast you’d like to cancel. InformaCast displays a confirmation screen
to make sure you picked the right message and that you really want to end the broadcast.
Step 4
Click the End button. InformaCast will stop sending the broadcast, and take you back to the Send or
Edit Messages page.
If the message ends on its own or is cancelled by another administrator while you’re following these
steps, InformaCast will tell you that there are no active broadcasts.
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When you click the Admin icon, you will be brought to the Overview page. On this page, you can view
various statistics associated with the administration of InformaCast, such as how long the current
session of InformaCast has been running, your version of InformaCast, and the configuration of your
backups and phone updates.
Beyond simply using InformaCast to send broadcasts, you can set up InformaCast backups and manage
phone updates, SNMP monitoring, and session timeouts.
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Manage InformaCast Backups
Using the native database and file export inside InformaCast, you can configure the timing behind
scheduled backups of the InformaCast configuration, which includes the InformaCast database,
configuration data, and phone display assets.
Note
If you do not set a time for backups, automatic backups will not occur.
Tip
The backup process described in the following sections illustrates how to backup to a Windows server.
It is possible to back up InformaCast to other operating systems. When backing up to a non-Windows
OS, you will need to establish an SFTP client connection to the InformaCast server and download the
InformaCastBackup.zip file from the path that you specify in “Configure InformaCast Backups” on
page 5-2. You can use the existing dobackup.cmd file as an example for how backups are triggered on
a Windows server, but you will need to adapt dobackup.cmd to work on your operating system.
Configure InformaCast Backups
Follow these steps to configure InformaCast backups.
Step 1
Go to Admin | System | Backup. The Backup page appears.
Step 2
Select the Backup functionality activated checkbox.
Step 3
Enter numeric values for when your scheduled backup should occur in the Second, Minute, and Hour
fields.
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Note
Step 4
The time for scheduled backups is calculated in military time.
In the Path field, enter /usr/local/singlewire/InformaCast/backup, which is the destination for
a ZIP file containing all of InformaCast’s backup information.
Note
You can only back up InformaCast when it is running. In order to achieve a consistent backup,
perform it when configuration changes are not expected to be taking place.
If you are transferring your backup files to a Windows machine (described in “Move the
InformaCastBackup.zip File to a Secure Location” on page 5-3), you will need to restart InformaCast
whenever the content in the Path field changes. See “Start/Stop/Restart InformaCast and Reboot the
InformaCast Virtual Machine” on page 8-18 for steps on restarting InformaCast.
Step 5
Tip
Click the Update button to save your changes. On the Overview page, you can see your changes
reflected in the Backup section.
After performing these steps, you can also navigate back to the Backup page and click the click here
link to manually back up InformaCast right away, bypassing the scheduled backup you just set up. New
backups will overwrite previous backup files.
Move the InformaCastBackup.zip File to a Secure Location
Note
This section is optional. Some VMware environments are automatically backed up using a Storage Area
Network (SAN). If this is the case, and you have confidence in your virtual machine recovery process,
you can skip moving the InformaCastBackup.zip file.
Once you’ve configured InformaCast for scheduled backups, you can choose to move the ZIP file
InformaCast creates (InformaCastBackup.zip) to a more secure location on a Windows machine that
is being backed up at another location. Singlewire has created a script that will facilitate this move, and
when paired with a Windows scheduled task, will make backing up InformaCast and ensuring the ZIP
file is in a safe location, easy and automatic.
Step 1
Download Plink (http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html), a
command-line SCP tool.
Step 2
Download dobackup.txt. If InformaCast is running, the file is available at https://<InformaCast Server
IP Address>:8444/InformaCast/tools/dobackup.txt, where <InformaCast Server IP Address> is the
IP address of your InformaCast server. If InformaCast isn’t running, the file is available at
/usr/local/singlewire/InformaCast/web/tools/dobackup.txt.
Step 3
Save dobackup.txt to a Windows machine that is being backed up to disk.
Step 4
Open dobackup.txt in your preferred text editor.
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Step 5
Modify the following lines to suit your environment:
rem
set
rem
set
rem
set
IP of the InformaCast server
ip=172.30.238.12
OS admin password of the InformaCast server
admin_password=changeMe
Location of plink.exe
plink=c:\plink.exe
Change 172.30.238.12 to the IP address of your InformaCast server. Change changeMe to the
InformaCast administrator password. Change c:\plink.exe to the location of Plink on your Windows
machine.
Step 6
Save dobackup.txt as dobackup.cmd.
Step 7
Run dobackup.cmd once to ensure that InformaCastBackup.zip moves from your Linux environment
to your backed up Windows machine.
Note
Step 8
Backing up InformaCast using dobackup.cmd does not create multi-generational backups. If
this is a requirement for your environment, Singlewire recommends configuring them through
your existing backup solution.
Set up a Windows scheduled task to run the backup daily:
Step a.
Go to Control Panel | System and Security | Administrative Tools | Task Scheduler.
Note
The scheduled tasks process is slightly different, depending on your version of
Windows. The documented process may vary slightly from your environment.
The Task Scheduler window appears.
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Step b.
Go to Action | Create Task. The Create Task window appears.
Step c.
Enter InformaCast Backup in the Name field.
Step d.
Select the Run whether the user is logged on or not radio button.
Step e.
Click the Triggers tab and click its New button. The New Trigger dialog box appears.
Step f.
Configure the New Trigger dialog box to your specific environment and click the OK button.
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Step g.
Click the Actions tab. The Create Task window refreshes.
Step h.
Click the New button. The New Action dialog box appears.
Step i.
Choose Start a program from the Action dropdown menu.
Step j.
Click the Browse button and navigate to where you saved the dobackup.cmd file.
Step k.
Click the OK button.
Step l.
Click the OK button on the New Action dialog box.
Step m.
Click the OK button on the Create Task window.
Step n.
Close the Task Scheduler.
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Restore InformaCast
Use the following steps to restore InformaCast from a backup.
Step 1
Stop InformaCast by opening a web browser, entering the IP address of your InformaCast Virtual
Appliance server, and pressing the Enter key. The Singlewire Start page appears.
Step 2
Click the Access System Management Tools with Webmin link. A separate tab/window opens to
the Login to Webmin page.
Note
You may have to accept a warning from your web browser about the security of this page’s content.
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Step 3
Enter your login credentials and click the Login button. By default, your username is admin and your
password is changeMe. The Webmin homepage appears.
Step 4
Go to System | Bootup and Shutdown. The Bootup and Shutdown page appears.
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Step 5
Scroll down the list of actions until you come to singlewireInformaCast. Click its link. The Edit
Action page appears.
Step 6
Click the Stop Now button. It will take a minute or so for InformaCast to stop.
Note
Leave this window open. You will come back to it.
Step 7
Use an SSH client, like PuTTY
(http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html), to access InformaCast’s
command line interface. The PuTTY Configuration window appears.
Step 8
Enter InformaCast’s IP address in the Host Name (or IP address) field.
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Step 9
Leave the Port field at its default of 22.
Step 10
Select the SSH radio button.
Step 11
Click the Open button. The command-line interface for InformaCast appears.
Step 12
Enter admin at the prompt and press Enter.
Step 13
Enter changeMe at the prompt and press Enter. The command-line interface refreshes, showing you
that you’re logged in.
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Step 14
Enter restoreFromBackup /<Directory of Backup>/InformaCastBackup.zip, where
<Directory of Backup> is the location of your InformaCastBackup.zip file, at the prompt and press
Enter. The command-line interface refreshes, detailing the restoration process.
Step 15
Go back to your Stopping Actions page.
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Step 16
Click the Return to bootup and shutdown actions link. The Bootup and Shutdown page appears.
Step 17
Scroll down the list of actions until you come to singlewireInformaCast. Click its link. The Edit
Action page appears.
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Step 18
Click the Start Now button. It will take a minute or so for InformaCast to start.
Step 19
Test the functionality.
Manage Phone Updates
Phone updates allow you to configure the timing for two scheduled jobs of how often InformaCast will
update its phone information: build a list of registered phones and refresh a list of registered phones.
The time it takes for InformaCast to rebuild a list of phones is directly related to the number of phones
you have. During a build of registered phones, Communications Manager’s SNMP service obtains the
IP address of all registered phones in the cluster. Because SNMP is throttled for each piece of data it
sends, minutes may pass if many thousands of phones are registered. By comparison, the AXL requests
used to refresh a list of registered phones are relatively quick.
Refreshing a list of registered phones picks up the changes to phones that use extension mobility as well
as other configuration changes, e.g. adding/deleting/modifying a line, changing the phone description,
etc. Updates can be performed as frequently as once per minute or even disabled if desired.
Note
Refreshing the list only updates the phones already in InformaCast’s phone cache. Newly registered
phones will not be seen in the cache until the next rebuild of registered phones.
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Step 1
Go to Admin | Telephony | CUCM Phone Updates. The CUCM Phone Updates page appears.
Note
By default, building a list of registered phones will occur at 10 minutes past the hour, every
hour.
Step 2
Enter numeric values in the Second, Minute, and Hour fields to specify when you’d like InformaCast
to rebuild its list of registered phones.
Step 3
Select Every Month or a specific month from the Month dropdown menu.
Step 4
Enter a numeric value in the Day of Month field if you’d like InformaCast to only rebuild its phone
information on a specific day.
Step 5
Select Every Day or a specific day from the Week Day dropdown menu.
Step 6
Enter a numeric value in the Refresh Interval (minutes) field. A positive numeric value enables
updates. Zero or no value disables updates.
Note
Refreshing a list of registered phones picks up the changes to phones that use extension
mobility as well as other configuration changes. Refreshing the list only updates the phones
already in InformaCast’s phone cache. Newly registered phones will not be seen in the cache
until the next rebuild of registered phones.
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Step 7
Click the Update button. On the Overview page, you can see your changes reflected in the Phone
Updates section.
Configure SNMP Monitoring
InformaCast has an embedded SNMP agent that can be paired with your own Network Management
Software (NMS) in order to monitor certain aspects of InformaCast (i.e. the number of broadcasts sent,
the length of time the application has been running, etc.). Through the import of a Management
Information Base (MIB), your NMS will know what InformaCast statistics are available for monitoring.
The MIB is available in three formats—HTML, PDF, and TXT—and their default location is:
Note
•
https://<InformaCast Server IP
Address>:8444/InformaCast/resources/mib/BERBEE-APPLICATIONS-IPT-INFORMACAS
T.html
•
https://<InformaCast Server IP
Address>:8444/InformaCast/resources/mib/BERBEE-APPLICATIONS-IPT-INFORMACAS
T.pdf
•
https://<InformaCast Server IP
Address>:8444/InformaCast/resources/mib/BERBEE-APPLICATIONS-IPT-INFORMACAS
T.txt
InformaCast’s SNMP agent is listening on port 1161.
Step 1
Go to Admin | Network Parameters | SNMP Agent. The SNMP Agent page appears.
Step 2
Enter an SNMP community name in the SNMP Agent Community Name field. This community
name and the one that your NMS is configured to use when talking to InformaCast must match in order
for SNMP monitoring to work.
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Step 3
Click the Update button.
Configure Session Timeout
In its default configuration, an InformaCast session will time out after five minutes of inactivity. If you
would like a session of InformaCast to remain valid longer, it is possible to change this value.
Step 1
Go to Admin | Network Parameters | Session Timeout. The Session Timeout page appears.
Step 2
Enter a numerical value in the General Session Timeout (seconds) field. This field controls when
you will be asked to reenter your username and password after a certain amount of inactivity.
Warning
Step 3
Setting this value to a very small value (i.e. less than 10) will greatly reduce the usability of
InformaCast.
Click the Update button to save your changes.
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Note
InformaCast Virtual Appliance is part of the larger InformaCast Virtual Appliance suite of products.
If you are looking to upgrade your version of InformaCast Virtual Appliance (e.g. Aberdeen to 8.5.1),
follow the upgrade steps in the “InformaCast Virtual Appliance Basic Paging” guide.
InformaCast’s functionality is based on its license, and depending on the license you have, you will be
able to access all of InformaCast’s functionality or only parts of it. Basic InformaCast functionality
includes the ability to send live audio broadcasts to up to 50 phones by dialing a number on your Cisco
IP phone. Advanced InformaCast functionality includes the ability to send a number of different types
of broadcasts (e.g. live audio, pre-recorded audio, pre-recorded audio and text, etc.) using your Cisco IP
phone’s interface and/or InformaCast’s web interface, interact with InformaCast’s plugins (e.g. conduct
conference calls, trigger contact closures, post to Facebook and Twitter, send broadcasts to email
addresses, etc.), customize scripts that can be attached to broadcasts, and receive confirmation when
broadcasts are sent, among other features.
All InformaCast users start with Basic InformaCast and can upgrade to Advanced InformaCast using
the Try or Buy icons or by contacting Singlewire to obtain a license for a switch in functionality.
Note
Downgrading from Advanced InformaCast back to Basic is accomplished by clicking the Stop
Advanced Notification Trial button on InformaCast’s Manage License Key page (Admin | Manage
License Key). This will cause InformaCast to reboot, as will any future change in InformaCast
functionality or license type.
In addition to Basic and Advanced functionality, InformaCast can also be obtained with a basic, trial,
demonstration, subscription, or purchased license. For more information on InformaCast licenses, see
“A Note on Licensing” on page 1-3.
Tip
If you want to learn more about InformaCast Advanced Notification, click the Learn icon to visit a
Singlewire Software website that provides more information on the expanded functionality available to
you with your upgrade.
Note the Differences
There are certain caveats to keep in mind when upgrading from Basic to Advanced InformaCast or
downgrading from Advanced to Basic:
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•
If you upgrade from Basic to Advanced InformaCast through either the trial, demonstration,
subscription or purchased licenses and you decide to return to Basic functionality, all additional
information entered during your Advanced phase will not be saved (e.g. when you revert to Basic
from Advanced, any information you entered after you upgraded initially—dialing configurations,
users, recipient groups, etc.—will not be available once you downgrade to Basic InformaCast). If
you choose to upgrade back to Advanced InformaCast, that information will reappear; however,
any new information you entered after you reverted to Basic functionality will be unavailable.
•
You will need a valid license key (if you are using Advanced InformaCast as a trial, your license key
is already included), which should have been provided to you by your Singlewire salesperson
(contact [email protected] if you didn’t receive one)
•
If you are moving from Basic InformaCast to Advanced InformaCast (and you have previously had
Advanced InformaCast), InformaCast will be restarted with the installation of this new license.
Please plan your upgrades accordingly.
•
Because of the differences between Basic and Advanced InformaCast, there are two Installation
and User Guides. When upgrading to Advanced InformaCast from Basic, you should receive a new
guide that contains Advanced InformaCast features. Contact Singlewire Software if you have not
received a new guide.
•
InformaCast’s web interface changes dramatically with your move from Basic to InformaCast,
adding entirely new menus and richer functionality. Depending on your access level, you’ll have
access to:
–
Home. InformaCast’s homepage, complete with RSS news feed.
–
Messages. The message administration page, allowing you to create, edit, and send messages
as broadcasts.
–
Recipients. The recipient group administration page, allowing you to create and manage
recipient groups.
–
Speakers. The IP speaker administration page, allowing you to detect, add, edit, test, and listen
at IP speakers.
–
Bells. The bell schedule overview page, allowing you to view and access the ring lists, bell
schedules, and exceptions you’ve created.
–
Admin. The configuration overview page, allowing you to view scheduled updates and
backups; manage the license key, voice menus, and users; and set up the system, network, and
broadcast parameters, along with DialCasts.
–
Plugins. The plugin administration page, allowing you to add, disable, and enable plugins and
access their configurations.
–
Help. InformaCast’s help pages, allowing you access to various aspects of the online help
system and providing the ability to enter a support request.
•
If you change your password in Basic InformaCast, upgrade to Advanced InformaCast, then
downgrade to Basic InformaCast, your password will revert to your original Basic InformaCast
password.
•
If you plan to switch between Basic and Advanced InformaCast and you change your IP address,
you will need to redeploy the InformaCast OVA (see “Install InformaCast Virtual Appliance” on
page 2-34).
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•
If you fail to configure Communications Manager in Basic InformaCast, upgrading to Advanced
InformaCast and then configuring Communications Manager before downgrading to Basic
InformaCast will require you to perform all the steps in “Integrate Communications Manager” on
page 2-2 again.
If you have questions about your upgrade, contact Singlewire Support through the online support
request form. Please include:
•
Account contact information
•
Maintenance contract number
•
Detailed description of problem
•
Product name and version
•
Communications Manager version
•
InformaCast logs (go to Help | Support)
Upgrade InformaCast
All InformaCast users start with Basic InformaCast and can upgrade to Advanced InformaCast using
the Try or Buy icons or by contacting Singlewire to obtain a license for a switch in functionality.
Note
You will want to obtain the “InformaCast Virtual Appliance Installation and User Guide” for
Advanced Notification in order to make full use of all of InformaCast’s functionality. After upgrading,
it can be obtained from Help | Install Guide. If you are using the online help when you upgrade, you
will need to close that window and reopen it to view the upgraded help.
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Try Advanced Notification
By clicking the Try icon (
Step 1
Click the Try icon (
), you start your 60-day free trial of Advanced InformaCast.
) any time while using Basic InformaCast.
If your server is connected to the Internet, you will see a form. Fill out the required information and
click the Submit button.
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If your server is not connected to the Internet, you will see Singlewire Sales contact information, which
you should use to register for support during your trial. Click the Start Advanced Notification Trial
button.
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The Singlewire InformaCast Software License Agreement page appears.
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Step 2
Click the I Accept button. Your window refreshes with InformaCast’s homepage that now shows you
are in your trial of InformaCast Advanced Notification.
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Buy Advanced Notification
By clicking the Buy icon, you start the process of obtaining InformaCast Advanced Notification
through either a demonstration, subscription, or purchased license.
Step 1
Click the Buy icon (
) any time while using Basic InformaCast.
If your server is connected to the Internet, you will be redirected to a Singlewire Software website.
Follow the prompts to obtain a new license.
If your server is not connected to the Internet, you will see a QR code that you can scan with your
smartphone to access the Singlewire website. Once there, follow the prompts to obtain your new
license.
Step 2
Continue with “Enter Your New License Key” on page 6-9.
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Enter Your New License Key
Note
If you are in your free trial of Advanced InformaCast, you can skip this section.
When you upgrade from Basic InformaCast to Advanced InformaCast (with the exception of your free
trial of Advanced InformaCast), you will install a new license key to activate the various features of your
InformaCast system. The license key will be in the form of an XML file that was sent to you by email
from a Singlewire sales representative. Make sure to save this XML file to a safe location that can be
accessed by the machine running your web browser.
Note
If you are in participating in your free trial of Advanced InformaCast functionality, your license will
already be installed for you and will be visible on InformaCast’s Manage License Key page (Admin |
Manage License Key). Your license will not appear on Singlewire’s License Manager page until you
upgrade to Advanced InformaCast on a demonstration, subscription, or purchased license.
Note
Bell schedules, the number of IP phones and speakers, Communications Manager clustering, and
message confirmation are all controlled by your license key. If you are expecting certain functionality
and cannot access it, contact your Singlewire salesperson.
Warning
If you are moving from Basic InformaCast to Advanced InformaCast (and you have previously had
Advanced InformaCast), InformaCast will be restarted with the installation of this new license. Please
plan your upgrades accordingly.
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Step 1
Open a web browser, enter the IP address of your InformaCast Virtual Appliance server, and press the
Enter key. The Singlewire Start page appears.
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Step 2
Click the Access Application Management Tools with the Toolbox link. A separate tab/window
opens to the Toolbox page.
Note
Step 3
You may have to accept a warning from your web browser about the security of this page’s
content.
Click the License Manager link. The License Manager page appears.
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Step 4
Enter your username and password in the Login and Password fields, respectively. By default, your
username is admin and your password is changeMe. Click the Login button. The Upload a New
License page appears.
Step 5
Click the Browse button. The Choose File to Upload dialog box appears.
Step 6
Navigate to the license key file that was emailed to you. You can also enter the path to the license key
file.
Step 7
Select your license key file and click the Open button.
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Step 8
Click the Upload button on the Upload a New License page. The License Status page appears and
you’ll see confirmation that the license has been accepted.
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The License Manager holds all of your Singlewire licenses, unless you are participating in your
Advanced InformaCast trial, in which case your license will be on InformaCast’s Manage License Key
page (Admin | Manage License Key). Depending on the software applications you are using, you
will see different licenses housed on this page.
Tip
If the key is not accepted, check that you selected the proper file containing the XML key that
was emailed to you, ensure that your IP address is correct, determine that your key has not
expired, and ensure that the MaxVersion parameter in your license key matches or is greater
than your version of InformaCast. If you’re still having trouble, contact your Singlewire sales
representative for assistance.
When you first register InformaCast, you will usually be emailed a temporary license key. Once you
know the permanent IP address of the InformaCast server, email that information to
[email protected] so a permanent license key can be sent to you. Once you have the permanent
license key, you will want to upload this key to your InformaCast server using the steps in this section.
Note
Once you have exceeded the number of phones allowed by your license, you will receive a warning that
you’ve attempted to broadcast to more phones than are allowed by your license key, causing some
phones to be skipped. Consult the InformaCast Performance log (Help | Support) to see the phones
that have been skipped and contact your Singlewire salesperson about obtaining a larger license. You
can also retry your broadcast with a smaller group of phones. In Trial mode, your license limits you to
500 phones.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q.
I opened InformaCast for the first time and I received an HTTP Status 500 error. What’s going on?
A.
This is normally caused by your web browser version being out of date. Update your web browser
to the latest version.
Q.
Whenever I access InformaCast through Internet Explorer, I receive the error, “There is a problem
with this website’s security certificate.” How can I get rid of this?
A.
Since InformaCast, like Communications Manager, is a locally-installed server rather than a global,
public Internet site, there is no practical way for web browsers to recognize its encryption
certificate as safe. To permanently bypass this error, you can install InformaCast’s SSL certificate.
–
Open InformaCast in Internet Explorer. The Certification Error: Navigation Blocked page
appears.
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–
Click the Continue to this website (not recommended) link. The InformaCast
Administration page appears and your browser’s address bar is highlighted in red.
–
Click Certificate Error in your browser’s address bar. The Untrusted Certificate pop-up
window appears.
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–
Click the View certificates link. The Certificate dialog box appears.
–
Click the Install Certificate button. The Certificate Import Wizard appears.
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–
Click the Next button. The Certificate Import Wizard refreshes.
–
Select the Automatically select the certificate store based on the type of certificate radio
button and click the Next button.
Note
On Windows Server 2008, you will need to select the Place all certificates in the
following store radio button, click the Browse button, select the Trusted Root
Certification Authorities folder, and click the OK button.
The Certificate Import Wizard refreshes.
–
Click the Finish button.
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Click the OK button letting you know the import was successful.
You may receive a Security Warning dialog box. Click the Yes button.
–
Click the OK button on the Certificate dialog box.
–
Close your browser window and access InformaCast through Internet Explorer again. You will
no longer receive the “There is a problem with this website’s security certificate” error.
Q.
How do I get rid of the warning about exceeding my license key?
A.
As of InformaCast v8.0, the license key controls have changed. Once you have exceeded the
number of phones allowed by your license, you will receive a warning that you’ve attempted to
broadcast to more phones than are allowed by your license key, causing some phones to be skipped.
You can consult the InformaCast Performance log (Help | Support) to see the phones that have
been skipped. Your Performance log will include information similar to the following excerpt:
2010-09-08 10:44:54,209 [pool-41-thread-1] ERROR PhoneRegulator - Phone
(SEP001AA27AFFC3,'Auto 80051') will be skipped by broadcast; need a license
key that supports more phones
2010-09-08 10:44:54,209 [pool-41-thread-1] ERROR PhoneRegulator - Phone
(SEP3037A616CD9E,'Auto 80059') will be skipped by broadcast; need a license
key that supports more phones
2010-09-08 10:44:54,209 [pool-41-thread-1] ERROR PhoneRegulator - Phone
(SEP000BBED8055C,'Whip Dev Phone 80048') will be skipped by broadcast; need
a license key that supports more phones
2010-09-08 10:44:54,209 [pool-41-thread-1] ERROR PhoneRegulator - Phone
(SEP0022555EF1FE,'Auto 80052') will be skipped by broadcast; need a license
key that supports more phones
Stopping and restarting InformaCast will clear the warning (see“Start/Stop/Restart InformaCast and
Reboot the InformaCast Virtual Machine” on page 8-18), but as soon as you try to send to more
phones than your license covers, the warning will reappear. Contact your Singlewire salesperson to
obtain a larger license.
Q.
Why doesn’t InformaCast work correctly on the phone?
A.
Check the firmware on the phone.
Q.
I followed the install guide, but I still cannot send audio broadcasts. What did I miss?
A.
Maybe nothing, it could just be the phones not acting as they should and needing to be power
cycled, but check these options as well:
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Warning
–
Were the phones reset? You can verify this on the phone viewing the authentication URL,
which should point to the InformaCast server. The path for this information varies (e.g.
Settings | 3-Network Configuration | 36-Authentication URL or Settings | 3-Device
Configuration | 10-Authentication URL or Settings | 3-Device Configuration |
2-HTTP Configuration | 5-Authentication URL).
–
Did you enter the Accelerated Authentication URL into Communications Manager’s
Enterprise Parameters? Please see Steps 14 through 21 starting on page 3-7.
–
If the phone still does not work, obtain a traffic capture. Look for error messages being sent
back from the phone to the InformaCast server.
–
View the InformaCast Performance log (Help | Support). Look to the bottom of the log for
the most recent entries and look for the IP address of the phone you are troubleshooting. Are
there errors?
Q.
Sometimes a reset of the phones is not enough. You will have to remove the phone from its power
source, let it sit for a few seconds, and then plug the phone back into the power source.How do I
capture traffic?
A.
See “Verify Multicast with a Network Traffic Capture” on page 8-2.
Q.
The group to which I want to broadcast does not have an easily definable boundary (device pool
or subnet). Is there another way that I can create groups?
A.
The easiest way to make flexible groups is to be creative with the description of the phones in
Communications Manager. If you are going to be creating groups based on building location,
building floor, business unit, job title, etc., you can embed that information in the description and
use a regular expression or the description suffix to build the group. See “Advanced Matching for
Recipient Groups” on page 9-4.
Q.
How do I stop calls from InformaCast from being routed to voicemail if they go unanswered?
A.
Singlewire designed DialCast for this very reason. Instead of calling users to make a page, DialCast
has a user call the system to create a page, eliminating broadcasts playing over voicemail. See
“Manage SIP Functionality” on page 4-30 for more information.
Q.
How do I change the IP address of the InformaCast server?
A.
When changing the IP address of the InformaCast server, use the following steps:
If you plan to switch between Basic and Advanced InformaCast and you change your IP address, you
will need to redeploy the InformaCast OVA (see “Install InformaCast Virtual Appliance” on page 2-34).
–
Stop InformaCast (see “Start/Stop/Restart InformaCast and Reboot the InformaCast Virtual
Machine” on page 8-18 for steps on starting and stopping the InformaCast).
–
Install your new software package (see “Install InformaCast Virtual Appliance” on page 2-34)
–
Use the vSphere client to access InformaCast’s command line interface: select your
InformaCast virtual machine and go to Inventory | Virtual Machine | Open Console.
–
Press Alt + F2 to reach the login prompt.
–
Enter admin at the prompt and press Enter.
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Enter changeMe at the prompt and press Enter.
–
Enter change-ip-address and press Enter.
–
Enter Y and press Enter.
–
Enter a routable IP address on your network that’s not currently in use and press Enter.
–
Enter a valid netmask for that IP address and press Enter.
–
Enter the default gateway for your specified IP address and press Enter.
–
Enter the IP address(es) of a DNS server(s) on your network and press Enter.
–
Enter Y and press Enter.
–
Enter Exit and press Enter.
–
Log into Communications Manager, go to System | Enterprise Parameters, and change the
URL Authentication field to reflect your new IP address. Also, go to Device | Device
Settings | Phone Services, and change the IP address for any InformaCast service URLs you
have created.
–
Warning
Note
If you are using Communications Manager 8.x, you will need to enter this IP address
in the Secured Authentication URL field as well.
Note
You need to use the Update Subscriptions button whenever you change service
information, so that any subscribed phones are properly updated.
Reset all of your phones.
If you plan to switch between Basic and Advanced InformaCast and you change your IP address, you
will need to redeploy the InformaCast OVA (see “Install InformaCast Virtual Appliance” on page 2-34).
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Troubleshooting
This section is intended to help track down and resolve the common problems people face when
configuring and working with InformaCast. Please look it over and see if your issues are addressed. You
can also check “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)” on page 7-1.
Multicast
Problem
The audio portion of InformaCast’s broadcasts aren’t reaching the phones. Some symptoms
include:
•
No audio is heard through the phone
•
A streaming icon displays on the phone’s screen, but no audio is heard through the phone
•
A phone’s Speaker and Mute lights illuminate
•
7900 series phones makes a “bloop” noise
Multicast isn’t routing properly. If you’ve followed the recommendations in “Prepare your
Multicast Environment” on page 2-1, but you’re still unable to hear audio broadcasts through your
recipients, use this section to further troubleshoot your multicast issues.
Solution
Multicast must be configured in order for InformaCast broadcasts to properly play on your recipients.
The following recommendations can also apply:
•
Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) should be deployed in either sparse or dense mode across
your Layer 3 devices (PIM is the most common protocol, but there are others)
•
Your MPLS network provider should route multicast on its network; otherwise you will need to use
GRE tunnels
In addition, sometimes Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) snooping can cause issues with
varying revisions of IOS on some Cisco switches and may need to be turned off. Lastly, for recipients
to receive the audio portion of InformaCast broadcasts, they make requests using IGMP. While most
networks default to IGMPv2, newer recipients may use IGMPv3. If newer recipients are being
deployed, be sure to enable the newer protocol version on network devices.
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Verify Multicast with a Network Traffic Capture
Another way to verify multicast is configured is through a network traffic capture. It is important to
note that the only piece of traffic that travels through the network via multicast routing is the audio
portion of a broadcast. All signaling traffic is done with unicast HTTP. The diagram below outlines the
traffic that occurs during an InformaCast broadcast that contains both text and audio.
Now that you are familiar with the traffic flow created by InformaCast, you can use a protocol analyzer,
such as Wireshark, to sniff the traffic on the network to see that multicast is enabled.
Obtain a Network Traffic Capture
Use the following steps to obtain a network traffic capture from a phone to determine if multicast
traffic is routing to that network segment.
Step 1
Download and install a protocol analyzer like Wireshark (http://www.wireshark.org/) on a PC that’s
attached to a phone on your network on which you want to obtain a traffic capture.
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Step 2
Open and log into your Communications Manager’s administrative interface. The Cisco Unified CM
Administration page appears.
Step 3
Go to Device | Phone. The Find and List Phone page appears.
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Step 4
Use the dropdown menus and fields to locate the phone attached to the PC on which you downloaded
Wireshark. Your results will appear below the fields.
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Step 5
Select the phone attached to your PC with Wireshark on it. The Phone Configuration page for that
phone appears.
Step 6
Scroll down to the Product Specific Configuration Layout area.
Step 7
Make sure that both the Web Access and Span to PC Port dropdown menus have Enabled selected.
Step 8
Click the Reset button.
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Step 9
Start Wireshark. The Wireshark window appears.
Step 10
Send an InformaCast broadcast to the phone attached to the PC with Wireshark on it.
Step 11
Wait until the broadcast has finished and stop the network traffic capture.
Read a Network Traffic Capture
When analyzing a network traffic capture, look for the following:
•
A unicast HTTP command from InformaCast to the phone to join the multicast group
•
Successful authentication
•
An IGMP join from the phone to the multicast group
•
A multicast audio stream
When there is no multicast audio present, InformaCast audio will not play through a phone, and you’ll
notice the following things in your traffic capture (reference with the following graphic):
•
Frame 106. InformaCast pushes the unicast HTTP command to a phone to listen to audio. In the
middle pane, the multicast IP address to listen for is circled in red.
•
Frame 111. The phone makes a unicast HTTP authentication request. The protocol doesn’t show
as HTTP because the communication took place on port 8444. You can view the contents of the
packet for the actual data or decode as HTTP.
•
Frame 112. InformaCast replies in unicast HTTP to the authentication request as OK.
•
Frame 117. The phone makes an IGMP join request for a multicast audio stream.
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•
Frame 164. There is a timestamp nine seconds after the IGMP join, but no multicast traffic is seen
in the capture. Thus, multicast is not routing and no audio will be received at the phone.
Each of the things to look for are marked with red in the following graphic.
When there is multicast audio present, InformaCast audio plays through phone, and you’ll notice the
following things in your traffic capture (reference with the following graphic):
•
Frame 27. InformaCast pushes the unicast HTTP command to a phone to listen to audio. In the
middle pane, the multicast IP address to listen for is circled in red.
•
Frame 123. The phone makes a unicast HTTP authentication request. The protocol doesn’t show
as HTTP because the communication took place on port 8444. You can view the contents of the
packet for the actual data or decode as HTTP.
•
Frame 124. InformaCast replies in unicast HTTP to the authentication request as OK.
•
Frame 126. The phone makes an IGMP join request for a multicast audio stream.
•
Frames 130 - 62 (plus more). The multicast UDP is present. Audio should have played through
the phone.
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Each of the things to look for are marked with red in the following graphic.
If multicast isn’t working, troubleshoot the problems singly by frame(s). Work with your network
administrator to configure multicast appropriately.
Verify PIM is Configured on All Layer 3 Interfaces
For audio broadcast traffic to route from a source (InformaCast) to a destination (IP phones), every
Layer 3 interface in between must have PIM configured. If the switches on the network are also
providing Layer 3, then PIM must be enabled on the VLANs configured on those switches providing
Layer 3 functionality. PIM is deployed in either sparse or dense mode, and InformaCast will work with
either.
The following graphic shows PIM enabled on all Layer 3 interfaces between the IP phones/speakers
and InformaCast.
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The following graphic shows an interface before PIM is properly configured and that same interface
after applying PIM.
If PIM isn’t configured properly, work with your network administrator to configure PIM appropriately.
Verify your MPLS Provider Routes Multicast
When InformaCast audio broadcasts are successful at the same location where the InformaCast server
is located, but remote locations do not receive the audio, that indicates that the multicast audio traffic
is not routing across the WAN link. Many Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network providers
will not route multicast traffic on their networks; check with your circuit provider to see if they do/will
route your multicast.
For WAN links where your circuit provider will not route your multicast, you can use GRE tunnels,
which carry your multicast traffic from the location where the InformaCast server is located to its
recipients. The only traffic that needs to traverse these GRE tunnels is the multicast traffic you might
want to route. The tunnels do not need to create a full mesh between sites; they only need to be
configured from the hub location to the spoke location(s). Please see the following link for details:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk828/technologies_configuration_example09186a00801a5aa2.s
html
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Test Whether IGMP Snooping is Interrupting Multicast
IGMP snooping has been seen to cause issues with Layer 2 switches. For this reason, if there are issues
receiving the multicast audio stream at the phones, it would be worth testing if turning off IGMP
snooping on the switches where phones are connected solves the problem. The following graphic
illustrates where IGMP snooping should be turned off on the network.
Work with your network administrator to test if IGMP snooping is causing multicast to not function
properly.
Ensure IGMPv3 is Enabled for Newer Phone Models
Newer phone models are using IGMPv3 where earlier phone models used IGMPv2. This is important
because by default, IOS uses IGMPv2. If your network segment has a combination of older phones
and newer phones, you may not perceive any issues. However, if a broadcast is sent only to devices using
IGMPv3 on a network segment and the network has not been programmed for IGMPv3, the end result
will be that multicast does not route to that network segment. The following graphic illustrates how the
differences between IGMPv3 and IGMPv2 can affect your multicast traffic.
To verify if your phone(s) are using IGMPv3, you can take a network traffic capture using a protocol
analyzer like Wireshark (see “Verify Multicast with a Network Traffic Capture” on page 8-2). In the
capture, the phone will issue an IGMP join to listen to the multicast audio.
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The version of the IGMP join can be seen on the packet (circled in red in the following graphic).
To ensure multicast audio will route to network segments where the phones are using IGMPv3, the
Layer 3 device must be programmed for IGMPv3. The following graphic shows an interface before
and after configuring IGMPv3.
Work with your network administrator to test if enabling IGMPv3 solves your multicast issues.
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Log Files
Problem
InformaCast is acting funny concerning errors, warnings, broadcasts, and security.
When trying to find out what’s going wrong with InformaCast, it often helps to look at the
log files. The most commonly useful log, in which error messages will be logged when something
unexpectedly goes wrong, is the Performance log (go to Help | Support).
Solution
When you’re trying to check that a broadcast succeeded smoothly and reached all the recipients it
should have, the Summary log (go to Help | Support) provides helpful information.
If you want to keep an eye on who is using the system and view other security-related information, the
Audit log (https://<InformaCast Server IP Address>:8444/InformaCast/logs/audit.log) is the place
to look.
Two other log files generated in the InformaCast logs directory are sipStackDebug.log and
sipStackServer.log (go to Help | Support). Please see “Manage the SIP Stack” on page 4-65 for more
information.
Log into InformaCast Virtual Appliance’s Interfaces
Problem
How do I log into InformaCast? What are the different InformaCast interfaces and what do
they do?
When using this guide, you will need to log into the different interfaces that InformaCast has:
InformaCast, the Toolbox, and Webmin. All of these interfaces are accessible through the Singlewire
Start page, which is the IP address of your InformaCast Virtual Appliance.
Solution
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Log into InformaCast
InformaCast’s web interface is where you will set up your InformaCast environment, e.g. messages,
recipient groups, DialCasts, user roles, etc.
Step 1
Open a web browser, enter the IP address of your InformaCast Virtual Appliance server, and press the
Enter key. The Singlewire Start page appears.
Step 2
Click the InformaCast link. A separate tab/windows opens to InformaCast’s Login page.
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Step 3
Enter your username and password in the Login and Password fields, respectively. By default, these
are admin and changeMe.
Step 4
Click the Log In button. InformaCast’s homepage appears.
From InformaCast’s homepage, you can access any of its web features through the icons at the top of
the page.
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Log into the Toolbox
The Singlewire Toolbox is designed to be an inclusive destination for application-level accessories, e.g.
licensing, migrating platforms, etc.
Step 1
Open a web browser, enter the IP address of your InformaCast Virtual Appliance server, and press the
Enter key. The Singlewire Start page appears.
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Step 2
Click the Access Application Management Tools with the Toolbox link. A separate tab/window
opens to the Toolbox homepage.
Note
You may have to accept a warning from your web browser about the security of this page’s
content.
From the Toolbox homepage, you can access Singlewire’s application-level tools.
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Log into Webmin
Webmin’s interface is used primarily for installing new software packages, starting/stopping/restarting
Singlewire’s applications, and rebooting the InformaCast virtual machine.
Step 1
Open a web browser, enter the IP address of your InformaCast Virtual Appliance server, and press the
Enter key. The Singlewire Start page appears.
Step 2
Click the Access System Management Tools with Webmin link. A separate tab/window opens to
the Login to Webmin page.
Note
You may have to accept a warning from your web browser about the security of this page’s content.
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Step 3
Enter your login credentials and click the Login button. By default, your username is admin and your
password is changeMe. The Webmin homepage appears.
From the Webmin homepage, you can install a new software package (see “Install InformaCast Virtual
Appliance” on page 2-34), start/stop/restart Singlewire’s applications, and reboot the InformaCast
virtual machine (see “Start/Stop/Restart InformaCast and Reboot the InformaCast Virtual Machine”
on page 8-18 for more information).
Start/Stop/Restart InformaCast and Reboot the InformaCast Virtual
Machine
I tried to start InformaCast and got the error, “You must accept the End User License
Agreement (EULA) and configure networking before you can use InformaCast. Please go to the VM
console in vSphere to continue the installation.” So, I went to the vSphere console and no EULA is
displayed; I just see the default console with an IP address, etc.
Problem
Solution You have two options: run the swiftstart command or redeploy the InformaCast OVA. To
run the swiftstart command:
•
Open vSphere.
•
Select your virtual machine and go to Inventory | Virtual Machine | Open Console.
•
Press Alt + F2.
•
Log into your virtual machine.
•
Enter swiftstart and press Enter. The SwiftStart End User License Agreement (EULA) window
appears.
•
Click the I Agree button to accept the EULA.
•
Continue with Step 16 on page 2-44.
To redeploy the InformaCast OVA, see “Install InformaCast Virtual Appliance” on page 2-34.
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Problem
You need to start, stop, or restart InformaCast or reboot InformaCast’s virtual machine.
Backing up and restoring InformaCast and application malfunction are reasons you would
need to start and stop InformaCast or reboot its virtual machine.
Solution
Stop InformaCast
Follow these steps to stop InformaCast.
Step 1
Open a web browser, enter the IP address of your InformaCast Virtual Appliance server, and press the
Enter key. The Singlewire Start page appears.
Step 2
Click the Access System Management Tools with Webmin link. A separate tab/window opens to
the Login to Webmin page.
Note
You may have to accept a warning from your web browser about the security of this page’s content.
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Step 3
Enter your login credentials and click the Login button. By default, your username is admin and your
password is changeMe. The Webmin homepage appears.
Step 4
Go to System | Bootup and Shutdown. The Bootup and Shutdown page appears.
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Step 5
Scroll down the list of actions until you come to singlewireInformaCast. Click its link. The Edit
Action page appears.
Step 6
Click the Stop Now button. It will take a minute or so for InformaCast to stop.
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Start InformaCast
Follow these steps to start InformaCast.
Step 1
Open a web browser, enter the IP address of your InformaCast Virtual Appliance server, and press the
Enter key. The Singlewire Start page appears.
Step 2
Click the Access System Management Tools with Webmin link. A separate tab/window opens to
the Login to Webmin page.
Note
You may have to accept a warning from your web browser about the security of this page’s content.
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Step 3
Enter your login credentials and click the Login button. By default, your username is admin and your
password is changeMe. The Webmin homepage appears.
Step 4
Go to System | Bootup and Shutdown. The Bootup and Shutdown page appears.
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Step 5
Scroll down the list of actions until you come to singlewireInformaCast. Click its link. The Edit
Action page appears.
Step 6
Click the Start Now button. It will take a minute or so for InformaCast to start.
Restart InformaCast
Follow these steps to restart InformaCast.
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Step 1
Open a web browser, enter the IP address of your InformaCast Virtual Appliance server, and press the
Enter key. The Singlewire Start page appears.
Step 2
Click the Access System Management Tools with Webmin link. A separate tab/window opens to
the Login to Webmin page.
Note
You may have to accept a warning from your web browser about the security of this page’s content.
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Step 3
Enter your login credentials and click the Login button. By default, your username is admin and your
password is changeMe. The Webmin homepage appears.
Step 4
Go to System | Bootup and Shutdown. The Bootup and Shutdown page appears.
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Step 5
Scroll down the list of actions until you come to singlewireInformaCast. Select it by placing a
checkmark in its Action column and click the Restart button. The Restarting Actions page appears.
It will take a minute for InformaCast to restart.
Reboot the InformaCast Virtual Machine
Follow these steps to reboot the InformaCast virtual machine.
Step 1
Open a web browser, enter the IP address of your InformaCast Virtual Appliance server, and press the
Enter key. The Singlewire Start page appears.
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Step 2
Note
Step 3
Click the Access System Management Tools with Webmin link. A separate tab/window opens to
the Login to Webmin page.
You may have to accept a warning from your web browser about the security of this page’s content.
Enter your login credentials and click the Login button. By default, your username is admin and your
password is changeMe. The Webmin homepage appears.
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Step 4
Go to System | Bootup and Shutdown. The Bootup and Shutdown page appears.
Step 5
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Reboot System button. The Reboot page appears.
Step 6
Click the Reboot System button. The server will shutdown, then restart.
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VMware Tools
Problem vSphere has an error flag that says that my version of VMware doesn’t match my version of
VMware tools. Also, my CPU usage seems elevated. How do I fix this?
Upgrade your VMware tools to match the level of your VMware version. Open vSphere,
select your virtual machine, and go to Inventory | Virtual Machine | Guest | Install/Upgrade
VMware Tools. Select the Automatic Tools radio button and click the OK button. Your VMware
tools are upgraded.
Solution
Authentication
When attempting a broadcast, the phones do not respond (i.e. no audio is heard). The
Summary log reports authentication errors for each phone attempted (go to Help | Support).
Problem
Check the authentication URL. When InformaCast attempts a broadcast, the phones check
whether the attempt should be permitted. Make sure that you’ve set up your phones to use
InformaCast’s built-in authentication service, and that Communications Manager’s Enterprise System
Parameters were updated to use the value displayed on InformaCast’s Edit Telephony Configuration
page as the URL for authentication.
Solution
On one of the phones being used with InformaCast, verify that the authentication URL shows the same
value displayed on InformaCast’s Edit Telephony Configuration page. The path for this information
on a phone varies (e.g. Settings | 3-Network Configuration | 36-Authentication URL or Settings
| 3-Device Configuration | 10-Authentication URL or Settings | 3-Device Configuration |
2-HTTP Configuration | 5-Authentication URL).
If it does not, correct the settings in the Communications Manager administrative interface: in the
System menu, select Enterprise Parameters and edit the URL Authentication field. Once this is
correct, you must reset all the phones so that they learn about the new URL.
Note
If you are using Communications Manager 8.x, you will need to fix the Secured Authentication URL
field as well.
Problem
I have errors on my Edit Telephony Configuration page.
If you encounter errors on the Edit Telephony Configuration page, verify that the fields have
the proper information entered into them. Check the following fields’ information:
Solution
•
Communications Manager AXL User. Access Communications Manager’s administrative
interface and log in with the same username/password combination. If you are unable to log in,
InformaCast will be unable to log in.
•
Communications Manager IP Address(es). Use the same test as for the Communications
Manager Admin User field.
•
Communications Manager Application User. Access Communications Manager’s
administrative interface and ensure that your application user’s credentials in InformaCast match
those in Communications Manager.
•
SNMP Community Name. Verify that the value you entered here matches the value in
Communications Manager. Use the Multicast Testing Tool to verify SNMP functionality.
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Problem I’m seeing the error, “Default configuration Not Connected,” in the Communications
Manager Versions column on the Admin Overview page.
Rebuild your phone cache. This problem occurs whenever your license changes and
whenever you add/update/delete a cluster. If either the license or clusters change, the phone cache
must be rebuilt to reflect those changes. The phone cache is automatically rebuilt every hour, but if you
want it completed sooner than that, you can click the Update button on the Edit Recipient Groups
page to discover current IP phone information from Communications Manager. Once this is done, the
Communications Manager information appears correctly on the Admin Overview page.
Solution
Phone Discovery
Problem
There are phones missing from my recipient groups.
If InformaCast is unable to learn about the phones in your Communications Manager
environment, it cannot work properly. It must do this by interacting with the Communications Manager
server. If the Edit Recipient Groups page in InformaCast shows that the “All Recipients” group is
empty, attempts to send broadcasts will result in an error message with a stack trace.
Solution
Phones are found from Communications Manager using SNMP and AXL. If you have phones missing
from a recipient group, ensure the following:
•
The Communications Manager Admin account has the correct username/password information.
The top items on InformaCast’s Edit Telephony Configuration page are used to set up an
administrative password for InformaCast to interact with the Communications Manager server.
Make sure that these are correct. Start by logging into your Communications Manager server’s
administrative interface using the same username and password, and make sure that you can use
the Device menu’s Phone option to list the phones in your installation. Once you’re sure that the
username and password are suitable, carefully re-enter them in InformaCast’s Edit Telephony
Configuration page to make sure they’ve been entered correctly.
•
The Communication Manager's IP address is correct. InformaCast needs to know where to reach
the Communications Manager server. Make sure the Communications Manager IP Address
field on the Edit Telephony Configuration page contains the correct numeric IP address of your
Communications Manager server.
•
SNMP is properly enabled. Ensure that SNMP is enabled on the Communications Manager cluster
node, the SNMP community strings have READ permissions on the Communications Manager
cluster node, and that SNMP community strings are the same on the Communications Manager
cluster node. See “Configure Communications Manager SNMP” on page 2-3. You can use the
Multicast Testing Tool to troubleshoot SNMP further.
•
Verify your Communications Manager version. You must have version 7.0 or later of
Communications Manager in order to use InformaCast 8.2 (and later). If you’re running an older
version of Communications Manager, one of the symptoms will be InformaCast’s inability to
discover phone information from the server.
•
Nothing is blocking UDP port 161 from the InformaCast server to the Communications Manager
cluster node.
•
Ensure there are usable phones registered. If everything else seems fine, it’s worth double-checking,
via the Communications Manager administrative interface, that there are actually some phones
registered (they show up with IP addresses rather than “not found”).
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Broadcasts
Problem
DialCast is failing and there are errors on the Edit Telephony Configuration page.
Solution
One or more of the following may be to blame:
•
You didn’t associate your CTI route points to your application user
•
You upgraded Communications Manager, but didn't upgrade JTAPI on the InformaCast server
•
Communications Manager’s CTIManager service has an issue
Check out Singlewire’s Calling Terminal Diagnostics page (Help | Support), which shows the health
of InformaCast’s CTI connection to Communications Manager. Under normal circumstances, the
Calling Terminal Diagnostics page shows you the status of your CTI route points, as shown in the
following graphic.
The Calling Terminal Diagnostics page can also show you the status of active calls/broadcasts, as
shown in the following graphic.
Because InformaCast uses CTI for call control, having errors with route points, JTAPI, or CTIManager
would affect the ability to initiate DialCasts. You can use the Calling Terminal Diagnostics page to verify
that your CTI devices in Communications Manager are registered with InformaCast. It is also
recommended that you have your Network Monitoring Solution (NMS) view this page to ensure all
items are “In Service,” and send you an alert in case of server failures.
The Calling Terminal Diagnostics page should refresh every 15 seconds. However, if you are using
Internet Explorer v8.x, you will need to take some extra steps to ensure the refresh rate of the page.
Firefox is unaffected and should refresh as directed.
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Step 1
Open Internet Explorer.
Step 2
Go to Tools | Internet Options. The Internet Options dialog box appears.
Step 3
Click the Security tab and select the Internet zone.
Step 4
Click the Custom level button. The Security Settings - Internet Zone dialog box appears.
Step 5
Scroll down the Settings list until you find the Allow META REFRESH entry.
Step 6
Click its Enable radio button.
Step 7
Click the OK button on the Security Settings - Internet Zone dialog box.
Step 8
Click the Yes button on the warning that pops up.
Step 9
Click the OK button on the Internet Options dialog box.
Problem After a recent upgrade of InformaCast from pre-8.4 version to 8.4 or later, broadcasts sound
choppy or robotic at remote sites or during times of heavy network traffic loads.
In InformaCast versions prior to v8.4, applications’ QoS settings were set in the code and did
not match Cisco’s default QoS DSCP values. On the Virtual Appliance, the QoS settings have been
moved to the OS level and now match Cisco’s default settings. These settings are:
Solution
•
Media RTP traffic set to DSCP EF
•
Call signaling traffic set to DSCP CS3 (call signaling traffic includes SIP and CTI traffic)
•
HTTP traffic to IP phones set to DSCP 0
•
Any other traffic set to DSCP 0
If you need to change from these default values, you will need to do so at the network level. Rewriting
DSCP values is covered in the Cisco Quality of Service (QoS) Solution Reference Network Design
(SRND) guide, found at http://www.cisco.com/go/srnd and should be handled by your network
administrator.
Upgrading InformaCast Virtual Appliance
I want to upgrade my version of InformaCast Virtual Appliance. Where do I find the steps
for that process?
Problem
Solution InformaCast Virtual Appliance is part of the larger InformaCast Virtual Appliance suite of
products. If you are looking to upgrade your version of InformaCast Virtual Appliance (e.g. Aberdeen
to 8.5.1), follow the upgrade steps in the “InformaCast Virtual Appliance Administration Guide.”
Upgrading from Basic to Advanced InformaCast
I upgraded InformaCast (from Basic to Advanced
trial/demonstration/subscription/purchased) and I’m seeing some of the following problems:
Problem
•
I can’t log in
•
My recipients/user accounts/dialing configurations, etc. are missing
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•
I’m sending out broadcasts that have worked in the past, but they’re not going through now
If you upgrade from Basic to Advanced InformaCast through either the trial, demonstration,
subscription or purchased licenses and you decide to return to Basic functionality, all additional
information entered during your Advanced phase will not be saved. If you choose to upgrade back to
Advanced InformaCast, that information will reappear; however, any new information you entered
after you reverted to Basic functionality will be unavailable.
Solution
For the three examples cited in this problem, you have a few options:
•
I can’t log in. Did you change your administrator password while you were in Advanced
InformaCast? If so, your password has reverted to what it was when you were initially in Basic
InformaCast. Use that password for logging in. If you have forgotten that password, contact
Singlewire Support to reset your password.
•
My recipients/user accounts/dialing configurations, etc. are missing. If you added these
recipients/user accounts/dialing configurations while you were in Advanced InformaCast,
downgrading to Basic InformaCast reverts you to the information you last entered before your
upgrade. You will need to enter this information again or upgrade again to Advanced InformaCast.
Please note that any new information you entered in your second go-round with Basic InformaCast
will not be available if you decide to upgrade again to Advanced InformaCast.
•
I’m sending out broadcasts that have worked in the past, but they’re not going through
now. Did you change your IP address in Advanced InformaCast before reverting to Basic
InformaCast? If so, your broadcasts will no longer work. You will need to redeploy the
InformaCast OVA (see “Install InformaCast Virtual Appliance” on page 2-34) to fix this issue.
Problem
I just upgraded InformaCast and I have errors on the Edit Telephony Configuration page.
If you encounter errors on the Edit Telephony Configuration page, verify that the fields have
the proper information entered into them. Check the following fields’ information:
Solution
•
Communications Manager AXL User. Access Communications Manager’s administrative
interface and log in with the same username/password combination. If you are unable to log in,
InformaCast will be unable to log in.
•
Communications Manager IP Address(es). Use the same test as for the Communications
Manager Admin User field.
•
Communications Manager Application User. Access Communications Manager’s
administrative interface and ensure that your application user’s credentials in InformaCast match
those in Communications Manager.
•
SNMP Community Name. Verify that the value you entered here matches the value in
Communications Manager. Use the Multicast Testing Tool to verify SNMP functionality.
Problem I just upgraded/downgraded InformaCast and I’m seeing the error, “Default configuration
Not Connected,” in the Communications Manager Versions column on the Admin Overview page.
Rebuild your phone cache. This problem occurs whenever your license changes and
whenever you add/update/delete a cluster. If either the license or clusters change, the phone cache
must be rebuilt to reflect those changes. The phone cache is automatically rebuilt every hour, but if you
want it completed sooner than that, you can click the Update button on the Edit Recipient Groups
page to discover current IP phone info from Communications Manager. Once this is done, the
Communications Manager information appears correctly on the Admin Overview page.
Solution
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Problem
I just upgraded InformaCast and there are phones missing from my recipient groups.
Phones are found from Communications Manager using SNMP and AXL. If you have
phones missing from a recipient group, ensure the following:
Solution
•
The Communications Manager Admin account has the correct username/password information
•
SNMP is enabled on all Communications Manager cluster nodes
•
SNMP community strings have READ permissions on all Communications Manager cluster nodes
•
SNMP community strings are the same on all Communications Manager cluster nodes
•
Nothing is blocking UDP port 161 from the InformaCast server to all Communications Manager
cluster nodes
You can use the Multicast Testing Tool to troubleshoot SNMP further.
Problem
I just logged into InformaCast and I’m getting a message that my license has expired.
Advanced Notification trial, demonstration, and subscription licenses all have expiration
limits. If you want to continue using Advanced Notification, you will need to contact Singlewire to
obtain a new license. If you decide to revert to Basic Paging by clicking the Restart InformaCast and
return to InformaCast Basic Paging link, InformaCast will restart, you will lose Advanced
Notification functionality and all additional data entered during your Advanced Notification phase will
be unavailable (e.g. when you revert to Basic Paging from Advanced Notification, any data you entered
after you upgraded initially—dialing configurations, users, recipient groups, etc.—will not be available
once you downgrade to Basic Paging). If you choose to upgrade back to Advanced Notification, that
data will be restored; however, any new data you entered after you reverted to Basic Paging functionality
will be unavailable.
Solution
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The following sections offer more detail on some of the more intricate aspects of InformaCast.
Determine the Busy State of a Phone with JTAPI’s Device State Server
Cisco IP phones have become progressively less reliable at reporting whether they are in use during a
broadcast. For those small number of phones where it is very important to be sure that message audio
is always and only delivered if the phone is idle (a requirement for Basic InformaCast), it is now possible
to associate these specific phones with InformaCast’s application user, which will give InformaCast
more accurate information about their status. Unfortunately, because of scalability limitations within
Communications Manager itself, it is not practical or possible to monitor all phones in medium-to-large
installations.
Note
This procedure will only work when using Communications Manager 7.x or newer. It is not intended
to be used with a medium or large number of phones, and must be applied in a targeted manner.
Note
The pictures in the following sections illustrate Cisco Communications Manager v7.x; however, the
steps are consistent between versions of Communications Manager. Discrepancies are noted where
they occur.
Step 1
Log into your Communications Manager’s administrative interface and go to User Management |
Application User. The Find and List Application Users page appears.
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Step 2
Use the filters to search for the name of the application user you are using. Click the Find button. The
Find and List Application Users page refreshes with your results.
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Step 3
Click the User ID link of your user. The Application User Configuration page appears.
Step 4
Scroll down to the Device Information area. Highlight all of the phones on which you would like to
enable JTAPI monitoring and click the down arrow to move them into the lower box. All phones in
the lower box will look to JTAPI for their current phone status.
Step 5
Click the Save button to save your changes.
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Advanced Matching for Recipient Groups
InformaCast has a variety of powerful methods for creating very precise matches of recipients for
recipient groups:
•
Subnet matching. For when you want to match all recipients on a particular network based on the
IP address range assigned to that network.
•
Regular expressions. For when the value of a particular device parameter will let you select
devices, but in a more complex way than literally matching all of or part of the value. For example,
you may want to check that the description contains numeric digits, or a particular pattern of text
that would be tedious or impossible to set up as an individual rule.
Subnet Matching
When you are setting up a recipient group rule based on recipients’ IP addresses, in addition to the
normal matching types, you will see a Belong to Subnet choice. This allows you to include or exclude
recipients based on whether their network address falls within the range assigned to a particular
network.
To specify a subnet in IP networking, you need to provide two pieces of information: an address that
is part of the network, and information about how much of that address is allowed to vary. There are
a variety of approaches for formatting this information, and the one InformaCast uses reflects the
underlying Java networking system on which it is built.
To specify a subnet within InformaCast, supply an address and the number of “host bits” that should
be ignored in that address. For example, look at how you’d match a very common style of LAN, which
uses what is known as “Class C” addressing. In a Class C network, there are 24 bits of network address,
which are always the same, and eight bits that identify the host, so they vary from device to device. (IP
addresses always contain a total of 32 bits; when written in decimal notation with dots, as they are in
InformaCast, each number contains eight of the bits).
So, assume your hypothetical network has a network address portion of 172.18.2 (since there are 24 bits
of network address information, there are three eight-bit numbers that make up the network portion).
Valid addresses on this network would range from 172.18.2.0 to 172.18.2.255 (although in practice
some of those addresses are reserved for special purposes, that goes beyond the depth of this
introduction.
To match this subnet in InformaCast, select IP Address from the first dropdown menu in the Filter
with Rules area, Does from the second dropdown menu, Belong to Subnet from the third dropdown
menu, and enter the pattern 172.18.2.0/8 in the fourth field. The portion before the slash is the sample
address that is part of the network, and the part after the slash tells InformaCast how many bits of the
address are used for host information. In fact, the last value in the network address doesn’t need to be
zero in this case—it could be any valid value, 0 to 255—and will be ignored, since all eight bits of that
value are reserved for host information.
Note
If you are coming from other tools that perform subnetting, or using one of the online subnet
calculators, keep in mind that they often work differently, placing the number of “network” or “mask”
bits after the slash. In the example above, using such a tool, you would see “172.18.2.0/24” instead of
what would actually work in InformaCast. To convert from network bits to host bits, you must subtract
from 32.

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Trying to use a subnet pattern of “172.18.2.0/24” in InformaCast will match many more recipients than
you intend because it says that there are 24 host bits, meaning there are only eight network bits, so any
address from 172.0.0.0 to 172.255.255.255 will match.

Regular Expressions and Recipient Groups
Regular expressions are an extremely powerful way to specify patterns to be matched. InformaCast lets
you use them to choose recipients that belong in a recipient group. To use this feature you need to have
a solid basic understanding of the syntax and use of regular expressions, and in particular, the variety
used in the Perl programming language. This section does not attempt to provide this background
information. If you need a reference for Perl regular expressions, consider picking up Programming Perl
(O’Reilly & Associates) and looking at the relevant parts of Chapters 1 and 2. If you want to start at an
even more basic level, O’Reilly also publishes Learning Perl, and if you want a great deal of detail, depth,
and practical advice, they have an entire book on Mastering Regular Expressions.
The basic structure of an expression you will enter is as follows:
[m]/pattern/[i][m][s][x]
The m prefix is optional and the meaning of the optional trailing options are:
Option
Description
i
Case-insensitive match
m
The input is treated as consisting of multiple lines
s
The input is treated as consisting of a single line
x
Enable extended expression syntax incorporating white space and comments
As with Perl, any non-alphanumeric character can be used in lieu of the slashes.
You’ll generally want to match things regardless of whether they are uppercase or lowercase, so you’ll
usually want the trailing “i” option (regular expressions control whether matches are case-sensitive
directly, rather than using a checkbox in the rule to determine this). So, most recipient group regular
expressions will look like:
m/pattern/i
Examples
Assume for a moment the descriptions of all recipients in your installation contain the name of the
corporate division in parentheses. To select everyone in Marketing, we want all recipients whose
description attribute contains the word “Marketing” surrounded by parentheses. Parentheses have a
special meaning in regular expressions, so you’ll have to escape them using backslashes, but other than
that, it’s pretty straightforward. Create a rule for the Description parameter to match this expression:
m/\(Marketing\)/i
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This pattern searches the parameter for the string “(Marketing).” The “i” modifier just means you don’t
care about capitalization, so “(marketing)” would match just as well. Of course, you wouldn’t need a
regular expression for this, you could just use a Contain match (using the dropdown menus and fields
provided in the Filter with Rules area) for “(Marketing).”
In something a bit trickier, suppose you want to have a group containing all phones whose extensions
are 27xx. In other words, four digits long, starting with “27.” Set up a rule with the Directory
Numbers parameter, and set it to match this expression:
m/27[0-9][0-9]/
This rule will match any phone whose list of directory numbers contains the digit “2” followed by the
digit “7,” then any two additional digits.
These examples convey the basics of setting up regular expressions. The references cited at the
beginning of the section will help in constructing even more sophisticated and powerful expressions.
Seeing What's Out There
There’s a trick you can use to quickly see the data that is available for forming your regular expressions.
Within the Add Recipient Group page, set the rule to InformaCast Device Type Does Contain,
make sure there is nothing in the last field, and click the View button. This will open the View
Recipients pop-up window, showing you all the recipients about which InformaCast knows. You can
click on down arrow next to any recipient to pop up the Target Details window that shows you all the
parameters available that describe that recipient and their values. Once you’ve figured out how to
proceed, set the rule back to the parameter you want to use, pick Logical Expression for the
constraint, and start setting it up.
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Release Notes
The following sections contain the release notes for InformaCast from version 1.1 through the current
version.
What’s New in InformaCast 8.5.1
Compatibility
InformaCast Basic Paging is compatible with the following versions of Cisco Unified Communications
Manager server (including Business Edition 6000): 8.5, 8.6, 9.0, 9.1, 9.12, and 10.0.
New Features
•
Newly Supported Phones. The following Cisco IP phone models are now supported by
InformaCast: 3905, 7821, 7841, 7861, and 8831. Of these, only the 3905 model has special
firmware requirements: it must be running firmware version 9.41 or later.
•
Newly Supported Communications Manager. Cisco’s Unified Communications Manager 10.0
is now supported by InformaCast.
Known/Resolved Issues
None
Resolved Caveats
None
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New Caveats
CDETs ID
Title
CSCui86392
Leading spaces on DialCast configuration. The InformaCast web
interface incorrectly accepts spaces as characters in DialCast dialing
patterns. Workaround: remove spaces from these configurations.
CSCuh28628
Provide a more user-friendly interface/functions on the Start Page
CSCuh28601
IP endpoints labeled as required but aren’t on Basic sign-in form
CSCuh28499
Learn More about InformaCast links don’t hold focus
CSCuh30592
change-ip-address script for backed up databases
CSCuh30601
Phone caches persist after transitioning back to Basic mode
What’s New in InformaCast 8.4.a
Compatibility
InformaCast Basic Paging is compatible with the following versions of Cisco Unified Communications
Manager server (including Business Edition 6000): 8.5, 8.6, 9.0, 9.1, and 9.12.
New Features
•
Added Content to the Support Page. The InformaCast Support page (Help | Support) now
includes links to both SIP stack logs and a link to the Singlewire Plugins page on the Singlewire
website. These links were added to increase your ease of access to InformaCast content.
•
Improved SIP Logging. New parameters (called DN and callID) have been added to the
Performance log. By logging the SIP call ID along with the calling DN and called DN, you can
more easily track calls in the Performance log (e.g. when the call started, ended, various modes,
etc.).
•
Improved Recipient Group Display. When sending a message from the InformaCast web
interface, recipient groups are now displayed alphabetically by name on the Send Message page
instead of randomly, which is now consistent with how recipient groups display on the Edit
Recipient Groups page.
•
Enhanced DialCast Usability. Due to customer requests, the initial DialCast welcome prompt
(“Welcome to the Singlewire InformaCast...”) has been removed.
•
Upgraded Tomcat Version. Tomcat was upgraded from version 7.0.16 to 7.0.35. This should
have no effect on your user experience.
•
Updated QoS Settings. In InformaCast versions prior to v8.4.a, the QoS settings were set in the
code and did not match Cisco’s default QoS DSCP values. On the Virtual Appliance, the QoS
settings have been moved to the OS level and now match Cisco’s default settings. These settings
are:
–
Media RTP traffic set to DSCP EF
–
Call signaling traffic set to DSCP CS3 (call signaling traffic includes SIP and CTI traffic)
–
HTTP traffic to IP phones set to DSCP 0
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Any other traffic set to DSCP 0
If you need to change from these default values, you will need to do so at the network level.
Rewriting DSCP values is covered in the Cisco Quality of Service (QoS) Solution Reference
Network Design (SRND) guide, found at www.cisco.com/go/srnd and should be handled by your
network administrator.
Resolved Issues
•
Fixed DN Retrieval from AXL (Mantis ID #4154). Under certain circumstances (e.g. with
Communications Manager v 6.1.3, if there were more than 26,300 DNs, or if there were multiple
DNs per phone), InformaCast was not always retrieving all the necessary DNs from AXL when
building the phone cache. This issue has been resolved.
•
Fixed Broadcast Jitter (Mantis ID #4300). Previously, sending as-available messages to a large
number of devices could result in degraded audio quality (jitter). This issue has been resolved.
•
Fixed Webmin Access through Internet Explorer (Mantis ID #4066). Previously, accessing
Webmin through Internet Explorer was prevented due to an out-of-date SSL certificate. This issue
has been resolved.
•
Fixed Release Notes; Changed Version Number. The release notes have been separated into
Basic and Advanced categories, which necessitated a version number change from 8.4 to 8.4.a.
•
Fixed Spelling Inconsistencies, Hover Text, and Display Issues. Many pages received new
hover text, standardized hover text, and standardized word spellings to improve overall user
experience.
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Resolved Caveats
CDETs ID
Title
CSCuh28590
Voice prompt changed for Basic Paging
CSCuh28557
Standardize all tooltips
CSCuh28540
Missing the “please complete...” hover text on the Basic sign-in form
CSCuh28521
Phone license limit warning text incorrectly refers to Adv mode license
CSCuh22651
Webmin - Unable to get beyond the security cert error page with IE
CDETs ID
Title
CSCuh28628
Provide a more user-friendly interface/functions on the Start Page
CSCuh28601
IP endpoints labeled as required but isn’t on Basic sign-in form
CSCuh28499
Learn More about InformaCast links don't hold focus
CSCuh30592
change-ip-address script for backed up databases
CSCuh30601
Phone caches persists after transitioning back to Basic mode
New Caveats
What’s New in InformaCast 8.3.a
Compatibility
InformaCast Basic Paging is compatible with the following versions of Cisco Unified Communications
Manager server (including Business Edition 6000): 8.5, 8.6, 9.0, and 9.1
Known Issues
•
Updated Graphics. Black and white graphics in the documentation were changed to color on
request.
•
Incorrect Error Message. In Basic Paging, when you exceed the limit of the number of phones
to which you can broadcast in a recipient group, the error message you receive is wrong (i.e. “There
are more phones associated with your Communications Manager server than your InformaCast
license key supports. Broadcast messages will be limited to 50 total phones. The number of phones
in the list that will participate in a broadcast depends on how many other phones have been
broadcast participants. For example, if 50 other phones have been broadcast participants, then no
phones in the list can participate. Otherwise, either all or some of the phones can participate. Please
contact Singlewire at www.singlewire.com for support or to upgrade your key.”). In actuality, each
recipient group is limited to 50 phones, and you can send to another separate recipient group of 50
phones. This differs from Advanced Notification where if you exceed your license limit of
recipients in one recipient group, you will be unable to send to another separate group of additional
phones.
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What’s New in InformaCast 8.3
Compatibility
InformaCast Basic Paging is compatible with the following versions of Cisco Unified Communications
Manager server (including Business Edition 6000): 8.5, 8.6, 9.0, and 9.1
New Features
•
New Functionality. InformaCast 8.3 now comes in two new versions: Basic and Advanced. Basic
functionality includes live paging only. Advanced functionality contains the full-featured version of
InformaCast: the ability to send a number of different types of broadcasts (e.g. live audio,
pre-recorded audio, pre-recorded audio and text, etc.) using your Cisco IP phone’s interface and/or
InformaCast’s web interface, interact with InformaCast’s plugins (e.g. conduct conference calls,
trigger contact closures, post to Facebook and Twitter, send broadcasts to email addresses, etc.),
customize scripts that can be attached to broadcasts, and receive confirmation when broadcasts are
sent, among other features. Basic functionality comes automatically installed on the Cisco Unified
Communications Manager Business Edition 6000, and you have the option to upgrade to
Advanced functionality.
•
New InformaCast Licensing. Advanced InformaCast can be obtained through a limited, free
trial, purchased as a subscription service, or purchased outright with a maintenance contract (which
is how InformaCast has traditionally been purchased). The InformaCast trial and subscription
licenses allow you to try InformaCast’s full functionality without committing to a long-term
contract (subscription) or without a contract at all (free, limited-time trial).
•
New Backup Location. The default backup location setting in previous versions of InformaCast
could produce unusable backups. As such, a new backup location was created:
/usr/local/singlewire/InformaCast/backup. You should examine the InformaCast backup
location that you are currently using and consider changing it to the new recommended location.
•
New License Parameter. The MaxVersion parameter, a new license parameter, must be present
in all 8.3 and later releases of InformaCast and its number must match or be greater than your
version of InformaCast in order for you to access any of InformaCast’s functionality.
•
Disk Performance Increase. VMware and storage vendors recommend that virtual machines
align on 64Kb boundaries to minimize disk reads, and InformaCast’s partitions are now in line with
this recommendation. Fewer reads with the same result means better performance, and if you are
running VA/EX on SAN disks, you may notice lower IOPS (I/O operations per second) as a result
of this change.
•
Unable to Access Webmin with Internet Explorer 9 After Installing Microsoft Security
Update KB2661254. If you’ve installed Microsoft Security Update KB2661254 and use Internet
Explorer 9 to access Webmin (https://<InformaCast Server IP Address:10000), the site will fail.
To avoid this issue, use Google Chrome or Firefox to access Webmin or use the solutions described
by Microsoft at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=2661254.
•
InformaCast Not Functioning Correctly After Changing its IP Address in Advanced
Notification and Switching Back to Basic Paging. Changing InformaCast’s IP address while
using Advanced Notification and switching back to Basic Paging can make broadcasts unavailable
to phones. There is currently a warning that occurs when executing the script that changes
InformaCast’s IP address; users can elect to abort or continue.
Known Issues
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Phone Cache Becomes Unavailable with a License Change. Whenever you change
InformaCast’s license or add/update/delete a cluster, “Default configuration Not Connected”
appears for the Communications Manager Versions field on the Overview page. If either the
license or clusters change, the phone cache must be rebuilt to reflect those changes. The phone
cache is automatically rebuilt every hour, but if you want it completed sooner than that, you can
click the Update button on the Edit Recipient Groups page to discover current IP phone info
from Communications Manager. Once this is done, the Communications Manager information
appears correctly on the Overview page.
What’s New in InformaCast 8.2.a
Updated Documentation. In order to increase usability and meet customers’ needs more easily, an
“InformaCast EX Administration Guide” has been created from the content contained in the
“Upgrading InformaCast” chapter, which has subsequently been removed from this guide.
What’s New in InformaCast 8.2
•
New InformaCast EX. InformaCast EX is a new offering from Singlewire Software that bundles
InformaCast, CallAware, the LPI, and all of InformaCast’s plugins into one OVA, available for
download for InformaCast Virtual Appliance users.
•
New Steps for SIP Configuration in the HRE Environment. If you are configuring SIP
functionality in an HRE environment, you can now choose to configure an ATA to handle the SIP
proxy instead of configuring SIP registrars.
•
New License Manager for InformaCast EX. The Singlewire Toolbox houses the License
Manager for InformaCast EX. This new management system allows you to manage all of your
Singlewire Virtual Appliance licenses from one interface.
What’s New in InformaCast 8.1
•
•
More Precise Scheduling for Scheduled Broadcasts. The functionality behind scheduled
broadcasts has been improved:
–
You can select multiple recipient groups when creating a scheduled broadcast
–
There are two separate user interfaces for one-time and repeating scheduled broadcasts
–
For a repeating scheduled broadcast, you can select Last Day of Month, Last Weekday of
Month, First Monday of Month, Fourth Thursday of Month, Last Tuesday of Month,
etc.
–
The listing of scheduled broadcasts on the Scheduled Broadcasts page is more intelligible
–
Expired scheduled broadcasts display with a pink highlight on the Scheduled Broadcasts page
–
You can delete multiple scheduled broadcasts at once on the Scheduled Broadcasts page
Improved Organization for Edit IP Speakers Page. Headings have been added to the Edit IP
Speakers page to improve organization and allow for easier scanning ability among users.
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•
Delete Non-registered Speakers En Masse. When IP speakers or Singlewire Desktop
Notification System machines lose their registered status (e.g. students graduate, users get new
computers, licenses expire, etc.), you may want to delete these non-registered speakers. You can
now delete all of these speakers at once from the Edit IP Speakers page instead of hunting them
down individually and deleting them singly.
•
Mass Volume Adjustment for Speakers. The Adjust Volume of IP Speakers area on the Edit IP
Speakers page now allows you to increment/decrement all registered speakers or only those
selected. This feature will increment or decrement a speaker’s volume based on the value set on its
Edit IP Speaker page; it will not set all speakers to the same volume level.
•
Confirm Messages and Track their Confirmation Statistics. You can now confirm the receipt
of certain messages, escalate messages to new recipients if your confirmation settings aren’t met
and track the confirmation statistics of your sent broadcasts. The Confirmation tab has been
added to the Add/Edit Message page, allowing you to specify your message’s confirmation
parameters such as whether confirmation will be required, how confirmation will be configured,
whether there will be escalation upon confirmation, etc. Correspondingly, the Confirmation
Statistics page (Messages | Confirmation Statistics) allows you to see statistics on your
messages that are configured with confirmation, such as an overview of the corresponding
message, when it was sent, how many confirmations have been received so far, what response was
chosen if the message requires responding, who the message was sent to, whether the recipient was
activated, the response each recipient gave, and when they confirmed the broadcast, whether the
broadcast’s confirmation period has expired (if it is limited) and whether the desired number of
certain responses have been received, if the message was set up to register only specific numbers
of responses.
•
Re-organized LDAP Integration Page. The LDAP Integration page (Admin | System |
LDAP Integration) has been re-organized to allow you to configure access to your LDAP
directory without having to choose between security and grouping, when you may not actually use
either in your environment.
•
Remove Defunct Phones. Defunct phones are recipients that are no longer available to
Communications Manager when the regular polling interval occurs. A large number of defunct
phones can degrade InformaCast’s performance, and they should be removed. The Show All and
Remove buttons on the Edit Recipient Groups and Defunct Phones pages now allows you to
remove all defunct phones.
•
Improved InformaCast Backups. All of InformaCast’s backup information is now contained
within a ZIP file, InformaCastBackup.zip. For InformaCast Virtual Appliance, the manual
restoration process was replaced by single command, sudo restoreFromBackup /<Directory of
Backup>/InformaCastBackup.zip.
•
Greater Access to Functionality through SIP. InformaCast now handles Session Initiation
Protocol (SIP). For Communications Manager environments, this means that you can choose
between CTI or JTAPI and SIP in your configurations. For Communications Manager Express
environments and the HRE, this means you can now configure InformaCast with SIP and gain
access to DialCast and voice menu functionality, which was unavailable previously.
•
New Way to Create Recipient Groups and a Re-formatted Edit Recipient Groups page.
When creating recipient groups, you can now choose to build groups based on existing recipient
groups. Any rules you also create would apply to those existing recipient groups as well. To allow
for this change, the Edit Recipient Groups page was redesigned.
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•
New Name for Non-telephony Environment. With the addition of SIP to InformaCast, users
using InformaCast in a non-telephony environment who want access to phone, DialCast, or voice
menu functionality can now access it. However, the old non-telephony environment is still in
existence, meaning there are now two environments included in one guide, necessitating a name
change. The Hybrid Runtime Environment (HRE) is the new name for the Non-telephony
Environment.
•
Improved InformaCast Structure for Plugins. Two structural changes were made to
InformaCast to improve its interaction with plugins: access to the LDAP connection was made
available to plugins and at the beginning of a broadcast, InformaCast is able to notify a plugin as
to which of its recipients will be activated.
•
Newly Supported Phones. Cisco’s 8941 and 8945 IP phone models are now supported by
InformaCast.
•
Streamlined Support of Windows OS. Singlewire is streamlining support for supported
Windows OS versions. This release, 8.1, is the last release of InformaCast in which the 32-bit
version of Windows OEM Server will be supported.
•
Streamlined Support of Communications Manager. InformaCast no longer supports
versions of Communications Manager prior to v6.0.
•
Streamlined Support for ReliCast. InformaCast v9.0 will be the last version of InformaCast to
support ReliCast. Because DialCast brings such an improvement in functionality and reaches a
broader audience, ReliCast will no longer be supported. Migration directions from ReliCast to
DialCast will be provided.
•
Streamlined Support for Speaker-sourced and Communications Manager Express
Softscreen Live Broadcasts. Because of the advantages of SIP, users are being encouraged to
migrate away from sourcing their live audio through Singlewire Desktop Notification System
machines or the softscreen interface of Communication Manager Express phones and instead use
a SIP call.
•
Possible Streamlined Support for InformaCast Installers. Depending on customer feedback,
InformaCast v9.0 may be the last version of InformaCast to have a Windows installer. Subsequent
versions of InformaCast will be on an InformaCast Virtual Appliance for your virtualized
environment. Please contact Singlewire Software and voice your opinion on this issue.
•
Improved Authentication Algorithm. InformaCast’s phone URL Authentication service uses a
new algorithm to determine if the credentials supplied by the phone match the CTI credentials
about which InformaCast knows for that phone. This speeds up activation time for large
installations.
•
Optimized the Performance of Reporting Data. Hibernate now stores InformaCast’s broadcast
history records to the database in a new way, which uses less CPU and should result in better
activation performance for customers who send broadcasts to large recipient groups.
•
Improved the Display Speed of the List Recipient Groups Page. The List Recipient Groups
page now determines the full set of recipients once, rather than once for each recipient group. This
results in a performance improvement for customers with large numbers of recipient groups.
•
Improved the Display of Information for Messages. The Send or Edit Messages page now
displays symbols for messages that contain persistent text (§) or have a synchronized delivery
method (o).
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•
New Allowance for messageSender Role. Previously, you had to have the role of Administrator
or messageAdministrator to cancel a broadcast that was currently running. Now, if you are the
originator of the actual broadcast, you can cancel the message even if you don’t have one of those
two roles.
•
Better Filtering of the List of User Groups Retrieved from LDAP. The InformaCast
administrator can now set up a filter to only retrieve certain user groups from the LDAP directory.
In earlier versions of InformaCast, only LDAP users could be filtered. For instance, the
administrator could enter this text into the Valid User Filter field on the LDAP Integration page
to only allow users with the last name Smith to log into the application: (sn=Smith). In
InformaCast v8.1, a new input field was added to the LDAP Integration page: Valid User Group
Filter. By filtering LDAP user groups, the administrator can control which LDAP groups can have
roles in the application. For example, the following filter will only allow user groups named Security
or Emergency to have roles in InformaCast: (|(cn=Security)(cn=Emergency)).
•
Upgraded to Tomcat v7. InformaCast upgraded to Tomcat 7 in order to use features available in
specifications Servlet 3.0, JSP 2.2, and EL 2.2. This should not have an effect on customers’
experience.
•
Resolved InformaCast/Phone Reboot Issue. When users restarted InformaCast, the phones
weren't available until they manually updated their recipient groups. This issue has been resolved.
•
Resolved Mishandled InformaCast Intercom Command. Some phones mishandled
InformaCast's command to initiate an intercom session before terminating the connection for the
initial command. This overlapping of HTTP connections prevented InformaCast from being ready
for the request sent by the phone. This issue has been resolved.
What’s New in InformaCast 8.0.2
•
InformaCast Virtual Appliance. InformaCast is now available for virtual environments. A
separate group of user guides has been created, supporting InformaCast for Communications
Manager, Communications Manager Express, and non-Telephony for the virtual environment.
•
New InformaCast Backup File. When performing InformaCast backups, all of the relevant
folders (Uploads, Database, Plugins, and Generated) will now be included in one ZIP file,
InformaCastBackup.zip.
•
New Telephony Support for Plugins. Several changes were made to InformaCast’s backend to
add support to InformaCast’s plugins and their use of InformaCast’s telephony resources.
•
Improved SNMP Interaction with Communications Manager. Previously, InformaCast
issued one SNMP request to Communications Manager for all the nodes in a cluster running
Communications Manager and their versions; this information was used to build InformaCast's
phone cache. With Communications Manager 8.6, the response changed to include information
from only the node handling the SNMP request; all other nodes’ responses were reported as
“unknown,” disrupting InformaCast’s ability to build its phone cache. InformaCast has been
improved to send separate SNMP requests to each node to correct this behavior.
•
Recording Limitations. At this time, the Singlewire Desktop Notification System cannot be
used as a source for Live or Ad-hoc messages (or to replace audio in Pre-recorded Audio
messages) in InformaCast Virtual Appliance. This will be corrected in a future release.
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•
Restoration of InformaCast Virtual Appliance Files. When using InformaCast Virtual
Appliance, if you wish to restore backed up data, you will need to contact Singlewire Support to
complete this process.
•
CallAware, Communications Manager 8.6, and InformaCast. Because of the AXL schema
versions issue mentioned in the release notes for InformaCast 8.0.1, if you are using
Communications Manager 8.6 and InformaCast 8.0.2 in conjunction with CallAware, you will
need to upgrade to CallAware 1.0.1 in order for all the applications to communicate correctly.
What’s New in InformaCast 8.0.1
•
Clarified InformaCast Upgrade Steps for v5.1 to v8.0 and Later. Several notes of interest and
additional steps were added to the “Upgrading InformaCast” chapter to clarify the upgrade from
InformaCast v5.1 to InformaCast v8.0 and later.
•
Clarified ReliCast to DialCast Migration. Several sections were added to the “Upgrading
InformaCast from Basic to Advanced” chapter to clarify the migration from ReliCast to DialCast.
•
Fixed Speaker Registration Issue. An issue with the SLP subsystem was causing it to become
unresponsive to multicast SRVLOC packets, which prevented speakers from finding their
configuration file and registering with InformaCast. This issue has been resolved.
•
Fixed Phone Groups and User-specific Filters. When upgrading from InformaCast v5.1 to
InformaCast 8.0, some v5.1 databases in which user-specific filters were configured were not
correctly upgrading to v8.0. An error, “Couldn’t register phone group sources,” would occur and
InformaCast wouldn’t start. This issue has been resolved and all databases are upgrading to the
correct version.
•
Fixed messageEditor Role and Phone Interface. When sending broadcasts from a phone
interface and using the messageEditor role, the phone interface would revert to the login prompt
after you selected your recipient groups instead of continuing with a broadcast. This issue has
been resolved.
•
Fixed Issue with Communications Manager and AXL Schema Versions. When
InformaCast starts, a Communications Manager cluster is added/changed/modified, or the
Communications Manager version is upgraded/changed, InformaCast uses AXL to obtain phone
data from Communications Manager in order to create a phone cache. In previous versions of
Communications Manager, AXL’s schema version always matched the Communications Manager
version. This is no longer the case, and the version differences were causing InformaCast to
report an error when trying to create a phone cache. InformaCast has now been upgraded to
query AXL to find out the highest schema version that it supports (this will only be done when
CUCM 8.6 is being used; earlier versions do not suffer version inconsistencies), and then
decrement the schema version until AXL responds affirmatively. InformaCast’s user interface was
not affected with this change and the AXL queries should be invisible to end users.
•
Fixed Intermittent Audio Issues. InformaCast wasn't always passing audio data to its plugins
correctly: live audio messages initiated by DialCast weren't broadcasting audio, and audio
messages to plugins intermittently failed and eventually could have caused InformaCast to run out
of memory. This issue has been resolved, and requires anyone using the Singlewire Paging
Gateway to have, at minimum, InformaCast v8.0.1.
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What’s New in InformaCast 8.0
•
Tighter License Key Controls. Once you have exceeded the number of phones allowed by your
license, you will receive a warning that you’ve attempted to broadcast to more phones than are
allowed by your license key, causing some phones to be skipped. Contact your Singlewire
salesperson about obtaining a larger license.
•
Copy a Message. You can now copy the details of an existing message instead of having to
create similar messages from scratch. To copy messages, you must have the appAdmin,
messageAdmin, or messageEditor role. When you copy a message, everything about that message,
i.e. the same icon file, pre/post tone file, audio file, script, etc. (if applicable) will be copied, and
the message’s description will have “copy” appended to it.
•
New Message Names and Order. InformaCast’s messages have been renamed and reordered
to improve ease of use with the new InformaCast interface. The old names (and order) were:
–
Text Only
–
Text and Audio
–
Audio Only
–
Audio Ad-hoc
–
Live Audio Only
–
Live Text and Audio
–
Talk and Listen
–
Text with Ad-hoc Audio
The new names (and order) are:
–
Text
–
Text and Pre-recorded Audio
–
Text and Live Audio
–
Text and Ad-hoc Audio
–
Pre-recorded Audio
–
Live Audio
–
Ad-hoc Audio
–
Talk and Listen
•
New, Improved User Interface. InformaCast’s user interface has gone through a dramatic
makeover: the left navigation menu has been transformed into a top navigation menu with icons
and dropdown menus, and the overall look and feel of the application has been updated.
•
ReliCast Added to InformaCast. ReliCast’s functionality has been added to InformaCast and
renamed as “DialCast.” DialCast functionality appears in the Admin dropdown menu and allows
users to dial a route point number to trigger an InformaCast broadcast. You can now create
dialing configurations and phone exceptions within the InformaCast user interface.
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•
New, Transparent Controls for Voice Menus. Three voice menus have been added to
InformaCast’s web interface (Admin | Voice Menus) to allow you easier control over how
InformaCast’s Interactive Voice Response (IVR) works in your environment. You can upload new
audio, control how users will log into the system (if applicable), and set the phone keys that
control how/if audio will be skipped and new recordings are accepted.
•
“Expire” a Message’s Text on a Phone. The Persistent Text checkbox on the Text tab of the
Add/Edit Message page provides an InformaCast administrator with the ability to control
whether the message’s text sent to phones during a broadcast is persisted on the phone’s display.
Deselecting the Persistent Text checkbox means that messages with a textual component will
not be put into a phone’s stack of viewable objects: the text will be visible only when displayed on
the phone; once it is covered by subsequent text messages, it is gone and cannot be uncovered and
viewed again.
•
New CTI Roles for Application Users. InformaCast needs an application user set in
Communications Manager so that it can establish a CTI connection and gain access to the
telephony features Communications Manager offers. You also need an application user for AXL
phone data requests. Those requests must include the credentials for a user who has been granted
access to the AXL API. To improve AXL functionality, several new CTI roles need to be added to
your application user.
•
Granular Scheduling Access. Sub-minute scheduling has been added to InformaCast v8.0. This
feature affects bell schedules, phone updates, LDAP updates, backups, and scheduled broadcasts.
A Second field has been added to each feature’s page, allowing users more control over scheduled
events. Whereas events previously occurred at the top of every minute, e.g. 12:13:00 p.m., now
they can occur anywhere with in a minute, e.g. 12:13:45 p.m.
•
Categorize Recipient Groups. Recipient group tags allow for finer control over the display
results of recipient groups when assigning them to ring lists. When many recipient groups exist,
selecting from them for ring lists can be difficult. Recipient group tags are used to (optionally)
categorize recipient groups. For example, a school district with seven schools can create an
“Elementary School” tag and assign it to recipient groups comprised of devices that are part of
their elementary schools. When an administrator is creating a bell schedule for the elementary
schools, he/she can filter the groups that are listed down to just those tagged as “Elementary
School,” reducing the number of displayed recipient groups and making it easier to assign the
appropriate recipient groups.
•
Use AXL Credentials. You now have the capability to choose whether the Communications
Manager application user or AXL user credentials are used when building the phone cache
through the Use Application User for AXL checkbox on the Edit Telephony Configuration
page. The credentials are sent with each SOAP request sent to AXL. This allows for a single
Communications Manager user to be created, providing access to JTAPI and AXL. If the user is
created with the standard AXL API access and standard CTI-enabled roles, it can be used for
both purposes.
•
Reach More People in More Ways with Plugins. InformaCast plugins are a way of further
expanding the number of people reached with InformaCast broadcasts. Depending on the plugin
you have, you can send broadcasts to email accounts and Twitter, attach SchoolMessenger jobs to
broadcasts, or initiate broadcasts when an email containing certain text is received to your
network. For InformaCast v8.0, you can download the following plugins:
–
The Outbound Email plugin allows you to send text and/or audio InformaCast broadcasts to
email accounts.
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–
The Twitter plugin allows you to send text broadcasts from InformaCast to Twitter.
–
The Facebook plugin allows you to send text broadcasts from InformaCast to a Facebook
user’s wall.
–
The SchoolMessenger plugin allows you to trigger SchoolMessenger jobs with an InformaCast
broadcast.
–
The Inbound Email plugin allows you to trigger InformaCast broadcasts (and tweets in
conjunction with the Twitter plugin) when an email with a certain From address and/or
specific text in Subject line is sent to a monitored account.
•
Improved Interaction with SchoolMessenger. InformaCast v8.0 allows for the use of plugins,
and the SchoolMessenger plugin was developed to facilitate simple and easy communication
between InformaCast and SchoolMessenger, allowing you to trigger SchoolMessenger jobs with
an InformaCast broadcast. Because of this enhancement, the SchoolMessenger event script has
been removed from InformaCast, and users are encouraged to contact their salesperson to receive
the SchoolMessenger plugin. If you'd still like to use the SchoolMessenger event script, contact
Singlewire Support for assistance.
•
Improved Sort Order for Activating Recipient Devices. Previous versions of InformaCast
sorted recipient devices by their IP addresses regardless of their type. In InformaCast v8.0, before
a broadcast is sent to its recipients, all of the recipients are divided into two groups: IP speakers
and all other devices. Each of the two groups is again sorted by IP address. The IP speakers get
activated first followed by all other devices. The purpose of this change is to ensure that IP
speakers get a broadcast in as timely a manner as other recipient devices.
•
Improved Visualization of Role Assignments. InformaCast v8.0 makes determining how a
role is assigned to a user or user group easier by letting you know whether roles are inherited
through membership in a group, and allowing you to expand tree views to see the groups to which
a role is assigned.
•
Improved Application Start-up Time. A new file, PhoneGroupSourcePrimer.xml, has been
created to hold cached phone information from Communications Manager, and thus decrease the
start-up time of InformaCast in environments with many phones, and allow you to send
broadcasts more quickly after restarting InformaCast. In the past, when starting up InformaCast,
the user interface would be disabled until the first collection of phone information from
Communications Manager was completed. This was done to avoid errors about empty recipient
groups, but it caused InformaCast to start slowly. The solution was cache the values last seen
when the InformaCast was running, and use them to speed startup. Every time InformaCast
gathers phone data, it gets saved in a cache file (a separate file exists for each configured
Communications Manager cluster). When InformaCast starts up, it kicks off a new data gathering
task in the background so that updated information is available as soon as it can be, but it no
longer waits for that to complete before allowing broadcasts. Instead, it loads up the information
it cached during the previous phone data gathering, and lets you send broadcasts based on that
information.
•
Updated Tomcat Version. The Tomcat version that InformaCast uses has been upgraded from
version 5.5.20 to 6.0.29 in InformaCast v8.0.
•
Clarified Allow Customization Issue. If the Allow Customization checkbox in InformaCast
is not selected, broadcast requests through the Web Services API (e.g. external applications
programmed to initiate InformaCast broadcasts like InformaCast Director, DORA, and
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CallAware) will be blocked if you chose to override text or audio in the external application. To
remedy this situation, make sure that the Allow Customization checkbox has been checked for
any messages that will be sent out through CallAware or the Web Services API.
•
Play Volume Dropdown Menu Added Back In. InformaCast v7.1 inadvertently excluded the
Play Volume menu from the Audio tab of Talk and Listen messages. It has been added back into
the user interface for InformaCastv8.0.
•
New Backlight Display Period Setting. Communications Manager and Communications
Manager Express phone models that support backlight display can be separately configured with
InformaCast v8.0. The Backlight Display Period field on the Broadcast Parameters page
overrides the Communications Manager/Communications Manager Express setting in the event
of a broadcast. However, if the displays are off, and a phone call is made to the phones, the
phones’ displays will remain on according to the Communications Manager/Communications
Manager Express’s Backlight Display Period setting. This setting was added to fix the issue of
phones’ displays not lighting up for InformaCast broadcasts.
•
Fixed Issue with Quotation Marks in Users’ Names. Users whose names contained
quotation marks (“”) generated errors when user groups were added to them. This has been fixed.
•
Added New Display Command. 797X, 89XX, and 99XX model Cisco IP phones’ displays
were not lighting up when InformaCast broadcasts containing only text were sent to them. A
internal command was configured to be sent with every text-only broadcast to remedy this
situation.
•
Improved InformaCast Backups. New directories were added to InformaCast’s backup
functionality to ensure a comprehensive restore: generated and plugins. Typically these files reside
in C:\Program Files\Singlewire\InformaCast\webapp\WEB-INF\plugins and C:\Program
Files\Singlewire\InformaCast\webapp\generated.
•
Added New Communications Manager Field. When configuring your default
Communications Manager cluster or adding a new one, if you’re using Communications Manager
v8.x, you’ll need to paste the URL you copied from InformaCast’s XML Authentication area into
the Secured Authentication URL field in the Secured Phone URL Parameters area as well.
•
Released Patches for the LPI and Apache CXF. Singlewire released two InformaCast patches
between v7.1 and v8.0. One allowed InformaCast and the LPI to reside on the same server. The
second contained an upgraded Apache CXF package to correct a problem where speakers’ IP
addresses were being incorrectly identified.
•
Streamlined Support of Communications Manager Express. Singlewire is dropping support
of Cisco Communications Manager Express 3.x. Previous versions of InformaCast used
Communications Manager Express’s XML interface when building the phone cache. Since
Communications Manager Express 4.0, Cisco has been pushing the newer IXI XML interface,
and has made the older interface obsolete. Because of the differences in interfaces, Singlewire is
dropping support of Communications Manager Express 3.x.
•
Streamlined Support of Communications Manager. Releases of InformaCast subsequent to
v8.0 will not support versions of Communications Manager before v6.x.
•
Current Cisco Bug. In Communications Manager Express 7.1 and 8.1, there is currently a Cisco
bug (#CSCtg26274) that generates errors on phones when using the phones’ Services buttons if
you enter the InformaCast address shown in “Configure IP Phone URLs.” As a temporary fix,
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leave the Services URL field blank and apply the service URL to an ephone template instead of
through the telephony-services command. Contact Cisco for more information on this bug and
ephone templates.
What’s New in InformaCast 7.1
•
Phone Updates for CallManager Express. You can now rebuild the phone cache (on the
Phone Updates page) as frequently as once per minute. Previously, you could only rebuild the
phone cache every hour when using CallManager Express.
•
InformaCast Session Timeouts. It is now possible to control InformaCast’s session timeouts
from its user interface instead of modifying the web.xml file. The Session Timeouts link in the
Edit Configuration menu allows you to control not only the length of active sessions between
InformaCast and your web browser, but also the length of active sessions between InformaCast
and your phones, which was not possible before InformaCast v7.1.
•
Skip Broadcast Initiator Logic Reworked. InformaCast v7.1’s logic has been modified so that
if the audio source of a live message (which is either a phone, speaker, or Desktop Notification
System machine) is initially contained in the list of recipient devices, it will be removed. For
example, if a live broadcast is made from a phone to the All Devices recipient group, that initiating
phone will not receive the message, even though it is a member of the All Devices recipient group.
•
SLP Parameters. It is now possible to control InformaCast’s SLP parameters from its user
interface instead of modifying the web.xml file. The SLP Parameters link in the Edit
Configuration menu allows you to control how InformaCast responds when a speaker requests
the location of a configuration file server during its boot process, how InformaCast responds to a
device or application’s request for the location of an InformaCast SOAP service, and the location
of your Configuration File Server.
•
LDAP Improvements. Several improvements have been made to the LDAP environment in
InformaCast v7.1:
–
Different Kinds of LDAP Directories Are Now Supported—Previously, only Microsoft Active
Directory and OpenDS could be integrated with InformaCast. Now, user authentication in
InformaCast can be done via OpenLDAP, Sun Java System Directory Server, Apache
Directory Server, and any other kind of LDAP v3-compliant server. To allow this change, a
number of new fields were added to the LDAP Integration page of InformaCast.
–
An Additional Authentication Method is Now Supported—Earlier versions of InformaCast only
allowed using simple LDAP authentication. This authentication method might pose a security
risk if used over an unencrypted communication channel. InformaCast v7.1 now also supports
user authentication via Kerberos v5, which is more secure, and can be used with SSL for better
protection. Another advantage of Kerberos is that the configuration of LDAP integration in
InformaCast can be done using the LDAP administrator’s regular login name instead of the
distinguished name that consists of a number of components. With the addition of Kerberos
authentication, several new fields were added to the LDAP Integration page.
–
LDAP Integration—The length of the Valid User Filter field on the LDAP Integration page
has been increased from 256 to 4096 characters, and the list of LDAP user groups on the
LDAP Integration page is no longer limited by 1,000 entries.
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•
New User Role. There is a new role called messageSenderDNsRestricted. This role is very
similar to the messageSender role, except that when a user specifies directory numbers (DNs) in
the IP Phone Extension (DN) field on the Send Message page, those DNs are analyzed. If a
given DN is not contained in a recipient group to which the user has been granted access
(through the use of user or group filters), that DN will be removed from the list of recipients.
•
SOAP Interface Changes. The SOAP interface has been rewritten, using Apache CXF as the
new underlying infrastructure. This change allows developers to initiate live and ad-hoc messages
programatically and provide dynamic audio within the SOAP request (µLaw or HQ format is
required for audio). Backward compatibility in the SOAP interface has been preserved, meaning
that applications using the old interface, such as DORA, don’t need any updates. To deal with the
changes made to the SOAP interface, a Programmer’s SOAP Guide is being developed.
•
Section 508 Compliance. Section 508, an amendment to the United States Workforce
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, is a federal law mandating that all electronic and information
technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by the federal government be accessible to
people with disabilities (definition provided by Tech Target
(http://searchcio.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid182_gci914785,00.html)). In compliance with
Section 508, InformaCast v7.1 has a number of improvements:
–
Row and column headers shall be identified for data tables—Data tables have the column and row
headers appropriately identified (using the <th> tag). Tables used strictly for layout purposes
do not have header rows or columns.
–
Markup shall be used to associate data cells and header cells for data tables that have two or more logical levels
of row or column headers—Table cells are associated with the appropriate headers (e.g. with the
ID, headers, scope, and/or axis HTML attributes).
–
Electronic forms comply with assistive technology—When electronic forms are designed to be
completed online, the form shall allow people using assistive technology to access the
information, field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission of the
form, including all directions and cues. All form controls should have text labels adjacent to
them. Form elements should have labels associated with them in the markup. Dynamic HTML
scripting of the form should not interfere with assistive technologies.
–
A method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive navigation links—Skip navigation allows
assistive technology to jump over repetitive information on a page. The value of this can be
understood by noting how many times a webpage refreshes when simple actions are taken.
This ability allows the user to save a lot of time.
•
Cisco Communications Manager v8. Support has been added for Cisco Communications
Manager v8.
•
Intercom Functionality. Combine InformaCast v7.1 and PushToTalk v2.3 and gain the ability
to facilitate intercom functionality between two phones, or a phone and a speaker.
•
Newly Supported Phones. InformaCast now supports new Cisco IP phones: 6921, 6941, 6961,
7937, 7971, 8961, 9951, and 9971.
•
Key Pair Regeneration. For any users experiencing browser problems with importing
InformaCast SSL certificates, there is a new section in the Troubleshooting chapter dealing with
regenerating a key pair.
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•
Multiple CPUs. Some customers with multiple CPUs were seeing erroneous behavior during
broadcasts. The problem was due to InformaCast not being designed for concurrent operation on
multiple CPUs. The CPU affinity of the process has now been set to only run on the first CPU,
which does not hamper performance because InformaCast broadcasts are not CPU-intensive.
•
Recipient Groups. For recipient groups with many rules, Internet Explorer would display a
“Page cannot be displayed” error when a user clicked on the Edit Exceptions button because the
URL was too long for Internet Explorer to handle. Those URLs have now been shortened.
•
Firmware. A firmware change shrunk the displayable size of images on the Cisco7945 and 7965
IP phones, so images sent to those phones weren’t displaying. The size of the image has been
reduced to avoid this problem.
•
Nested Diagnostic Contents. Log4j Nested Diagnostic Contexts were being created, but not
deleted. Under certain circumstances, some users were seeing out of memory warnings while
using InformaCast. Singlewire issued a script to customers who had this problem, and then
integrated the logic of the script into InformaCast v7.1.
•
Out of Memory Errors. For customers who send many broadcasts to large groups of phones,
the job that cleans up the Broadcast History was using too much memory while deleting database
entries. Singlewire reduced the batch size to avoid the out of memory errors that were occurring.
•
DSCP Value. The default Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) value in InformaCast has
changed from AF11 to CS5. InformaCast’s traffic class for RTP packets is set to this value to
provide users with the ability to prioritize InformaCast’s multicast traffic according to the Quality
of Service (QoS) scheme that they are using. Users still have the ability to customize the DSCP
value by modifying the multicast traffic class context parameter in the web.xml file. This will not
be an issue on Windows 2008 Server, which ignores the InformaCast QoS setting and instead sets
QoS based on a value provided by the user through the group policy editor.
•
CallManager. Releases of InformaCast subsequent to v7.1 will not support versions of
Communications Manager before v5.x
What’s New in InformaCast 7.0
•
•
Message Scripting. There are three new scripting features:
–
Dynamic Text in the Short or Long Text Fields—Add simple variables to the Short or Long
Text fields on the Text tab of the Edit Message page to include dynamic text (i.e. the current
time or date, the user who sent the message, the user’s directory number, etc.) within a message.
–
Data Setup Script—Create a script within a text file that pulls dynamic information (e.g. RSS
feeds, weather warning details, security threat levels, etc.—anything you can access
programmatically over a network) from other sources.
–
Audio Replacement Script—Create a script within a text file that pulls dynamic audio (e.g. weather
reports, stock tickers, synthesized text using text-to-speech software, etc.) from other sources
and attach it to a message using the Update button for the Audio Replacement script on the
Scripting tab of the Edit Message page.
Edit Message Page Re-design. The Edit Message page has gone through a dramatic overhaul
to improve usability and efficiency:
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•
–
New Tabs—Instead of one long page to scroll through, four new tabs have been created for the
Edit Message page: Text, Audio, Re-broadcasting, and Scripting. Depending on your
message type, all or some of these tabs will be visible. All previous functionality has been
divided between these tabs and new functionality has been added.
–
Tool Tips/Help Buttons—All of the fields/checkboxes on the tabs of the Edit Message page now
have tool tips that pop up when you hover your mouse over the field/checkbox’s name. On
the Scripting tab, Help buttons appear next to each script to provide you with a detailed
definition of the script’s functionality and the variables available for your script’s use.
–
Synchronized vs. As Available Delivery—Urgent message delivery has a new name: As Available,
and Synchronized is the complementary form of delivery. On the Audio tab, synchronized
delivery will wait until all devices capable of playing audio are ready to play the broadcast. As
available delivery will play your broadcast immediately to any devices ready to play the
broadcast and, as each new device becomes available, the broadcast will play at that time.
–
Pre and Post Tones for Live, Ad-hoc, and Recorded Messages—Configure your live, ad-hoc, and
pre-recorded messages to contain tones that play before and/or after a broadcast using the Pre
Tone and Post Tone checkboxes on the Audio tab of the Edit Message page. A message with
a pre tone does not have to use a post tone and vice versa. Pre and post tones are only used
with synchronized messages. As available messages cannot have pre or post tones.
–
Customizable Short and Long Text Fields with Allow Customization Checkbox—Click the
Allow Customization checkbox on the Text tab of the Edit Message page to allow users to
customize the Short and Long Text fields of a message when sending it. For example, users
could update a recommended exit route depicted in a message depending on the type of
emergency experienced, regardless of whether they had the messageEditor role.
–
Scroll Speed and Duration Fields—Two new fields were added to the Text tab: Scroll Speed and
Scroll Duration. Select Repetitions or Seconds from the Scroll Duration dropdown menu
and enter a value in its field to control the number of times a message scrolls across your device
or the number of times a message scrolls within a specified period of time, respectively. Select
a value from 1 to 10 from the Scroll Speed dropdown menu to control how fast a message
scrolls across a display. These fields only work in conjunction with new speakers being released
in conjunction with InformaCast v7.0.
–
Re-broadcasting Tab—The Re-broadcasting tab on the Edit Message page allows you to control
whether your message repeats, how often it does so, and if there should be a pause in between
repetitions.
–
Scripting Tab—Two new scripts have been added: Audio Replacement and Data Setup
(discussed previously). The Message Sent script has been re-named to Send in Progress. Its
functionality remains the same, and we also provide the means for connecting with Twitter
(contact your Singlewire salesperson for more details).
Phone Updates Improvements. The Phone Updates link now takes you to a page where you
can configure builds of the list of registered phones or refreshes of the list of previously registered
phones. Build list of registered phones creates a list of registered phones and involves querying
CallManager to obtain the configuration and IP address for each registered phone. Refresh list of
registered phones refreshes the configuration of previously registered phones. A refresh can be
performed as frequently as once per minute.
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•
Language Support. InformaCast now supports non-Roman alphabets for display on phones. As
long as the phone’s region supports the appropriate alphabet, broadcasts containing text
comprised of non-Roman alphabet characters (entered in the Short and Long Text fields on a
message’s Text tab) will display properly.
•
Reporting. InformaCast now has the ability to generate reports. The Reporting link in the side
menu contains the functionality for three reports: Broadcast Events, Broadcasts Counts By User,
and Event Details. The Broadcast Events report provides a list of all broadcasts sent out between
the dates specified. Break out your events by which user triggered the message or if it was a bell
schedule. The Broadcasts Counts By User report allows you to see a list of broadcasts sent out by
each user broken into separate months. The Event Details report shows the details of a broadcast
event: the text and audio if they exist, and sending details, such as the number of times the
message was sent, etc.
•
Audio Broadcasts. The Audio Broadcasts link has been changed to Broadcasts. The
functionality remains the same.
•
Contact Closures. When a speaker with General Purpose Input Output (GPIO) capability (i.e.
contact closures) registers with InformaCast, you will gain the ability to initiate an intercom
session with a directory number (DN) you have assigned to that speaker.
•
SNMP Monitoring. Through Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and a
Management Information Base (MIB) file, InformaCast can respond to your Network
Management Software’s queries with information about the application, such as how long the
application has been running, current broadcasts’ information, configuration parameters, etc.
•
MIDlets. InformaCast v7.0 adds support (the actual functionality is still being developed) for the
forthcoming message replay MIDlet, allowing you to replay old messages. New Cisco IP phones
(as yet unreleased) are going to be able to run third-party software directly on the phone in the
form of Java MIDlets. The InformaCast MIDlet is designed to let you replay and skip through the
content of messages that have been sent to a particular phone.
•
RoboHelp. InformaCast’s online help system has become even better through the use of
RoboHelp, which provides a much more comprehensive, user-friendly interface and improved
search functionality.
•
Cisco 7925 IP Phone. The 7925 model of Cisco IP phone is now supported by InformaCast.
•
Singlewire. In April 2009, the developers, sales personnel, and support staff involved with IPT
applications at CDW/Berbee spun off into a new company: Singlewire Software. Singlewire will
focus on building applications for the Unified Communications and physical security spaces.
•
Improvements in Broadcast Coordination. The parts of InformaCast that were responsible for
managing the process of sending a broadcast have been made more robust, fixing a number of
issues which could result in stuck broadcasts and resource exhaustion, especially when many
simultaneous broadcasts were sent over a period of time. Organizations with large networks and
powerful servers now have more options for tuning performance as well.
•
SSL Certificate for Internet Explorer. The InformaCast installer now generates a self-signed
SSL certificate with the machine’s IP address in the Common Name field. This allows Internet
Explorer users to bypass the “Website Security Certificate” warning by importing the certificate.
•
Support for CallManager 4.x. Cisco Unified CallManager 4.x will still be supported for
InformaCast v7.0, but starting with the next release of InformaCast, CallManager 4.x will no
longer be a supported environment for InformaCast. Cisco has declared it “end of life.”
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What’s New in InformaCast 6.1.1
•
Recipient devices. Some recipient devices were being improperly skipped during a broadcast
and the audio portion of the broadcast was not being delivered to such devices. Restarting the
InformaCast service would temporarily fix the problem. This has now been fixed consistently.
•
Concurrent audio broadcasts. Another defect was fixed that affected how InformaCast
handled concurrent audio broadcasts sent to the same device or the same group of devices. Under
certain conditions, the deactivation of such devices might fail and they would remain activated for
receiving a multicast audio stream. Eventually, such devices would fail to receive any audio
broadcasts until they were rebooted and the InformaCast service was restarted. This has now
been fixed.
•
Live audio broadcasts. InformaCast was incorrectly counting a certain type of activation failure
twice, leading it to cancel live audio broadcasts because it wasn't detecting any active recipients.
This has been fixed.
What’s New in InformaCast 6.1
•
Message Priorities. You can now assign a priority level to InformaCast messages, allowing you
to control how messages will be played by recipient devices (with the exception of text only and
talk and listen messages, which will play right away). For example, a principal’s message about a
tornado in the area (with a priority setting of 1) would override the students’ daily announcements
(with a priority level of 3).
•
Scripting. In this new release of InformaCast, you can assign scripts to run each time the
InformaCast backup job is run, each time the InformaCast application is started, and each time
the InformaCast application is shut down.
•
Bulk IP Speaker Volume Adjustment. This feature allows you to increment or decrement the
volume of registered IP speakers. You can apply the volume adjustment to all registered speakers
or to a subset of registered speakers.
•
Ad-hoc Audio File Available in Scripting Environment. InformaCast can be configured to
run a script after a broadcast has been sent. If an ad-hoc message was used in a broadcast, the
audio file that was recorded will now be available for use by the script. For example, a broadcast
triggers an email to be sent with the ad-hoc audio file attached to the email.
•
Ad-hoc Audio File Clean-up. Prior to InformaCast v6.1, audio files generated by ad-hoc
broadcasts accumulated in the InformaCast directory unless manually removed. InformaCast v6.1
includes a maintenance task that runs once daily (at 4:00 a.m.) to delete ad-hoc audio files older
than a value you have set in InformaCast’s configuration.
•
SchoolMessenger/SOAP Interaction. If you use the SchoolMessenger application, you can
now create a message script that is attached to an InformaCast message. When the InformaCast
message is broadcast, it will prompt SchoolMessenger’s application to execute a specific job. The
SchoolMessenger application normally performs message delivery though phone calls, emails, and
SMS.
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•
Profile Description Filter Option for Recipient Groups. You can now use the Cisco Unified
Communications Manager’s (CUCM) user device profile description to determine which phones
belong in a recipient group. Phones that are using extension mobility or a profile when logged out
are eligible to be filtered in this way. This option is only available when using Communications
Manager version 6 or later.
•
Multicast Address Range. You can now specify a range of multicast IP addresses to be used for
broadcasts, which may reduce network traffic. InformaCast will cycle through this range of
addresses, using the next address in the range for each broadcast. Previous versions of
InformaCast used the same multicast address for all broadcasts, which will still be the default
setting.
•
Extension Mobility. Previously, InformaCast was unable to correctly gather phone data from
Communications Manager for phones logged into extension mobility when using
Communications Manager 6.0 or later. These phones were being erroneously reported by
InformaCast to be using their permanent configuration instead of their extension mobility profile.
This problem has been fixed.
•
LDAP Integration. In the previous release, when InformaCast tried to open a large list of LDAP
users, an “Out of Memory” error would be triggered. Also, LDAP users were unable to log into
the application because InformaCast would try to load all the user groups from the directory,
leading to another “Out of Memory” error. This issue has been solved; first by adding an
additional LDAP integration parameter (the Maximal Number of Users field on the LDAP
Integration page) that limits the number of users that can be displayed in the administrative
interface, and secondly, InformaCast’s determination of an LDAP user’s group memberships and
roles during logon has been optimized to use a constant amount of memory regardless of the
directory size.
•
schedEditor Role. The previous release of InformaCast contained a bug with the schedEditor
role where users assigned to the role were able to see and edit any bell schedule that was not
filtered from their accounts. They were also able to see all existing (non-filtered) ring lists available
to that account, but were unable to edit them as expected given the role. This bug has been fixed,
allowing the role to work as originally planned.
•
Bell Schedules with Exceptions. Bell schedules with exceptions weren’t ringing bells on the days
with exceptions assigned to them. This has been fixed.
•
ReliCast. Ad-hoc and live broadcasts initiated by ReliCast were failing when using
Communications Manager 7. Those same broadcasts would also fail (if initiated by ReliCast) when
the initiating phone was associated with the InformaCast CTI user in Communications Manager.
These issues have been fixed.
•
Support for Windows 2000 Server. Windows 2000 Server will still be supported for InformaCast
v6.1, but starting with InformaCast v7.0, Windows 2000 Server will no longer be a supported
environment for InformaCast.
What’s New in InformaCast 6.0.1
•
Extension Mobility Problems. Previously, InformaCast was unable to correctly gather phone
data from CallManager for phones logged into extension mobility when using CallManager 6.0 or
later. These phones were being erroneously reported by InformaCast to be using their permanent
configuration instead of their extension mobility profile. This problem has been fixed.
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•
Ad-hoc Message Recording. Recording of ad-hoc messages was failing when the recording
party was to be reached at a call park directory number. The process of unparking the parked call
caused the voice recorder to prematurely terminate due to unanticipated JTAPI events. This
problem has been fixed.
What’s New in InformaCast 6.0
•
Support for Multiple CallManager Clusters. Multiple CallManager clusters are now supported
(InformaCast can still only connect to a single CallManager Express environment). InformaCast
comes with default configuration clusters and you must designate a primary cluster (if you have
more than one) with which InformaCast will perform telephony operations. You can also rotate
non-primary clusters into the primary cluster role.
•
CallManager Cluster Name and Location. There are now two new fields when you view
matching devices for recipient groups: CallManager Cluster Name and Location, and you can
filter by these fields. The CallManager Cluster Name field is tied to the name of your
CallManager cluster in LDAP, and is also logged in order to help with diagnosing SNMP
problems. With the Location field, each phone in CallManager and InformaCast can be assigned
a location that can be used when setting up recipient groups, allowing for more meaningful
groups.
•
Edit Configuration Menu Change. To improve usability, the Edit Configuration page has
been broken into multiple pages based on specific application areas. Overview, Telephony,
Audio Broadcasts, and Scripting all house the same functionality as in the previous
InformaCast version; they are just now on their own pages. LDAP Integration, Phone Updates,
LDAP Updates, and Backup all offer new functionality.
•
LDAP Integration. With LDAP Integration turned on, InformaCast can access an LDAP
directory, such as Microsoft Active Directory, when it is looking up user information for the
purposes of authentication and authorization. Another use for LDAP Integration is as a way to
set up recipient groups. You can tie the attributes of people in the LDAP directory, through their
phone number, to their phones. By doing this, you can create a recipient group that would
broadcast to people in a particular office, or a particular department, or whatever other features
you can extract from the directory, such as names, which are not available within CallManager
itself.
•
LDAP Updates. In InformaCast v6.0, you can configure the timing of a scheduled job that will
update InformaCast’s LDAP information. If you do nothing and InformaCast is set up for LDAP
grouping, this job will occur every hour at 40 minutes past the hour.
•
Back Up the InformaCast Database. Backup allows you to configure the timing behind
scheduled backups of the InformaCast configuration. If you do not set a time for backups,
automatic backups will not occur. New backups will overwrite previous backup files.
Note
The time for scheduled backups is calculated in military time and is set to 3:00 a.m. by
default.
Note
You can only back up InformaCast when it is running. In order to achieve a consistent
backup, perform it when configuration changes are not expected to be taking place.
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•
Phone Updates. The functionality in Phone Updates has been moved from a configuration file
to its own webpage. Previously, you could only specify the minute value for when this job was
performed, and it would occur every hour at 10 minutes past the hour. You are now able to
configure the timing for a scheduled job of how often InformaCast will update its phone
information; it no longer needs to happen every hour.
•
New Role. The messageEditor role is new in InformaCast v6.0. This role allows users to send
and edit existing messages, and such users can be filtered so that they have access only to specific
messages.
•
Bell Scheduler. The Bell Scheduler functionality in InformaCast has been completely redone to
provide a better user interface. The concepts of ring lists and day schedules have been merged
into a single, more powerful ring list, making it easier to define, view, and update the pattern and
destinations of bells.
•
SOAP Interface. InformaCast v6.0 has a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) interface,
which allows third-party applications to interact with InformaCast in a programmatic manner.
SOAP is a simple XML-based protocol to let applications exchange information over HTTP. The
SOAP services provided by InformaCast are: Message and Recipient Group.
The Message service can be used to retrieve information regarding available messages in
InformaCast. It can also initiate the sending of a broadcast. The Recipient Group service can be
used to retrieve information regarding existing recipient groups.
•
Security Certificate Error. When you access the InformaCast website, you will be greeted with a
certificate error, “There is a problem with this website’s security certificate.” This is normal.
InformaCast is now using an encrypted session for all web browser interaction to avoid potential
risks of network eavesdropping, just as CallManager does. Since InformaCast, like CallManager, is
a locally-installed server rather than a global, public Internet site, there is no practical way for web
browsers to recognize its encryption certificate as safe. Just as with CallManager, you will need to
tell the browser to accept the certificate to proceed to the application’s interface. If you would like
to avoid seeing this prompt, consult your browser documentation about how to accept the
certificate permanently, or talk to your network administrator about purchasing and installing a
certificate for your InformaCast server from a recognized public Certificate Authority.
•
Large Log Files. After integrating InformaCast with the Windows Event Log database, the
number of log files was overwhelming for some Windows administrators. In response, v6.0 cut
back drastically on the amount of information placed in the Windows Event Log. That
information remains available in InformaCast’s own log files. You can also now tweak what gets
logged where by editing a new logging configuration file.
•
IP Speaker Import. The IP Speaker Import spreadsheet has been updated to better handle
leading zeroes. If you still encounter problems with the MAC address in any rows, the addition of
a leading “X” is now an option to coax the import to a successful conclusion.
•
External Paging. As announced in June 2006, the complicated approach for integrating legacy
external paging systems with InformaCast is no longer available. It has been replaced by
InformaCast Zone Controller technology.
•
Microsoft IIS. Microsoft IIS is no longer used within InformaCast. Apache Tomcat has replaced
its functionality.
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What’s New in InformaCast 5.1.1
•
Configurable Communication s. Recent releases of CallManager, especially in large installations,
sometimes take longer than expected to respond to AXL and SNMP queries for collecting recipient
group information. To address this, the default s have been increased and a configuration file,
Connection.properties, has been added which can be modified in the field to accommodate even
more extreme environments.
•
Error Message Elaboration. InformaCast now tries to be more explicit in reporting when it
seems to be suffering s while trying to perform network communication in order to facilitate
troubleshooting and configuration using the new mechanism described in the previous bullet. Also,
the error message InformaCast reports when it is unable to open a socket for CTI audio traffic has
been expanded to explain that a likely cause is a discrepancy between the actual server IP address
and the address configured in the web.xml file.
•
New IP Phone Support. You can now use Cisco 7906 and 7921 devices as recipients for
InformaCast text and audio messages. (You may need to update your CallManager in order for
them to be reported to InformaCast.)
What’s New in InformaCast 5.1
•
Support for Cisco Unified CallManager 6.0. Release 5.1 of InformaCast can work with IP
phones managed by Cisco Communications Manager v6.0.
•
Scripting. Using a script, users can extend the capabilities of InformaCast to trigger a
non-InformaCast event. For example, if an emergency page is sent, a script can be used to trigger
an email to administrators to notify them about this event. At present, only the JavaScript language
is supported. Several sample scripts are shipped with InformaCast.
•
Talk and Listen Improvements. Now each phone participating in a talk and listen session has an
improved interface making it easier for users to navigate between the Talk, Listen, and Details
states.
•
Bell Scheduler Same Bell Tones Issue. Added logic for resolving the problem when Bell
Scheduler sent the same tone to the same speakers several times. Now, InformaCast can detect if
the same speaker is assigned as a recipient of two or more different bells occurring at the same time
and using the same ring tone. In previous versions, such a speaker would try to play all of the ring
tones simultaneously and the resulting sound quality was quite low. Such speakers now play only
one ring tone, which improves the quality of the sound.
•
Handling of non-InformaCast Authentication Requests Modified. Before redirecting such a
request, the servlet analyzes its type and if it is GET, then a copy of the query string is appended to
the redirection URL.
•
Data Sorting in Tables. For pages that use tables for displaying data (messages, recipient groups,
bell schedules, etc.), it is now possible to sort the tables by any column in ascending or descending
order (click on the column title to sort by that column). Also, the controls used for navigating
through table pages are now shown both at the top and bottom of tables.
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•
Granularity in Speaker Reboot Process and New Filter for Viewing Speakers Based on
Registration Status. Checkboxes have been added to the Edit IP Speakers page, allowing users to
specify what speakers need to be rebooted (this applies only to registered speakers). Users can now
reboot individually selected speakers or all available ones. A new attribute has also been added to
the filter on that page: IP speakers can be filtered by their registration status.
•
Failure Tone for Live Audio Devices. If no devices are activated for a live broadcast, the
originator will hear a failure tone informing that no devices were able to join the broadcast.
•
SLP Service. The ability to independently advertise speaker configuration and HTTP services (for
DORA service discovery) through SLP has been added.
•
Logging of InformaCast Events Through Windows System. If InformaCast is installed on a
Windows system, it will log its events in the operating system log, which is located in Start |
Programs | Administrative Tools | Event Logs.
•
Live Broadcast Alert Tone Error. In some situations, notifying alert tones for live broadcasts
were not being terminated after the broadcast ended. This has been fixed.
•
QuickPage Recipient Group Selection. Previously, some users experienced an error while using
the QuickPage Integration URL mechanism. This has been resolved.
What’s New in InformaCast 5.0.4
InformaCast 5.0.4 is primarily an update to enable and document the new SLP mechanism for
configuring IP speakers on an InformaCast network to replace the previous use of CallManager’s TFTP
server. It also builds on the documentation improvements started in 5.0.3. There are also some
corrections to new features.
•
SLP Server Enabled. This release provides an SLP server that IP speakers can use to configure
themselves without requiring a separate TFTP mechanism.
•
Documentation Improvements. A thorough review of the documentation was performed. Stale
information was removed, while structure, clarity, and consistency were improved.
•
SNMP Robustness. This release properly handles differing SNMP data types between
CallManager 4.x and 5.x, to correctly interpret IP addresses returned within SNMP responses. This
corrects a defect that could cause certain IP addresses to prevent gathering phone information
when interacting with CallManager 5.x. InformaCast can also now deal with SNMP responses from
nodes in a CallManager cluster that are not running the CallManager service, as long as at least one
of the IP addresses entered into InformaCast’s configuration corresponds to a node that is running
the CallManager service.
•
Broadcasts Continue During Recipient Group Updates. Beginning with InformaCast v5,
broadcasts could not occur while recipient groups were being updated. Specifically, while phone
information was being collected from CallManager, it was impossible to calculate group
membership. This was a problem at sites with large numbers of phones and slower CallManager
servers, since broadcasts could be delayed for a noticeable amount of time. Version 5.0.4 allows the
phone information to be collected in the background, so broadcasts can continue uninterrupted
using the old information in the mean time.
•
Multiple External Paging Device Support in Recipient Groups. The new grouping
mechanism introduced with InformaCast v5 could previously only detect the first external paging
source defined within InformaCast, which prevented the others from being selected as part of
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recipient groups, whether through rules or the simpler checkbox mechanism. This update allows
all defined external paging sources to work with the grouping mechanism and participate in
broadcasts.
•
Ability to Check Recipient Group Membership of IP Speakers. The new grouping
mechanism introduced in InformaCast v5 goes far beyond the simple speaker-to-group association
that existed in previous releases. However, the older mechanism did provide a quick way to check
which recipient groups include a particular speaker, which was not possible in InformaCast v5.
Since some users had come to rely on this accidental feature of the old interface, a new
informational section on the Edit IP Speaker page has been added, which provides a list of all
groups to which the speaker belongs.
•
CallManager Device Type Names Corrections. When setting up a recipient group rule based
on CallManager Device Type, previously choosing Cisco IP Phone 7960 would instead match
7940s, and choosing Cisco IP Phone 7940 would match 7960s. This has been corrected, and the
proper device name will now be displayed. If you have any such rules, you should double-check
them after installing release 5.0.4 and fix the device type if needed.
•
Source of “Stuck Broadcasts” Eliminated. In rare cases, an audio broadcast was canceled
before it actually began. InformaCast was failing to clean up the information about the broadcast,
leaving an error in the log and a permanent entry in the list of active broadcasts (which could be
removed manually by clicking the End button). This situation is now detected reliably and the
broadcast is removed from the active list without error.
•
Default Authentication URL. InformaCast delegates authentication requests for other
applications back to the CallManager unless configured otherwise. CallManager 5.x uses a different
path for its built-in authentication server, and InformaCast will now correctly use this path when
working in a CallManager 5.x environment.
•
Multicast Port Range. Recent Cisco phone firmware has placed even more strict limits on the
valid ports available for multicast audio. This update keeps InformaCast from trying to use ports
outside the new, smaller range (20,480 to 32,768).
•
Speaker Configuration Assistant. The Help page tool, which builds speaker configuration files,
now allows you to specify FPGA and boot loader firmware files in addition to the main speaker
firmware file.
What’s New in InformaCast 5.0.3
•
Phones Available After Failed Update. When an attempt to gather phone information from
CallManager fails, InformaCast will continue operating with the stale information it obtained
during the last successful update, rather than discarding all phone information. This restores
behavior that was seen in all versions of InformaCast prior to 5.0, and allows more reliable
operation even under adverse CallManager conditions.
•
Ability to Recover Administrative Access. Sites that have lost the ability to log in and administer
their InformaCast server can now regain access with the help of Singlewire’s support staff,
regardless of whether the problem was caused by a lost password (such as through employee
turnover), deleting the administrative user, or revoking permissions.
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•
Runaway Thread Issue. Certain kinds of failures to communicate with phones could cause
problems for the new statistics collection mechanism in version 5.0.2, causing the Tomcat Java
process running InformaCast to consume all available CPU cycles until the service was restarted.
This has been corrected.
•
Spurious Stop Commands. Version 5.0.2 added the ability to avoid sending Stop commands
when InformaCast skipped trying to send a broadcast to a phone, but if it tried and failed, it would
still try to stop the failed broadcast later on. The only way to avoid the problem was through the
Skip Phones in Use feature. This release allows InformaCast to detect when the phone has
rejected a broadcast attempt, and thereby refrain from trying to stop it. Such failures are also now
reflected in the Summary Log, and the log format has been made more readable.
•
Recipient Group Rule Validation Improved. It was previously possible to create a recipient
group rule with a badly-formed regular expression, as long as there were no devices registered
against which they could be compared. Later, when such devices appeared, the recipient group
page became unavailable since the regular expression rule would be used, and would cause the
application to fail. This change prevents you from creating these rules in the first place. It also
provides better feedback when you try to create a rule with a badly-formed subnet match.
•
Configuration Validation Improved. InformaCast now rejects attempts to save the
configuration page if any required parameters are missing, and better indicates which parameters
are required.
•
Filtering by Regular Expression Enabled. When viewing lists of IP speakers and lists of
potential additions and exclusions to recipient groups, InformaCast offers a filter interface for
narrowing the list of interesting devices. Previously, attempting to use a regular expression for
filtering would result in an exception. This now works properly.
•
Log Search Tool Updated. The tool that helps analyze InformaCast logs and locate interesting
information has been updated to reflect the changes in InformaCast v5.
•
Documentation Improvements. Loose ends within the documentation have been cleaned up,
and consistency improved.
What’s New in InformaCast 5.0.2
InformaCast v5.0.2 was an update release to address loose ends related to the major changes introduced
in v5 with respect to CallManager interaction. These changes were made to support migration to
CallManager 5.x, and offer a richer set of grouping choices.
•
Fixed Memory Issue. Previously, InformaCast would eventually run out of memory after
repeatedly updating phone information from CallManager. This has been corrected.
•
Phone Discovery. All compatible phones, as reported by CallManager, are now discovered. This
includes those whose MAC address have been manually entered and contain lowercase letters.
•
SNMP Configuration. “Installing InformaCast” on page 2-1 now explains how to configure
SNMP when working with CallManager 5.x.
•
Avoid Spurious Stop Commands. Previously, an extra Stop command was sent to phones that
were skipped during an audio broadcast (because they were otherwise in use). This could
prematurely end an ongoing broadcast, or in the case of 7920 wireless phones, place an active call
on hold. InformaCast now sends Stop commands only for broadcasts it actually attempted to
start.
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•
Summary Log Updated. The Summary log now reports how many phones were skipped because
they were in use, and the collection of all statistics uses new Java 5 capabilities, which improve
performance by eliminating costly synchronization.
What’s New in InformaCast 5.0
•
Greatly Enhanced Grouping. The way groups are formed has been completely reworked.
Administrators can choose between Select Devices and Rules. Selecting devices can have filters
whose values are dynamically populated based on the filtering type. Rules can have additions and
exceptions, and also a dynamic component, so that you won’t get values that don’t make sense. An
advanced mode gives you more control over the case (capitalization) and allows rules to follow a
logical expression.
•
Direct Dial Broadcasts. Previously, every broadcast was sent to a recipient group. A broadcast to
a single phone had to have its own recipient group. Now, broadcasts can be sent to a DN, or a
group of DNs.
•
Migration from Tomcat 4 to Version 5.5. There were several reasons to upgrade Tomcat. First,
version 4 was quite old. Second, the upgrade takes advantage of some of the JSP tags that Tomcat
provides.
•
Fixed a Bug in the Recorder. Upon completion of a recording, an extra Java thread was left.
These could add up and degrade the performance of the system. This has been corrected.
•
Reboot All Speakers from a Single Button. Previously, it was a time-consuming process to
reboot speakers. This release includes a button on the bottom of the Edit IP Speakers page, which
when pressed, will cause all the registered IP speakers to reboot.
•
Splash Page Displayed During Startup. Smaller installations might not have noticed, but during
the startup process, InformaCast needs to gather information about each phone. In previous
versions, larger installations would see a blank page (with nothing to watch but that little hourglass)
during startup. This has been replaced with a splash page that says, “Please stand by.” The
humoctopus graces the top of the page.
•
InformaCast Will Automatically Detect the DN of a Line. Previously, when subscribing the
phone to an IC service in CallManager, you had to provide the DN of the phone (in order NOT
to be prompted for the information during a broadcast). You would have to do this for every phone
that you wanted to subscribe. Now, you can enter the word Auto in the Sending Phone DN field.
This will cause InformaCast to look up the requesting phone’s DN.
•
QuickPage Parameters. These new parameters will make it a bit easier to compare the values
with CallManager. QuickPage parameters were reordered to match the order of CallManager.
•
Show DN in the QuickPage URL. The QuickPage Helper was changed to show the DN in the
URLs that it creates.
•
Help Area Only Available When Logged In. The online help was confusing because there
wasn’t consistency in what you saw. Now, if you are not logged into InformaCast, you will see a
subset of the help. You get enough instruction to log in or contact Technical Support. Once you’ve
logged in, you get the full compliment of help pages.
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•
Make Send Once the Default Parameter. Previously, when a user sent a broadcast from a phone,
they would be taken back to a list of messages. The Send Once parameter could be enabled if the
user wanted to just send the message and be done. This is the way that the majority of people use
the system, so this parameter is now on by default.
•
‘Push To Talk’ to ‘Talk and Listen.’ A separate product called ‘PushToTalk’ is being developed
for wireless phones. This was causing confusion with the InformaCast message of the same name.
InformaCast’s ‘Push To Talk’ has been renamed ‘Talk and Listen.’
•
‘Audit.log’ to ‘Summary.log.’ The audit.log file has been renamed to summary.log, which makes
its intended use more obvious.
•
Job Scheduler Bug. The bug, which prevents access to a job scheduler if there are no text
messages defined, has been fixed. Also, this would occur if the user had no access to text messages
for other reasons.
What's New in InformaCast 4.2.1
Regression Corrected. A problematic interaction between the high-quality audio feature introduced
in InformaCast v4.2 and the per-user message filtering capability has been fixed. This problem could
prevent filtered users from seeing the list of available messages, instead yielding an error screen.
What's New in InformaCast 4.2
•
Support for CallManager Express. InformaCast can now work with Cisco IP phones even in
the more limited and economical CallManager Express environment. This is a third major
deployment alternative (in between full-blown CallManager environments, and those with no
telephony at all). Broadcasts can be sent to, as well as initiated and recorded from, IP phones
operating in a CallManager Express environment even though such environments lack the JTAPI
interface used by InformaCast in standard CallManager installations. InformaCast also provides a
Services menu to the phones, since the CallManager Express server cannot do this. External
paging system integration through voice gateways still requires a standard CallManager, although
you can use InformaCast IP speakers and zone controllers with CallManager Express.
•
Intercom Service. Phones may be subscribed to a new service offered by InformaCast that
provides an intercom session between the phone and a single microphone-equipped speaker. The
session is half-duplex (each end can either listen or talk, but not both at once), and control of the
session is managed from the phone. Speaker selection is by dial code only.
•
High-quality Audio Option. Messages that are to be used with only Singlewire IP speakers and
Desktop Notification System machines (in other words, which will never need to reach phones or
external paging systems via voice gateways) can now be recorded with higher fidelity (16 bits per
sample, 44,100 samples per second). This is equivalent to the CD Audio standard, although
broadcasts remain intrinsically monaural. Note that such messages consume far more network
bandwidth (roughly 11 times, about 800Kb/sec) than the standard G.711 format, which must still
be used if telephony devices are to receive the message.
•
Can Monitor Phones for “Skip” Control. Over time, Cisco IP phones have become less reliable
at reporting whether they are in use during a broadcast, preventing InformaCast’s Skip Phones in
Use message configuration option from guaranteeing the correct behavior. For phones where it is
very important to be sure that message audio is always and only delivered if the phone is idle, it is
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now possible to associate these specific phones with InformaCast’s CTI user, which will give
InformaCast more accurate information about their status. Unfortunately, because of scalability
limitations within CallManager itself, it is not practical or possible to monitor all phones in
medium-to-large installations. Therefore, this feature needs to be applied in a targeted manner.
•
Application Configuration Simplified. InformaCast now provides more clear guidance about
the database credentials needed when configuring integration with external paging devices through
voice gateways, and no longer needs domain information to determine which version of
CallManager’s database is being contacted.
•
Improved Feedback During Application Changes. Under some circumstances, changes made
in the administrative interface (such as deleting a recipient group, renaming a speaker, or the like)
were not showing up immediately upon returning to the list of groups/speakers/etc. even though
the change did take effect immediately. This display issue has been corrected.
•
Better Feedback for Error Conditions. If JTAPI has not been installed on the application server,
this is now clearly explained when attempting to access the application. Several other potential
configuration issues are also more clearly diagnosed to aid troubleshooting.
•
Improved Management of the Application’s CTI Ports. Precautions have been added to
prevent a CTI port from appearing multiple times in the application’s pool of available CTI ports
used for broadcasting. Also, active broadcasts will be cancelled when the CTI port being used by
the broadcast is disassociated from the CTI user.
•
Phones and Other Broadcast Recipients Now Leave a Cancelled Urgent Broadcast
Immediately. When the user cancels the broadcast, the recipients will immediately be told to leave
the broadcast and stop playing audio. Previously, although the audio stream would stop
immediately, recipients could not be shut down until the first regularly scheduled deactivation took
place.
•
Speaker Installation Instructions Added. The online help now includes instructions on how to
install and configure Singlewire IP speakers.
What's New in InformaCast 4.1.1
•
Better Handling of Simultaneous Broadcasts. When sending a large number of broadcasts at
exactly the same time, such as might occur when many bell schedules are running, it was possible
for the application to lose track of the status of one or more broadcasts. This has been corrected.
•
New IP Phone Support. You can now use Cisco 7920, 7941, 7941-GE, 7961, 7961-GE, and 7971
devices as recipients for InformaCast text and audio messages. (You may need to update your
CallManager in order for them to be reported to InformaCast.)
•
Auto-registration Capability Restored. The dial code support introduced in the 4.1 release
interfered with InformaCast’s ability to automatically create new IP speaker definitions in
conjunction with the Desktop Notification System’s auto-registration plug-in. This conflict has
been resolved.
•
Reduced Buffering of Live Audio Packets. In some environments, it was possible for audio
from the phone to “pile up” at the InformaCast server while a live broadcast was being set up. This
would cause an audible delay between speaking into the mouthpiece and hearing the broadcast
through recipient phones and speakers. InformaCast now discards any accumulated packets when
starting the actual broadcast and always forwards the live audio in real time.
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•
Log Directory and Files Renamed. The application server’s log directory has been changed
from “logs” to “tomcatLogs” to make it easier to find the actual InformaCast log directory when
troubleshooting configuration issues. InformaCast’s own log files have been renamed to include
the suffix “.log” which makes them easier to work with in a Windows environment.
•
Better Use of Server Memory. InformaCast is now configured to make more use of available
physical RAM in the server to improve performance in large deployments.
What's New in InformaCast 4.1
•
User-specific Access Filters. InformaCast can now be set up to restrict particular users and
groups of users so they can access only specific recipient groups, messages, IP speakers (for
recording), bell schedules, day schedules and ring lists. These filters are applied to the new
limited-access user roles, as well as to the IP Phone service interface.
•
Limited Access Web Users. Users can now be assigned more limited roles on the web, so that
they can (for example) only send existing messages without being able to edit them, or only edit
the bell schedules to which they have access, or only assign exceptions to specific bell schedules.
•
Monitoring Audio Through IP Speakers. InformaCast can now monitor the audio in a room
containing a microphone-equipped IP speaker, and play this audio through the Desktop
Notification System.
•
Numeric Selection of Recipients. InformaCast can be configured so that the IP Phone service
interface prompts the user for a numeric dial code to determine the recipient group(s) and IP
speaker(s) that will receive a broadcast, rather than scrolling through a menu of all recipient groups.
Even IP speakers that have not been individually assigned a recipient group can be selected in this
manner. This is particularly useful when there are large numbers of recipient groups or speakers
that may be addressed by, for example, the receptionist in a school.
•
Phone Interface Multi-group Selection Improved. When a phone subscription is configured to
allow the user to select multiple recipient groups, this setting is now preserved even if the user sends
more than one message per InformaCast service session.
•
Service Parameter “Once” Logs Out After Broadcast. Previously, the IP Phone service
parameter, once, was used to prevent access to the menu after sending QuickPages, since there was
no other way to filter a user’s access to messages and recipient groups. This is now much less
important, thanks to the user-specific access filters. However, there are some environments in
which it’s desirable to force users to log in each time they want to send a broadcast, and this can
now be achieved by setting the once parameter in a service subscription, regardless of whether or
not the subscription is a QuickPage. When once is given a non-empty value, InformaCast will
automatically log out the phone as soon as it sends a single broadcast.
•
Skip Phones In Use More Defensively. Recent phone firmware releases have sometimes
returned unpredictable values when InformaCast tries to inquire when the phone is in use.
Previous releases of InformaCast would assume that as long as the phone did not report “Active”
that it must be “Not Ready” (meaning not in use). Now, the phone is only considered to be available
for broadcasts if it specifically reports its call audio state as “Not Ready.”
•
QuickPage Integration. The ability for external applications and web shortcuts to trigger
InformaCast broadcasts has been improved, and a new section at the bottom of the QuickPage
Assistant screen now explains how to access this capability.
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•
Upgrade Process Improved. In version 4.0, it became more complicated to upgrade from
versions older than 2.0. It was necessary to first upgrade to 2.0, and then complete the upgrade
process to 4.0. Starting with version 4.1, this intermediate step is again unnecessary. It is possible
to upgrade directly to version 4.1 from any older version of InformaCast.
•
Cleanly Ending Failed Ad-hoc Broadcasts. Previously, it was possible that if an attempt to send
an ad-hoc broadcast failed because there were no CTI ports available, part of the broadcast would
get stuck repeatedly generating warning messages like the following:
2005-04-14 16:08:51,937 [BroadcastHandle QueueManager, id=st:11] WARN
com.berbee.ipt.broadcastsystem.core.BroadcastHandle - Capture has exceeded
recording time limit at 168494 seconds. Forcibly ending. Client: nullJitter
This problem has been fixed, so that the broadcast is cleaned up properly even in these
circumstances.
•
Multicast Ports Reused Less Frequently. Phone firmware loads are sometimes unreliable,
especially for the newer 7905 and 7912, and this can cause the phones to fail to stop playing audio
when instructed to do so by InformaCast. In an effort to reduce the chances of this causing a
broadcast to be heard on inappropriate phones, InformaCast now uses a different multicast port
each time it sends a broadcast, until it is forced to start over at the lowest working port.
•
Multicast Port Removed from Configuration Interface. The port non-reuse change mentioned
previously means that it no longer makes sense to provide an interface for selecting a default
multicast port. InformaCast assigns a different port to each broadcast. This means it is even more
important to follow the long-standing best practice recommendation of reserving the entire
multicast address used by InformaCast for its own use.
•
Jitter Calculations Corrected. The information that InformaCast reports in the Performance log
about audio stream jitter is now calculated in a way which provides far more useful information.
This will help determine whether a server is able to properly keep up with the demands placed on
it in a particular installation.
•
Spurious Log Entries Cleaned Up. When InformaCast is used via an IP phone’s service
interface, and a user has remained logged in at that phone from a previous session, InformaCast
will no longer display an incorrect message in the log reporting an invalid login attempt by that user.
•
QuickPage Helper Renamed. In order to help new users notice and understand the capabilities
of the QuickPage Helper tool, it has been renamed the QuickPage Assistant.
•
Major Documentation Improvements. The InformaCast manuals and support documentation
have been radically reorganized and improved to help existing and new users familiarize themselves
with the many capabilities of the system.
•
Support Page Improved. The built-in Support page is now easier to find (there is also a Help
link in the side navigation menu) and it provides more and better organized information.
What's New in InformaCast 4.0
•
Support for Non-telephony Deployments. InformaCast is now able to operate even in
environments without IP phones or CallManager servers. Customers wishing to use InformaCast
IP speakers and the new InformaCast PC client can do so even if they have not yet adopted Voice
over IP (VoIP) telephony. Of course, if they later set up a CallManager infrastructure, their
InformaCast environment will still seamlessly integrate.
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•
Recording and Making Live Broadcast from PC Client. As part of the new support for
non-telephony environments, InformaCast is now able to obtain audio from the PC client for the
purpose of recording messages (ad-hoc or for later use) and for sending live broadcasts. Of course,
this requires the PC client to have a sound card with an attached microphone.
•
Broadcast Time Limits. InformaCast can now be configured to set time limits for the recording
process and for live broadcasts. By default, InformaCast now automatically cancels a recording
process if it hasn’t finished by five minutes after it was initiated. No time limit is enforced for live
broadcasts by default. Both of these settings can be changed as desired by the site administrator.
•
Cancellation of Broadcasts. The InformaCast administrator is now able to view a list of ongoing
broadcasts, regardless of their source, and terminate any problem ones (i.e. if an incorrect extension
was dialed for recording, perhaps reaching a voice mail system).
•
Recipient Groups Without Phones. InformaCast now allows you to set up recipient groups
without any phones in them. While obviously necessary for non-telephony deployments, this
feature has also been requested for telephony environments to enable (for example) sending to just
a group of IP speakers or external paging devices.
•
Auto-registration of PC Clients. InformaCast and the PC client can be configured to automate
the process of registering new clients. When this is done, the COMPUTERNAME Windows
environment variable on the PC client workstation (if available) is used as the name by which to
register the PC client. No administrator intervention is required, which greatly simplifies large-scale
deployments of the client software.
•
Recipient Groups Page Shows All Device Types. When viewing the list of recipient groups, you
can see the number of external paging sources and IP speakers currently associated with a recipient
group in addition to the number of phones. Each type of device is listed separately, if your license
supports that type.
•
Simplified Compatibility with CallManager 4.1. The process of enabling InformaCast to
communicate with the encrypted administrative interface of CallManager 4.1 has been automated,
and some finicky manual configuration steps that were previously required to set up
communication with such servers have been eliminated.
•
Improved Integration with External Paging Systems. The mechanism used to gather voice
gateway hold music information is now easier to set up and places fewer constraints on the
relationship between the InformaCast and CallManager servers.
•
QuickPages from Other Computers. InformaCast now provides a way to send QuickPages
using a single HTTP request even from devices other than IP phones. This makes it easier to trigger
InformaCast broadcasts programmatically from other applications or from web browser
bookmarks.
•
QoS Marking on Windows. The mechanism used by InformaCast to mark its audio traffic as
voice traffic for priority routing was being suppressed by the default Windows operating system
configuration. The installer now instructs Windows to allow this tagging to take place, so the traffic
can be properly prioritized and routed on the voice network.
•
Broadcasts May Include Originating Device. The previous release of InformaCast suppressed
sending broadcasts to the device from which they were initiated (e.g. when sending from a phone,
that phone would not receive the broadcast). Although this is generally the desired behavior (and
can help protect against subtle firmware issues), there are circumstances in which this feature may
be usefully turned off (typically these are small demonstration environments where there are few
phones available). The site administrator can now change this setting as needed.
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•
Underlying Platform Upgraded. The InformaCast environment has been upgraded to Java 1.5,
providing better performance and offering new opportunities for future features and
improvement.
What's New in InformaCast 3.2
•
Compatibility with CallManager 4.1. Cisco changed the interface used by InformaCast to gather
phone information starting with CallManager version 4.1. InformaCast v3.2 is able to detect this
change and properly use the new mechanism.
•
Skip Devices That Initiate Pages. InformaCast will no longer send a broadcast to the device that
is used to send it. For example, if you are using a phone’s Service interface to send a live broadcast,
that phone will not receive the broadcast. If you use the web interface from a workstation, the PC
client running on that workstation will not receive the broadcast.
What's New in InformaCast 3.1
•
Increased Performance. This release followed rapidly on the heels of 3.0 in response to
real-world experience with the new IP speakers. Version 3.1 can handle much larger numbers of IP
speakers by taking the same parallel activation approach InformaCast has always used for phones.
•
Speaker Debugging. InformaCast v3.1 adds support for a new feature of the IP speaker
firmware, which allows detailed console logs to be captured from individual speakers to help
analyze the performance and behavior of the speakers themselves. It also adds the ability to
remotely reboot a speaker when necessary (for example, to upgrade to a new speaker firmware
load).
•
Improved Robustness. The application is able to start up even when there are problems
communicating with the CallManager database. (This is attempted only to perform integration with
third-party overhead paging devices.)
•
Cleanup. InformaCast v3.1 removes the standard set of demonstration applications that ship with
the Tomcat application server. This slims down the installation, and eliminates unnecessary
interfaces that might have been discovered by curious users.
What's New in InformaCast 3.0
•
Bell Scheduler. InformaCast now includes an optional Bell Scheduler, suitable for managing and
ringing complex schedules of time- and date-based bells, for one or several schools or offices.
•
Support for the Singlewire Broadcast Client (IP speaker). InformaCast can now register,
manage, and control a group of individually addressable network speakers, allowing coverage of
locations where phones are impractical or insufficient, without the expense and complexity of a
centralized paging amplifier.
•
Live Broadcasts. InformaCast is now capable of sending a live audio broadcast, enabling you to
have your voice heard live as you are speaking. Unlike Push to Talk messages, live broadcasts can
be sent to any audio destination, including the new IP speaker and integrated external paging
devices.
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•
Send to Multiple Recipient Groups. When sending a message, you are now able to select more
than one recipient group. The message will be sent simultaneously to all selected groups. Since this
changes the flow of the phone interface, you need to explicitly request this new behavior in the
InformaCast service subscriptions for the phones on which you want it enabled. (This is done with
a new service parameter, multi.)
•
Audio Preview. The Edit Message page now has a Play button available when there is audio
associated with the message. You can use this to preview the message’s audio in your web browser,
without having to actually send it to a recipient group.
•
Message Recording from Remote Phones. The process of recording audio for a message,
whether ad-hoc or prerecorded, may now be performed reliably, even through a gateway, to non-IP
phones (such as home phones or cellular phones).
•
Defining Recipient Groups by Device Type. The regular expression support offered by
InformaCast’s recipient group configuration pages has been enhanced to allow you to define
recipient groups based on the numeric code associated with the device types of the phones. This
enables you to create recipient groups that contain only particular types of phones.
What's New in InformaCast 2.1
•
Push to Talk Messaging. This is a new type of broadcast, in which a group of phones will be
activated to listen to a shared multicast stream, and all participants can take turns speaking to the
group in real time by pressing a Talk softkey.
•
Text with Ad-hoc Audio Messaging. A new message type has been added, combining
predefined text with an ad-hoc audio recording. (This is the way ad-hoc messages worked prior to
the introduction of audio-only messages in v2, and was a useful combination for some sites).
•
Multicast Traffic Class Marking. InformaCast now marks the RTP traffic it sends to carry audio
messages, setting a Differentiated Services Control Point (DSCP) value of 0x28. This is the same
value used by other Cisco voice applications, and should be helpful to customers using DSCP to
control their routing policies and quality of service configurations. If needed, this header can also
be set to other values through a configuration parameter.
•
Multicast Time-to-Live Configuration. The IP TTL value for InformaCast RTP traffic defaults
to 16 (as it has for some time), but this can now be altered through a configuration parameter in
case there are deployment considerations that would benefit from such a change.
•
Multicast Interface Selection. InformaCast now requests that multicast packets be sent on the
same network interface it is using for its web and phone interfaces, in an effort to work more
reliably on multi-homed servers (machines with more than one network interface card). We still do
not recommend this configuration, as it is not one of our core tested platforms.
•
CTI Port Management Improvements. InformaCast is now more cautious and deliberate in
examining the state of CTI ports when it allocates them for use, and ensures that they are in a clean
and idle state before and after using them.
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What's New in InformaCast 2.0
•
Overhead Paging Integration. External paging systems can be integrated with InformaCast
using compatible voice gateways. These paging sources can be associated with recipient groups, and
thereby participate in audio broadcasts. In order to use this feature, you must have a Cisco voice
gateway that supports multicast music on hold and disconnect supervision on the voice ports,
connected to an appropriately matched paging system.
•
New Phone Supported. InformaCast can send text and audio broadcasts to Cisco’s new color
7970 phone, and this phone can be used to initiate broadcasts as well.
•
More Phones Supported. InformaCast can now send messages to Cisco’s low-cost 7905G and
7912G phones, provided they’re running a recent enough firmware load. At present, only text
messages are supported; Cisco anticipates that audio messages will work in CallManager 3.3(4) and
4.0. These phones can also be used to initiate broadcasts.
•
Audio Only Messages. There is a new category of message that can be created and sent. Audio
only messages do not have a textual component, so they do not affect the displays of the phones
to which they are sent.
•
Ad-hoc Flexibility. It is now possible to create multiple ad-hoc messages with different
characteristics (e.g. one can be non-urgent and skip phones in use, another could be for
emergencies). Ad-hoc messages now also take advantage of InformaCast’s audio only messaging
ability, and do not affect the phones’ displays.
•
Message Volume Control. You can specify the volume level at which a message should be played,
overriding the current stream volume settings of each phone receiving the broadcast. (Use of this
feature requires a compatible phone firmware load; currently only the 7940 and 7960 loads for
3.3(3) or later are known to support it.)
•
Message Editing Improvements. The user interface for adding and editing messages has
become more interactive and sophisticated, in order to support the new flexibility offered by this
release.
•
QuickPage “Once Only” Flag. A QuickPage can now be configured to send one message only,
displaying a confirmation page instead of going back to the message/group menus. This allows a
phone to be configured so that it can never access certain recipient groups or messages.
•
Simultaneous Recording Possible. By configuring additional CTI ports to be associated with the
InformaCast CTI user, administrators can support the simultaneous recording of multiple
broadcasts. This enables organizations spread across several offices to perform ad-hoc paging
within their groups from a single InformaCast server without resource conflicts during peak
periods.
•
More Flexible CTI Port Use. InformaCast now detects and uses all CTI ports associated with
its JTAPI credentials. The user need no longer identify a port and DN to be used. This supports
both the external paging integration and the simultaneous recording features.
•
Recording Starts Immediately. Previously, there was a gap of about half a second between when
the prompt finished and when InformaCast started recording audio. This gap has been eliminated,
so it is now possible to begin speaking as soon as you hear the tone without losing the first fragment
of your message.
•
New QuickPage Assistant. There is a new section of the InformaCast interface that helps
administrators figure out the right XML service parameters for subscribing a phone to a particular
QuickPage, and the right URL for setting up the QuickPage service itself.
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•
QuickPage and CallManager Parameter Defaults. Current CallManager versions have a
limitation that prevents them from accepting the value, -1, as a default value for an XML service
parameter, which prevented setting up the “All Phones” recipient group or the ad-hoc message as
default choices for new subscriptions. The ad-hoc message issue is taken care of by the fact that
you can now create any number of ad-hoc messages, whose keys will not be -1. To address the “All
Phones” recipient group issue, InformaCast now accepts the value, all, for the recipient group
parameter, and translates it internally to -1. This allows you to configure a QuickPage service with
all as the default value for recipient group.
•
Embedded Authentication Server. InformaCast now provides its own authentication server,
eliminating the need to configure and maintain the icauth.asp page on CallManager, a frequent
source of installation hang-ups. The embedded authentication server delegates non-InformaCast
authentication requests to the standard server.
•
Broadcast Port Minimum Value Raised. Recent phone loads no longer permit multicast
streams to occur on ports numbered less than 20,480 (previously anything above 16,384 was fine).
InformaCast now enforces this lower bound when editing the configuration. When upgrading to
version 2.0, if your configuration is using a lower numbered port for sending broadcasts, it will be
raised automatically to 20,480.
•
Underlying Platform Upgraded. The InformaCast environment has been upgraded to Java 1.4
and Tomcat 4, providing better performance and reliability, and offering new opportunities for
future features and improvement.
What's New in InformaCast 1.3
InformaCast 1.3 contains no new features or interface changes. Internally, it incorporates a new, more
powerful scheduler for more robust support of the current scheduling interface. This scheduler will also
allow more flexible scheduling options with a new interface in the future. This release also synchronizes
data more effectively within an InformaCast cluster to support failover.
What's New in InformaCast 1.2.3
•
Non-urgent, One-time Broadcasts. You can define an audio broadcast as non-urgent, which
means that it will start after a delay, giving phones a chance to join the broadcast before it begins,
and then send the audio exactly one time.
•
Improved Recipient Group Detection. InformaCast now uses a newly available service for
collecting phone information from the CallManager server in order to set up its recipient groups.
This interface, available in CallManager 3.2(3) and expected in 3.3(3), is much more efficient than
what was previously available, so InformaCast can collect large groups of phones far more quickly
and reliably than with previous CallManager releases. It also reduces load on the CallManager. This
change does mean that InformaCast 1.2.3 will not work with earlier releases of CallManager.
•
New, Flexible Recipient Group Types. Taking further advantage of the new phone information
service, InformaCast allows you to define recipient groups based on network subnets, using
powerful regular expressions that provide complete flexibility for advanced configuration.
•
Preview Recipient Group Members. When defining or editing a recipient group, a new View
button lets you examine exactly which phones are included in the group.
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•
Better Support for Redundant CallManager Servers. The CallManager failover support
introduced with InformaCast 1.2 has been extended to include the recording of new broadcast
audio as well as the previous broadcast-only failover.
•
Self-service Password Change. Users are now able to change their own password, rather than
having to rely on a user administrator.
•
Many Other Minor Improvements. Various error messages and user interface elements have
been clarified to improve the experience of administrators and users installing and working with
the application.
What's New in InformaCast 1.2
•
Optionally Skip Phones in Use. When defining an audio message, you can indicate that it should
not be sent to phones that are being used (engaged in a call). This is suitable for non-urgent
information.
•
DN Configurable for Phone Interface. You can now add an optional DN parameter when
defining the InformaCast XML service within CallManager. If you do this and provide the DN
value when subscribing a phone to the service, the user will not need to key in this information
when sending an ad-hoc broadcast from that phone, which streamlines the user experience.
•
QuickPage Mode for Phone Interface. When defining the XML service for sending
InformaCast messages from an IP phone, you can also add optional parameters that specify any or
all aspects of the message to be sent (the message key, the recipient group that should receive it,
and even the login and password to be used). Any options that are left blank will issue prompts
when the message is sent. At the most extreme, if you supply all possible information, you have a
one-button paging capability. Different pages can be assigned to different buttons by subscribing
multiple times, and using descriptive names for the Services menu. Note that the login and
password information should only be configured on phones that are considered to be in secure
areas, as they will allow anyone with physical access to the phone to send the broadcast.
•
Failover to Backup CallManager Servers. You can now configure multiple CallManager server
addresses, and InformaCast will rely on alternates if the primary server becomes unavailable.
•
Installer Integrates with IIS. If you’re installing InformaCast on Windows 2000 Server or
Windows 2003 Server with IIS installed (these are recommended base operating systems) the
installer will offer to configure IIS to serve the text and graphical pages the phones need to display
during a broadcast. This can provide much better performance because it spares InformaCast from
having to respond to the requests from each activated phone, and allows it to focus on the task of
initiating the broadcast to the remaining phones.
•
Message Cleanup Improved. Audio files and uploaded icons are now always cleaned up when
messages are deleted.
•
Special Characters Handled Better. Previously, creating messages or recipient groups with
characters such as “&” or angle brackets could cause display problems on the web interface and
parse errors on the phone that prevented use of the application. These characters are now dealt
with in a way that ensures proper display on both interfaces.
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What's New in InformaCast 1.1
•
Clustering Support. Multiple InformaCast servers can be set up in a cluster in conjunction with
a Cisco Content Switch to provide failover capability and load balancing for large installations.
(This is an optional feature with a separate license.)
•
Recipient Groups Based on Device Description Suffix. In addition to using calling search
spaces and device pools, InformaCast can now populate a recipient group by looking at the device
descriptions of phones registered in CallManager, and matching them against a particular suffix.
This gives you freedom to define groups that are not related to calling search spaces or device
pools, based on whatever logical organizational groupings you desire, by simply adding structured
information at the end of the device descriptions.
•
Finer-grained Application Roles. Previously, a message administrator could control all aspects
of the application. Version 1.1 adds additional roles with more focused capabilities, allowing you to
flexibly grant authority as needed:
The Superuser group has been updated to include all these roles, so any users you have set up as
members of the Superuser group will retain full access to the application. In order to work
smoothly with future upgrades, you should continue to use the Superuser group in this manner;
you are also free to create other groups for your own purposes.
Role
Description
Menu Options Available
appAdmin
Modify application configuration
settings
Edit Configuration, Edit Recipient
Groups, Install Guide
keyAdmin
View and update the application’s
license key
Manage License Key
messageAdmin
Manage and send messages
Send or Edit Messages
schedAdmin
Schedule future and repeating
messages
Schedule Broadcasts
userAdmin
Administer security by defining users,
groups, and roles
Edit Users, Edit Roles, Edit Groups
•
Install Guide Link Available Only to Administrators. The Install Guide link will not appear
in the InformaCast menu unless the user has logged in as an Application Administrator (i.e. a user
with membership in the “appAdmin” role).
•
Compatibility with Multi-level Administration Access. InformaCast can now be used even if
you’ve installed Cisco’s new MLA access control system. There is a new checkbox on the
InformaCast configuration page to tell it that MLA is installed, and “Installing InformaCast” on
page 2-1 includes instructions on how to set up an InformaCast-compatible script that will be used
when this option is checked.
•
Size of “All Phones” Group Displayed. On the Edit Recipient Groups page, InformaCast now
includes a row showing the size of the built-in All Phones recipient group. This can help you verify
that your CallManager configuration has been successfully established, and that the right phones
are registering.
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•
Feature-specific Configuration. You no longer need to supply a broadcast IP address or port,
nor a CTI port name or directory number if InformaCast is not licensed for audio broadcasts. In
such installations, InformaCast will no longer try to set up a CTI port for message recording.
•
Installs as Windows Service. The installer now sets InformaCast up to run as a Windows service
from the beginning.
This version also includes the patches that were released to address issues in the first release (Multicast
Time-To-Live setting and phone name parsing robustness) as well as several other small fixes and
enhancements.
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11
Acknowledgments
Without the following products and software, InformaCast wouldn’t be the revolutionary broadcast
system that it is.
Apache Axis2
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the “License”); you may not use this file except in
compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is
distributed on an “AS IS” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND,
either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
Apache Software
This product includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation
(http://www.apache.org/) including Jakarta Tomcat, Jakarta Commons, Jakarta log4j, Jakarta ORO,
Apache Xerces, and Apache XML-RPC.
Copyright 2004, The Apache Software Foundation.
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the “License”); you may not use this file except in
compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is
distributed on an “AS IS” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND,
either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
CSVToXML
This product contains CSVToXML, a library for converting CSV files to XML. The code is available
here: http://www.dpawson.co.uk/java/csv2xml.html
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Acknowledgments
Hibernate
This product uses Hibernate for object persistence. Hibernate is distributed under the GNU Lesser
General Public License version 2.1. The source code can be found in the directory,
/usr/local/singlewire/InformaCast/web/doc, within your InformaCast installation.
hsqldb
This product contains the HSQL database engine.
Copyright © 2001-2002 The HSQL Development Group. All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted
provided that the following conditions are met:
•
Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and
the following disclaimer, including earlier license statements (above) and comply with all above
license conditions.
•
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions
and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the
distribution, including earlier license statements (above) and comply with all above license
conditions.
•
Neither the name of the HSQL Development Group nor the names of its contributors may be used
to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written
permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
“AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL HSQL
DEVELOPMENT GROUP, HSQLDB.ORG, OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE
GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY,
WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE
OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN
IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
Hypersonic SQL
This product contains Hypersonic SQL.
Copyright © 1995-2000 by the Hypersonic SQL Group. All rights reserved. Redistribution and use in
source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following
conditions are met:
•
Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and
the following disclaimer.
InformaCast Virtual Appliance Basic Paging
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Acknowledgments
•
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions
and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the
distribution.
•
Neither the name of the Hypersonic SQL Group nor the names of its contributors may be used to
endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
This software is provided “as is” and any expressed or implied warranties, including, but not limited to,
the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed. In no
event shall the Hypersonic SQL Group or its contributors be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental,
special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procurement of substitute
goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption). However caused and on any
theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising
in any way out of the use of this software, even if advised of the possibility of such damage.
This software consists of voluntary contributions made by many individuals on behalf of the
Hypersonic SQL Group.
Java Platform
This product relies on the Java platform and includes code licensed from RSA Security, Inc.
Some portions licensed from IBM are available at http://oss.software.ibm.com/icu4j/.
Java, Sun, and Sun Microsystems are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in
the United States and other countries. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business
Machines Corporation in the United States and other countries.
JAXB
This product contains JAXB, whose code is available from: http://jaxb.java.net/
COMMON DEVELOPMENT AND DISTRIBUTION LICENSE (CDDL) Version 1.0
1. Definitions.
1.1. Contributor means each individual or entity that creates or contributes to the creation of
Modifications.
1.2. Contributor Version means the combination of the Original Software, prior Modifications used
by a Contributor (if any), and the Modifications made by that particular Contributor.
1.3. Covered Software means (a) the Original Software, or (b) Modifications, or (c) the combination
of files containing Original Software with files containing Modifications, in each case including
portions thereof.
1.4. Executable means the Covered Software in any form other than Source Code.
1.5. Initial Developer means the individual or entity that first makes Original Software available under
this License.
1.6. Larger Work means a work which combines Covered Software or portions thereof with code not
governed by the terms of this License.
1.7. License means this document.
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1.8. Licensable means having the right to grant, to the maximum extent possible, whether at the time
of the initial grant or subsequently acquired, any and all of the rights conveyed herein.
1.9. Modifications means the Source Code and Executable form of any of the following:
A. Any file that results from an addition to, deletion from or modification of the contents of a file
containing Original Software or previous Modifications;
B. Any new file that contains any part of the Original Software or previous Modification; or
C. Any new file that is contributed or otherwise made available under the terms of this License.
1.10. Original Software means the Source Code and Executable form of computer software code that
is originally released under this License.
1.11. Patent Claims means any patent claim(s), now owned or hereafter acquired, including without
limitation, method, process, and apparatus claims, in any patent Licensable by grantor.
1.12. Source Code means (a) the common form of computer software code in which modifications are
made and (b) associated documentation included in or with such code.
1.13. You (or Your) means an individual or a legal entity exercising rights under, and complying with all
of the terms of, this License. For legal entities, You includes any entity which controls, is
controlled by, or is under common control with You. For purposes of this definition, control
means (a) the power, direct or indirect, to cause the direction or management of such entity,
whether by contract or otherwise, or (b) ownership of more than fifty percent (50%) of the
outstanding shares or beneficial ownership of such entity.
2. License Grants.
2.1. The Initial Developer Grant.
Conditioned upon Your compliance with Section 3.1 below and subject to third party intellectual
property claims, the Initial Developer hereby grants You a world-wide, royalty-free, non-exclusive
license:
(a) Under intellectual property rights (other than patent or trademark) Licensable by Initial
Developer, to use, reproduce, modify, display, perform, sublicense and distribute the Original
Software (or portions thereof), with or without Modifications, and/or as part of a Larger
Work; and
(b)Under Patent Claims infringed by the making, using or selling of Original Software, to make,
have made, use, practice, sell, and offer for sale, and/or otherwise dispose of the Original
Software (or portions thereof).
(c) The licenses granted in Sections 2.1(a) and (b) are effective on the date Initial Developer first
distributes or otherwise makes the Original Software available to a third party under the terms
of this License.
(d)Notwithstanding Section 2.1(b) above, no patent license is granted: (1) for code that You delete
from the Original Software, or (2) for infringements caused by: (i) the modification of the
Original Software, or (ii) the combination of the Original Software with other software or
devices.
2.2. Contributor Grant.
Conditioned upon Your compliance with Section 3.1 below and subject to third party intellectual
property claims, each Contributor hereby grants You a world-wide, royalty-free, non-exclusive
license:
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(a) Under intellectual property rights (other than patent or trademark) Licensable by Contributor
to use, reproduce, modify, display, perform, sublicense and distribute the Modifications
created by such Contributor (or portions thereof), either on an unmodified basis, with other
Modifications, as Covered Software and/or as part of a Larger Work; and
(b)Under Patent Claims infringed by the making, using, or selling of Modifications made by that
Contributor either alone and/or in combination with its Contributor Version (or portions of
such combination), to make, use, sell, offer for sale, have made, and/or otherwise dispose of:
(1) Modifications made by that Contributor (or portions thereof); and (2) the combination of
Modifications made by that Contributor with its Contributor Version (or portions of such
combination).
(c) The licenses granted in Sections 2.2(a) and 2.2(b) are effective on the date Contributor first
distributes or otherwise makes the Modifications available to a third party.
(d)Notwithstanding Section 2.2(b) above, no patent license is granted: (1) for any code that
Contributor has deleted from the Contributor Version; (2) for infringements caused by: (i)
third party modifications of Contributor Version, or (ii) the combination of Modifications
made by that Contributor with other software (except as part of the Contributor Version) or
other devices; or (3) under Patent Claims infringed by Covered Software in the absence of
Modifications made by that Contributor.
3. Distribution Obligations.
3.1. Availability of Source Code.
Any Covered Software that You distribute or otherwise make available in Executable form must
also be made available in Source Code form and that Source Code form must be distributed only
under the terms of this License. You must include a copy of this License with every copy of the
Source Code form of the Covered Software You distribute or otherwise make available. You must
inform recipients of any such Covered Software in Executable form as to how they can obtain
such Covered Software in Source Code form in a reasonable manner on or through a medium
customarily used for software exchange.
3.2. Modifications.
The Modifications that You create or to which You contribute are governed by the terms of this
License. You represent that You believe Your Modifications are Your original creation(s) and/or
You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.
3.3. Required Notices.
You must include a notice in each of Your Modifications that identifies You as the Contributor of
the Modification. You may not remove or alter any copyright, patent or trademark notices
contained within the Covered Software, or any notices of licensing or any descriptive text giving
attribution to any Contributor or the Initial Developer.
3.4. Application of Additional Terms.
You may not offer or impose any terms on any Covered Software in Source Code form that alters
or restricts the applicable version of this License or the recipients rights hereunder. You may
choose to offer, and to charge a fee for, warranty, support, indemnity or liability obligations to one
or more recipients of Covered Software. However, you may do so only on Your own behalf, and
not on behalf of the Initial Developer or any Contributor. You must make it absolutely clear that
any such warranty, support, indemnity or liability obligation is offered by You alone, and You
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hereby agree to indemnify the Initial Developer and every Contributor for any liability incurred
by the Initial Developer or such Contributor as a result of warranty, support, indemnity or liability
terms You offer.
3.5. Distribution of Executable Versions.
You may distribute the Executable form of the Covered Software under the terms of this License
or under the terms of a license of Your choice, which may contain terms different from this
License, provided that You are in compliance with the terms of this License and that the license
for the Executable form does not attempt to limit or alter the recipients rights in the Source Code
form from the rights set forth in this License. If You distribute the Covered Software in
Executable form under a different license, You must make it absolutely clear that any terms which
differ from this License are offered by You alone, not by the Initial Developer or Contributor. You
hereby agree to indemnify the Initial Developer and every Contributor for any liability incurred
by the Initial Developer or such Contributor as a result of any such terms You offer.
3.6. Larger Works.
You may create a Larger Work by combining Covered Software with other code not governed by
the terms of this License and distribute the Larger Work as a single product. In such a case, You
must make sure the requirements of this License are fulfilled for the Covered Software.
4. Versions of the License.
4.1. New Versions.
Sun Microsystems, Inc. is the initial license steward and may publish revised and/or new versions
of this License from time to time. Each version will be given a distinguishing version number.
Except as provided in Section 4.3, no one other than the license steward has the right to modify
this License.
4.2. Effect of New Versions.
You may always continue to use, distribute or otherwise make the Covered Software available
under the terms of the version of the License under which You originally received the Covered
Software. If the Initial Developer includes a notice in the Original Software prohibiting it from
being distributed or otherwise made available under any subsequent version of the License, You
must distribute and make the Covered Software available under the terms of the version of the
License under which You originally received the Covered Software. Otherwise, You may also
choose to use, distribute or otherwise make the Covered Software available under the terms of any
subsequent version of the License published by the license steward.
4.3. Modified Versions.
When You are an Initial Developer and You want to create a new license for Your Original
Software, You may create and use a modified version of this License if You: (a) rename the license
and remove any references to the name of the license steward (except to note that the license
differs from this License); and (b) otherwise make it clear that the license contains terms which
differ from this License.
5. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY.
COVERED SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED UNDER THIS LICENSE ON AN AS IS BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING,
WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES THAT THE COVERED SOFTWARE IS FREE OF
DEFECTS, MERCHANTABLE, FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGING.
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THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE COVERED
SOFTWARE IS WITH YOU. SHOULD ANY COVERED SOFTWARE PROVE DEFECTIVE IN
ANY RESPECT, YOU (NOT THE INITIAL DEVELOPER OR ANY OTHER CONTRIBUTOR)
ASSUME THE COST OF ANY NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. THIS
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY CONSTITUTES AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THIS LICENSE.
NO USE OF ANY COVERED SOFTWARE IS AUTHORIZED HEREUNDER EXCEPT
UNDER THIS DISCLAIMER.
6. TERMINATION.
6.1. This License and the rights granted hereunder will terminate automatically if You fail to comply
with terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach.
Provisions which, by their nature, must remain in effect beyond the termination of this License
shall survive.
6.2. If You assert a patent infringement claim (excluding declaratory judgment actions) against Initial
Developer or a Contributor (the Initial Developer or Contributor against whom You assert such
claim is referred to as Participant) alleging that the Participant Software (meaning the Contributor
Version where the Participant is a Contributor or the Original Software where the Participant is
the Initial Developer) directly or indirectly infringes any patent, then any and all rights granted
directly or indirectly to You by such Participant, the Initial Developer (if the Initial Developer is
not the Participant) and all Contributors under Sections 2.1 and/or 2.2 of this License shall, upon
60 days notice from Participant terminate prospectively and automatically at the expiration of such
60 day notice period, unless if within such 60 day period You withdraw Your claim with respect
to the Participant Software against such Participant either unilaterally or pursuant to a written
agreement with Participant.
6.3. In the event of termination under Sections 6.1 or 6.2 above, all end user licenses that have been
validly granted by You or any distributor hereunder prior to termination (excluding licenses
granted to You by any distributor) shall survive termination.
7. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES AND UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY, WHETHER TORT
(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), CONTRACT, OR OTHERWISE, SHALL YOU, THE INITIAL
DEVELOPER, ANY OTHER CONTRIBUTOR, OR ANY DISTRIBUTOR OF COVERED
SOFTWARE, OR ANY SUPPLIER OF ANY OF SUCH PARTIES, BE LIABLE TO ANY
PERSON FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES OF ANY CHARACTER INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR
LOST PROFITS, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR
MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES,
EVEN IF SUCH PARTY SHALL HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGES. THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SHALL NOT APPLY TO LIABILITY FOR
DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY RESULTING FROM SUCH PARTYS NEGLIGENCE TO
THE EXTENT APPLICABLE LAW PROHIBITS SUCH LIMITATION. SOME JURISDICTIONS
DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THIS EXCLUSION AND LIMITATION MAY NOT
APPLY TO YOU.
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8. U.S. GOVERNMENT END USERS.
The Covered Software is a commercial item, as that term is defined in 48 C.F.R. 2.101 (Oct. 1995),
consisting of commercial computer software (as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. 252.227-7014(a)(1))
and commercial computer software documentation as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. 12.212 (Sept.
1995). Consistent with 48 C.F.R. 12.212 and 48 C.F.R. 227.7202-1 through 227.7202-4 (June 1995), all
U.S. Government End Users acquire Covered Software with only those rights set forth herein. This U.S.
Government Rights clause is in lieu of, and supersedes, any other FAR, DFAR, or other clause or
provision that addresses Government rights in computer software under this License.
9. MISCELLANEOUS.
This License represents the complete agreement concerning subject matter hereof. If any provision of
this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary
to make it enforceable. This License shall be governed by the law of the jurisdiction specified in a notice
contained within the Original Software (except to the extent applicable law, if any, provides otherwise),
excluding such jurisdictions conflict-of-law provisions. Any litigation relating to this License shall be
subject to the jurisdiction of the courts located in the jurisdiction and venue specified in a notice
contained within the Original Software, with the losing party responsible for costs, including, without
limitation, court costs and reasonable attorneys fees and expenses. The application of the United
Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is expressly excluded. Any law
or regulation which provides that the language of a contract shall be construed against the drafter shall
not apply to this License. You agree that You alone are responsible for compliance with the United
States export administration regulations (and the export control laws and regulation of any other
countries) when You use, distribute or otherwise make available any Covered Software.
10. RESPONSIBILITY FOR CLAIMS.
As between Initial Developer and the Contributors, each party is responsible for claims and damages
arising, directly or indirectly, out of its utilization of rights under this License and You agree to work
with Initial Developer and Contributors to distribute such responsibility on an equitable basis. Nothing
herein is intended or shall be deemed to constitute any admission of liability.
JDOM
This product includes software developed by the JDOM Project (http://www.jdom.org/).
Copyright © 2000-2002 Brett McLaughlin & Jason Hunter. All rights reserved.
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the “License”); you may not use this file except in
compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is
distributed on an “AS IS” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND,
either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
jTDS
This product contains the jTDS JDBC driver, http://jtds.sourceforge.net/.
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This product includes software developed by CDS Networks, Inc.
Copyright 1998, 1999 CDS Networks, Inc., Medford Oregon. All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted
provided that the following conditions are met:
•
Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and
the following disclaimer.
•
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions
and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the
distribution.
•
All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software must display the following
acknowledgement: “This product includes software developed by CDS Networks, Inc.”
•
The name of CDS Networks, Inc. may not be used to endorse or promote products derived from
this software without specific prior written permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY CDS NETWORKS, INC. “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL CDS NETWORKS, INC. BE LIABLE FOR ANY
DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE
GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY,
WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE
OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN
IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
Linux/Voyage
This product from Singlewire Software runs on a Linux kernel and the Voyage Linux distribution.
The Linux kernel and Voyage Linux are distributed under the following license:
•
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU
General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation.
•
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY;
without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
•
To see a copy of the GNU public license, see this URL:
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html.
•
You may also write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston,
MA 02110-1301, USA.
•
Modifications Singlewire Software has made to the Voyage Linux distribution can be found here:
http://www.singlewire.com/pgl.
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Quartz
This product includes the Quartz Enterprise Job Scheduler, http://www.quartz-scheduler.org/.
Copyright James House © 2001-2003, PartNET Inc. 2002. All rights reserved.
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the “License”); you may not use this file except in
compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is
distributed on an “AS IS” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND,
either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
SLP Mesh Enhancement, Customization, and Global Attributes
Copyright (c) 2001-2005, Columbia University. All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted
provided that the following conditions are met:
•
Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and
the following disclaimer.
•
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions
and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the
distribution.
•
Neither the name of the Columbia University; nor the names of its contributors may be used to
endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
“AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR
CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL,
EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR
PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY
OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING
NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
SNMP4J
Apache License
Version 2.0, January 2004
http://www.apache.org/licenses/
Terms and Conditions for Use, Reproduction, and Distribution
1.
Definitions.
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“License” shall mean the terms and conditions for use, reproduction, and distribution as defined
by Sections 1 through 9 of this document.
“Licensor” shall mean the copyright owner or entity authorized by the copyright owner that is
granting the License.
“Legal Entity” shall mean the union of the acting entity and all other entities that control, are
controlled by, or are under common control with that entity. For the purposes of this definition,
“control” means (i) the power, direct or indirect, to cause the direction or management of such
entity, whether by contract or otherwise, or (ii) ownership of fifty percent (50%) or more of the
outstanding shares, or (iii) beneficial ownership of such entity.
“You” (or “Your”) shall mean an individual or Legal Entity exercising permissions granted by this
License.
“Source” form shall mean the preferred form for making modifications, including but not limited
to software source code, documentation source, and configuration files.
“Object” form shall mean any form resulting from mechanical transformation or translation of a
Source form, including but not limited to compiled object code, generated documentation, and
conversions to other media types.
“Work” shall mean the work of authorship, whether in Source or Object form, made available
under the License, as indicated by a copyright notice that is included in or attached to the work
(an example is provided in the Appendix below).
“Derivative Works” shall mean any work, whether in Source or Object form, that is based on (or
derived from) the Work and for which the editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other
modifications represent, as a whole, an original work of authorship. For the purposes of this
License, Derivative Works shall not include works that remain separable from, or merely link (or
bind by name) to the interfaces of, the Work and Derivative Works thereof.
“Contribution” shall mean any work of authorship, including the original version of the Work and
any modifications or additions to that Work or Derivative Works thereof, that is intentionally
submitted to Licensor for inclusion in the Work by the copyright owner or by an individual or
Legal Entity authorized to submit on behalf of the copyright owner. For the purposes of this
definition, “submitted” means any form of electronic, verbal, or written communication sent to
the Licensor or its representatives, including but not limited to communication on electronic
mailing lists, source code control systems, and issue tracking systems that are managed by, or on
behalf of, the Licensor for the purpose of discussing and improving the Work, but excluding
communication that is conspicuously marked or otherwise designated in writing by the copyright
owner as “Not a Contribution.”
“Contributor” shall mean Licensor and any individual or Legal Entity on behalf of whom a
Contribution has been received by Licensor and subsequently incorporated within the Work.
2.
Grant of Copyright License. Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, each Contributor
hereby grants to You a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
copyright license to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of, publicly display, publicly perform,
sublicense, and distribute the Work and such Derivative Works in Source or Object form.
3.
Grant of Patent License. Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, each Contributor
hereby grants to You a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
(except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made, use, offer to sell import, and
otherwise transfer the Work, where such license applies only to those patent claims licensable by
such Contributor that are necessarily infringed by their Contribution(s) alone or by combination
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of their Contribution(s) with the Work to which such Contribution(s) was submitted. If You
institute patent litigation against any entity (including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit)
alleging that the Work or a Contribution incorporated within the Work constitutes direct or
contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses granted to You under this License for
that Work shall terminate as of the date such litigation is filed.
4.
Redistribution. You may reproduce and distribute copies of the Work or Derivative Works thereof
in any medium, with or without modifications, and in Source or Object form, provided that You
meet the following conditions:
(a)You must give any other recipients of the Work or Derivative Works a copy of this License;
and
(b)You must cause any modified files to carry prominent notices stating that You changed the
files; and
(c)You must retain, in the Source form of any Derivative Works that You distribute, all copyright,
patent, trademark, and attribution notices from the Source form of the Work, excluding those
notices that do not pertain to any part of the Derivative Works; and
(d)If the Work includes a “NOTICE” text file as part of its distribution, then any Derivative
Works that You distribute must include a readable copy of the attribution notices contained
within such NOTICE file, excluding those notices that do not pertain to any part of the
Derivative Works, in at least one of the following places: within a NOTICE text file distributed
as part of the Derivative Works; within the Source form or documentation, if provided along
with the Derivative Works; or, within a display generated by the Derivative Works, if and
wherever such third-party notices normally appear. The contents of the NOTICE file are for
informational purposes only and do not modify the License. You may add Your own
attribution notices within Derivative Works that You distribute, alongside or as an addendum
to the NOTICE text from the Work, provided that such additional attribution notices cannot
be construed as modifying the License.
You may add Your own copyright statement to Your modifications and may provide additional or
different license terms and conditions for use, reproduction, or distribution of Your
modifications, or for any such Derivative Works as a whole, provided Your use, reproduction, and
distribution of the Work otherwise complies with the conditions stated in this License.
5.
Submission of Contributions. Unless You explicitly state otherwise, any Contribution intentionally
submitted for inclusion in the Work by You to the Licensor shall be under the terms and
conditions of this License, without any additional terms or conditions. Notwithstanding the
above, nothing herein shall supersede or modify the terms of any separate license agreement you
may have executed with Licensor regarding such Contributions.
6.
Trademarks. This License does not grant permission to use the trade names, trademarks, service
marks, or product names of the Licensor, except as required for reasonable and customary use in
describing the origin of the Work and reproducing the content of the NOTICE file.
7.
Disclaimer of Warranty. Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, Licensor
provides the Work (and each Contributor provides its Contributions) on an “AS IS” BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied,
including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions of TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT,
MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. You are solely
responsible for determining the appropriateness of using or redistributing the Work and assume
any risks associated with Your exercise of permissions under this License.
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8.
Limitation of Liability. In no event and under no legal theory, whether in tort (including
negligence), contract, or otherwise, unless required by applicable law (such as deliberate and
grossly negligent acts) or agreed to in writing, shall any Contributor be liable to You for damages,
including any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising
as a result of this License or out of the use or inability to use the Work (including but not limited
to damages for loss of goodwill, work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all
other commercial damages or losses), even if such Contributor has been advised of the possibility
of such damages.
9.
Accepting Warranty or Additional Liability. While redistributing the Work or Derivative Works
thereof, You may choose to offer, and charge a fee for, acceptance of support, warranty,
indemnity, or other liability obligations and/or rights consistent with this License. However, in
accepting such obligations, You may act only on Your own behalf and on Your sole responsibility,
not on behalf of any other Contributor, and only if You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold each
Contributor harmless for any liability incurred by, or claims asserted against, such Contributor by
reason of your accepting any such warranty or additional liability.
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Glossary
In order to fully understand your InformaCast environment, you should familiarize yourself with the
terms in this section.
API
Application Programming Interface. A language and message format used by an application program
to communicate with the operating system or some other control program such as a database
management system (DBMS) or communications protocol.
Application User
A user within Cisco Communications Manager that has been granted privileges to work with CTI
resources. InformaCast needs to know the username and password of an application user that has been
associated with the route points/CTI ports it will be using to place calls for recording messages and
integrating with legacy paging systems. This is set up in the Communications Manager Administration
interface.
Audio Stream RTP Packets
Packets capable of conducting real-time voice data over connectionless networks such as IP. See also
“RTP” on page 12-8.
Authentication
The process of determining the identity of a user attempting to access a system.
AVVID
Cisco Architecture for Voice, Video, and Integrated Data. Cisco AVVID provides the framework for
today’s Internet business solutions. As the industry’s only enterprise-wide, standards-based network
architecture, Cisco AVVID provides the roadmap for combining your business and technology
strategies into one cohesive model.
Cisco AVVID provides the baseline infrastructure that enables enterprises to design networks that scale
to meet Internet business demands. Cisco AVVID delivers the eBusiness infrastructure and intelligent
network services that are essential for rapid deployment of emerging technologies and new Internet
business solutions.
AXL
AVVID XML Layer (AXL). A Cisco API and web service designed to give applications access to Cisco
Communications Manager and Communications Manager Express configuration and provisioning
services. AXL is implemented as a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) over HTTP web service in
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which requests in the form of extensible markup language (XML) documents are sent from the
application to the Cisco Communications Manager’s web server, which responds with an
XML-formatted response. InformaCast uses AXL to gather phone information from Communications
Manager and Communications Manager Express.
BAT
Bulk Administration Tool. A web-based application for Cisco Communications Manager that enables
bulk system modifications, including adding and deleting phones, modifying phones, and adding users
and mailboxes.
Break Key
The key on a phone you press to signal InformaCast that you do not want to hear the remainder of any
message.
Broadcast
An audio message sent to a group of phones, made up of one or more recipient groups. A message that
is sent to a group of devices, made up of one or more recipient groups and/or dial codes.
Browser
A GUI-based hypertext client application, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape Navigator,
used to access the InformaCast administrative interface, as well as hypertext documents and other
services located on innumerable remote servers throughout the World Wide Web and Internet. See also
“GUI” on page 12-5.
Calling Search Space
Determines which partitions a calling device searches when attempting to complete a call. One of the
ways in which InformaCast recipient groups can be defined.
Communications Manager
See “Cisco Communications Manager.”
Cisco Communications Manager
Software-based call processing component of the Cisco IP telephony solution, which extends
enterprise telephony features and functions to packet telephony network devices such as IP phones,
media processing devices, voice-over-IP (VoIP) gateways, and multimedia applications. See also “Cisco
Communications Manager Administration.”
Cisco Communications Manager Administration
The web interface used to administer a Communications Manager’s configuration settings and
operation.
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Cisco IP Phone
A full-feature telephone that provides voice communication over an IP network while functioning
much like a traditional analog phone. Allows you to place and receive telephone calls, and supports
features such as call forwarding, redial, speed dialing, call transfer, and conference calling. Also allows
you to access voicemail, providing connectivity to Cisco IP Telephony Solutions.
Client
Node or software program (front-end device) that requests services from a server. The Cisco IP Phone
is an example of a client.
Codec
Coder-decoder:
•
A device that typically uses pulse code modulation to transform analog signals into a digital bit
stream, and digital signals back to analog. See also “G.711” on page 12-5.
•
In Voice over IP, Voice over Frame Relay, and Voice over ATM, a software algorithm used to
compress/decompress speech or audio signals.
CTI
Computer Telephony Integration or Computer Telephony Interface. An interface exported by
Communications Manager that allows application developers to create programs that work with the
telephone system.
CTI Port
Computer Telephony Interface ports. Virtual devices that are used by Cisco Communications Manager
applications and InformaCast to create virtual lines. CTI ports are configured through the same Cisco
Communications Manager Administration area as phones, but require different configuration settings.
Device Association
A link that allows a specific Communications Manager user to control a device (such as a CTI port)
within the Communications Manager environment. InformaCast will take control of all CTI ports that
are associated with its application user, and make them available for recording.
Device Description
A free-form text entry within the Communications Manager Administration interface that is intended
for the user to describe and identify a specific telephony device (such as a physical phone or CTI port).
Because this field is entirely under the administrator’s control, it provides the best opportunity for
organizing phones into recipient groups to meet an organization’s paging needs. Also, a popular method
of defining InformaCast recipient groups.
Device Loads
Files that contain updated application software for phones or gateways. Provided automatically during
installation or upgrades.
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Device Name
The logical name by which a specific telephony device (such as a physical phone or CTI port) is known
within the Communications Manager Administration interface.
Device Pool
In Cisco Communications Manager, a collection of commonly configured devices (such as phones,
computers and gateways) that belong to a common database, cluster, and group. Use device pools to
define common characteristics for devices, including region, date/time group, Cisco Communications
Manager group, and calling search space for automatic definition. One of the ways in which
InformaCast recipient groups can be defined.
DialCast
A broadcast triggered by dialing a route point or SIP number configured with dialing pattern that
determines which InformaCast message should be sent and which recipient groups should receive it.
Dial Pad
Buttons on a phone that are used to dial a phone number. The dial pad on a Cisco IP phone operates
like the dial pad on a traditional telephone.
Directory Number (DN)
Directory Number. The telephone number or internal extension assigned to a Cisco IP phone. The
directory number is assigned to the phone itself, not a location or a user, so if the phone is moved, it
still retains the same directory number. Also called subscriber number. One of the ways in which
InformaCast recipient groups can be defined.
DN Not Recognized Audio
When you pick up a phone and dial your set pattern for a DialCast broadcast, if that pattern doesn’t
match a configuration you’ve set, you hear this message.
DSCP
Differentiated Services Code Point, or DiffServe CodePoint. A marker in the header of each IP packet
that prompts network routers to apply differentiated grades of service to various packet streams,
forwarding them according to different Per-Hop Behaviors (PHBs). Part of DiffServe, a set of
technologies proposed by the IETF that allows Internet and other IP-based network service providers
to offer differentiated levels of service to customers and their information streams. InformaCast tags
its voice traffic to facilitate assured delivery in network environments where this is important.
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
A TCP/IP protocol that enables PCs and workstations to get temporary or permanent IP addresses
out of a pool from centrally-administered servers. Like its predecessor, BOOTP, DHCP provides a
mechanism for allocating IP addresses manually, automatically, and dynamically, so that addresses can
be reused when hosts no longer need them. The DHCP server provides Cisco IP phones and
InformaCast IP speakers with an IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, and DNS server.
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ESXi
VMware ESXi is an enterprise-level computer virtualization product offered by VMware, Inc. ESXi is
a component of VMware’s larger offering, VMware Infrastructure, and adds management and reliability
services to the core server product. VMware ESXi is a bare-metal embedded hypervisor that is
VMware’s enterprise software hypervisors for servers that run directly on server hardware without
requiring an additional underlying operating system.
Ethernet
Baseband LAN specification invented by Xerox Corporation and developed jointly by Xerox, Intel, and
Digital Equipment Corporation. Used to connect computers, workstations, terminals, printers, and
other devices located in the same building or campus.
Filter
The term “filter” is used to select a defined subset (e.g. matching constructs that select devices to be
placed in a recipient group).
G.711
An audio compression standard used for digital telephones on a digital PBX/ISDN. In G.711, encoded
voice is already in the correct format for digital voice delivery in the PSTN or through PBXs. G.711
uses a bandwidth of 64 Kbps. G.711-compliant devices can communicate with other G.711 devices, but
not with G.723 devices. Described in the ITU-T standard in its G-series recommendations.
InformaCast audio broadcasts through phones must use G.711 encoding.
Go Tone
The tone you hear through a phone when InformaCast has finished activating devices in your recipient
group in preparation for a live broadcast.
GUI
Graphical User Interface. User environment that uses pictorial as well as textual representations of the
input and output of applications and the hierarchical or other data structure in which information is
stored. Conventions such as buttons, icons, and windows are typical, and many actions are performed
using a pointing device (such as a mouse).
Handset
The portion of a telephone set containing the transmitter and receiver, usually designed to be hand-held
when the telephone is in use.
HTTP
HyperText Transfer Protocol. Used by the web server and the client browser to communicate over the
Internet. InformaCast also uses HTTP to communicate with Communications Manager and Cisco IP
phones.
Humoctopus
A genetic experiment gone horribly awry.
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InformaCast
Singlewire’s flexible, scalable IP paging solution. Server software which manages, schedules, and
delivers textual, audible, and graphical alerts to a variety of endpoints including Cisco IP phones,
InformaCast IP speakers, Desktop Notification System machines, and legacy paging systems.
Invalid License Audio
When you pick up a phone and dial your set pattern for a DialCast broadcast, if that pattern matches a
configuration you’ve set and the route point’s DN, and InformaCast has an invalid license, you hear this
message.
IOS
The Cisco Internetworking Operating System (IOS) is a sophisticated operating system optimized for
internetworking. Cisco IOS provides the unifying principles around which an internetwork can be
maintained cost-effectively over time. It is a software architecture, disassociated from hardware, that
can be dynamically upgraded to adapt to changing technologies (hardware and software) as they evolve
within a networking infrastructure. Cisco IOS can be thought of as an internetworking brain, a highly
intelligent administrator that manages and controls complex, distributed network resources and
functions.
IP Address
Internet Protocol Address. A 32-bit address assigned to hosts using TCP/IP. An IP address belongs to
one of five classes (A, B, C, D, or E) and is written as four octets separated by periods (dotted decimal
format). Each address consists of a network number, an optional subnetwork number, and a host
number. The network and subnetwork numbers together are used for routing, while the host number
is used to address an individual host within the network or subnetwork. A subnet mask is used to extract
network and subnetwork information from the IP address. Also known as an Internet address. See also
“Subnet Mask” on page 12-9.
IP Phone
See “Cisco IP Phone” on page 12-3.
Java
Programming language and runtime environment from Sun Microsystems in which InformaCast is
implemented.
Jitter
A type of distortion caused by the variation of a signal from its reference that can cause data
transmission errors, particularly at high speeds.
JTAPI
Java Telephony Application Programming Interface. The mechanism by which InformaCast is able to
place and control calls in a Cisco Communications Manager environment.
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Login
A word or string of characters recognized by automatic means, generally paired with a password, that
identifies a user and permits specific access to a place or to protected storage, files, or input/output
devices.
MAC Address
Standardized data link layer address that is required for every port or device that connects to a LAN.
Other devices in the network use these addresses to locate specific ports in the network and to create
and update routing tables and data structures. MAC addresses are six bytes long and are controlled by
the IEEE. Also known as a hardware address, MAC-layer address, and physical address. Compare with
Network Address.
Message
The basis of any InformaCast broadcast, a message predefines the characteristics of the broadcast.
µLaw
(mu-law) North American companding standard used in conversion between analog and digital signals
in PCM systems. This is the kind of audio encoding used in G.711.
Multicast
Single packets copied by the network and sent to a specific subset of network addresses. A process of
transmitting messages from one source to many destinations. Used by InformaCast to allow scalable
paging to thousands of devices. Contrast with “Unicast” on page 12-10.
Multicast Address
Single address that refers to multiple network devices. These use a special numbering scheme distinct
from ordinary unicast IP addresses.
Network Address
Network layer address referring to a logical, rather than a physical, network device. Also called a
protocol address. Compare with MAC Address.
NIC
•
Network Interface Card. Board that provides network communication capabilities to and from a
computer system. Also called an adapter.
•
Network Interface Controller. An intelligent device that connects a workstation to a network.
No Active Devices Audio
The tone you hear through a phone if there are no active devices in the recipient group for your live
broadcast.
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Password
A word or string of characters recognized by automatic means, generally paired with a login, that
permits a user access to a place or protected storage, files, input/output devices, or other system
resources.
PBX
A PBX (private branch exchange) is a telephone system within an enterprise that switches calls between
enterprise users on local lines while allowing all users to share a certain number of external phone lines.
The main purpose of a PBX is to save the cost of requiring a line for each user to the telephone
company’s central office.
Phone Loads
See “Device Loads” on page 12-3.
Protocol
A set of rules or conventions that govern the format and relative timing of data in a communications
network. There are three basic types of protocols: character-oriented, byte-oriented, and bit-oriented.
The protocols for data communications cover such things as framing, error handling, transparency, and
line control. Ethernet is an example of a LAN protocol.
Proxy
A device that relays network connections for other devices that usually lack their own network access.
Recipient
An endpoint capable of receiving an InformaCast broadcast. Currently, these can include Cisco IP
phones.
Recipient Group
A logical, pre-defined group of recipients that can receive InformaCast broadcasts. One recipient can
be part of one or more recipient groups.
Recipient Group Tags
Recipient group tags allow you finer control over the display results for recipient groups.
RTP
Real-Time Transport Protocol. A network protocol used to carry packetized audio and video traffic
over an IP network. The audio portions of InformaCast broadcasts are sent as a multicast RTP stream.
Scalable
Indicates that a software application or a hardware device has the ability to migrate from small
operations to large operations.
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Server
Node or software program that provides services to clients. In an InformaCast environment, the
computer on which InformaCast is running is a server. If you are in a telephony environment, there
will be at least one separate Communications Manager server as well.
SIP
Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol used for controlling communication
sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol (IP). The protocol can be used for
creating, modifying, and terminating two-party (unicast) or multi-party (multicast) sessions. Sessions
may consist of one or several media streams.
SNMP
Simple Network Management Protocol. Forms part of the Internet protocol suite as defined by the
Internet Engineering Task Force. The protocol is used by network management systems for monitoring
network-attached devices for conditions that warrant administrative attention. Starting with
Communications Manager 5, Cisco requires InformaCast to use SNMP rather than the previous
DeviceListX mechanism for obtaining dynamic information about registered phones (such as their IP
address) needed for sending broadcasts.
Stall Tone
The tones you hear through a phone while waiting for InformaCast to activate the recipients in your
recipient group during a live broadcast.
Start Page
The Singlewire Start page is accessible through a web browser addressed with the IP address of your
Virtual Appliance server, and it contains links to your applications’ user interfaces, the Toolbox, and
Webmin.
Subnet Mask
A 32-bit address mask used in IP to indicate the bits of an IP address that are being used for the subnet
address. See also “IP Address” on page 12-6. One of the ways in which InformaCast recipient groups
can be defined.
TFTP
Trivial File Transfer Protocol. A simplified version of the FTP protocol, TFTP servers generally
provide configuration information and firmware files to Cisco IP phones.
TLS
Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol that provides communication security over
the Internet. TLS encrypts the segments of network connections above the Transport layer, using
asymmetric cryptography for key exchange, symmetric encryption for privacy, and message
authentication codes for message integrity. Several versions of the protocol is in widespread use in
applications such as web browsing, electronic mail, Internet faxing, instant messaging, and
voice-over-IP (VoIP).
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Toolbox
The Toolbox is designed to be an inclusive destination for application-level accessories.
UDP
The User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is one of the core members of the Internet Protocol Suite, the set
of network protocols used for the Internet. With UDP, computer applications can send messages, in
this case referred to as datagrams, to other hosts on an Internet Protocol (IP) network without requiring
prior communications to set up special transmission channels or data paths.
Unicast
A process of transmitting messages from one source to one destination. Compare with “Multicast” on
page 12-7.
Unicast Address
Address specifying a single network device. See also “Unicast.” The IP addresses that you encounter in
ordinary use of the Internet are generally unicast addresses.
User
A person who will use InformaCast. He/she will be assigned an individual login and password, which
can be used to configure the roles and filters that determine the features and resources available to
him/her.
Via Header
With SIP, the Via header indicates the path taken by a SIP request so far.Via headers can be used to
prevent request looping and ensure replies take the same path as the requests.
Virtual Appliance
A virtual appliance is a virtual machine image designed to run on a virtualization platform (e.g.,
VirtualBox, Xen, VMware Workstation, Parallels Workstation).
Virtual Machine
A virtual machine (VM) is a software implementation of a machine (i.e. a computer) that executes
programs like a physical machine.
VMware
A company providing virtualization software. VMware’s desktop software runs on Microsoft Windows,
Linux, and Mac OS X, while VMware’s enterprise software hypervisors for servers, VMware ESX and
VMware ESXi, are bare-metal embedded hypervisors that run directly on server hardware without
requiring an additional underlying operating system.
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol. Enables users to transfer voice communications over a data network
using IP.
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Web Interface
A software application that runs on the World Wide Web and is usually accessed through a web browser
running on a computer workstation. InformaCast and Cisco Communications Manager Administration
use web interfaces.
Webmin
The virtual machine administrative web interface is used for administering the underlying operating
system of the virtual machine, e.g. configuring the network interface, stopping and starting InformaCast
and shutting down the virtual machine. You can access it at https://<InformaCast Server IP
Address>:10000.
XML
eXtensible Markup Language. A general-purpose specification for creating custom markup languages.
It is classified as an extensible language because it allows its users to define their own elements. Its
primary purpose is to help information systems share structured data, particularly via the Internet, and
it is used both to encode documents and to serialize data.
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A
Access InformaCast 2-45, 2-48, 8-13, 8-17
Acknowledgements 11-1
Apache Axis2 11-1
Apache Software 11-1
CSVToXML 11-1
Hibernate 11-2
hsqldb 11-2
Java Platform 11-3
JAXB 11-3
JDOM 11-8
jTDS 11-8
Linux/Voyage 11-9
Quartz 11-10
SLP Mesh Enhancement 11-10
Active Broadcasts 4-74
Add
Dialing Configuration 4-68
Recipient Group Exclusion 4-11
Recipient Groups 4-2
Recipient Group with Existing Recipient Groups 4-6
Recipient Group with Individual Recipients 4-3
Recipient Group with Rules 4-8
SIP Access Exception 4-38
SIP User Credentials 4-46
Administer InformaCast 5-1
Advanced Functionality Definition 1-3, 6-1
Advanced InformaCast 6-1
AXL Credentials 3-3
B
Backup
Configure InformaCast 5-2
InformaCast 5-2
Move ZIP File to a Safe Location 5-3
Basic Functionality Definition 1-3, 6-1
Basic InformaCast Upgrade 6-1
Basic License Definition 1-3
Broadcast
Cancel 4-73
Parameters 3-13
Send a Broadcast 4-72
Broadcasts
Troubleshooting 8-33
Buy Advanced Notification 6-8
C
Calling Terminal Diagnostics 8-32
Cancel
Audio Broadcast 4-73
Change IP Address 7-6
Command Line Interface 1-7
Communications Manager
Add User Group 2-22
Application User 2-26
Calling Search Space 2-16
Configure SNMP 2-3
Create a Community String 2-5
Create CTI Ports 2-17
Create Route Partition 2-11
Create Route Points 2-12
Device Pool 2-9
Enable SNMP 2-3
G.711 Codec 2-7
Integrate 2-2
JTAPI and Phones’ Busy States 9-1
Route Points 2-12
Web Access for Phones 2-29
Communications Manager Clusters
Default 3-3
Communications Manager Express
Web Access for Phones 2-29
Configure
Default Communications Manager Cluster
InformaCast 3-1
InformaCast Backups 5-2
InformaCast Server 3-2
Messages 4-27
Recipient Groups 4-1
Session Timeouts 5-16
SIP Trunk 4-30
SNMP Monitoring 5-15
Update JTAPI 3-14
Copy
Recipient Group 4-19
Create
Route Pattern 4-35
Route Points 2-12
SIP Trunk 4-33
SIP Trunk Security Profile 4-31
CTI Credentials 3-3
3-3
D
Defunct Phones 4-20
Delete
Defunct Phones from InformaCast 4-20
Dialing Configuration 4-71
Recipient Group 4-23
SIP User Credentials 4-48
Demonstration License Definition 1-3
Determine Phones’ Busy States 9-1
DialCast
Add Dialing Configuration 4-68
Delete Dialing Configuration 4-71
Edit Dialing Configuration 4-69
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Fail, see Calling Terminal Diagnostics
Manage 4-67
Route Points 2-12
Dialing Configuration
Add 4-68
Delete 4-71
Edit 4-69
8-32
E
Edit
Dialing Configuration 4-69
Recipient Group 4-15
SIP User Credentials 4-47
Enable
Audio Broadcast Support 3-13
Multicast 3-14
Web Access for Individual Phones 2-29
Web Access for Multiple Phones 2-32
Web Access for Phones 2-29
ESXi 2-34
EULA Error 8-18
F
FAQ 7-1
Capture Traffic 7-6
Create Recipient Groups 7-6
Exceeded License Key 7-5
HTTP Status 500 Error 7-1
IP Address 7-6
New IP Address 7-6
No Text or Audio Broadcasts 7-5
SSL Certificate 7-1
Voicemail 7-6
Free Trial 6-4
Frequently Asked Questions, see FAQ
Further Discussion 9-1
H
Help 1-7
Hypersonic SQL
7-1
11-2
I
InformaCast Backup.ZIP 5-3
InformaCast IP Address 2-45, 2-48, 8-13, 8-17
InformaCast Virtual Appliance
Administer 5-1
Administrative Interface 2-45
Administrator Password 2-53
Command Line Interface 1-7
Configure 3-1
Configure Backups 5-2
Configure Server 3-2
Documentation 1-7
Embedded SNMP Agent 5-15
Font Usage 1-4
Hardware Requirements 1-2
Help 1-7
Icons, Description of 1-6
Illustrations 1-4
Install 2-1, 2-34
Install SIP Certificate 4-51
Install SIP Device Certificates 4-60
Intended Audience 1-1
License 2-54
Licensing 1-3
Log In 2-48
Manage Backups 5-2
Multicast 3-14, 8-2, 8-8, 8-9, 8-10
Notification Boxes Explained 1-4
Open 2-45, 2-48, 8-13, 8-17
Orientation 1-5
Prepare your Multicast Environment 2-1
Prerequisites 1-1
Remove Defunct Phones 4-20
Restore from Backup 5-7
Start 2-45
Start Page 1-5
Support 1-7
Toolbox Interface 1-7
Troubleshooting 1-7
Update JTAPI 3-14
Upgrade License 6-9
Upgrading from Basic to Advanced 6-1
Use 4-1
Virtual Machine Administrative Interface 1-7
Web Interface 1-6
InformaCast Virtual Appliance Version 2-46
Install
Communications Manager 2-2
Communications Manager SNMP 2-5
Configure Communications Manager SNMP 2-3
Create a Calling Search Space 2-16
Create Application User 2-26
Create AXL User Group 2-22
Create CTI Ports 2-17
Create Route Partition 2-11
Create Route Points 2-12
Device Pool 2-9
Enable Communications Manager SNMP 2-3
Enable Web Access for Phones 2-29
InformaCast SIP Certificate 4-51
InformaCast Virtual Appliance 2-34
Set G.711 Codec 2-7
SIP Device Certificates on InformaCast 4-60
Install InformaCast 2-1
IP Address, Change 7-6
J
JTAPI
3-14, 9-1
L
License Definitions 1-3
License Key 1-3, 2-54, 6-9
Exceed 2-54, 6-14, 7-5
License Key, Dependent Features 6-9
Live Audio Broadcast 4-72
Log into InformaCast 2-48, 8-12, 8-13
Log into the Toolbox 8-15
Log into Webmin 8-17
Logs
Performance 2-54, 6-14, 7-5, 7-6, 8-12
Summary 8-12, 8-30
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M
Manage
DialCast Functionality 4-67
Digest Authentication with SIP User Credentials 4-45
InformaCast Administrator Password 2-53
InformaCast Backups 5-2
New License Key 6-9
Phone Updates 5-13
SIP Access to InformaCast 4-37
SIP Authentication for InformaCast 4-40
SIP Certificates 4-49
SIP Functionality 4-30
SIP Stack 4-65
Management Information Base 5-15
Messages
Ad-hoc Audio, Description of 4-28
Configure 4-27
Live Audio, Description of 4-27
Pre-recorded Audio, Description of 4-27
Talk and Listen, Description of 4-28
Text, Description of 4-27
Text and Ad-hoc Audio, Description of 4-27
Text and Live Audio, Description of 4-27
Text and Pre-recorded Audio, Description of 4-27
Multicast
IGMP Snooping 8-10
IGMPv3 8-10
MPLS Provider 8-9
Network Capture 8-2, 8-6
PIM 8-8
Traffic Capture 8-2
Troubleshooting 8-1
Verify Configuration 3-14
Multicast Environment Preparation
InformaCast Virtual Appliance 2-1
N
Network Management Software
Network Traffic Capture
Obtain 8-2
Read 8-6
Notification Box
Caution 1-4
Note 1-4
Tip 1-4
Warning 1-4
5-15
P
Performance Log 2-54, 6-14, 7-5, 7-6, 8-12
Purchased InformaCast 6-8
Purchased License Definition 1-3
R
Reboot InformaCast Virtual Machine 8-18, 8-27
Recipient Groups
Add 4-2
Add Exclusions 4-11
Add with Existing Recipient Groups 4-6
Add with Individual Recipients 4-3
Add with Rules 4-8
Advanced Matching 9-4
Configure 4-1
Copy 4-19
Delete 4-23
Edit 4-15
Regular Expressions 9-5
Remove Defunct Phones 4-20
Remove Rules 4-11
Subnet Matching 9-4
Tag 4-24, 4-25, 4-26
View Recipients 4-17
Recipient Group Tags
Add 4-24
Delete 4-26
Description of 4-24
Edit 4-25
Regular Expressions
Group Recipients 9-5
Release Notes 10-1
8.2.a 10-6
8.3 10-5
8.3.a 10-4
8.4.a 10-2
8.5.1 10-1
InformaCast 1.1 10-39
InformaCast 1.2 10-38
InformaCast 1.2.3 10-37
InformaCast 1.3 10-37
InformaCast 2.0 10-36
InformaCast 2.1 10-35
InformaCast 3.0 10-34
InformaCast 3.1 10-34
InformaCast 3.2 10-34
InformaCast 4.0 10-32
InformaCast 4.1 10-31
InformaCast 4.1.1 10-30
InformaCast 4.2 10-29
InformaCast 4.2.1 10-29
InformaCast 5.0 10-28
InformaCast 5.0.2 10-27
InformaCast 5.0.3 10-26
InformaCast 5.0.4 10-25
InformaCast 5.1 10-24
InformaCast 5.1.1 10-24
InformaCast 6.0 10-22
InformaCast 6.0.1 10-21
InformaCast 6.1 10-20
InformaCast 6.1.1 10-20
InformaCast 7.0 10-17
InformaCast 7.1 10-15
InformaCast 8.0 10-11
InformaCast 8.0.1 10-10
InformaCast 8.0.2 10-9
InformaCast 8.1 10-6
InformaCast 8.2 10-6
Remove
Defunct Phones 4-20
Recipient Group Rules 4-11
Restart
SIP 4-66
Restart InformaCast 8-18, 8-24
Restore InformaCast from Backup
5-7
S
Send
InformaCast Virtual Appliance Basic Paging
Version 8.5.1
IN-3
Chapter 13
Index
Live Audio Broadcast 4-72
Session Timeouts, Configure 5-16
Singlewire Start Page 2-45
SIP 4-30
Add Access Exception 4-38
Add User Credentials 4-46
Allow/Disable Access to InformaCast 4-37
Configure a SIP Trunk 4-30
Create a Route Pattern 4-35
Create a SIP Trunk 4-33
Create a SIP Trunk Security Profile 4-31
Delete SIP User Credentials 4-48
Edit User Credentials 4-47
Enable Authentication for InformaCast 4-40
Enable Digest Authentication with SIP User Credentials
Install InformaCast SIP Certificate 4-51
Install SIP Device Certificates on InformaCast 4-60
Manage SIP Certificates 4-49
Manage SIP Stack 4-65
Modify the SIP Trunk to Use TLS 4-57
Modify the Trunk Security Profile 4-55
Restart 4-66
View InformaCast SIP Certificate 4-49
SIP Functionality
Manage 4-30
SNMP, Configure Monitoring 5-15
SNMP4J 11-10
Start/Stop InformaCast 8-18
Start InformaCast 2-45, 8-22
Start Page 2-45, 2-48, 8-13, 8-17
Stop InformaCast 8-19
Subnet Matching 9-4
Subscription InformaCast 6-8
Subscription License Definition 1-3
Summary Log 8-12, 8-30
Support 1-7
T
TLS
Definition 4-49
Install SIP Device Certificates on InformaCast 4-60
Install the InformaCast SIP Certificate 4-51
Manage SIP Certificates 4-49
Modify the SIP Trunk 4-57
Modify the SIP Trunk Security Profile 4-55
Trial License Definition 1-3
Troubleshooting 1-7, 8-1
Authentication 8-30
Broadcasts 8-32
EULA Error 8-18
Log Files 8-12
Log into InformaCast 8-12
Multicast 8-1
Phone Discovery 8-31
Start/Stop/Restart and Reboot InformaCast 8-18
Upgrade from Basic to Advanced 8-33
Upgrade InformaCast Virtual Appliance 8-33
VMware Tools 8-30
Try Advanced Notification 6-4
4-45
U
Update InformaCast’s Phone Information 5-13
Upgrade
How To Steps 8-33
Upgrade InformaCast 6-1
Basic to Advanced 6-1
Buy Advanced Notification 6-8
Enter New License Key 6-9
Errors on Telephony Configuration 8-34
Missing Communications Manager Information.
Missing Phones 8-35
Note the Differences 6-1
Try Advanced Notification 6-4
Use
InformaCast 4-1
8-34
V
Version, InformaCast Virtual Appliance 2-46
View
Active Broadcasts 4-74
InformaCast SIP Certificate 4-49
License Key 2-54
Recipients in a Recipient Group 4-17
Virtual Appliance 2-34
Virtual Machine 2-34
Virtual Machine Administrative Web Interface 1-7
Virtual Machine Start Page 1-5
Virtual Machine Toolbox Interface 1-7
VMWare 2-34
VMware Tools 8-30
W
Web Access, Individual Phones 2-29
Web Access, Multiple Phones 2-32
Web Access, Phones 2-29
Web Interface 1-6
Webmin 1-7
InformaCast Virtual Appliance Basic Paging
Version 8.5.1
IN-4
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