Cisco TelePresence Manager (CTS-Manager) is the heart of the TelePresence solution, providing integration for all Cisco TelePresence components. CTS-Manager is a server-based platform with a web user interface providing the same look and feel as other TelePresence components. The CTS-Manager ties all TelePresence components together, providing the ease of use, scheduling, and management services that drive the entire solution. The CTS-Manager is not a mandatory component of Cisco TelePresence, but as you can see, deploying a TelePresence network without it provides substantial challenges. CTS-Manager provides the following features to the Cisco TelePresence Solution:
- Calendaring integration and management
- One-Button-to-Push meeting access
- Resource and location management for Cisco TelePresence Multipoint switch
- CTS system management and reporting
- Concierge services
Calendaring Integration and Management
CTS-Manager integrates with Microsoft Exchange and IBM Domino, providing scheduling for Cisco TelePresence systems. A simple scheduling interface is always a challenge for any shared resource. Cisco TelePresence addresses this issue by providing users with a familiar Outlook or Notes scheduling interface. TelePresence rooms are listed as resources and scheduled exactly the same as standard conference rooms, eliminating the learning curve for scheduling Cisco TelePresence rooms.
One-Button-to-Push Meeting Access
When the initial research was conducted for Cisco TelePresence, the biggest complaint with existing video systems was ease of use. Users complained about remote controls, complicated custom touchpad dialing interfaces, and the lack of consistency from system to system. Some customers employ large video scheduling groups to manage systems and automatically launch video calls to avoid any user confusion. Some customers even go as far as providing a meeting coordinator in the room just in case something goes wrong during the call setup. At that time it was decided that initiating a call from a Cisco TelePresence system would be easier than dialing a phone. Figure 1 show the 7975 Series IP Phone screen with One-Button-to-Push entries.
What’s simpler than providing users with a touchscreen phone that allows them to touch the meeting instance on the phone screen to initiate their calls? This feature is referred to as One-Button-to-Push dialing. Users have the option to manually dial using the phone for last-minute ad-hoc meetings; however, prescheduled meetings present users with One-Button-to-Push dialing. This feature alone has allowed Cisco to deploy more than 350 TelePresence systems internally, providing more than 4000 meetings a week, with a scheduling support staff of only seven people. Figure 2 illustrates the process of scheduling a meeting that provides One-Button-to-Push dialing.
Resource and Location Management for Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch
As described previously, CTS-Manager provides the scheduling integration for a Cisco TelePresence deployment. Scheduled multipoint meetings require knowledge of available resources and the location of those resources. CTS-Manager maintains CTMS resource information in its internal database, enabling it to schedule multipoint meetings accurately. Each CTMS is configured to report its location and number of schedulable segments to the CTS-Manager, enabling it to schedule multipoint resources based on available segments and location. When the CTS-Manager receives a request for a scheduled meeting with more than two CTS systems, it first checks the location of each CTS system and determines the most appropriate CTMS. After a CTMS has been chosen, the CTS-Manager checks for available CTMS resources for the requested date and time; if there are resources available, CTS-Manager schedules the meeting and pushes the meeting information to the CTMS. If there are no available resources on the first CTMS, the CTS-Manger works its way through the list of CTMSs until it finds available resources for the meeting.
The CTS-Manager also provides administrators with the ability to centrally view the status of all deployed CTMSs through its web-based interface. You can also use the web interface to manage all scheduled multipoint meetings and move all scheduled meetings from a failed CTMS to a backup if a CTMS failure occurs.
CTS System Management and Reporting
CTS-Manager provides a central view of all CTS systems and CTMS devices. Administrators can quickly view the status of all CTS endpoints from a single web page and determine if a problem is on a CTS system itself or its communication with another solution component. The CTS-Manager provides a number of categories and error states that display for each CTS system. The categories are as follows:
- Connectivity: Provides CTS and phone registration status with CUCM and CTS-Manager to CTS communication
- Cisco TelePresence System: Provides CTS error status
- Cisco Unified Communication Manager: Verification of room profile and email address configuration in CUCM
- Microsoft Exchange: Verification of CTS-Manager mailbox subscription and calendar synchronization for each room
CTS-Manager also provides administrators a view of all scheduled meetings and the ability to export scheduled meeting data to a .tsv file that can be used for billing and usage reports.
Concierge Services
Concierge services are available with the Cisco TelePresence solution, allowing users to quickly connect, at any time, through audio or video, to a live person that can help with any question or issues the users might have. Providing one-button access to live assistance helps maintain system reliability by providing answers to users’ questions and quickly addresses any system or network issue. Using the CTS-Manager web interface, concierges can be defined and assigned to each CTS system. The concierge configuration is then pushed to the CTS system providing a soft key on the 7975 Series IP Phone for direct concierge connection.
Concierge services are supported using video-only or audio-only connections. If video concierge is implemented, users can always connect to the concierge using video, even if a video call is in progress. For example, if a user is in a TelePresence call and experiences issues or has a question, he or she simply pushes the concierge softkey, the original TelePresence call is placed on hold, and a second TelePresence call is placed to the concierge. After the question has been answered, the call to the concierge is ended, and the original call is resumed.
If concierge services support audio-only and a user selects the concierge softkey during a video call, the video call is placed on hold while the concierge is connected. If the CTS dialing the concierge does not have an audio add-in connected to the active meeting, the user has the option to add the concierge into the meeting.
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