Cisco Telepresence (Very Much the Basics!)

2 Months between posts! very bad, I'm trying to get back on the blogging bandwagon again so here we go!

Cisco Telepresence is a fantastic thing however it's a tad complicated and you really need to know what you are doing to begin looking at it. Here are a few bits I've picked up along the way, serves as a reasonable crash course in Telepresence:

In any Telepresence deployment there are 4 elements which must be present:

1. Endpoints
2. Call Control
3. Conferencing
4. Scheduling and Management

End points - The endpoints are the phones, video screens and software clients which the user interfaces when they make a video call

Call Control - This is dependant on what endpoints you choose but essentially the call control sets up and controls / directory. The two options are CUCM (Call/Communications Manager) or Cisco VCS.

CUCM is used for IP Telephony, immersive multi-screen telepresence (TX9000) and standards based endpoints such as the MX200 / MX300. 

VCS is the platform for standards based Telepresence endpoints. VCS Control is the platform for use within an enterprise and VCS Expressway can be used to extend communications to other businesses and remote workers.

The most complete solution would consist of both CUCM and VCS with a SIP trunk between them. 

An interesting product here is the VCS Starter Pack Express which is an introduction package for SMBs interested in Telepresence. Limited funcationality and up to 50 registrations and 25 calls:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/ps7060/ps11305/ps11315/ps11337/data_sheet_c78-697075.html

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/telepresence/infrastructure/vcs/config_guide/Cisco_VCS_Expressway_Starter_Pack_Deployment_Guide_X7-2.pdf

Conferencing - This is the conferencing bridge element which allows for multi party calls rather than just point to point.

An interesting product here is the MCU5300 series it is essentially stackable conference MCU resources, so you buy them as you need them:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/ps7060/ps11305/ps11317/ps12283/data_sheet_c78-692890.html

Scheduling and Management - As implied this is the management and scheduling element and the Cisco product for this is Telepresence Management Suite (TMS):

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/ps7060/ps11305/ps11316/ps11338/data_sheet_c78-707529.html