Searching and Extension Groups

Often times there is some confusion on how to best find someone for transferring a call.
Also, some people are unsure how to leverage Extension Groups.

Scrolling around to find someone is, by far, the least efficient manner.
Our searching is very powerful and fast.
Knowing HOW to search is key to success.

Here are the most common call scenarios and how to handle them.

• Looking for someone by Name (May I talk to Tom Ciscal)
• Use the green search box for Ciscal.
  You could search for Tom, however, there will likely be more of them.
  Like a Google search, uniqueness speeds and accurizes the search. 

• Looking for a specific extension (Extension 7092, please)
• Use the green search box for 7092. 

• Looking for someone by title (I need to speak to the Manager)
• Use the green search box for Manager.  We search across all fields in a search.
• If the operator already knows the Manager, they may search by name instead.
  *Optional:  If you filled out the Office field in AD, you can leverage that information as well.   

• Looking for someone by department (I want to talk to someone in Marketing)
  This one may be the most tricky with multiple locations (example Palo Alto).  But it doesn’t have to be.
• If you’ve create Extension Groups by location DN ranges, it’s quite easy.  This is done on the BOC TAPI Connector Phone System Settings tool.
• Palo Alto  5000-5999
• Wichita 6000-6999
• Choose the Palo Alto EG.  Move the slider bar labelled Search Global to the left.  Use the green search box (now magenta) for Marketing.  This will only display people with the department of Marketing in the Palo Alto location. 

• Alternatively, rather than using the EG, you could leverage the Office field once again, search for Marketing and sort by Office 

Missing e164 Alerting Names

If you are using e164 numbering internally and working with common area phones or other phones that do not have a formal user tied to them in AD or in the End Users table, you will need to change a registry key for us to pull the Alerting Name from the DN properly.

On the BOC TAPI Connector server, change the registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Bridge Communications\BOCServer\E164ASCII to a value of 1.

Extension Groups, Search Best Practices in Bridge Operator Console

Bridge Operator Console provides a number of different way to find system users.  For best performance we recommend never displaying more items on the screen that absolutely necessary.  If you chose put 150 users on the screen, your PC will use the resources required to update 150 in real-time despite only being able to see 20 or so at most at one time.

Best Methods for Finding Users

1.  Predictive Transfer

Enabling predictive transfer unleashes the power of 5 machine learning algorithms to present the most likely destination for a given caller.  This feature reduces lookup time far beyond any other method or any other product on the market.

2.  Searching

When a call becomes active the cursor is put in the search box.  A user can then start typing any part of a users first name, last name, title, department or phone number.  The extensions list will quickly filter to match the search.

3.  Extension Group Scrolling (Slowest and not recommended)

Users can select an extension group to find a group of users in a particular department or location for example.  While this method does work, it is much slower than using the combination of search and related people.  The list is limited to 200 results by default.  If you require more you can change the SearchLimit regkey in the program to override it, but this is not a recommended procedure.


You can find more information here.
Searching and Extension Groups

AXL issues or high CPU utilization on CallManager after applying Windows update to BOC Server

After applying Microsoft KB3161608, you may experience issues with AXL connecting to CallManager.
Additional symptoms may be high CPU spikes on the CUCM providing AXL services to the BOC server.

There seems to be a known issue in Tomcat which is fixed in a newer versions
https://bz.apache.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=52511

Currently, we are recommending the removal of KB3161608 followed by applying any other remaining Microsoft updates.


UPDATE:  KB3172605 appears to replace KB3161608 and has the same issues.

Manual License Update

If your server is blocked from accessing the internet to update its license there is a manual process to complete it.
Go to the License Update Generator website.  You will need to enter your Product License key and answer the Captcha.
A SQL script will be generated in red at the bottom of the page.
Copy this script to Notepad.

Click here for License Update Generator













Open the BOC Phone System Settings tool.
Choose the Utilities tab -> Database Queries -> Run SQL Query

Paste the SQL Script as shown, and the click Execute SQL Query

After a few moments, the license should reflect correctly in the Phone System Settings tool in the lower right corner.

Configure BLOC for Exchange on o365

If you are using Outlook and Exchange as part of Office 365 (o365), you may need to manually configure the Exchange Connection in the settings.
Follow the Exchange Connecting Settings example below.

1.  Uncheck Use Currently Logged In User
     Leave the EWS Domain empty
2.  Uncheck Use Autodiscover URL
     The EWS URL should be https://outlook.office365.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx
3.  Fill in the EWS User and EWS Password with your o365 email credentials.

Bridge Operator Console for Cisco - Connector Specs

BOC Connector running in Stand Alone - Recommended Hardware Specs

If you have a single operator install you may choose to run the connector software on the same machine as the client.  If this is the case you may use the recommended hardware specs below as a recommendation, although it may vary given the numbers of phones, activity, and other concurrently running applications on that machine.

Intel i5 Quad Core CPU

4GB of Memory

100GB of Free HD Space (C: Drive)

BOC Connector running on a Server - Recommended Hardware Specs

The BOC Connector is a Windows service that connects to your phone system, and a MS SQL Database.  Here are the suggested build outs.   The roles change based on whether or not you deploy SQL (may need more memory or processor) on box or whether you run the mobile or WIndows client in socket mode.  Additionally, only CUCM 8.5 with update 1 and later have a TSP Driver that supports 64 Bit.  And to compound that, the 32 Bit TSP from Cisco is not supported on a 64 Bit platform (ie, doesn’t work).  So you cannot build out a 64Bit machine in anticipation of a 8.5U1 (or later) rollout and have it work on a pre-8.5U1 CUCM.
Suggested Minimum Server Specifications Any Windows version supported by the CUCM TSP version (32 or 64 if TAPI Supports it)
Number of Lines SQL Server vCPUs Memory Storage NIC Less than 500 On Box 2 2 GB 100 GB C: Thin Gigabit min. Less than 500 Off Box 2 1.5 GB 60 GB C: Thin Gigabit min 500 - 2500 On Box 2 2 GB 100 GB C: Thin Gigabit min. 500 - 2500 Off Box 2 2 GB 60 GB C: Thin Gigabit min. More than 2500 On Box 2+ 2 GB 100 GB C: Thin Gigabit min. More than 2500 Off Box 2+ 2 GB 60 GB C: Thin Gigabit min.
* Servers may need additional resources with a high number of users running in socket mode, or in extremely high call volume situations.
Server can be either Physical or Virtual, although we prefer virtual, because it answer all of the high availability questions.  For the OS, you can run all of the latest Microsoft recommended service packs and hotfixes.  If you decide to install SQL Express on the box, there may be some MS required support software that needs to be installed.  Generally speaking, we are not very fussy on what is there as long as it is reasonably current. Modes of Operation There are 3 modes in which BOC clients can function, Hybrid Mode, Socket Mode, and SQL Mode.  Whenever possible Hybrid Mode is the recommended method for deployment for Windows based PC devices.  All mobile clients will always communicate via Socket Mode, due to no available TSP driver for those platforms.  If you operate a mobile device outside your network, a vpn connection is recommended to ensure secure data transmission.

Bridge Operator Console for Cisco Client Specs

Recommended BOC Client Specs

Bridge Operator Console 3.x for Windows Win Vista, Win 7, Win 8 .Net 4.5 Quad Core CPU or Better 2GB of Ram or Better	Bridge Operator 2.x for Windows Win XP SP3, Win Vista, Win 7, Win 8 .Net 3.5 SP1 Dual Core (non Centrino) CPU or Better 2GB of Ram or Better
Bridge Operator Console 1.x for Apple Ipad IOS 5.0 or Better	Bridge Operator Console 2.x for Android Android 2.3 or Better
Bridge Communications provides only the recommended hardware specifications, and not any minimums.  The minimum requirements for an organization that has 100 phones, would be dramatically different from one that has 25,000.  In most cases any fairly modern desktop PC will provide adequate power to run our application.   We recommend you always get a 60 day demo key and try the product on your existing hardware before purchasing.

Supported Operating Systems - Bridge Operator Console for Windows 2.x/3.x for Cisco

Supported Operating Systems - Bridge Operator Console for Windows 2.x/3.x

Below is a matrix of supported client operating systems based on the version of CUCM.

Bridge Operator Console relies on the Cisco TSP driver for it's real time call information and control.

Prior to CUCM 8.5 U1 there was no support for this driver in Windows 7 or any 64 bit OS.  With CUCM 8.5 U1 and
beyond BOC is supported for production in any Windows 7 or 64 bit OS environment.

Testing before CUCM Upgrade
BOC offers a SQL based and Socket based mode when the TSP isn't available, to allow "proof of concept" type testing
where an organization would like to test the features before a CUCM upgrade.  Performance will not be as true as
if the TSP were installed, but should be sufficient on a small scale to determine functionality in your environment.
*Connection speeds and geography can slow performance when the TSP is not available for your OS.

Green = Supported in a Production Environment, Yellow = Supported for Proof of Concept before Upgrading CUCM, Red = Unsupported by Cisco.

TSP Availability	Windows XP SP2 32bit	Windows XP SP2 64bit	Windows Vista 32bit	Windows Vista 64bit	Windows 7 32bit	Windows 7 64bit	Windows 8 32bit	Windows 8 64bit	Windows 8.1	Windows 10
CUCM 6.x
CUCM 7.x
CUCM 8.0
CUCM 8.5
CUCM 8.5 U1
CUCM 8.6
CUCM 9.0
CUCM 9.1
CUCM 10.0
CUCM 10.5
CUCM 11.0
CUCM 11.5

Server Versions Supported

TSP Availability	Windows 2008 32 bit	Windows 2008 and R2 64 bit	Windows 2012 and R2 64 Bit
CUCM 6.x
CUCM 7.x
CUCM 8.0
CUCM 8.5
CUCM 8.5 U1
CUCM 8.6
CUCM 9.0
CUCM 9.1
CUCM 10.0
CUCM 10.5
CUCM 11.0
CUCM 11.5

Extended AD information missing

If you are using some of the more extended AD attributes such as Assistant or Secretary fields, the may not be gathered during a full LDAP build if you are pointing at an AD entry point other than the default at TCP/389.
Some installations require contacting various AD replicas such as a Global Catalog server (GC at TCP/3268) or a Lightweight Directory Service (LDS).  These are not always complete replicas and will not provide the more obscure attributes.  However, it may be possible that they can be added to replicas.  Work with your Active Directory support team as needed.

CTI issues with Park DNs

CallManager allows you to create Park positions in a couple of ways.

The most common is an all numeric numbering plan.
Example:

5000

500[0-9]

500X

However, it is possible to create Park positions with non-numeric characters.

While these can still function as park positions, CallManager will not provide proper CTI information on those positions.  Furthermore, it has been noted that if there are a very large number of these, the Cisco TSP from CallManager 10.5.2 will crash providing no CTI for any DNs.

Examples:

*5000

#5000

*500[0-9]

*500X

Bridge Communication Operator Console only supports all numeric globally unique park DN's.