CHAPTER 1

Voice Fundamentals for Unified Communication

This chapter provides information on the following topics:

Voice Fundamentals Cisco VoIP Structure Common Topologies Traditional Voice Network Traditional Data Network Todays Converged Network

Voice Fundamentals
Over the past decade, as IP-based protocols have matured, a trend has occurred. The trend has been moving away from traditional PBX-based telephony systems and moving toward implementing a converged data and voice IP-based network. This has enabled a lower-cost solution to be deployed over the existing infrastructure that exists for the network. Whether you have a background in traditional voice, networking, or are new to this field altogether, there are a lot of terms and concepts to learn. The goal for this portable command guide is to help you quickly dive into what you need or want to know to help implement a VoIP solution at work, to help you advance your knowledge to attain the CCNA Voice certification, or simply to further your knowledge in a technology that is foreign to you. Table 1-1 lists commonly used acronyms and concepts with a brief description of each. These terms and concepts are used throughout this portable command guide.

Voice Fundamentals

Table 1-1 Voice Fundamentals Concepts and Acronyms Acronym/Concept Description

802.1Q Analog Signal ANI CAS CCS CDP CLI CME Codec

IEEE Standard specifying a trunking protocol that tags frames with the VLAN number they are sourcing from Signaling method used to measure change in a continuous nature Automatic Number Identification Channel Associated Signaling Common Channel Signaling Cisco Discovery Protocol Command Line Interface Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express Encoding/Decoding mechanism for compressing voice across a data network. The terms original meaning is coder/decoder. Cisco Unity Connection Cisco Unified Communications Manager (previously known as Call Manager (CM) Cisco Unified Presence PSTN International number plan A string of bits (1s or 0s). (Ear and Mouth) or (Earth and Magnet) Foreign Exchange Office Foreign Exchange Station North American Numbering Plan Network Time Protocol Private Branch Exchange Power over Ethernet Public Switched Telephone Network Robbed Bit Signaling Real-Time Transport Control Protocol Real-Time Transport Protocol Skinny Client Control Protocol Session Initiation Protocol Survivable Remote Site Telephony Time Division Multiplexing is the process of transmitting multiple channels of voice or data in specific time slots over a single digital connection.

CUC CUCM or CM CUP E.164 Digital Signal E&M FXO FXS NANP NTP PBX PoE PSTN RBS RTCP RTP SCCP SIP SRST TDM

Common Topologies

Cisco VoIP Structure

It is beneficial to know what products exist in the Cisco world for voice. Depending upon the size of the organization, numerous solutions are available:

Cisco Unified Communications Manager: This solution is the pinnacle of the Cisco Voice solution. Cisco Unified Communications Manager provides all the functionality you would want or need within an enterprise-class voice solution. This is the ideal solution for a large organization that requires the complexity, yet granularity, of having an enterprise voice system. You can add voicemail functionality to this system when implementing Cisco Unity Connection (CUC). You can also add presence features that will be discussed later within this portable command guide. The presence functionality is known as Cisco Unified Presence (CUP). This is an extremely flexible and scalable solution. Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express: This solution is for the small- to medium-size business that does not require the complexity, nor the extensive scalability that Cisco Unified Communications Manager has to offer. It is an ideal solution for a small- to medium-size business that would like a subset of the features that CUCM offers. This can also be used for a remote office solution with CUCM utilizing SRST. Cisco Unified Communications ManagerBusiness edition: Cisco developed this solution for an organization that wants the full-blown implementation of CUCM; however, the organization will never grow beyond 1,000 users (Note: At the time of this writing, three business editions are available. This is a great solution at a great price point for the small- to medium-size organization. Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business (UC500): Cisco developed this solution for the small business market that just needs a quick, easy to set up and configure platform to get its organization up and running on a VoIP solution. This system scales up to 138 users. This is truly meant for the small business market.

Common Topologies
This section describes common topologies that you find in the industry and in textbooks when studying voice technologies and bridging the gap between data and voice networks. Figure 1-1 represents the traditional voice network for a traditional PBX connected to the PSTN via a copper ground start trunk or loop start trunk. This also shows traditional phones as terminals and a traditional fax machine, in addition to a connection to the voicemail system.

Common Topologies

PSTN

Trunk PBX Fax Voice Mail

IP

IP Phones

IP

Figure 1-1 Traditional Voice Network

Figure 1-2 represents the traditional data network that shows two locations, each with a router, switch, and two PCs connected via a WAN connection.

Router WAN

Router

Switch

Switch

PCs

PCs

Figure 1-2 Traditional Data Network

Common Topologies

Figure 1-3 represents todays Voice over IP network that takes the best of both the traditional voice network and the data network and combines them together in one network. The PBX is now a server on the data network, and the traditional phones are now IP-based. Keep in mind, you still need to maintain a connection to the PSTN for external calls.

PSTN PoE Switch Voice V CME V IP Phone w/Station IP WAN IP IP PoE Switch

IP

Servers

PC CUCM CUC CUP

PC

Virtual or Physical

Figure 1-3 Todays Voice over IP Network (Sometimes Referred to as a Converged Network)