Techniques you need to master:
As you know by now, Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express (CME) supports up to 250 users, which is ideal for a medium-size office. But what about offices with less than 50 users? While the Cisco Unified CME would work for small offices, these offices often desire a compact all-in-one solution. This is where the Smart Business Communications System (SBCS) comes in. The SBCS provides telephony, wireless, and security features to up to 50 users.
The SBCS provides a cost-effect, easy-to-deploy and -manage communications solution for small offices. The aim is to offer a complete communications solution that is not just voice. The SBCS offers switching, routing, wireless, and security services in addition to acting as a full-featured voice solution that includes voicemail.
The equipment required for this solution can be as simple as a Cisco Unified Communications 500 (UC500) series device and a few phones. Depending on the number of phones and types of features you require, other equipment, such as a Cisco Catalyst Express 520 series switch, a Cisco 521 Wireless Express access point, or third-party phones, could be necessary.
The following is a brief summary of the features that the Cisco Unified Communications 500 series devices can offer:
Call processing (Communications Manager Express, built in)
Voice messaging (Cisco Unity Express, built in)
Auto Attendant (Cisco Unity Express, built in)
Data routing
LAN switching—Power over Ethernet (PoE)
Support for Skinny Client Control Protocol (SCCP), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), and wireless IP phones
Virtual Private Network (VPN) capabilities
Firewall
GUI-based configuration—Cisco Configuration Assistant
Integrated wireless LAN (WLAN) capability (optional and not available on all models)
The primary hardware that is required in SBCS is a Cisco Unified Communications 500 series device. This device comes in two models:
The Cisco Unified Communications 500 series 8/16-user device
Unified Communications series 32/48-user device
The 500 series 8/16-user is a 1.5U-high device and is available in two models: the UC520-8U-2BRI-K9 and UC520-8U-4FXO-K9. Both models offer similar features; the main difference is that the UC520-8U-2BRI-K9 has two Basic Rate Interface (BRI) ports and the UC520-8U-4FXO-K9 has four Foreign Exchange Office (FXO) ports.
Note
The UC500 includes eight Ethernet ports and supports eight users. When purchasing the 16-user version, an additional 8-port external switch is included.
The UC500 includes the following components:
Console port: This port can be used as a console or auxiliary port. It can automatically detect a modem.
Compact flash:1GB compact flash is installed by default for Unity Express.
Music on Hold (MOH) audio jack: This jack allows you to plug in an external device to provide the MOH audio source. An audio file can also be loaded on the compact flash, but this should only be used as a secondary fallback source. It can take up to 30 seconds for fallback to occur.
PoE: There are eight 10/100 switch ports. Each supports PoE, which powers the attached phones. The maximum amount of power that the 500 can support is a total of 80W.
Expansion port: This is a 10/100 Ethernet port that is used to connect to a switch when more port density is required. The Catalyst Express 520-24PC is the recommended switch.
WAN port: This port is used to connect to a router or broadband device such as a cable or digital subscriber line (DSL) modem.
Built-in Foreign Exchange Station (FXS) ports: Analog phones can be connected to these ports.
PSTN connectivity: Four FXO ports or two BRI ports.
Voice interface card (VIC) slot: This is an expansion slot that allows you to plug in any of the following VICs: VIC2-2FXO, VIC2-4FXO, VIC2-2FXS, VIC-4FXS/DID, VIC3-2FXS/DID, VIC3-4FXS/DID, VIC2-2BRI-NT/TE, or VWIC2-1MFT-T1/E1.
Wi-Fi: This is an optional feature. It is an integrated AP that supports 802.11b and 802.11g. This provides wireless access for both voice and data devices.
The Unified Communications series 32/48-user device is used for 24-, 32-, and 48-user configurations. This device is a 2U-high device and comes in two base configurations. The first configuration includes a T1/E1 port. The other configuration includes a 4-port FXO instead of the T1/E1 port. Other components found in this device include four FXS ports, four FXO ports, eight PoE switch ports, one WAN port, one expansion port, one console port, and one VIC slot.
If more than eight ports are needed, an external switch needs to be attached to the UC500 series device. Certain Catalyst Express 520 series switches are recommended for this purpose. Of course, you can use other switches, but the benefit of using one of these switches is that you can use the Cisco Configuration Assistant to deploy and maintain them. While all the Catalyst Express 520 series switches are not recommended for use with the Cisco Unified Communications 500 series device, you should be familiar with the following five 520 series switches:
Cisco Catalyst Express 520-8PC switch: Eight 10/100 PoE ports and one 10/100/1000 or a small-form-factor pluggable (SFP) port.
Cisco Catalyst Express 520-24TT switch: Twenty-four 10/100 ports and two 10/100/1000 ports or an SFP port. It is an unmanaged switch that supports some advanced features, such as quality of service (QoS) and VLANs.
Cisco Catalyst Express 520-24LC switch: Twenty-four 10/100 PoE ports and two 10/100/1000 ports or an SFP port. Supports PoE for a small number of phones or other PoE devices.
Cisco Catalyst Express 520-24PC switch: Twenty-four 10/100 PoE ports and two 10/100/1000 ports or an SFP port. Can support a larger number of PoE devices than the 520-24LC.
Exam Alert
The Cisco Catalyst Express 520-24PC switch is the recommended switch for 32/48-user deployments.
Cisco Catalyst Express 520G-TC switch: Twenty-four 10/100/1000 ports and two 10/100/1000 ports or an SFP port. This is a good choice for a server or backbone connectivity.
The endpoints supported within the SBCS are extensive. Table 14.1 offers a brief overview of the supported models.
As mentioned previously, the SBCS not only offers telephony services but also other services that are critical to the small business. This adds function to the product and helps make the purchase more attractive to the customer. The following sections take a brief look at these additional features.
As mentioned earlier, the 8/16-user model of the UC500 offers an optional integrated wireless access point. In addition, you can expand the wireless coverage by installing Cisco 521 Wireless Access Points. You can then use a Cisco 526 Wireless Express Mobility Controller to create a unified wireless network. These devices support wireless VLANs.
The Cisco 521 Wireless Access Points support the following security protocols:
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and WPA2
Lightweight Extensible Authentication Protocol (LEAP)
Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP)
The SBCS has the following built-in security features:
Network Address Translation (NAT): A single public IP address is required to for the entire LAN infrastructure.
Standard IEEE 802.1X on switch: Requires 802.1X applications to provide valid access credentials. This helps prevent unauthorized access to resources.
Cisco IOS Firewall: Provides stateful and application-based filtering (context-based access control [CBAC]) as well as per-user authentication and authorization, transparent firewall, and real-time alerts.
Cisco Easy VPN Remote and Server support: Easily managed point-to-point VPNs.
The Cisco Configuration Assistant (CCA) eases the configuration and maintenance of the SBCS. This is a GUI-based tool that is installed on a PC that has connectivity to the SBCS. The main purpose of this feature is to allow the telephony services to be quickly deployed. This tool offers a visual display of the topology as well as a graphical view of the front of the UC500, which allows you to see the status of ports.
Cisco Smart Assist is the part of the Cisco Configuration Assistant that allows quick and easy configuration of devices and applications. The features that can be configured using Cisco Smart Assist are
Phone extensions
Assignment of phone extensions
Dial plan
Cisco Unified Communications 500 private branch exchange (PBX) configuration
Autodiscovery of supported devices
Password and VLAN synchronization
VLANs
Firewall
QoS
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1. |
A and B. UC500 supports SCCP and SIP. Answer C is incorrect because SMDI is a voicemail signaling protocol that is not supported. Answer D is incorrect because VLAN is not a protocol. |
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D. The UC520-8U-2BRI-K9 has two BRI ports. Answer A is not correct because the UC520-8U-2BRI-K9 does not have two T1s built in; it has two BRIs. Answer B is incorrect because the UC520-8U-2BRI-K9 does not have four built-in FXO ports; it has built-in FXS ports. Answer C is incorrect because the integrated wireless access point is an option and is not installed by default. |
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3. |
A. The Cisco Catalyst Express 520-24PC switch is the recommended switch. Answers B, C, and D are incorrect. |
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A, B, C, and D. WEP, WPA, LEAP, and PEAP are all supported wireless security protocols. |
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B. The Cisco Configuration Assistant does not offer a graphical view of the back of the UC500; it offers a graphical view of the front of it. Answer A is incorrect because the UC500 offers a visual view of topology. Answer C is incorrect because the UC500 offers the ability to monitor port status. Answer D is incorrect because the UC500 offers ease of telephony services configuration. |
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D. The maximum number of phones that are supported by the UC500 is 50. Answers A, B, C, and E are incorrect. |
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E. The 7960, 7940, 7931, and the 7971 are all supported by the UC500. |
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8. |
A. The UC500 includes a Cisco IOS Firewall that provides stateful and application-based filtering (context-based access control [CBAC]) as well as per-user authentication and authorization, transparent firewall, and real-time alerts. Answer B is incorrect because the UC500 supports Network Address Translation. There is no such thing as Public Address Translation. Answer C is incorrect; there is no such feature. Answer D is incorrect because the UC500 offers standard IEEE 802.1X. |
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9. |
D. Creation of phone extensions, assignment of phone extensions, and dial plan configuration are all supported by the CCA. |
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10. |
C. The UC500 supports SCCP and SIP on all the Cisco 7960G and 7970G IP Phones. Answer A is incorrect; not all phones can use SIP and SCCP. Answer B is incorrect; the 7936 does not support SIP. Answer D is incorrect; all endpoints do not need to use the same protocol. |
1. Cisco.com. Search for “Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business Data Sheet.”