[cisco-voip] Maximum Ad Hoc Conference with 6608 and 4.1(2)

[Lelio Fulgenzi]

I hear you about the crossing ports. From my discussions with the TAC, before a conference call is assigned to a DSP, it has to have X number of conference streams available where X is the Maximum Ad Hoc Conf parameter value. So, if it is set to six, chances are pretty high that you may have 5 unused channels on the DSP at any time.

Thanks for your comments.
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Lelio Fulgenzi, B.A.                                  lelio at uoguelph.ca.eh
Network Analyst (CCS)
University of Guelph                             FAX:(519) 767-1060 JNHN
Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1                          TEL:(519) 824-4120 x56354
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     remove the 1st letter of the canadian alphabet from my email, eh!
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Scott Crosby 
  To: Lelio Fulgenzi ; cisco-voip at puck.nether.net 
  Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2005 6:31 PM
  Subject: RE: [cisco-voip] Maximum Ad Hoc Conference with 6608 and 4.1(2)


  The conferencing capabilities of CallManager along with their hardware DSP resources haven't expanded much. Supposedly, you can set parameters higher than 6 but Cisco TAC doesn't support it. I believe the issue with the hardware DSP resources of the 6608 or an HDV-DSP farm module in a IOS router is that audio mixing can't cross DSP modules inside the platforms. That's what limits the max conference users. When the conference parameter is upped on the software conference bridge on CallManager it can mix more than six but the higher you set the value the more processing impact it has on that CallManager. Hence the lack of TAC support for it, from what I understand. Also the software conference bridge only supports the G711 codecs without a hardware transcoding resource. Also the software conference bridge on CallManager can't cross servers to provide additional mixing so the conference has to live on one server or the other at the time it starts.

   

  I believe the parameter you are looking are in Service>>Service Parameters>> Cisco CallManager>> Maximum Ad Hoc Conference. The default value is four. 

   

  Cisco does offer a full fledged enterprise conferencing solution to meet the needs of your users. It's called Meeting Place, it's the Ferrari of conferencing but it's got a Ferrari price.

   

  Meeting Place

  http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/ps5664/ps5669/

   

  I think Cisco also still sells Cisco Conferencing Connection. It's between CallManager native conferencing and Meeting Place. It very limited, only supports G711 and in my opinion very buggy with poor support from the TAC. I used to work for a premier integrator of Cisco IP Telephony solutions who deployed this for a customer. We didn't deploy it ever again.

   

  Cisco Conferencing Connection

  http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/voicesw/ps752/

   

   

  --Scott

   

  From: cisco-voip-bounces at puck.nether.net [mailto:cisco-voip-bounces at puck.nether.net] On Behalf Of Lelio Fulgenzi
  Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2005 1:45 PM
  To: cisco-voip at puck.nether.net
  Subject: [cisco-voip] Maximum Ad Hoc Conference with 6608 and 4.1(2)

   

  I can see plain and simple from this link , that the maximum number of conference participants per conference call is six for v3.3(2).

   

         

        Conferencing Design Details
        The following points summarize the design capabilities and requirements of the CiscoCatalyst voice modules:

          a.. Support exists for a maximum of six participants per conference call. 
   

  However, the documentation for 4.1(2) is not as clear.

   

  Does anyone have any idea what the maximum number of participants for a 6608 DSP is with 4.1(2)? Can you point me to the documentation that helps you come to this number?

   

  According to this link, it seems the maximum is 16.

   

    a.. For a G.711 or G.723 conference-32 conferencing participants per physical port; maximum conference size of 16 participants 
  I am looking for the maximum value to enter in theMaximum Ad Hoc Conference CallManager service parameter.

   

   

  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Lelio Fulgenzi, B.A.
  Network Analyst (CCS) * University of Guelph * Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1
  (519) 824-4120 x56354 (519) 767-1060 FAX (JNHN)

  "That's a UNIX book. Cool!" -- Garth 
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
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