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Cisco WebEx Cloud Connected Audio

Cisco WebEx Cloud Connected Audio Data Sheet

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Web conferencing continues to change the way large enterprises operate, creating more opportunities for productive teamwork regardless of physical location. As Cisco WebEx® customers have discovered, online meetings that incorporate high-quality voice, data, and video can accelerate business processes and decision making, and strengthen relationships with customers, partners, and employees.

Whether you are a current WebEx customer, or in the process of moving to one or more WebEx conferencing applications to deliver the type of dynamic, multimedia meeting experience that your users expect, adding Cisco® WebEx Cloud Connected Audio can save you money. Designed for enterprise organizations that are seeing a minimum of 1.5 million minutes of audio conferencing per month, WebEx Cloud Connected Audio manages the audio conferencing traffic for your WebEx conferencing over a direct connection between your data center and ours. As a result, this WebEx solution can deliver far better economies of scale when compared to using the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and per-minute pricing for on-net calls.
With Cisco WebEx Cloud Connected Audio, you can:

• Reduce transport costs with direct connection from your IP telephony infrastructure to the Cisco WebEx Cloud

• Budget for audio costs on a more predictable basis by changing from per-minute usage to port-based pricing

• Utilize your existing investment in IP telephony infrastructure and Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM)

How Cisco WebEx Cloud Connected Audio Works

Without Cisco WebEx Cloud Connected Audio, all audio calls, both on-net and off-net, are routed over the PSTN, and you pay for those calls by the minute (see Figure 1). It is virtually impossible to create an accurate monthly budget for audio conferencing with per-minute pricing.

Figure 1. Audio Calls Routed Over the PSTN

Cisco WebEx Cloud Connected Audio is based on a hybrid deployment model. The solution extends the functionality of Cisco CUCM. It incorporates premise-based equipment to connect your data center to a Cisco WebEx Cloud data center using dedicated peering connections over Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) signaling. Call routing is handled on-premise, call signaling and audio traffic is handled over redundant IP connections, and call mixing is handled in the cloud.
Instead of traditional telephony connections, Cisco WebEx Cloud Connected Audio routes audio conferencing calls for on-net users over the dedicated SIP trunks between your IP PBX through WebEx Session Border Controllers (SBCs) and a Cisco WebEx Cloud data center (see Figure 2). All callbacks made from Cisco WebEx are also made to an on-premise SBC. This solution is certified to work with CUCM and Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE).
All calls from on-net callers will bypass PSTN toll, eliminating associated toll call costs. However, calls originating from or terminating to end points that are not on your network use the existing PSTN telephony infrastructure for calls.

Figure 2. All On-Net Calls Routed Through Your CUCM and the Cisco WebEx Cloud

The Cisco WebEx Cloud and Cisco WebEx Interconnection Locations

The Cisco WebEx Cloud is a private, global infrastructure purpose built to deliver the best online conferencing experience to users regardless of their global location. Cisco data centers and hubs located around the world offer your company a choice of connection options.

Benefits for Your Organization

Confidently Predict and Budget Audio Conferencing Costs With Per-Port Pricing

• For the first time, using per-port pricing you can predict and budget your monthly audio conferencing costs

• Eliminate PSTN transport and termination charges for all on-net calling

Reduce Administration and Management Overhead

• Eliminate the ongoing administration overhead associated with traditional on-premise audio conferencing - management of audio bridging equipment is handled by Cisco in our data center

Gain Greater Scalability and Fast Access to the Latest Technology

• Easily scale audio conferencing capacity to your actual needs, even as those needs change over time, rather than the over-provisioning or under-provisioning required with full on-premise models

• Take advantage of future enhancements and upgrades without any additional deployments

Protect and Build on Existing Unified Communications Investments

• Extend your investment in CUCM and your IP telephony infrastructure to add audio conferencing capabilities

Native Integration Delivers the Full Conferencing Experience to Users

• Cisco WebEx Cloud Connected Audio is natively integrated with Cisco WebEx web conferencing applications, including WebEx Meetings, WebEx Meeting Center, WebEx Training Center, WebEx Event Center, and WebEx Support Center

• Native integration provides the same powerful user experience that has made Cisco WebEx the market-leading conferencing solution

Specifications

Media and Signaling

• Supports audio compression codec G.711, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) signaling, and RFC2833 for dual-tone multifrequency (DTMF)

• Any non-G.711 traffic will need to be transcoded in your network

Peering Connections

• Circuit hand-offs must be optical Ethernet-based; minimum Ethernet hand-off interface is Gigabit Ethernet; Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) may be used to bundle multiple circuits

• Connect with the Cisco WebEx Cloud at two or more WebEx locations; connections can be configured in active/active mode

Conferencing Telephone Numbers

• Conference numbers belong to your organization; you must provide at least one toll and one toll-free number

• WebEx does not provide the WebEx PSTN numbers with Cisco WebEx Cloud Connected Audio; you will need to provide the international call-in numbers if applicable

• You must pass one Direct Inward Dialing (DID) Digital Number Identification Service (DNIS) to WebEx using the Cisco Unified Border Element for all conferencing numbers

Hardware and Software Licenses

• Supports both Cisco Integrated Services Routers (ISRs) and Aggregated Services Routers (ASRs); hardware will depend upon Cisco WebEx Cloud Connected Audio port requirements

• Supports redundant or active/active Cisco Unified Border Element licenses

For More Information

For more information on Cisco WebEx Cloud Connected Audio please visit http://www.cisco.com/go/cwcca.