Overview of Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance
This document provides information on Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance 11.0, 11.1, 11.5, 11.6, 12.1, and 12.1 SP1 features.
Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance is a comprehensive video and voice service assurance and management system with a set of monitoring, and reporting capabilities that help you receive a consistent, high-quality video and voice collaboration experience.
Document Conventions
- Renamed
"Session" to
"Conference" in
all the relevant sections.
Note
The word "Session" is still applicable to Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Release 11.1 and earlier.
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Renamed "Log Collection Center" to "Device Log Collector" in all the relevant sections.
Note
The word "Log Collection Center" is still applicable to Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Release 11.1 and earlier.
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Renamed "Call Signalling Analyzer" to "SIP Call Flow Analyzer" in all the relevant sections.
Note
The word "Call Signaling Analyzer" is still applicable to Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Release 11.1 and earlier.
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"Troubleshooting" is not supported in Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Release 11.5.
Note
"Troubleshooting" is still applicable to Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Release 11.1 and earlier.
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The Limited Visibility option is not supported in any dashboards from Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance 12.1 and later. Click on Edit Visibility to either switch on the Full Visibility option or switch it OFF.
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“FIPS Compliance” is not supported in Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Release 12.1.
Note
"FIPS Compliance" is still applicable to Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Release 11.6 and earlier.
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"Credential Profile" feature is not supported in the Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Release 11.6 MSP Mode.
Note
With this, the TelePresence endpoints are shown as Inaccessible.
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"Smart Licensing" feature is not supported in the Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Release 12.1.
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The "Video Test Call" feature is not supported for Endpoints registration through the Mobile and Remote Access (MRA) solution.
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LDAP configuration with SSL enabled is not supported in the Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Release 12.1.
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Additional tab like CUCM SFTP Credentials and Save are introduced in the User Interface. A field to change the smuser password and options to confirm password options are available. Change in Navigation from Alarm & Report Administration -> CDR Source Settings -> CUCM SFTP Credentials to Inventory -> Inventory Management -> CUCM SFTP Credentials in the Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Release 12.1 Service Pack 3.
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CDR Source Settings Dashlet along with Manage Call Quality Data Source Settings page is removed from the Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance User Interface for Release 12.1 Service Pack 3.
Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance - Advanced
Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance is available in the following modes:
- Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Advanced—Enterprise and MSP mode
For installing Advanced Assurance, see the Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance and Analytics Install and Upgrade Guide.
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The Enterprise mode provides a single enterprise view or multiple domains view within your enterprise. This option is usually used in a standard single enterprise environment.
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The MSP mode provides multiple customer views. This option is used in managed service provider environments. This view allows you to view the devices of multiple customers that are being managed. For more information on the MSP mode, See the Overview of Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance—MSP Mode section in Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Guide - Advanced.
The following table lists the features available in Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance - Advanced.
Feature | Advanced | See Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Guide - Advanced | ||
Supported Modes |
It supports both the Enterprise and MSP modes. |
For more information on Advanced features, see the sections Overview of Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance—MSP Mode and Differences Between the Enterprise Mode and the MSP Mode. |
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License Requirement |
Requires license after evaluation expiry. |
For more information on Advanced features, see the section Manage Licenses. |
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Role Based Access Control |
For Cisco Prime Collaboration Release 11.5 and later
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For more information on Advanced features, see the section Manage Users. |
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Single Sign-On Support |
Yes |
For more information on Advanced features, see the section Manage Users. |
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Cluster Management |
Manages multiple clusters with mixes of cluster revisions and cluster associations. |
For more information on Advanced features, see the section Set Up Clusters. |
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Discovery |
For Cisco Prime Collaboration Release 11.5 and later
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For more information on Advanced features, see the section Discover Devices. |
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Inventory Management |
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For more information on Advanced features, see the section Manage Inventory. |
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Fault Management |
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For more information on Advanced features, see the section Monitor Alarms and Events. |
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Voice and video Reports |
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For more information on Advanced features, see the section Dashboards and Reports. |
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Dashboard |
You can add customized dashboards in the Home page. |
For more information on Advanced features, see the section Dashboards and Reports. |
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Dashboards |
For Cisco Prime Collaboration Release 11.5 and later
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For more information on Advanced features, see the section Dashboards and Reports. |
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Voice and Video Endpoint Diagnostics |
For Cisco Prime Collaboration Release 11.1 and earlier
For Cisco Prime Collaboration Release 11.5 and later
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For more information on Advanced features, see the section Perform Diagnostics. |
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Job Management |
Enables you to view, schedule, and delete jobs. |
For more information on Advanced features, see the section Manage Jobs. |
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Cross Launch to UC Application |
Yes |
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Cross Launch to Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Serviceability |
Yes |
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Device Search |
Global Search - Provides filtered search for TelePresence, endpoints, phones, other devices, locations, and users. |
For more information on Advanced features, see the section Global Search Options for Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance. |
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Cisco Prime Collaboration Analytics |
Cisco Prime Collaboration Analytics is a licensed software, which has to be purchased separately with Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance. |
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NB API |
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http://<pc-server-ip>/emsam/nbi/nbiDocumentationin the browser URL; where, pc-server-ip is the Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance server IP address. For Cisco Prime Collaboration Release 11.6 and later To access the NB API documentation, log in to the Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance server and select Assurance NB API documentation from Settings drop-down menu at the top right corner of the user interface. |
Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance - Advanced Features
Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance enables you to monitor your network and perform diagnostics. In addition, you can run reports that help you identify the source of problems.
Voice and Video Unified Dashboard
The Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance dashboards enable end-to-end monitoring of your voice and video collaboration network. They provide quick summaries of the following:
Dashboard | Description | Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Options |
Service Experience | Information about quality of service. | Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Advanced |
Alarm | Information about Alarm summaries. | Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance |
Performance | Provides details on critical performance metrics of each managed element. | Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Advanced |
Contact Center Topology | Information about the Unified Contact Center Topology View. | Cisco Prime Collaboration Contact Center Assurance |
For Cisco Prime Collaboration Release 11.5 and later
Dashboard | Description | Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Options |
Call Quality | Information about quality of service. | Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Advanced |
Alarm | Information about Alarm summaries. | Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance |
Performance | Provides details on critical performance metrics of each managed element. | Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Advanced |
Contact Center Topology | Information about the Unified Contact Center Topology View. | Cisco Prime Collaboration Contact Center Assurance |
See "Prime Collaboration Dashboards" to learn how the dashlets are populated after deploying the Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance servers.
Device Inventory/Inventory Management
You can discover and manage all endpoints that are registered to Cisco Unified Communications Manager (phones and TelePresence), Cisco Expressway (TelePresence), and Cisco TMS (TelePresence). In addition to managing the endpoints, you can also manage multipoint switches, application managers, call processors, routers, and switches that are part of your voice and video collaboration network.
As part of the discovery, the device interface and peripheral details are also retrieved and stored in the Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance database.
After the discovery is complete, you can perform the following device management tasks:
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Group devices into user-defined groups.
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Edit visibility settings for managed devices.
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Customize event settings for devices.
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Rediscover devices.
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Update inventory for managed devices.
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Suspend and resume the management of a managed device.
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Add or remove devices from a group.
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Manage device credentials.
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Export device details.
See Manage Inventory to learn how to collect the endpoints inventory data and how to manage them.
Voice and Video Endpoint Monitoring
Service operators must quickly isolate the source of any service degradation in the network for all voice and video conferences in an enterprise.
For Cisco Prime Collaboration Release 11.1 and earlier
Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance provides a detailed analysis of the end-to-end media path, including specifics about endpoints, service infrastructure, and network-related issues.
For video endpoints, Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance enables you to monitor all Point-to-point, Multisite, and Multipoint video collaboration conferences. These conferences can be ad hoc, static, or scheduled with one of the following statuses:
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In-progress
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Scheduled
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Completed
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No Show
Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance periodically imports information from:
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The management applications (Cisco TMS) and conferencing devices (CTMS, Cisco MCU, and Cisco TS) on the scheduled conferences.
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The call and conferences control devices (Cisco Unified CM and Cisco Expressway) shown on the registration and call status of the endpoints.
In addition, Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance continuously monitors active calls supported by the Cisco Collaboration System and provides near real-time notification when the voice quality of a call fails to meet a user-defined quality threshold. Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance also allows you to perform call classification based on a local dial plan.
See Prerequisites for Setting Up the Network for Monitoring in Cisco Prime Collaboration Network Monitoring, Reporting, and Diagnostics Guide, 9.x and later to understand how to monitor IP Phones and TelePresence.
Diagnostics
Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance uses Cisco Medianet technology to identify and isolate video issues. It provides media path computation, statistics collection, and synthetic traffic generation.
When network devices are Medianet-enabled, Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance provides:
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Flow-related information along the video path using Mediatrace.
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Snapshot views of all traffic at network hot spots using Performance Monitor.
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The ability to start synthetic video traffic from network devices using the IP Service Level Agreement (IP SLA) and Video Service Level Agreement Agent (VSAA) to assess video performance on a network.
For IP phones, Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance uses the IP SLA to monitor the availability of key phones in the network. A phone status test consists of:
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A list of IP phones to test.
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A configurable test schedule.
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IP SLA-based pings from an IP SLA-capable device (for example, a switch, a router, or a voice router) to the IP phones. Optionally, it also pings from the Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance server to IP phones.
For Cisco Prime Collaboration Release 11.5 and later
Cisco Medianet technology is not supported.
Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance enables you to collect call logs to identify faults in the calls for Cisco Voice Portal (CVP), Unified Contact Center Enterprise (Unified CCE), Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM), and IOS Gateways. This feature enables you to troubleshoot issues in the calls. You can use the SIP Call Flow Analyzer feature to further zoom in on the collected calls and isolate faults in the messages. It also helps you to recreate the issue as you can view the call ladder diagram that indicates faults in the call messages and provides the root cause and recommendations.
Fault Management
Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance ensures near real-time quick and accurate fault detection. After identifying an event, Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance groups it with related events and performs fault analysis to determine the root cause of the fault.
Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance allows to monitor the events that are of importance to you. You can customize the event severity and enable to receive notifications from Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance, based on the severity.
Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance generates traps for alarms and events and sends notifications to the trap receiver. These traps are based on events and alarms that are generated by the Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance server. The traps are converted into SNMPv2c notifications and are formatted according to the CISCO-EPM-NOTIFICATION-MIB.
See Monitor Alarms and Events to learn how Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance monitors faults.
Reports
Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance provides the following predefined reports and customizable reports:
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Administrative Reports — Provides System Status Report, Who Is Logged On Report, and Process Status.
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CDR & CMR Reports — Provides call details such as call category type, call class, call duration, termination type, call release code, and so on
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Conference Reports — Provides the All Conference Summary Report and Conference Detail Report.
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TelePresence Endpoint Reports — Provides details on completed and in-progress conference, endpoint utilization, and No Show endpoints. TelePresence reports also provide a list of conferencing devices and their average and peak utilization in your network.
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Launch CUCM Reports — Enables you to cross launch to the reporting pages for the Cisco Unified Communications Manager clusters.
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Miscellaneous Reports — Provides Other Reports, UCM/CME Phone Activity Reports, and Voice Call Quality Event History Reports.
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Scheduled Reports — Provides utilization and inventory reports. You can generate the reports on the spot or enable scheduling to generate them on predefined days.
See Prime Collaboration Reports to learn the different types of reports and how to generate them.
Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance Support for IPv6
Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance supports IPv6 endpoints in IPv6 only and Dual Stack network. The following table details the Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance feature support for IPv6 endpoints:
Features |
Supported |
Notes or Limitations |
---|---|---|
Device Inventory/Inventory - Credential Profile |
Creation of IPv6 credential profiles. |
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Device Inventory/Inventory - Discovery |
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Device Inventory/Inventory - Inventory Management |
Inventory Summary shows IPv6 addresses. |
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Conference Diagnostics |
Endpoint Statistics (System and Conference Information) shows IPv6 addresses. Endpoints Quick View shows IPv6 addresses. |
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Endpoint Diagnostics |
Endpoint Diagnostics dashboard shows IPv6 addresses. |
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Troubleshooting |
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No troubleshooting support for IPv6 devices. |
Dashboards and Reports |
Miscellaneous Reports—Voice Call Quality Event History Reports, UCM/CME Phone Activity Reports show IPv6 addresses. |
By default the IPv6 addresses column is hidden. You can change the columns displayed by clicking on the Column Filter icon. |
Topology |
Search for endpoints with IPv6 addresses. |
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Alarm Browser |
Alarm Summary shows IPv6 addresses. |
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Phone Search |
Search for IPv6 phones. |
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For Cisco Prime Collaboration Release 11.5 and later |
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Technology Adoption Dashboard |
IP address filters supports endpoints with IPv6 addresses. |
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Asset Usage Dashboard |
IP address filters supports endpoints with IPv6 addresses. |
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Traffic Analysis Dashboard |
IP address filters supports endpoints with IPv6 addresses. |
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Service Experience Dashboard |
IP address filters supports endpoints with IPv6 addresses. |
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Note |
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