Gateway Overview
Cisco offers a wide variety of voice and video gateways. A gateway provides interfaces that allow the Unified Communications network to communicate with an external network. Traditionally, gateways have been used to connect the IP-based Unified Communications network to legacy telephone interfaces such as the PSTN, a private branch exchange (PBX), or legacy devices such as an analog phone or fax machine. In its simplest form, a voice gateway has an IP interface and a legacy telephony interface, and the gateway translates messages between the two networks so that the two networks can communicate.
Gateway Protocols
Most Cisco gateways offer multiple deployment options and can be deployed using any one of a number of protocols. Depending on the gateway that you want to deploy, your gateway may be configurable using any of the following communication protocols:
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Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP)
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Skinny Call Control Policy (SCCP)
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Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)
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H.323
Vendor Interface Cards
The Vendor Interface Card (VIC) must be installed on the gateway to provide a connection interface for external networks. Most gateways offer multiple VIC options and each VIC may offer many different ports and connection types for both analog and digital connections.
Refer to your gateway documentation for the protocols, cards, and connections that are offered with your gateway.