What is available to monitor CallManager systems?
 

Hello,

I'm unfamiliar with the Cisco product line and could
use a little help. I've read enough on the Cisco web
site to understand we could solve a customer's problem
but I don't know the tools required or the effort
involved.

I've been asked to look at finding a way for a customer
to watch for 'interesting' phone calls in a CallManager
system. They have a mix of analog and VOIP phones.
I've seen references to the SNMP, Telecom API, Northbound
API, web interfaces, and all kinds of possibilities.

On other systems these are usually advertised as CTIs
(Computer Telephony Interfaces).

I'm not sure what the customer wants to watch for yet.
I've started exploring the possiblities after a salesman
made an inquiry.

What kinds of interfaces are available in the CallManager
product? We generally use C++, but SNMP and Java can be
used as well.

Can you point me in the right direction to continue my
reading?

Thank you,

David

Monitor interesting CM Calls
 

Hi David,
Calls within CM are all recorded in the Call Detail Records (CDR) and, depending upon your CM version, are available through different interfaces. CM version 5 and higher can export them via FTP to some FTP server you setup.

If you want to setup rules to monitor these records, you might consider using a product like ClarusIPC from Clarus Systems. It has a module known as Voice Monitor which allows you to craft a variety of rules and look for interesting conditions to alert against. There are also features for:
-CM reporting (both configuration and performance)
-Automated testing (utilizing real, deployed phones in your environment)
-Performance monitoring and alerting
-Configuration Change Tracking
-Remote phone control and troubleshooting

If you are a reseller, this might be the simplest option to suggest a demo to your client. You can try to write an application yourself just for monitoring calls but might cost you more in time, support, QA than you want to get involved with.

Good luck.