Deploying Cisco Spark Hybrid Services

[Dieselboy]

After a long time, we now have spark. Summary of task list completed so far:
- Sign in to the admin console
- Sync AD users with spark cloud
- Deploy another Expressway C to integrate CUCM with spark (easy)
- Set up users Spark CTI device and configs in CUCM
- Configure the Expressway C/E pair I previously set up and in place for Business to Business SIP URI calling, for handling calls between CUCM and Spark cloud (bit tricky but enough documentation to make it easy)
- Enabling users accounts for Call Aware and Call Connect services
- Get users to sign in / activate their accounts

Call Aware:: Spark knows about calls you made or received to anywhere and on any device. Such as desk phone or jabber etc. The call history is synced between CUCM and Spark
Share desktops during a call from spark (windows and mac) -- this is better than jabber because jabber mac has a limitation that you must be in a active call to do this (active between the desktops). So with spark you can make a deskphone call to another desk phone but use your spark app to share desktops separately from the call, but as it's integrated or "aware" this process is seamless.

Call Connect:: (copied from cisco doc)

Hybrid Call Service Connect provides the following benefits to you and your users:
  Connects Cisco Spark with Cisco Unified Communications Manager so that they work together.
 
  The Cisco Spark app can be used as a mobile soft client for voice and video calling and shares an extension with users Cisco desk phone.
 
  They can answer calls on your desk phone or on the Cisco Spark app, and use the app to make and receive calls as if they were in the office.
 
  Cisco Spark, Cisco Jabber, or your desk phone to call without worrying about which option you or the other person is using
 
 
With Hybrid Call Service Connect, your users can
 
  Make the same calls from their desk phones or the Cisco Spark app
 
  Hear incoming calls ring both their desk phones and the Cisco Spark app and answer the call on either

Spark runs a bit like whatsapp or facebook messenger. You dont need a VPN to run the app and it's always connected. I've not looked into enabling SSO/SAML yet as when I done this with Jabber it negatively impacted the experience because the SAML lifetime would time out and log out the user. Yes more secure but made things difficult for people and brought about people not being available.

Next tasks on the list:
"hybrid media" - basically bringing WebEx inside your organisation by deploying another Expressway system. WebEx features now run locally in your network, reducing latency. This is all managed from the cloud. https://help.webex.com/docs/DOC-8989

integrations with internal apps, like Atlassian JIRA, GIT, and calendar (we use google apps so this will be fun),
want to see about creating teams in AD (AD group)and syncing this to Spark

Spark Board (basically a 55" touch screen conference TV, linked in to webex and spark (and CUCM) -
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collaboration-endpoints/spark-board/index.html
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/collaboration-endpoints/spark-board/datasheet-c78-738316.html

Documentation 

[mlan]

Great post.  We are about on step 3 of your process going through the same efforts.

[Dieselboy]

You're doing call connect / call aware? I found some bugs there. The Expressway which runs the call connector is supposed to create the CTI remote devices but I found it would create just one or two, and then spark admin console would display an error that the user doesn't have a remote device. This was because the Expressway was not creating the devices. I ended up doing it manually, which was a painful process. Took me around a couple of days doing that because the admin console is a bit slow and cumbersome to do many changes at once.

I am running CUCM 11.5 (latest SU2). I'm not sure if the bug is with admin.ciscospark, the expressway or CUCM. Webex have yet to get back to me on this.

The best workaround I found is do the following:

Code Select Expand

Call connector workaround for weird errors:
1. Complete the config in CUCM and try and enable the connector from the admin console
2. If it errors, disable the config in the admin console
3. Check the config for any errors
4. If config is good then go to the Expressway connector VM
5. Disable the call connector
6. Enable the call connector
7. Go to admin.cisco.spark and re-enable the call connector for the user
8. Wait for activation
9. If it activates then all good, if not then see if the error is different / new and repeat the process with the new info.


Also my bulk CSV edit/ upload and download is not working. I done a bulk export, and it created a CSV. I wanted to replicate one change to most people, so I went to one user and made the change. I then did a 2nd bulk export. I got the email that the export was ready but when i went to download it the file which was presented to me was the very first CSV which didnt have the new changes. I was not able to work through this problem so i have a case logged with webex. I've asked them to make some minor changes for me in lieu of this not working but they are not acknowledging that request at all - almost 24 hours now. Instead they just want to do multiple webex's to look at the issue and im not prepared to waste any more time on that. So check the bulk CSV export feature! I am keen to know if yours is working.

I'll shoot you a PM with my email so you can hit me up if you need.

I couldnt do the media connector. After going through the details explaining exactly what it does and how it works I was so excited to get it going I started reading through the config guide only to find that the VM requires 32vcpu's - which I do not have whatsoever. I didn't bother looking into what could be achieved if I managed to create a VM with less CPUs. I'd probably just get problems which I don't want / need. Even though our offices only have around 10 people total anyway.