Chapter 1 Planning for Personal Assistant

Creating Server Clusters

To create a simple Personal Assistant server cluster, do not specify failover servers in the server configurations when you configure each server through the Personal Assistant administration interface. (See the “Configuring Personal Assistant Servers” section on page 4-10for information on configuring the Personal Assistant servers into a cluster, and the “Server Configuration” section on page A-16for reference information on the server configuration settings.)

The following sections describe how to configure load balancing:

Configuring Load Balancing, page 1-14

Effect of Load Balancing on Users Who Access Personal Assistant, page 1-14

Effect of Load Balancing on Rule-Based Call Routing, page 1-15

Configuring Load Balancing

Personal Assistant load balancing is based on the “call forward busy” and “call forward no answer” numbers assigned to each Personal Assistant server phone number (CTI route point). If you configure these settings correctly in Cisco CallManager, the Personal Assistant servers in the cluster can answer calls for busy servers without the knowledge of your users.

If you create a chain of servers, your users will need only one phone number to reach Personal Assistant. This can make it easier for your users to use Personal Assistant.

Table 1-3shows an example setup in which three Personal Assistant servers are chained so that they share the call load. In this example, users have been told to call extension 5600 to reach

Personal Assistant. If Personal Assistant Server 1 has an available media port, it handles an incoming call. If it does not have an available media port, the call is forwarded to 5700 (Personal Assistant Server 2). If Personal Assistant Server 2 has an available media port, it handles the call; otherwise, the call is forwarded to 5800 (Personal Assistant Server 3). If Personal Assistant Server 3 does not have an available media port, the call is forwarded to 5600 (Personal Assistant Server 1). Users can also reach Personal Assistant by calling Personal Assistant Server 2 or 3 directly.

Table 1-3

Personal Assistant Server Load Balancing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personal Assistant

Personal Assistant

Personal Assistant

 

 

Cisco CallManager Setting

Server 1

Server 2

Server 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CTI route point (phone number)

5600

5700

5800

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Call forward busy

5700

5800

5600

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Call forward no answer

5700

5800

5600

 

 

 

 

 

 

Effect of Load Balancing on Users Who Access Personal Assistant

If you are using load balancing without a failover server, and if a Personal Assistant server becomes disabled, all calls that the server is currently handling are cut off. However, if Personal Assistant has already completed its role in the call process (for example, has transferred a call based on call-routing rules), the call remains in progress. Subsequent calls to the disabled server are forwarded to another server based on the “call forward no answer number” configured in Cisco CallManager. However, the number of available simultaneous sessions is reduced because the active server must support the sessions from the disabled server in addition to its normal load.

Cisco Personal Assistant 1.4 Installation and Administration Guide

1-14

OL-4590-03

 

 

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Cisco Systems 1.4 manual Configuring Load Balancing, Cisco CallManager Setting Server

1.4 specifications

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