Cisco Systems 30 VIP

Cisco IP Telephony Troubleshooting Guide for Cisco CallManager Release 3.0(1)

Sniffer Trace

A Sniffer is a software application that monitors IP traffic on a network and provides information

in the form of a trace. Sniffer traces provide information about the quantity and type of network

traffic on your network. TCP/IP or UDP packets are protocols utilized by Cisco CallManager

and endpoint devices such as phones and gateways. Sniffer traces can also help you identify high

levels of broadcast traffic that could result in voice audio problems or dropped calls. Common

Sniffer applications include Network Associates SnifferPro, Hewlett Packard Internet Advisor,

and W&G Domino. Domino offers sniffing hardware and software solutions and a network

analyzer. If you want to use Domino, we recommend using the analysis software to evaluate a

captured sniffer file (such as from the SnifferPro application).

Sniffer Trace Applications

Use the following links to learn more about some available sniffer trace applications. Any sniffer

application will work with Cisco CallManager.

• Network Associates SnifferPro: http://www.sniffer.com/

• Hewlett Packard Network Analyzer:

http://www.hp.com/rnd/products/netman/netmgt.htm

• W&G Domino Analyzer: http://www.wwgsolutions.com/products/domino/domino.html

Call Detail Records (CDR) and Call Management Records (CMR)

Call Detail Record (CDR) is a reporting option that logs every call made (or attempted) from any

Cisco IP Phone. There are two kinds of CDRs—basic CDRs and Diagnostic CDRs, or CMRs.

Once enabled, you can open CDRs or Diagnostic CDRs (CMRs) in the SQL Server Enterprise

Manager. CDR files are saved in a SQL database that can be exported to nearly any application,

including Microsoft Access or Excel.

CDR records contain information needed to generate billing records. In a distributed

environment, all CDR data is collected in a central location, or a set of locations. The failure of a

Cisco CallManager node does not make the CDR data associated with that node unavailable,

since the data is no longer stored on the Cisco CallManager disk as a flat file, but is instead

stored in a central database in tables.

If the Cisco CallManager fails before any records are written, then no record of the call will

exist. This means that no record will be written for calls that are active on a given

Cisco CallManager when it fails before the calls terminate.

Refer to the Appendix in the back of this book for detailed information about CDRs and CMRs.

The information provided includes:

• Reading and Writing Records

• Known Issues

• List of record types generated